The Final Score: In a stunning loss, Adamson clearly won
By MICO HALILI
"I suppose we should try to find something better or worse to shed tears for than a game, no matter how hard it has been played, but perhaps it is not such a bad thing to see that men can cry at all." - Roger Angell
Always almost but not quite.
The pain of trying can reduce even the jockiest of jocks to tears. After losing to FEU last Sunday, after squandering the twice-to-beat advantage, after losing the chance to reach the UAAP Finals, Adamson players sobbed like little kids. It was proof that they lost. It was also proof that they tried. Mightily so.
The paradox of the twice-to-beat advantage is that every team which enjoys it simultaneously fears the twice-to-beat-twice-beaten curse. Once a higher seed drops the first game - the game it can afford to lose, pressure mounts, anxieties take over, and the very advantage a team once enjoyed, the twice-to-beat edge they worked so hard to gain, turns into a cross that often becomes too heavy to bear.
When second seed Adamson lost to third seed FEU last Thursday in the UAAP Final Four, the Falcons became underdogs anew. We all knew this. The advantage gained from a superior record was gone. The high from beating Ateneo faded too quickly. The specter of ending yet another season with yet another disappointing loss became terrifyingly real. Suddenly, FEU had momentum and Adamson had none. Suddenly, FEU looked more poised and Adamson looked exactly like the old Adamson team; destined to go far but just not far enough.
After FEU built a 74-65 lead with just 2:11 left in last Sunday's rubber match, the Falcons were no longer underdogs trying to survive, they were Falcons praying for a miracle. They almost got it. In what will probably be the sequence of the season, Jerick Cañada, one of four graduating Adamson stars, turned into Reggie Miller in the dying minutes. He scored 10 points in a flurry capped by back-to-back three pointers to bring Adamson back from oblivion. In a flash, Adamson became our team. Because we didn't want them to fall short again. Because we felt Cañada's heart pound like a bull stampede. Because we saw Alex Nuyles, even at the risk of being foolishly dubbed "nagkakalat", try to squeeze every last microscopic bit of athleticism from his drained body.
Because we doubted if anyone aside from Leo Austria could have squeezed every microscopic bit of talent from this team.
Because we knew almost but not quite would hurt like hell. In the end, Adamson lost. If they won, the world would have surely rooted for the Falcons against the Ateneo empire. If they won, Adamson would've made for a most compelling story in the Finals. If only. But somehow I feel like they won anyway. Adamson's loss broke hearts but they're not broken. Austria's gritty crew reminded us that winning isn't everything. It just isn't. -GMA News
