WHAT a week. Could the full moon and lunar eclipse that turned the Moon into a bloody red orb in early November have an eerie effect on some things here on earth?
Maybe not, but astrologers warned that the phenomenon in the skies could bring about some surprising shake-ups and developments.
And looks like it did. Because in the world of sports alone, several teams in different sports organizations fell back to earth after long periods of staying afloat up there in the sky.
We’re talking halted win streaks here. How uncanny is it that in the past several days, win streaks in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) all stopped and brought everything back to square one?
The Chicago Bulls, struggling thus far with six consecutive losses, pulled down the Boston Celtics’ green balloon with a 121-107 win at the United Center. Hitting 51.7 percent of their shots highlighted by 48.3 percent three-point shooting, the Bulls simply outshot the Celtics and stopped their nine-game win streak to a shocking stop.
At the PBA, NorthPort brought Converge’s seven-game streak to a screeching halt. Batang Pier William Navarro almost singlehandedly punished the Fiber Xers, falling just an assist short of a triple double with 29 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists.
NorthPort took advantage of the absence of Converge import Quincy Miller who was reportedly benched as a disciplinary measure. With Ginebra San Miguel winning over TNT over the weekend, the erstwhile phenoms of the PBA now slide to fourth.
Fourth is the lowest spot that they can land on, however, and already Coach Aldin Ayo is focusing on how they’ll scale the heights again. Taking care of team business is the priority as well as the usual preparations.
In the UAAP, De La Salle University (DLSU) has turned out to be the league’s official Streak Buster. Almost given up for dead after losses to National University (NU), University of the Philippines (UP), University of the East, Far Eastern University and and Adamson University in the first round, De La Salle shrugged off its loss to Ateneo in their second round encounter and has turned its fortunes around.
Its most attention-getting feat lately is how it ended the Fighting Maroons seven-game win streak with a masterful fourth quarter performance in their latest meeting on Sunday.
What looked like a dominant UP game, particularly in the third quarter and early fourth quarter, turned out to be a master class in end games by the Green Archers who held steady to win, 82-80, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The win rendered the last minute heroics of JD Cagulangan and Zavier Lucero (who both scored scintillating threes to close the gap to two) moot and academic.
But La Salle’s biggest conquest and dream-smashing move comes from the Lady Archers in women’s basketball. Just Wednesday, the DLSU women shocked the Lady Bulldogs with an overtime win, 61-57 at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion. The loss was not just a one-day sad outcome. It destroyed a 108-game win-streak that started eight years ago when Afril Bernardino-led NU defeated Adamson University in Season 77 in July 2014.
Ironically, the last time the NU women’s basketball team lost a game was also at the hands of the DLSU Lady Archers in a do-or-die game of the Season 76 finals in October of 2013.
Had they continued to collect more wins, the Lady Bulldogs would have given the UConn Huskie’s 111 games winning streak a run for its money. UConn holds the record for the most consecutive wins worldwide. Just three won games more, and four more for the win, the NU Lady Bulldogs would have become world famous—for years to come—because of such a rare and distinguished achievement.
The Lady Bulldogs still sit atop the women’s basketball ladder despite the loss. But amazing La Salle is now second, overtaking the UST Growling Tigresses who were the acknowledged next best women’s team before the La Salle uprising.
What a difference a red moon makes.
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