Care to share your comments about Macky Escalona's article?

http://www.atenista.net/digest/macky.php

You have to admire the kid for standing up for the coaching staff just as much as Ford was out for blood when he wanted to tear off the head of an alumnus. I would like to tell him however, that the source of frustration is not only losing one game but the dismal performance of the second round of the UAAP and the PBL.


Here are some excerpts from the article...



Macs, no one is really anticipating a disaster so that they can gang up on our coach. Nobody wants to lose especially the players and coaching staff.

You have to understand that the blow outs in the second round and the poor performance in the PBL already have indications something is indeed wrong with the system. Losing to UP just blew the lid off Mt. Frustration.

This is actually an opportunity for the team to be more united than ever before and prove your critics dead wrong!




I must agree with you that the attack of that certain alumnus was uncalled for and it is indeed a shame and it is awfully embarrassing.

We will continue to support the Blue Eagles and if the decision is to keep the coaching staff then so be it. You will see most of us cheering our souls out because we believe in the Blue Eagles. We will shall expect to see the heart of the fighting Blue Eagle fly high once again.

Thanks, 6dbreezeof. Macky would appreciate these very encouraging words from you.

i wonder if FGT will be ghostwriting an article for joseph yeo in the near future

Taga-translate naman siguro ano

Sample article from Ryan Arana:

I Play for La Salle (pre FGT-edit version)
By Ryan Arana

I play for la salle. I am a good basketball player. We are the world champions of the Philippines. Ateneo is bad. La Salle is good. We are the championship many many times.

Our coach is good. He is sometimes bad. But pass is pass. He is now good because we win.

Good luck to Mac-mac. Mac is good. In the PBA, he will be gooder!

To all our supporters, keep up the support. Many many thanks.

Hellerz,
Ryan Arana

hahaha funny shit pare

Yes Macky, we will give our hearts out by cheering for the Blue Eagles in the coming season but the players have to play their hearts out also. Saddly we did not see that in the UP game. We even hardly saw Ateneans play in the PBL.

Sometimes that bunker mentality isn't good.

Sometimes some people just have to wake up and smell the coffee.

And no, it wasn't just one alumnus. The guy is just getting all the flack, but there were a lot. Admin knows. Again, context.

Now, no use hiding behind fantasy. Time to dig in and get the work done.

If i were sandy reading all these feedback, i would resign. that is the honorable thing to do. i would give ateneo the free hand to choose a coach. that is the honorable thing to do. or allow a true search for a coach. that is the least a loyal atenean can do. i will not desperately hold on to my position because of a contract. Lipa did the honorable thing for fedex.

sandy dont hold on to your position. think of the bigger picture. RESIGN AND GIVE THE TEAM A CHANCE.

THAT ALUMNI IS NOT ALONE!!!

Translations, anyone? (Paging Joseph Yeo and Macmac Cardona)

Haha.

Ok, I'll stop now.

Anyway, it's good that Macky wrote about his .02 on this entire shiet. It's good that the players themselves are heard. We hardly hear anything from them kasi.

Macky, thank you so much, bro. I look forward to more of your writing. Kudos for being the voice of your teammates.

i firmly believe that if we choose a coach, we live with our decision. we chose him so give him time. if he fails so be it. after his contract expires , dont renew it. lets help them do their job. not be an obstructionist. a heckler. these are more counter productive. let the coaching staff and players concentrate on the goal. not be a pesky fan who does nothing tangible but create a deepening divide between the fans and the team. people should look at the big picture than just winning.

i am sorry. we are not hecklers.
why recruit the best players when we dont try to recruit the best coach.
why live with a mistake when we should correct it?
winning is not everything but to be blown out season after season?
give sandy a chance to develop?
what is the trend: lee pipes UAAP final four, addict mobile and up ateneo blow out - can you see a steady improvement or a continuing persistent dismal performance -
it is sheer blindness not to see the pattern,
yes ateneo has a contract with sandy. It is now on sandy to do the honorable thing.

Like Ford standing up for the coaching staff, Macky may just have sealed a slot in next years team after his article.

what was that again??


he could have at least............

I agree, we have nt seen any improvement in the teams game. They are still lost in offense and they regressed from good d to no d.

Some of the players may have improved individually, skills wise but the question is did they develop the right skills?! Has JC improved his outside shooting?; Has Aquilar been given ample playing time? Has his mid-range shooting improved?;Etc.......

