Ana Street: Sembreak, UST, and BoSox

Thursday, October 28, 2004
Sembreak, UST, and BoSox

It’s sembreak! Yay! Okay, I started the sembreak by submitting my USTET requirements. Yes, the last (hopefully, if you know what I mean) of the college entrance exams I’m taking is the University of Sto. Tomas Entrance Test. My Atenean classmate looks down on this school (a very Rizal thing to do), so for you people who share her sentiment, I shall defend my maternal family’s alma mater.

The Royal and Pontifical University of Sto. Tomas, just like the University of Oxford, was originally a school for future priests. It is the oldest existing university in Asia and the largest (in terms of student population in one campus) Catholic university in the world at that.

UST was founded in 1611 by the 3rd Archbishop of Manila. It was first called Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario, located at Intramuros. UST has a colorful history. Now 394 years-old, it was elevated to University status, when it was still Colegio de Sto. Tomas, by Pope Innocent X. It was placed under royal patronage in 1680 and, because of the valiant efforts of its administration and students in defending Manila against its British invaders (yes, we were under Britain once), King Charles III granted it the title of “Royal University.” The “Pontifical” title was given by Pope Leo XIII in 1902. That’s why if the Pope comes to Manila, or if Queen Sofia comes to visit, if there’s one place they’re supposed to visit, it’s UST.

The UST seal is a shield divided into four parts by the Dominican Cross. It bears the sun of St. Thomas of Aquinas in the center, the Papal tiara on the upper left, the lion from the seal of Spain on the upper right, the sea lion of the old seal of the City of Manila on the lower left, and a rose symbolizing the Blessed Virgin Mary of the lower right.

This is what I love about UST. I love its 1927 Main Building, its rich royal and papal connections, and how it entertains my heraldic studies.

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My first official sembreak day was greeted by happy and bad news. I completely forgot that the Math UT is on the day we get back to school, and I left all my math stuff in school. Good thing the guard said I can pick it up tomorrow. Again, absent-mindedly careless.

The good news, for BoSox fans, is that the Bambino has finally forgiven them! I must admit, albeit I’m a Yankee fan, that these Red Sox fans are amazing. Being able to remain faithful to such a cursed team is something extraordinary in itself. 86 years is enough time for people to abandon the Red Sox, but they didn’t, and props to them. In a sad note, not only did it take 86 years and total lunar eclipse, but also the death of a BoSox fan for the Red Sox to finally win again. When the Red Sox won the pennant against arch-rival NY Yankees, the usual victory riot ensued. Police, to disperse the celebrating college students, shot pepper-spray pellets, accidentally killing a female BoSox fan.

I wonder what this historic win will mean for baseball history. Will Boston finally start winning again, or is Babe Ruth just playing with them and they’ll have to wait another 86 years for the next title? Will the Yankees start losing now? I hope not. For those who aren’t aware and are more inclined to basketball, this is what the Curse of the Bambino is all about:

"Red Sox fans have felt the ecstasy of victory in their
grasps so many times, have had their fists clenched, waiting for that final out
in heady anticipation, only to be put through the agony of another lost victory.
It is a ritual that has been repeated many more times than a kinder and gentler
God would ever allow …"

-Massachusetts representative Silvio Conte, on the
floor of Congress, February 2, 1989.

The Boston Red Sox are one of the most hard-luck teams in all of major league baseball. While the club won five World Series between 1903 and 1918 [They won the first World Series], it has not won the world championship since. The team has been in the World Series four times since 1918, and has lost all four series in the seventh game. Even worse, the team has frequently been in the pennant race, only to lose-usually in spectacular fashion-down the stretch or in playoff nail-biters. Because Sox history is so troubled, a myth has developed among fans: The team, they say, is cursed. In 1920 Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold star player Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $100,000. Ruth, nicknamed "The Bambino" (Italian for "Babe") had led the Sox to three championships. He would go on to do the same for the Yankees. But the Sox have not won championships since, and fans explain the failures by insisting that the Red Sox are plagued by "The Curse of the Bambino." Even Red Sox success stories are marked by the curse. Like other baseball teams, the Red Sox retire the uniform numbers of their greatest ball players. Displayed on signs above the right field are the numbers of Sox players Ted Williams (9), Joe Cronin (4), Bobby Doerr (1), and Carl Yastrzemski (8). Proponents of the curse believe the numbers also signify something else: 9/4/18 or September 4, 1918-the eve of the first game of the last World Series won by the Red Sox.

Did you know that the teams with the 2nd-highest number of World Series titles are the St. Louis Cardinals and the Oakland Athletics, with 9 titles each? Still, it will take a long time before another team comes close to the Yankees’s 26 titles.
A bit of Philippine Baseball Trivia I heard from a Sports show: The Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, which is in such a sad state right now, is actually a tourist destination for many fans of The Game. You see, it was opened, during baseball’s heyday in the Philippines, by none other than Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth!

Baseball is one of my greatest frustrations. It’s was my first true favorite sport. If not for archery, it would have been my only favorite sport. I’m not that sporty, you see.

posted by Ana, sgtpepper72687@yahoo.com
7:21 AM

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