UAAP 78 Game Schedules

The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 78 is the latest athletic season for A.Y. 2015-2016. Hosted by the University of the Philippines, it opened on September 5, 2015 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Eight universities will be competing in fifteen sports for the general championships: Basketball, Badminton, Volleyball, Beach Volleyball, Taekwondo, Poomsae, Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Swimming, Judo, Baseball/Softball, Football, Fencing, Chess, and Track and Field. Cheerdance and Street Dance will be special events.

Here is the prepared schedule for the following games:

FIRST SEMESTER

Sport/Division	Event Host	Date	Venue
Junior's Volleyball[3]	Adamson	August 29-October, 2015	Adamson University Gym
Men's Basketball	UP	September 5-December 6, 2015*	SM Mall of Asia Arena, Smart Araneta Coliseum
Women's Basketball	UP	September 6-December 6, 2015*	Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym
Badminton (M/W)	FEU	September 19, 2015*	Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall
Cheerdance	Special Events Committee	October 3, 2015**	SM Mall of Asia Arena
Beach Volleyball (M/W)	UST	October 9, 2015	Sands at SM By The Bay, SM Mall of Asia
Taekwondo (M/W/J)	Ateneo	October 13-14 and 23, 2015	Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym, Filoil Flying V Arena
Poomsae (M/W/J)	Ateneo	October 21, 2015	Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym, Filoil Flying V Arena
Table Tennis (M/W/J)	UE	October 17-18 and 24-25, 2015	Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Swimming (M/W/J)	NU	October 22-25, 2015	Rizal Memorial Swimming Pool
Judo	La Salle	November 2015	Filoil Flying V Arena
Junior's Basketball	FEU	November 14, 2015	Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym

*on going

**concluded

SECOND SEMESTER

Sport/Division	Event Host	Date	Venue
Baseball (M/J),  Softball (W)	La Salle	January - April 2016	Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium
Football (M/W/J)	Ateneo	February 9 - April 2016	Moro Lorenzo Field, FEU Diliman Field
Volleyball (M/W)	UP	February 13 - April 2016	Smart Araneta Coliseum, Mall of Asia Arena, Filoil Flying V Arena
Chess (M/W/J)	Adamson	February 28 - March 2016	To Be Announced
Fencing (M/W/J)	FEU	February 2016	To Be Announced
Lawn Tennis (M/W)	UST	2nd week of February - March 2016	Rizal Memorial Tennis Court
Track and Field (M/W/J)	NU	2nd week of February - March 2016	ULTRA Track Oval
Streetdance	Special Events Committee	March 2016	SM Mall of Asia Arena

The game schedules were adjusted to almost two months after the usual July opening of the league during previous seasons. This is due to the shift in the academic calendars of the member universities, including Ateneo, La Salle, UP and UST. As well as, avoiding the monsoon rains or typhoon months.

25.6M Tweets is AlDub’s World-Trending Record

Will it qualify as a new Guinness World Record?

“Are you Officially Amazing™?” asks the Guinness Book of World Records to anyone who dares to be a renowned record holder, either breaking a record or setting a new record. This is the same question we raise with the recently Twitter-smashing episode of AlDub Kalyeserye show last September 26, Saturday.

On that very same day, the “second date/second actual meeting” of Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza) and Alden Richards shook Twitter with 25.6 million tweets of #AlDubEBforLOVE that might qualify as a breaking Guinness record outshining the Super Bowl XLIX episode in the US with 25.1 million tweets. As reported by GMA News Online, hashtag AlDubEBforLOVE recorded an exact total of 25,652,800 tweets from 12:00AM to 11:00PM on September 26, Saturday. They also mentioned that the episode generated 2.5 million tweets per hour.

But the Philippines’ history of breaking and setting records isn’t just for social media or the Internet. We have a fair share of official Guinness certified feats, particularly in sports. We were able to enlist personalities and events:

RAFAEL NEPOMUCENO, Bowling

The 2003 World’s Greatest International Bowler of All Time Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno holds 3 world titles: (1) most number of career titles with 130, (2) youngest world bowling champion at the age of 19 upon winning the Bowling World Cup in Teheran, Iran in 1976, and (3) for most Bowling World Cup wins of 4 in three different decades.

