Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Fan-atics

On Thursday, October 8, I announced that the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles won the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men's basketball championship and the Blue Eaglets won the juniors' title. On Saturday, October 10, their fans gathered at the grade school parking lot to honor them at a program called "Back 2 the Bonfire." The title celebrates the fact that this is also a back-to-back championship for the Blue Eagles so this is the second year in a row that we've had a bonfire. Other teams were also honored for winning championships during the first semester: the grade school basketball team, high school swimming team, high school judokas, men's judokas and men's golf team. The program ended with the lighting of the big bonfire, only the top of which I could see because we could no longer move from where we were. University administrators estimate that there were eight thousand people crammed into the parking lot that night.

the crowd at the Back 2 the Bonfire event of the Ateneo de Manila
the crowd at the Back 2 the Bonfire event of the Ateneo de Manila