The team members may be stronger and more experienced for this season but have they improved on thier free-throw shooting and minimized their turn-overs?

Now where does the problem evolve from? The players?

It has been posted in another thread that Caoch Norman has been pushing our players to the limit in every practice but why the blow out in the UP game? Why the blow-out losses in the other tournaments?

In the PBL they got good non-Ateneo players to play for AMP-Ateneo but the team kept on loosing.

macky...i BELIEVE in the BLUE EAGLES!. i know that its a rough road,but i will KEEP ON BELIEVING!. Because I LOVE ATENEO!. after all this brouhaha is through i hope that each and everyone of you would come out stronger and more courageous in your effort to bring back once more the crown to loyola.

i may be disappointed on how you guys played in the champs league...but i will never ever tire of supporting and cheering my lungs out in every game that the eagles play. Because I LOVE ATENEO!.

i think its about time that we all...come together and rally behind the team.

goodluck guys in your future games!

always give them that ONE BIG FIGHT!


PEACE!

Apparently, Mac Cardona refused to be outdone. Stumbled upon a draft of his farewell letter, a short yet compelling piece:

[FONT=Impact][SIZE=14]ANIMO LA SALLE!!!

[COLOR=green]To my fellow Lasalians:

Thanks for your confident in me thru the years. Because of all of you, I am confident that I will success in the Philippine Basketball Asociation. Because of all of you, I am a good player. Because of all of you, I have 2 champioship tropis. Because of all of you, I love LA SALLE.

I am sad. Sad because I'll leave LA SALLE, my home sweet home. But I am happy. Happy because I'll play in the PBA, my new home sweet home. To my teamets, good lack to all of you. To Coach Franz, good lack too, you are the best.
To the La Salle people, keep smiling, keep shining, and shouting the ANIMO! Thanks, Thanker and Thankest!

Loving you,

Mac-mac

PS: I love peace. I promise that if I am good now, I will be gooder in the PBA. Magpapasampal ulit ako. Pero ang mahalaga hindi ako mananampal. That's the ANIMO LA SALLE!!!

Isn't it a beauty? Heartrending too. A real class. Apparently, Mac-mac went through several drafts before submitting this particular piece to a special group of editors composed of former La Salle stand-outs, Zandro Limpot, Johnedel Cardel, and Mark Clemence Telan.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

i think that's a great article by macky escalona. it's a candid view of the difficulties of being a student athlete in the most scrutinized basketball program in the UAAP. sometimes we just gotta let these kids experience life outside the fishbowl.

Macky could have refined his column some more with staider arguments, but for once, we are being addressed by someone coming from the inside, one who knows what really is going on.

The kid spoke in behalf of his teammates. He was man enough to address the scrutinizing spectators that they are adding more pressure to the already too-pressured team.

I think what he's trying to say is "Do us a favor and just shut the hell up." These kids are tired of being analyzed like laboratory specimens. Sure, they are in a sport that generates mass support and viewing, but some people should know when to keep their distance. Some people should stop analyzing their games way too much.

If this is the case, all I can tell him is welcome to basketball. They in a way become public property but this should be limited to hoops only. Walang personalan.

I wonder if it was a DLRT or UP Alumni who shouted at Sandy, would Ford have reacted in the same way? Would Macky write his article?

Kung galit na galit sila sa pag sigaw ng isang Ateneo Alumni sa kanila ano pa kaya kung galing sa ibang iskwela yun?!

How will they handle on court trash talking?

6dbreezeof,

I'm pretty sure Macky knows that, but I believe in his article he raised this point:

In this particular case, each offers his/her expertise (or the lack thereof) on this sport that generates so much passion that – collectively – we all share.

Some spectators just scrutinize their games way too much that the essence of the sport is lost.

Mr Gotti:

I think it is exactly because it came from an Atenean that they reacted that way. They may have taken it differently or even altogether ignored it if it came from anyone else. It hurt kasi that it was a member of the community who did it!

Of course everybody is entitled to his opinion and he even may be justified in his calling for Sandy's resignation but it was the manner, the timing and where this opinion was expressed that got to the boys.

