Akala ko ba ANIMO ATENEO, BEAT LA SALLE?? ( shades of the 70's ). Paano nagyari at naarbor nang DLRT yung "animo"???

In the 70's that was our chant in the last years of our participation in the NCAA. I browsed through The Guidon from 1978 - 1980 and yep, it was there - ANIMO ATENEO!!

That's right. Remember also that in 1983, HS '58 made a recording of Ateneo cheers and songs which they called "Animo Ateneo."

I once spoke to the Ateneo Archivist, Rudy Allayban, and he insists that there is proof to show that Ateneo used the cheer "Animo Ateneo" as far back as the thirties. He even produced a pamphlet on this called "Animo Ateneo -- It's Our Cheer" (which he gladly hands out to anyone interested).

Thing is, I also remember that in the seventies, La Salle also used to cheer "Animo La Salle. Beat Ateneo." San Beda also had an "Animo San Beda" chant.

Now, who imitated whom? If you go by Allayban's story, and the fact that La Salle has a history of ripping off other school's cheers and chants (i.e., the Notre Dame Victory March, San Beda's indian chants, Letran's "SJLC Arriba Letran!," Ateneo's 8-beat), I would have to say that again, they imitated us.

Animo Ateneo!

Just to clarify Maverick, ADMU's school song is a rip off of the Canadian National Anthem. Meanwhile, there is no truth to the rumor that DLSU copied Ateneo's 8 beat, or any other NCAA (San Beda or Letran) school's cheer. What cheers of DLSU are copied from San Beda or Letran? Haydee? Rektikano? Derecho La Salle? Strawberry Shortcake? Please advise. I'm sure you won't be able to do so. Most important of all, our school song "Hail Hail Alma Mater" is an original while your school song as previously mentioned isn't.

As to who used Animo first, no one really knows. If you go to the DLSU library in Taft, you'll be able to get pictures and mementos dating back to the 30's showing Animo La Salle. For every piece of evidence Rudy Allayban will show, the DLSU library can provide you with enough materials to prove otherwise.

The best proof to settle this argument is to go back to the cheers themselves. If ADMU was the first to use Animo, then why didn't anybody include it in your cheers? DLSU's age old cheer meanwhile has Animo La Salle (to be specific, Haydee). One can surmise that the word Animo was never ADMU's to begin with.

Lastly, and this no one can dispute -- DLSU was the first school to sing its school song after an athletic event.

To summarize:

Fact 1: ADMU's school song is a rip off of the Canadian National Anthem.
Fact 2: DLSU did not copy songs from San Beda nor Letran. We do use Notre Dame's fight song since the first Brothers who arrived here were Irish (we call it Cheer Cheer for Ol' De La Salle).
Fact 3: DLSU's school song (Hail Hail Alma Mater) is an original.
Fact 4: Rudy Allayban has proof to show that ADMU used Animo way back in the 30's (I firmly believe you on this one).
Fact 5: DLSU's library has enough mementos to show that DLSU also used Animo back in the 30's, or even earlier.
Fact 6: DLSU's age old cheer Haydee has Animo La Salle, while none of ADMU's cheers use Animo. Makes you wonder why?
Fact 7: Who really used Animo first? We may never know.
Fact 8: DLSU was the first school to sing its school song after an athletic event.

Peace Maverick. Facts are facts and I have spread no lies.

MOTMM,

Just going on the record myself and addressing the facts you raised:

1. No need to go into the "Song for Mary." It's not even in issue. I never claimed Ateneo's alma mater song was not copied from another source. Though it must be pointed out that, at graduation, the Ateneo "Song for Mary" (which is also called the "Graduation Song") is printed at the back of the grad program. The song is attributed to "Music: Campos/Lyrics: Reuter, SJ."

2. The La Salle cheers:

Re: the 8-beat - I was right beside the La Salle pep at a baseball game about 2 years ago when I heard them go into the Ateneo 8-beat (in fact, right in the midst of the La Salle band at Rizal Memorial).

Re: the San Beda cheer - The portion where La Salle goes "WooooWooWooo! Animo La Salle!" - I used to hear that "WoooWoooWoo" part in the 70's as part of the San Beda cheers. It was usually chanted when the little red indians would take to the court. I don't remember La Salle cheering that part then. You can actually still hear San Beda chant this as "WoooWooWooo! Go San Beda Fight!" My Bedan father, upon hearing that chant from the La Salle side, once said "Uy, amin 'yun, a." And since I was brought to a lot of Bedan games growing up, I did remember as much.

Re: the Arriba Letran - I was present in the 70's when Letran's trademark cheering routines were their horns blasting this war chant and the "S-J-L-C! SJLC! Arriba Letran!" cheer. Though I watched a lot of La Salle games in the 70's, I never heard DLSC/DLSU cheer the "DLSU Derecho La Salle!" cheer. I was, therefore, surprised to hear a reworking of the SJLC cheer when La Salle joined the UAAP. The first time I heard the "Derecho La Salle" cheer was actually in 1987 when DLSU had revived its cheering squad.

