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Team 81 wins game 1 vs Batch 89! Clamor grows for organizers to declare a champion as tournament drags past 2008!
By Oscar de la Hoya
ESPN (December 14, 2008)
Manila - In a stunning display of ideal 40+ year old conditioning worthy of Manny Pacquiao, Team 81 outran and upset heavily favored, twice-to-beat Batch 89 earlier today, 60-51.
Jumpstarted by Sta. Lucia big boss Ahorny Ariel Magno, who lit up the court with 2 3-pointers and a running and rolling drive, to take Team 81 to an immediate 8-0 lead. It was a lead that was never relinquished as the handsome veterans fed off Magno's energy and took the rest of the game with a totally balanced effort.
In the preliminary game, Batch 2002 dispatched a fiery and spirited Batch 84/85 to advance to the semifinals.
As it now stands, only Team 81 and Batches 82/83, 88, 89, 2000, and 2002 remain alive in the race to be crowned champions of the UPIS Interbatch Tournament.
In a related development, last Friday, about 7,000 fans rallied against the tournament organizers in Ayala to protest the failure of the organizers to crown a champion before the new year. While this is not entirely the fault of the organizers, fans pointed out that Chinese feng shui experts have determined that it is bad luck for the tournament to drag past 2008.
There is now a growing clamor to just simply declare a champion based on current standings - and let's see, based on their last games, Batches 82/83, 88, 89, 2000, and 2002 have all lost - convincingly! - to Team 81.
It only makes perfect sense to this reporter therefore to end the tournament right now, and declare Team 81 as the Champion of the league! It would be a fitting and ideal end to a remarkable run, especially as Team 81 has already declared that they are retiring after this Season.
Athletes going out on top of their game - how often will we be blessed to see such an inspiring sight?!!
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