The Final Score: How Alaska lost the finals, but won one fan's heart

Aimee Grace Tapeceria stood throughout the second half during Game Seven of the PBA Philippine Cup finals. Her seat in the Upper B section of the Araneta Coliseum proved only useful during timeouts.

She planned on being a neutral participant — she was neither an Alaska nor San Miguel fan — but Alaska’s last-gasp-comeback pulled her out of her seat. As she watched Alaska cut San Miguel’s lead from large to what-the-heck-happened, she wondered, albeit hesitantly, if she found a new team to cheer for.

 

“I wasn’t really there as a fan,” Aimee recalled. “I really wanted to be there because it was a Game Seven.”

 

She was also there to take members of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) on an immersion field trip. Watching a PBA finals game was part of their itinerary. 

 

 

Good move. Because Cesar Galvez from Peru, Stacy Lebron Banks from the US, Ruth Sendie Edmond from Haiti, Agnes Uwineza from Rwanda, Janet Odhiambo from Kenya, Zachary Lipen from Papua New Guinea, Mauricio Oliveira from Brazil, Guthe Mahaedhie from Indonesia, Felekech Desta from Ethiopia and Filipina Arlyn Agustin were all unglued from their seats and glued to the game. 

 

“We were all standing,” Aimee said. “Even the ones who weren’t following basketball said they had chills. They were in awe of the place and how the fans were getting into the game.” 

 

Cesar Galvez, a long-time fan of the Los Angeles Lakers but a first-time PBA spectator, was struck by the intensity of the game. Whenever the Peruvian saw an Alaska player hit a big shot, he would look at Aimee and exclaim, “This is amazing!” 

 

Aimee was into the game, too. But she was neither a tourist nor a first-time witness of thrilling PBA theatre. She was a Powerade Tiger fan lost in a sea of Alaska and San Miguel supporters. The We-Believe-Tigerella-Gary-David-Should-Have-Been-MVP-advocate was the interloper in the crowd. 

 

Teka nga. Why was a die-hard Powerade Tigers fan watching this particular Game Seven anyway? Aimee loved the Powerade Tigers the way Spike Lee loves the Knicks. Powerade was her team. She loved the Powerade Tigers so much, she spent many sleepless nights editing videos, splicing highlights, and producing tributes for her beloved players and favorite team. I’ve seen them all on YouTube. Grabe. Absolute labor of love, man. 

 

So when the Tigers ceased to exist, Aimee’s basketball heart wasn’t just broken, it practically turned blue, as in ice-cold, as in sub-zero, as if her heart was accidentally pierced by Elsa’s magical ray of ice in Frozen.  

 

But something about the Alaska Aces and how they tried to win, how they nearly won, and how they eventually lost warmed her spirit. 

 

“Part of me wanted to see Alaska pull through and win,” admitted Aimee, a fan of comebacks because, siyempre, every die-hard Powerade fan had to be a fan of comebacks. “But then, part of me was also proud of how Calvin (Abueva) raised the second place trophy. Parang siya pa yung nag-co-console sa mga teammates niya. And siya talaga yung nag-carry ng trophy. For me, that was sportsmanship, that was integrity.”

 

Maybe Aimee, possibly the most devoted fan of Gary David I know, found a new player to cheer for too. Here’s the only way to describe how she supported Gary David: it was as pure as it was fierce. To this day, she still believes Gary was the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2012. To this day, she bristles when she remembers how seldom Gary played as a Gilas player in Spain. 

 

As I listened to her talk about Calvin’s performance in Game Seven (she swears Calvin is more mature now), I felt her empathy for The Beast sounded very much like her empathy for El Granada. Boos don’t dissuade her. Boos are proof that she might be supporting the right fellow. I suppose it’s The Aimee Way. She seems to identify strongest for players who go against the popular flow. 

 

“I know what a lot of people say about him,” Aimee admitted. “But, I think everyone appreciates how hard he plays, yung kayod lang ng kayod, and buwis-buhay yung style of play niya.” 

 

“So is Calvin Abueva your new Gary David?” I asked.

 

After a long pause, she replied, “Siguro hindi pa ngayon. (Laughs.)” 

 

The funny part: Aimee used to be an Alaska fan. She celebrated when Alaska won the Grand Slam in 1996. She screamed for Johnny Abarrientos. She cheered for Jojo Lastimosa. But when Johnny A and Jolas left Alaska, her celebration, her screaming, and her cheering all left with them. Perhaps, what she saw in Game Seven, how Alaska made the comeback its calling card, could make her cheer for Alaska again.

 

“They don’t give up. It’s a virtue. It’s one of the values you want to teach the young. It’s the perseverance,” Aimee explained. “Because I don’t watch basketball for the analytic side of things. I look for the dramatic side of things. I look for the storyline. I look at the stories about family. When I watch Alaska, I don’t see villains. I just see a bunch of heroes there.”

 

See. It sounded like she wasn’t as torn as she thought. While she didn’t want to cheer against former Powerade and current San Miguel players Marcio Lassiter and Doug Kramer, a bigger chunk of her wanted to see former Powerade player Jvee Casio and former Powerade assistant and now current Alaska coach Alex Compton win.

 

 

Minutes after the final buzzer sounded, Aimee heard Cesar saying, “You know how that team came back, they deserved to win. It’s too bad somebody had to lose.”

 

We understand the natural phenomenon. Fans come. Fans go. Teams can fill a fan’s heart with love. Teams can likewise irreparably break a fan’s heart. When Aimee decided to watch Game Seven of the PBA Philippine Cup, she arrived as an observer but left as a believer. Hopefully, some of her wounds - the wounds only the most devoted of fans can identify - have healed. Hopefully, the experience of watching a classic Game Seven can convince the brokenhearted to care deeply anew.

 

I asked, “Do you know the schedule of Alaska’s first game in the Commissioner’s Cup?” 

 

Aimee replied, “Actually, no.”

 

“I guess Alaska hasn’t totally captured your heart yet.”

 

“No, not yet,” Aimee said. “But if there’s a team I’d watch, definitely, it would be Alaska. At least, it’s bringing me back to the league again.” — JST, GMA News