Day Twenty-one: the 30-day writing challenge

I was at the Smart/NBA Ultimate All-Star Weekend game last Saturday, standing at the patron box of the newly-renamed Smart Araneta Coliseum. As a photographer of an online media outfit that was supposed to cover collegiate games, I was not part of the roster of accredited photographers who could shoot ringside. I got an Upper A pass which I thought of not using since the area is too far away to get decent shots even for those who had long lenses. But Lai texted me to "GO NA DUDE, SHET!!! SHET!!!"" and "HINDI PINAPALAMPAS YAN ANOBAAAAH," yes, in all caps. So since she also said that upper A tickets cost P1500 (just so you know) I decided to just watch since it was a historic event anyway (which led me to cancel reserved tickets for HP7, but that's another story). This was arguably the biggest sporting event in Philippine history since Thrilla in Manila in the 1975.

I realize so many people would have loved to be in my shoes. While hanging around the media gate, doing reconnaisance and hatching a restricted entrance plan (screw Upper A and watching, I'm gonna shoot!), I engaged in a brief conversation with a man with two boys maybe aged 8 and 10 who told me they weren't able to get tickets and had even come from Pampanga to be there. Later, after an exhilarating getting-past-security-without-getting-noticed ordeal, I was in a jampacked patron box sideline camoflaging with other newspaper photographers since I had no event-issued screaming yellow ID. There, I scanned the coliseum and saw over-eager fans, mostly male, who looked like they were holding back tears by giddily shouting as Kobe Bryant, D-Rose, Kevin Durant and the rest of the NBA stars played ankle-breaking hoop stunts that showcased their otherworldly athleticism. Even my fellow photographers stopped shooting at some point and just oggled. Such passion for baketball and these players. It was a surreal moment that I coincidentally witnessed. Even I was screaming some times at slam dunks, crazy pivoting and beautiful assists. So I don't know why, really, at North Park later, eating my noodles and letting the happy crowd thin out, I felt sad about it.