The standard La Salle cheers in the 70's were: La Salle spelling, ZamaZipaZam, Rektikano and Go La Salle (which La Salle does not cheer anymore). Actually, the Go La Salle cheer was the trademark cheer of La Salle in the 70's since it could be cheered on and on and on. The trademark La Salle songs then were the Victory March and the Saints Go Marchin' In (which La Salle does not play anymore).

Re: the Notre Dame Victory March - Well spoken on this topic though I doubt if it's because the Brothers in the RP were Irish (though they were). The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the most popular football team in US college athletics in the 20's -- with the Four Horsemen and Knute Rockne. The Victory March was one of the most popular college fight songs then. So, La Salle probably just adopted a popular college song of that era. (For the sake of balance, it must be said that most RP NCAA colleges copied US college fight song in that era. Ateneo had "Hail, Ateneo, Hail" which was copied from the "Fordham Ram" and San Beda sang the "Cannon Song" which was copied from Princeton's "Cannon Song.")

3. You are correct. The DLSU alma mater song is an original composition by a Teehankee fellow. It made its debut among the Taft grade schoolers in the fifties. Having said that, you'll also have to concede that the Ateneo fight song, "Blue Eagle, the King" by the late Raul Manglapus is an original.

4. No argument on the Animo Ateneo thing in the 30's.

5. No argument on the 30's mementos in the DLSU library. However, I also want to point out that San Beda had its own "Animo San Beda." In fact, San Beda was unique among the NCAA schools in the fact that they had actual Spanish cheers. They may be able to claim the Animo thing from both Ateneo and La Salle.

6. Perhaps an argument on the La Salle side could be raised based on the Haydee cheer. When was it written? If it was written in the 20's then you have a good argument on the Animo thing. However, from what I know, the original La Salle cheers were Rektikano, La Salle spelling and ZamaZipaZam (I think this fact is stated in the 1924 G&W which can be checked in the DLS archives).

I was told that Haydee was a later cheer. In fact, if we go back to the 70's, I don't even remember hearing it. Not even at halftime. My LSGH friends from the 70's can't even remember being taught the cheer. It was actually kids from La Salle Zobel who remembered the cheer. Anyway, since my reference point for cheering is the 70's let's go back to those days, the last days of the NCAA. The closest thing I heard La Salle saying animo was when they would chant "Animo La Salle! Beat Ateneo!" Of course, Ateneo would respond with "Animo Ateneo! Beat La Salle!"

7. As pointed out earlier, the argument may even be won by San Beda. However, if the proof for La Salle's claim rests on the Haydee cheer and the Haydee cheer can't be dated to the 20's or 30's, then I'll have to conclude that Rudy Allayban was doing his work well.

8. I am pretty sure some Ateneans will contest this but I have no knowledge of this at all so I can't comment.

Peace to you too. Thank you for your interest.

The word "Animo" was in fact used in an Ateneo cheer, one that dated back to pre-war days. Here it is:

Animo Yell

Ho! Animo Ateneo!
Animo Ateneo!
Animo Ateneo!
Animo Ateneo!
Ready, One, Two...

Animo Blue!
Animo White!
Animo ADM--
Fight Team Fight! (repeat thrice)

Great responses from both Atty. Maverick and Rabbaddal.

Mav, the San Beda and Letran cheers you mentioned were copied from us, not the other way around. We might debate in circles on this one (which came first, the chicken or the egg?). Your #5 point though is excellent: San Beda might actually be the first one to use the word "Animo".

With regards to #8, I'm quite sure that ADMU was the first to use organized cheering during athletic events (this is undisputable), but DLSU was the first to sing its school hymn after a basketball game (or any sport for that matter).

Thank you for all the input Maverick. Your post was very informative.

Rab, I stand corrected. I've never heard of this ADMU cheer, but I firmly believe you on this one. I did some research on ADMU cheers before my first post, but I guess due to the age of the "ADMU Animo Yell", it was lost somewhere in time.

Mav, good luck with your law practice. Rab, whenever people ask you where you took your MBA, please say Columbia, and not CSB (for Columbia School of Business). Others might think CSB stands for College of Saint Benilde (hehehe, just joking dude). Peace to you both!

MOTMM,

I guess on the chicken and egg situation regarding the Letran, San Beda and La Salle cheers, we can just agree to disagree. Perhaps, this would be a great topic for discussion over a few beers someday, wouldn't you agree?

Your point on who's first in organized cheering and singing school songs after athletic meets is also very well taken and informative.

On the Animo Yell posted by rabbaddal, I can personally vouch for this cheer. If I am not mistaken, it's contained in the Ateneo cheer booklet called "On Wings of Blue" or the white booklet that some college org (I believe IBA) printed during the 1988 championship run. I think the Archives has a copy of these.

Best wishes and peace to you too. No need to use the attorney tag. We're not in court. Thanks for the reply.

Maverick,

To make it easier, you can find this cheer posted on the Ateneo HS website. It's one of those cheers put together by Lamberto Javellana back in the 1920s/30s.

rabbaddal,

Thanks for the info.

If Avellana did that cheer in college, it's probably in the thirties then. Avellana was a contemporary of de la Costa and Paredes. He was a member of College Class '37.

