The Final Score: FEU Tamaraws hoping second round woes are over

 

“Ano ba nangyayari sa FEU kapag second round?” I asked during a preseason interview.

 

FEU’s veteran playmaker Mike Tolomia laughed, although it was an awkward laugh — the kind of laugh that was usually designed to mask pain. Alam niyo yung kahit gaano kabigat ng problema, kaya natin idaan sa tawa? Yun. It was a short burst of laughter stirred by prolonged frustration.

 

Then, Mike paused and stayed silent for about ten seconds. Ten seconds, it seemed, gave him enough time to plunge into the past. You remember what happens to FEU in the second round of UAAP tournaments. After the first 8 games, a different FEU team suddenly emerges, one that inspires more dysfunction than continuity. 

 

Oh, Mike remembers. The second round: when holy crap happens. 

 

Maybe the problem was a player. Maybe the problem was the coach. Maybe the problem was everything all at once. And during FEU’s annual tailspin during the last stretch of the eliminations, the wheels, brakes, doors, windows, and headlights all fall off. It was misery like clockwork. You don’t even have to be a fan of the Tamaraws to feel bad for the team. 

 

Mike stared off into space, completely oblivious to the sound of bouncing basketballs and teammates’ chatter inside the FEU Diliman Gym. I felt guilty for asking him to go on a personal flashback to frustration. But the question needed to be asked. He needed to answer. So he went back to a place he wanted to forget but had to remember. 

 

“Sakit,” Mike said. “Masakit. Masakit. Siguro sa akin, halos lahat ng taon na nilaro ko, ganun eh. Lahat ng panghihinayang nasa amin lagi. Hindi ko rin maintindihan kung bakit nangyayari. Wala akong sagot.”

 

Ano nga ba ang sagot?

 

Paano ba malalaman ang sagot kung mahirap din ipaliwanag kung ano ang nagiging problema?

 

How does holy crap happen?

 

How do they prevent holy crap from happening again?

 

“Pa’no mo babaguhin yun?” I asked.

 

“Double effort.” Mike answered.

 

Double effort? Ha? Yun na yun? That was his two-word reply to a question that begged for an extensive answer. Double effort? Bitin. Eh sana he modified the mother of all Pinoy basketball clichés na lang and said, “Kailangan lang mag-double-step-up.”

 

Then again, Mike surely spent many sleepless nights attempting to solve the riddle that has plagued their teams in the past. It’s like trying to complete a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle with just 98 pieces. Masyadong mahirap balikan. Masyadong mahirap ipaliwanag. How do you comprehensively explain something that’s best encapsulated with silence?

 

Okay. Double effort it is. 

 

In a way, Mike understood that the best way to cope with their dramatic past was to reply with the least dramatic answer. In a way, that has been the Tamaraws’ method in 2014. Just like double effort, everything can be accomplished in just two words. Less pressure. More success. Less drama. More victories. 

 

FEU leads the UAAP at 9-2. Even if FEU had to scramble to beat UP in their last assignment, you know what, we’re not talking about FEU, knock on wood, the way we’re used to talking about FEU, knock on wood, when they have three games left (against Adamson, UE and Ateneo in that order) in the second round. Knock on wood.

 

The Tamaraws are in prime position heading into their last four games. You can see it. This FEU team is different. They give off a different vibe. They don’t need to be better compared to the FEU teams of the recent past. They don’t need to be more talented than previous rosters. After watching them play in their first 11 games, you realize all they really needed was to be different this year. 

 

I can ask Mike now, “Anong nangyayari sa inyo sa second round this year?” He can come up with a long answer, yung more than just two words, if he wanted. He won’t have to laugh like he’s hiding the pain. He won’t have to stare off into the past. Maybe this time, holy crap doesn’t have to happen. Knock on wood. In what has been up until this point a spectacle-free season, Mike Tolomia can just say everything in two quick sentences. “So far. So good.” — JST, GMA News/Photo by KC Cruz