Faithful champions

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.
—Elton Trueblood, American Quaker author, theologian, and a former chaplain both to Harvard and Stanford Universities

WE ARE the champions.
I have always thought of saying (and writing) this sentence with booming pride and joy in reference to the UST Growling Tigers. Finally, I can say it with full conviction, exactly 10 years after the historic “four-peat” and during my last year in UST.
The Tigers winning the UAAP title this year became a memorable lesson to the local sporting world, for it proved that skills alone are not enough to become a champion. One has to have faith in his teammates and in God.
Faith is all about believing in what one can do for the better, and having the patience to wait for it to come. It is not proven scientifically and objectively, because if one has it, there will be no room left for explanations.
With one minute and 17 seconds left in Game 3 of the UAAP Finals, the Tigers trailed by five, 59-64. I stood from my courtside seat, mumbling a prayer, pleading God to give UST the UAAP title. After all, the Tigers got this far that losing would definitely be a bitter pill to swallow.
And just like that, UST’s Anthony Espiritu sank an ice-cold triple, followed by a Mark Canlas putback. Jojo Duncil then showed nerves of steel in overtime, scoring eight straight points, while Dylan Ababou and Jun Cortez iced the win with split charities. UST eventually won the championship, 76-74.
The Thomasian crowd jumped in jubilation and excitement. Friends and strangers exchanged hugs and high-fives, while the Ateneans and other critics were silently shocked. I did not know exactly how the Tigers did it without Jervy Cruz and Allan Evangelista on court due to fouls, but it does not matter. The Tigers convincingly won the UAAP title anyway.
How does one explain the Tigers’ 91-77 bashing of pre-season favorite University of the East Red Warriors? The 88-80 Tigers’ stoppage of the Eagles that snapped Ateneo’s eight-game winning streak despite only sporting nine players? The back-to-back triumph against the Adamson Falcons without a healthy Duncil and Anthony Espiritu? The two straight wins against the Warriors in the Final Four despite squandering a 20-point lead and trailing by four going into the last two minutes of Game 2? The 76-74 title-clinching feat that saw JC Intal missing four shots that mattered most against Ababou? It is simple. Faith.
Aside from sheer guts, it is also because of faith, that the other UAAP champion teams of UST scored a successful title defense. The Female Tigersharks, the Tigresses, and the Tiger Judokas were bannered by newbies, while the Tiger Jins and the Lady Judokas dealt with the exit of their Olympians and Southeast Asian games medalists. But still, these teams managed to bag their titles anew at all costs.
It is not that the Ateneans and all the other UAAP teams who played bridesmaids to UST did not have faith. They did. But the Tigers had the most of faith during those times when they could have easily run out of reasons to have it.

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My heartfelt congratulations and thanks to every Thomasian athlete who displayed their superb skills and faith to win championships and to all those who made this sports magazine possible. We are champions in our own right.
Viva, la liga, el Tomasino!



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