Recently, the Philippines has made its presence felt in the global sports scene because of the achievements of athletes such as Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, Efren “Bata” Reyes, as well as Everest climbers Leo Oracion, Erwin Emata, Romy Garduce, Janet Belarmino, Karina Dayondon, and Noelle Wenceslao. This seems to imply that all is well in the arena of sports in the country.

If UP’s culture of excellence is to apply to sports, shouldn’t sports get the same support that other fields get? Two or three classes everyday, stacks of readings, trips to the library, morning and afternoon swimming practice, group meetings, occasional visits to the varsity office, and workouts. And then there’s eating, doing homework, and sleeping, plus the occasional show watched on TV or night out with friends.

Spirits run high in various universities when July comes around. After all, the month ushers in one of the most anticipated events in the school year, the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season. The UAAP is practically synonymous with college sports, and in UP, athletes in this league get the most attention, as well as moral and financial support.

At first glance, Nicole Wuthrich looks like anything but an athlete. Lean and petite, she looks more like the typical girl-next-door than the sports jock. That is, until she dons her dobok.

I used to be a shameless, hardcore, die-hard local basketball fan.

The fanaticism for the sport began in the late ’80s, when I fell in love with Shell’s then-rookie, Benjie Paras. I had clippings of Benjie’s photos from newspapers and magazines kept in a small security-number-protected cashbox. I wrote him letters typed on perfumed stationery, using the conventional Ta-ka-tak typewriter. Barely four feet tall at the time, my admiration for the player was way bigger than myself.

The University’s celebration of its Centennial, has brought on a lot of elegizing of the UP spirit, with such buzzwords as “commitment to excellence” and “service to the country.”