Regards.

[QUOTE]That's right. Remember also that in 1983, HS '58 made a recording of Ateneo cheers and songs which they called "Animo Ateneo."

I once spoke to the Ateneo Archivist, Rudy Allayban, and he insists that there is proof to show that Ateneo used the cheer "Animo Ateneo" as far back as the thirties. He even produced a pamphlet on this called "Animo Ateneo -- It's Our Cheer" (which he gladly hands out to anyone interested).

Thing is, I also remember that in the seventies, La Salle also used to cheer "Animo La Salle. Beat Ateneo." San Beda also had an "Animo San Beda" chant.

Now, who imitated whom? If you go by Allayban's story, and the fact that La Salle has a history of ripping off other school's cheers and chants (i.e., the Notre Dame Victory March, San Beda's indian chants, Letran's "SJLC Arriba Letran!," Ateneo's 8-beat), I would have to say that again, they imitated us.

Animo Ateneo!

Maverick, huwag ka kasi sulat ng sulat ng info na walang credible source. napapahiya tuloy ang alma mater natin.

Animo was originally an Ateneo cheer.

The Ateneo fielded the first cheering squad in the Philippines.

Here are some articles from the 2005 Ateneo planner, found on www.ateneo.edu


Ateneo Songs And Cheers

The Ateneo’s success in athletics was renowned even before the NCAA began. Intense games were fought before rather disorganized and rambunctious Atenean spectators. To help cheer the Ateneo squad on, the Jesuits decided that the Ateneo ought to have some sort of organization in its cheering. As a result of their effort, the Ateneo introduced organized cheering to the country by fielding the first-ever cheering squad in the Philippines.

The Ateneo was a proud pioneer. There were even arguments about how the Ateneo’s brand of cheering is both unique and rooted in classical antiquity. In the 1959 Ateneo Aegis, Art Borjal argues:

“It all started about 2,000 years ago along the Via Appia in Rome. The deafening cheers of Roman citizens, lined along the way, thundered in the sky as the returning victorious warriors passed by…The type of cheering that the Ateneo introduced was, in a way, quite different from that of the Romans. When the warriors came home in defeat, the citizens shouted in derision and screamed for the soldiers’ blood. To the Atenean, victory and defeat do not matter much. To cheer for a losing team that had fought fairly and well is as noble, if not nobler, than cheering for a victorious squad.”

The words of some of the cheers seem incomprehensible or derived from an exotic tongue. Loud, rapid yells of “fabilioh” and “halikinu” mean to rally the team and to intimidate and confuse the enemy gallery. Meanwhile, fighting songs help inspire the team, and to “roll out the victory.” The united crowd, a Blue Babble Battalion, enlivens the team “under banners of white and fair blue.”

A Song For Mary


Up to the time that the Ateneo de Manila had moved to Loyola Heights, the school anthem was “Hail Ateneo, Hail”, a song of triumph, of marching on to victory with loyalty. However, the move from Padre Faura to Loyola Heights seems to have evoked change. The new campus stood for something new, something nobler.

Fr. James Reuter, S.J. wrote a song that seemed to embody the “newness” that permeated the new Ateneo. It, perhaps, better suited what the school is all about.

“We stand on a hill between the earth and sky. Now all is still where Loyola’s colors fly. Our course is run and the setting sun ends Ateneo’s day. Eyes are dry at the last goodbye; this is the Ateneo way.

Mary for you! For your white and blue! We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, constantly true! We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, faithful to you!

Down from the hill, down to the world go I; rememb’ring still, how the bright Blue Eagles fly. Through joys and tears, through the laughing years, we sing our battle song: Win or lose, it’s the school we choose; this is the place where we belong!

Mary for you! For your white and blue! We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, constantly true! We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, faithful to you!

Its music is adapted from Calixa Lavalée’s music to the hymn “O Canada”, composed in 1880, which is why many people believe that the Ateneo copied the music of Canada’s national anthem. However, it is interesting to note that Canada only adopted “O Canada” as its own national anthem in 1980. The Ateneo de Manila adopted “A Song for Mary” as its alma mater song three decades earlier.

“A Song for Mary” speaks more clearly and more ardently from the Atenean’s heart. Life is not merely about competition or about assailing enemies “in strong array.” The struggle is, as in chivalry, for one’s Lady. And the Ateneo’s own Lady is no less than Mary, the Mother of God, and our own mother. The aim is not merely victory, but steadfast faith and commitment—to keep “constantly true”, whether we win or lose.

The song also speaks of a purpose higher than to “win our laurels bright,” a greater challenge than being able to “do or die.”

The song declares that we go “down from the hill, down to the world,” to live, to give, and to serve.

That is the Ateneo way.

Time to reclaim the ANIMO cheer!!!!

ANIMO ATENEO!!!

animo ateneo. inamo la salle.

Yan din ang alam kong cheer na 'Animo Ateneo' eh.

Animo Ateneo nga!!!

Animo Ateneo.

Amin na La Salle.

Animo Ateneo. ONE BIG FIGHT!

Amin na La Salle. CANT BEAT ATENEO!