I'd rather we didn't join the Champions League if we were not prepared or were exhausted or if some of our marquee players were "catching up" on their studies. Just like La Salle. We didn't have to be humiliated that way on national television.
The Lady Blue Eagles certainly didn't have those problems did they? Congrats!

i don't really think it was macky's intention to make excuses (and there are valid excuses, by the way) nor lash out at the extreme behavior of a few ateneo alumni. rather, what he's trying to express is that if alums felt terrible and discombobulated at the outcome, what more the players who had to actually play that particular game, who had to see the game through till the forgettable end? sometimes i feel some people here don't realize how particularly draining it is for the coach and players to come off a hard loss.

now if certain quarters are pressing for a review of the basketball program, including a reevaluation of the coaching staff, then fine, i have no quarrels with that. i do know that some people's opinions and views bear considerably more weight than mine, and if it is their wish to express that aforementioned line of thinking, then no problem, sirs and mesdames. it's an online forum where a marketplace of ideas are expressed, discussed, examined, proven and even rebutted. that's why it pays to be receptive to a broad spectrum of ideas and opinions and have a healthy degree of skepticism to make the most of this new medium.

all i'm trying to say, though, is that walking a mile in someone else's shoes can be quite helpful in understanding how his views came about. let's be circumspect in reading macky's opinion piece, which i must say is a finely-written essay.

p.s. the grapevine says FGT has already agreed to ghost-write joseph yeo's article in a bid to prove that there are also well-rounded DLSU student-athletes. its working title: "bet you didn't know that"

I think may pag-asa manalo ng palanca award itong sulat na ito. Sa akin lang, sana
he ended it by simply saying "hellerz" like Ryan Arana. Kasi sa totoo lang, parang ang corny nung loving you.

I wasn't saying Macky was making excuses. It is just the coaching staff should have recommended NOT to participate in the CHAMPIONS League if they knew we wouldn't be able to field a competitive team. UP deserved better as well as the fans of Ateneo basketball.

We all agree however that FGT is already busy making several drafts of MacMac's
goodbye speech. I am not sure though if I want to hear MacMac deliver it. Hehe. You Cubao are making me say bad things. Hehe.

gee, natatakot si FGT na baka ang piliing speech ni macmac ay yung gawa ni wonderboynastyman natin, kaya umuusok yung CPU niya dahil maghapon at magdamag naka-on! kuhang-kuha kasi ni wonderboy yung speech and thought patterns ni macmac

Just got info from my bubwit that FGT is indeed editing several essays by the green archers as we speak.


1) The Hard Way by Jospeh Yeo
(pre-edit title: Ah, basta, puro math and accounting... mahirap.)

2) What La Salle Has Given Me by Jerwin Gaco
(pre-edit title: Yan ang binigay ng Lasalle, eh.)

3) The Important Things In Life by Ryan Arana
(pre-edit title: mas importante yan kesa exam)

4) On Top Of The World by Mac-mac Cardona
(pre-edit title: We are the world champions of the philippines)

Allegedly, these papers will appear in a journal featuring literary contributions from La Salle's all-time basketball greats. However, recognizing the difficulty in coming up with a good compilation, editors and publicists have decided to limit the entries to these potentially bestselling pieces.

The "mini-journal" will therefore read: [COLOR=green]LOST IN TRANSLATION...ANO NGA ULIT COURSE NATIN?[/COLOR]

Its definitely a MUST-HAVE!

In related developments, publicists have expressed interest in writing Chad Alonso's, the heralded enforcer of the Adamson Falcons, biography, the title of which will read: KILL 'EM ALL: The Untold Story Of Chad Alonso. Some suggested that the title, BLOOD, SWEAT, AND MORE BLOOD is more suitable. Others just couldn't care less.

Alam nyo ba kung bakit ginawa ni macky yang article na yan? Kasi naman po para pagtanggol nila ang sarili nila sa mga nangaapi ng mga players katulad nyo. Kapag natatalo sila todo panglalait nyo hindi nyo makita ang hirap nila, pati rin ang players ng ibang school niloloko nyo eh pare-pareho rin ang mga nararamdaman ng mga players na yan. Gawan daw ba ng mga fake na articles at babuyin sa maling english! Ang mga gumagawa nyan ang mukhang walang pinagaralan at mga bulok na nahalo sa magagandang prutas.

Attention:

All posters are to refrain from insulting other players because Scream says its BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.

I AM SO ASHAMED!!!!


HUHUHUHUHU!!!!

hey, do as the church lady tells you to. ok na ba yun, scream?

There's a report that puro bagsak daw grades ni macmac sa lasal kaya going pro na ...

i dunno what FGT has to say to this pero balita ko siya ang tutor ni macmac, kaya kung may dapat sisihin kung bakit puro bagsak si macmac, well...

