Senators, foreign diplomats, cabinet ministers, a smattering of Forbes’s 40 richest Filipinos, movie stars and enough professional basketball players to play five-on-five. They are the elite of Philippine society, and they all gather at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City to watch the men’s basketball rivalry between the universities Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle.

Thus read the first paragraph from a Sports article on The New York Times. A Nation’s Passion Lives in a Rivalry of Green vs. Blue, written by Raphael Bartholomew, talks about the affluent and influential alumni of both universities, and the enormous pressure coaches and players from both sides find themselves under.

Ah well, whenever Ateneo and La Salle play against each other during the UAAP Men’s Basketball season, everything becomes second. Including the ultra-rare regular season sweep of UE and coach Dindo Pumaren, who led his cagers to a 14-0 run to automatically earn a spot in 70th season finals.

Photo credits: Fabilioh.com and Photobucket user beyondbidj.