EMMANUEL PACQUIAO, Boxing

*The most boxing world titles won in different weight divisions is eight by Manny Pacquiao (Philippines) when he defeated Antonio Margarito (USA) to win the WBC Super Welterweight title on 13 November 2010. He has also held sanctioned belts in the WBC Flyweight, Super Featherweight and Lightweight divisions, plus The Ring Featherweight, IBF Super Bantamweight, IBO and The Ring Light Welterweight and WBO Welterweight.

LONGEST BASKETBALL GAME PLAYED

The recorded time of the longest lengthy playing basketball is 120 hours, 1 minute and 7 seconds, accomplished at the Meralco Gym in Manila, Philippines from 24-29 March 2014, organized by Asian Cable Enterprises Inc. The teams competing were Walang Iwanan & Bounce Back and ended with the score of 783 – 16, in favor of Team Bounce Back.

LARGEST GOLF EVENT

The largest amateur golf tournament is in Baguio City, called Fil-Am Golf Championship. It showcases 72-hole golf tournament for a thousand of neophyte golfers. Included in the course are par-69, 5,001-yard Camp John Hay golf course and the par-61, 4,038-yard Baguio Country Club.

LARGEST SYNCHRONIZED AEROBICS EXERCISES

The Department of Health organized the largest synchronized aerobics exercises in Rizal Park, simultaneous with Cebu City and Davao City, gathering 107,000 attendees to do a 30-minute exercise last 16 February 2013.

LARGEST ZUMBA CLASS

The largest Zumba class was participated by 12,975 yellow-t-shirt-wearing individuals in the streets of Manadaluyong City last July 2015. Previous record was also from the Philippines, Cebu City with a record of 8,232 Zumba partakers.

LARGEST BOARD GAME TOURNAMENT

*The largest board game tournament consisted of 43,157 participants playing chess and was achieved by the Cebu City Sports Commission (Philippines) in Cebu, Philippines, on 22 January 2012. The record attempt started on 13 July 2012 when 750 school teachers were trained in playing chess who then went on to teach school children. From October to December 2011 classroom tournaments were held, followed by school tournaments. The top 32 players from each of the 100 schools went on to the grand finals at the Cebu Chess Festival, where the 3,200 finalists competed from 21 to 22 January 2012 at the Cebu City Sports Center. The overall winner of the tournament was Allan Pason.

MOST PARTICIPANTS IN A RACING EVENT

*The most participants in a racing event was 116,086 at the Run for the Pasig River in Manila, Philippines, on 10 October 2010. The event consisted of three races: 3 km (1.86 mi), 5 km (3.11 mi), and 10 km (6.21 mi) runs all occuring simultaneously on different routes through the city before converging at the end of each circuit.

Let’s wait for the official announcement of record from Guinness World of Records or relationship from AlDub, whichever may come first.

*Lifted directly from the Guinness Book of World Records’ website**

Gilas Drops Defending Champion Iran, 87-73

THE 2015 FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Gilas set the second elimination round on fire upon winning game against the defending champion tyrants Iran, 87-73, in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship at Changsha Social Work College’s Gymnasium, Changsha in China, Monday, September 28, 2015.

This was the first time the Philippines had beaten the Asian basketball giant Iran after clashing them back in the William Jones Cup of 2011. Ranking 17th in the world, this is a significant first loss of Iran in the Asian basketball tournament.

This triumph would pave the way for Gilas Pilipinas to lock a slot on the quarterfinals and probably, if they would rise against the Indians, be the leading team in the playoffs. Gilas’ current No. 1 standing in Group E, holding a 3 wins-1 loss record (lastly from Iran), might avert their match from China in the knockout rounds until the finals.

