La Salle weekend

Many would not believe me last Sunday when I would respond to their queries about the status of the Pacquiao fight with “I am out with the kids at the mall and not watching the bout.”

I had no reason to believe Manny Pacquiao would lose to Marco Antonio Barrera, so I decided that it would be better to enjoy a few hours with my kids before heading to the office since I work on Sundays.

The odds were already heavily stacked against Barrera days before the bout and there was no word about any shift until fight day.

It’s great to have Pacquiao win another bout and take home a couple of million dollars and that is even before he gets his share from the Pay-Per-View income.

I just hope he doesn’t get the wild idea of running for barangay captain when he comes home from the US.

Pacquiao serves the country well with his ring exploits and his handlers and advisers should help him realize that his foray into other ventures might hurt not just his career, but also his service to the Filipino people.

Pacquiao, the fighter, is a real Filipino hero and I’d prefer that when the time comes for him to hang his gloves, he’ll be remembered as the ring icon, not your two-bit politician, who made it to his position because of his popularity alone.

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While still high with the victory of Pacquiao, the La Sallians even had more reason to celebrate as De La Salle University scored a major upset in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.

La Salle’s two-game sweep of the erstwhile undefeated University of the East Red Warriors was something that many did not expect to happen.

At the party hosted by the Karamihan family last Saturday night, I was asked if the series would be over on Sunday.  I told them that there is a big possibility that UE would bounce back and forge a deciding game.

I was very wrong.

It’s not that I have lost my belief in the Green Archers, most especially since I was with my classmates from Andres Soriano Memorial School de la Salle that night, but because UE had swept the eliminations and has many other factors to its favor.

But then, unlike Pacquiao who delivered, UE did not and the Green Archers put the icing on the cake this season by bagging the title.

I guess seeing my classmates from my earliest years in school like our host Vina Karamihan and my Grade 2 classmates Minchu Rebaya-Decena, Marjorie Piczon-Perales and Xenia Lecaros gave me a good reason to celebrate being a La Sallian last weekend.

There were also the others like Froilan, John, Nanette, Marlyn, Mayenne, Rommel, and Yoli, who I don’t remember being in the same class with or maybe it’s age catching up on me.  Hope to see you again guys.

Animo La Salle!