The Philippine entry to the 2013 FIVB World Championship qualifiers
had a so-so performance which is still hard to accept. We know how talented and
passionate our girls are. Again, it's not their fault. With the proper training and support, (think of
Pacquaio’s extravagant team and special trips to special venues to have special
trainings) our girls can be a worthy opponent for Thailand in the SEA Games.
So
knowing that there are now some groups pushing for the formation of the
Philippine Women’s Volleyball Team, I think it’s also time to start building
the MEN’s team!
While
watching the men’s finals yesterday, I realized I was watching some of the best
male volleyball players in the country. Of course, the present NU men’s
volleyball team was there but there were also some veterans from other teams. The veterans actually played really well considering that they're not really well-conditioned for the game. Some of them like Chris Macasaet was grimacing while being strecthed saying "I haven't done this in two years!". While watching the exchange of awesome spikes and nasty staredowns (I actually loved this part. The younger NU boys did not get intimidated by the likes of Macasaet, De la Vega and Lee who were showing classic LaSallian court attitude), it suddenly occurred to me, wait. We don't have a men's volleyball team yet, right? Whoa.
Not having a national men's volleyball team would be a HUGE waste of talent and an actual insult to these talented men who, I believe, if asked to play for the country would drop whatever they're doing and say yes!
Not having a national men's volleyball team would be a HUGE waste of talent and an actual insult to these talented men who, I believe, if asked to play for the country would drop whatever they're doing and say yes!
So if the gods and goddesses of Philippine sports will form a National Men's Volleyball Team, here's my list of well-qualified players (in random
order):
Ateneo’s AJ Pareja Best
Attacker and Season’s MVP UAAP 72
DLSU’s Chris Macasaet Best Scorer UAAP 72, Best Blocker UAAP 70
UST’s JP
Torres Best Scorer, Best Attacker and Season’s MVP UAAP 73
FEU’s JR
Labrador Best Scorer and Finals MVP UAAP 74
FEU’s Pitrus
Paolo De Ocampo Seasons 73-74 Best Setter
NU’s Peter Torres ROY
UAAP 73, Best Attacker UAAP 74, Best Attacker and Finals MVP UAAP 75
NU’s Vince Mangulabnan ROY UAAP 74, Best Setter UAAP 75
UST’s Mark Gil Alfafara Season MVP and Best Blocker UAAP 75
Great subs: FEU's Arvin Avila, DLSU-Dasma's Ran-Ran Abdilla, NU’s Reyson Fuentes and Berlin Paglinawan, DLSU’s
Red Christensen and AdU’s Ronjay Galang.
Did I miss any great player? Who's on your list?
(all photos were taken from the web. :D)
(all photos were taken from the web. :D)
i don't know anything bout men's volleyball yet, like real zero. I was new to the sports volleyball but i only got hooked because of Alyssa Valdez and so you can say im only after the female volleyball team which is now getting an enormous popularity.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, i think any of the men's volleyball team will get a real spotlight too and by then fans can now start to make their own list of favorite team the way you do.
Nice article anyway ;)
I used to ignore the men's games before too. I was like, okay, come on now finish your games so I can watch the girls.
ReplyDeleteBut after seeing some of their games, I learned to appreciate the power, the speed, the complexity of their plays. I also found their staredowns and taunting really fun to watch especially when the spiker and blocker start to have some heated exchange of dagger looks.
I just feel like since we are advancing the creation of a good national team for the women, we might as well start building the men's team right? :D
Actually, you missed quite a lot but that's understandable since you've only been following volleyball in the recent years. You have to check out UP MVT in the late seasons of UAAP 60+/(early UAAP 70s). Lots of swag and firepower, and the plays during those seasons were A LOT quicker (just my observation) than the men's plays last UAAP 75.
ReplyDeleteI like your list. We will have a bright future in Mens Volleyball..
ReplyDeleteSana may formal volleyball training camp dito sa Pilipinas.
ReplyDeleteThat's not JP Torres. That's John Depante. You should include UP's Magtoto (perennial best setter) and Belgado (perennial best blocker).
ReplyDeleteAdU's Ronjay Galang
ReplyDeleteTry ian dela calzada from feu he's great :)
ReplyDeleteRocky Honrade
ReplyDeletewhere's MARK LEE?
ReplyDeleteThe battle isn't going to end soon, with the cable organizations usually looking for more money from stream nfl games associates to availability NFLN.
ReplyDelete