This time, Jayson Castro was the one “on flames”, so to speak, in setting a performance-high of 26 points. Castro’s flares went out bigger in the third round. Following his lead was injured Andray Blatche with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Contributing to the final sealed score of 87 were Gabe Norwood’s jumper, Ranidel De Ocampo’s trey, Terrence Romeo’s two straight triples, and Calvin Abueva’s vigorous play shots.

The Philippines elevated their defense since the battle with the Asia’s best is always expected to be a hard fight to win. Fortunately, it was a struggle for I.R. Irans instead. Blatche heavily guarding the equally towering Iran star center Hamed Haddadi, resulting to two early floor fouls.

Even though Iran dominated most of the rounds, increasing their lead up to 10 points, and the Philippines continuously making significant shooting errors, the third and fourth round went to Gilas with straight triples and the aggressive Abueva’s lead. Thus, finishing the match with mighty 87-73 conclusion.   

The last battle of the second round would be with Basketball Federation of India on Tuesday, September 29, 2:30PM at CSWC Gymnasium, Changsha in China.

Debut Game, Debut Loss for Gilas

THE 2015 FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Philippine men’s national basketball team Gilas Pilipinas had fought hard and lost against Palestine today (September 23), finishing a score of 73-75 in Group B of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship at Changsha Social Work College’s Gymnasium, Changsha, China.

For the first quarter, Andray Blatche established a 16-point-lead at the first half, 28-12.

Second quarter went to Palestine with the powerful performances from Sani Sakakini and Jamal Abu Shamala. Then Gilas guard JC Intal gave a three-pointer closed the gap by 45-33. Unfortunately, Sakakini made a 7-0 run consequently making 45-40 at halftime.

Tables turned at the third quarter and the five-point advantage became four by 59-55.

Fourth quarter brought more action and the Palestine came in closer more quickly starting from 59-57, which came from Sakakini again. Three minutes left and the score went to 71-62 thanks to triples from Terrence Romeo and Intal, with and-one by Blatche. Looking at the clock, 1:34 remaining, the Palestinians’ Abu Shamala released two triples that established a 72-71 score board. With 15 minutes remaining until the buzzer, Blatche answered with a putback and Sakakini replied with a one-pointer to end the match with 75-73 in favor of Palestine.

Blatche had his best performance yet by contributing 21 points and 12 rebounds, despite being off-training for a couple of months, while Romeo made 11 markers and Jayson Castro added 10.

Meanwhile, impressive performance from Palestine came from Abu Shamala, who top-scored with 26 points and 15 boards while Sakakini scored 22 points and 14 boards.

What brought the shock even more intense is that Palestine is not a ranker at all (Gilas Pilipinas is 31^st in the world ranked by FIBA). It is a first-timer in FIBA Asia after winning third place in the West Asia championship following Lebanon and Jordan.

Seems like coach Tab Baldwin’s five-day training camp in Cebu last week didn’t payoff. Many have said that the starting line was consists of the youngsters than the veterans which paved way to hitting less goals. Even the outside shooting was more under prayers instead of being a planned shot.

Gilas will have to muster all courage, passion, and definitely skills against the rest of Group B’s members such as Hong Kong (September 24th match) and Kuwait (September 25th match). Hong Kong already had a winning debut of the group by 87-50 over Kuwait.

This year’s FIBA Asia competition serves as the qualifying event for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with only the champion moving forward to the Summer Games.

Original story from CNN.

Kristo in sabong

We all know that religion, such as Catholicism, is deeply-rooted in our culture. We also know from our history classes that religion was brought by the Spaniards when they colonized Philippines. Not only that the Spaniards introduced religion but as well as a lot of things, such as the sport of sabong. But Filipinos are known to be innovative, inventive, or creative. We just can’t settle with the original. That is why on this part of our article, we are going to discover that religion has a special place in sabong.