Si Scream ayaw siguro tayong maging friends. Para siyang 'yung isang kaibigan ni Cubao, parang batang musmos, kapag hindi ka na niya gusto hindi ka na niya bati, at ayaw ka na niyang isali. Scream, tanong mo kay Cubao kung sino ito, bagay kayong maging friends!

As for me, I can appreciate how bad the players might have felt performing the way they did this past UAAP and PBL seasons. But I also do not think that this is enough reason to keep under-performing players / coaches / managers / etc. in Ateneo's basketball program. The competition will not cut them any slack just because they are playing with hurt feelings. It's just a matter of fact that they have to play better then everyone else in the league for them to become champions, and no amount of well-written essays and articles can change this.

I also do not think that the manner and timing of some alumni in venting their frustrations against the team was inappropriate. On the contrary, I think it was very appropriate. From a fan's perspective, it seemed to me that the people involved in the program have been burying their heads under the ground and refusing to listen to the sentiments of the fans and observers. It was only a matter of time before the team got a piece of this sentiment.

Then again, this has always been the ways of the entrenched, whether in sports, education or business. If they have a comfort zone, they will do everything they can to stay in that zone and find creative ways not to be held accountable – and the most common mechanism used by Filipinos besides wheeling and dealing is trivializing. They try to give a special meaning or a different angle to deflect attention to the real issue. They appeal to emotions, but never quite address the problem head-on. So, unless the process by which the basketball program is governed is made more transparent and objective, expect to see more of these emotional essays and less games won.

rabbaddal
i agree with you 100%. sobra nang tagal na indecisive ang mga decision makers, literally burying their heads in the sand, perhaps hoping the problem will go away.

in Organizational development principles, the reaction of the alumni was just the critical incident that exploded because of long simmering frustrations at the way the team was being slaughtered, a fate which many alumni felt the sufficiently talented team did not deserve.

we are hoping that the committee in charge will have made the needed bold decision.

Look at cleveland. I believe Paul Silas is a good veteran coach. but when things don't work out, coaches get changed. and players with the wrong chemistry or attitude get traded. Lipa must have had more than a one year contract with FedEx. etc

what we need is phil jackson to be the next head coach of ateneo, if only to satisfy the championship cravings of the alumni. this is getting oh so tiresome indeed...

i'm really quite amazed how some people get so worked up at the fate of coach sandy arespacochaga at the end of one freaking season. not to defend coach sandy or whatever (god knows how many times i've also questioned a few of his coaching calls), but i've come to the conclusion that other people's judgments don't really define what sandy a. is as a coach and as a person. they simply define their need to be judgmental.

Hindi naman sa ganun, mali lang talaga ng pananaw ang ibang tao dito, sana lang kasi suportahan natin yun players hindi yung ibagsak pa sila lalo.

Kama, it's all about expectations.

Higher expectations equal a higher probability of being left dissatisfied.

Sandy inherited only the last few remnants of a championship team. Contrary to what most people think, our team wasn't that strong pound for pound. Sure we had LA and JC, but aside from a few projects, there was not too much athleticism and experience inbetween.

The thing is, some people just can't accept the fact that the tools weren't ready to get the job done. They say japeth didn't get enough playing time... jc was not used properly... LA was given the wrong plays... the substitution patterns sucked... etc. etc.

Few of these experts are man enough to admit that our team was outplayed by better players on the court.

This is exactly why they invented viagra.

Off-Topic: You know they had to invent a special coffin for those who died of viagra? Ordinary coffins won't close, they say.

Back to the topic...

I think these people would be happier if there were improvements in the team. Saddly, wala yatang improvements from last year. In fact it seems that the team regressed as seen in the UP game.

I agree that Sandy needs more time. I say let him have it by being an assistant coach again. Let somebody else coach.

so are you suggesting that we should have been at our peak in that UP encounter?

sir, if you have any foggy notion of periodization, the team should be training in a manner that they would be at their peak AT THE UAAP GAMES, NOT IN ANY POST- OR PRESEASON UAAP TOURNAMENTS!!! what do you say to the fact that UP got trounced by 21 points by adamson in the MICABA semis?

sir, for your own sake, please look up the concept of periodization and learn why we shouldn't be expecting peak performance each and every time.

I never said anything about peaking. What I mean is that the team should have laready improved from last year. I and many others did not see any improvement from last year.

Gano katagal ba ang kailangan nila para sa periodozation na yan?


So what if UP gat beaten badly by Adamson! I don't care about them!