Jesus Christ is the son of God who lived on Earth to save mankind from their evil doing and preserved the goodness in the world. Jesus has a lot of memorable images: from the day he was born in the manger, when he was growing as a noble child, when he was baptized in the river by his brother John, when he started his painful yet divine journey with suffering. And the most significant of all, which we can see in all Catholic churches in the Philippines, is the crucified Christ. He was crucified as his punishment when Pontius Pilate tried him in front of an audience and back then, death by crucifixion was the highest sentence. It symbolizes the height of his purpose to live on earth and be the Savior of mankind. Based on stories and illustrations, Jesus Christ was crucified on wooden beams resembling a cross, which is why he is viewed arms spread-out and legs straight-down.

And this is the image that may have linked cockfighting and the Catholic religion from Magellan’s clan here in our archipelagic country. If you see a person or persons calling for bets with arms raised almost like being crucified, that is what you call a “kristo”. Jesus Christ is directly translated in Filipino as “Hesu Kristo” and since it’s a mouthful to say in an event such as sabong, it was shortened to kristo.

The kristo’s role is important because he is the designated bet collector, as well as, a help facilitating the derbies. The kristos starts the bet collection once the exhibit of cockerels starts, which also signifies the start of the derby fight.

These kristos have impressive set of skill in bet collection: hand gestures and memory. No in-depth scientific study yet, but they can remember a set of different information within the whole derby fight schedule. Without pen and paper, they can retain information about who’s who and for whom is what from the thousands of audience in the arena. Additionally, their impressive skill of maneuvering fingers to denote pricing of the bet is also a spectacular to watch. They start being kristo when they start stretching their arms to each sides and moving fingers up and down, changing the number of fingers to signify the money to bet on. For example, two fingers pointing upwards or raised up vertically means P20.00. Another is the horizontal position of fingers to indicate hundred-peso bets. And lastly, fingers pointing downwards is a sign of thousand-peso bets.

So who said religion and sport can’t go together? Only in sabong.

Original stories from here and here.

Yaya Dub’s Sports Interview

How would Yaya Dub answer a sports interview?

The ever-Twitter trending, TV-rating-record-breaker segment of the noontime show Eat Bulaga, Kalye Serye’s AlDub or now MaiDen, has already invaded even the sports arena!

Can we just imagine how can Maine Mendoza, the ©Dubmash queen, or her popular on-screen character Yaya Dub would ever answer a sports interview. Here is what I thought it would be like:

  1. Describe your exercise routine.

Start twerkin' like Miley

Twerk it like Miley

Start twerkin' like Miley

Twerk it like Miley

(Brandon Beal, “Twerk It Like Miley”)

  2. How many years have you been following this exercise?

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

(Christina Perri, “A Thousand Years”)

  3. Would you want to continue this kind of exercise?

Kaya nga ako hindi sumu-render

Ano man ang sinasabi nila

(Nadin Lustre, “Bahala Na”)

  4. What do you feel after a rigorous exercise?

I'm a survivor

I'm not gon’ give up

I'm not gon’ stop

I'm gon’ work harder

(Destiny’s Child, “I’m a Survivor”)

  5. Did you join any sports competition?

And I wonder, wonder, wonder what I'm gonna do

"Shoulda woulda coulda" are the last words of a fool

(Beverly Knight, "Shoulda Woulda Coulda")

  6. What sports do you play now?

Just keep swimming

Just keep swimming

Just keep swimming swimming swimming

(Dory of Finding Nemo, “Just Keep Swimming”)

  7. What sports would you like to play?

Basketball, basketball, tayo’y maglaro ng basketball.

Kung gusto mo’y whole court.

(Viva Hot Babes, “Basketbol”)

  8. What sports would you and Alden Richards would play together?

You do the hokey pokey

and you turn yourself around

That what it's all about

(Nursery Rhymes, “They Hokey Pokey”)

  9. What is your advice to your followers in being healthy?

Let's get physical, physical
I wanna get physical
Let's get into physical

Let me hear your body talk, your body talk

(Olivia Newton-John, “Let’s Get Physical”)

So there you have it. I bet you went singing.

**The following responses are  based on Dubmash application, existing songs and Yaya Dub’s existing Dubmash uploads in purely imaginary scenarios**
*This article was intended for a sports website*