ROYAL RUMBLE

Collegiate Chaos: NCAA

Believe it or not, violent post-game melees were very much a part of the NCAA’s past. The year 1962 was said to have been the “black mark” for NCAA, as player brawls marred the basketball season, resulting in the suspension of a number of NCAA competitions. Since then, violence struck the league regularly.

The early 1970s saw the frequent holding of close-door games because of the fan’s rowdy behavior. During those times many young high school students were gravely injured during post-game fights. Four school stood out—namely ATENEO, La Salle, Letran and San Beda. The rumbles were serious indeed. An example was the December 1971 exhibition game at the Loyola Center (now the Loyola Gym in Ateneo), pitting the 1969 BCAA champions, ATENEO, and the 1971 champions La Salle. During the game, tempers flared and on-court scuffles occurred.

Ateneo won the game, but it did not even end there. The next day, newspapers reported the alleged shooting of a number of Ateneans walking home from the game. Luckily, no one was killed. Most of the fights were not just “throw-and-run” but were really mano a mano. The smashing of windshields was rampant, and as were the pelting of rocks and coins and the attack on the winning teams.

Games like these were always hotly contested and crowd tempers flew easily. During the 1977 championships between ATENEO and San Beda, crowd behavior was said to have deteriorated with every game. This led to the final playoff game held behind close doors.

Unfortunately, such violent acts did not just happen during basketball games. There were also swinging of bats between opposing softball players and the mocking and the jeering at competitors with spiked shoes in hand during Track and Field meets.


Anarchy in the UAAP


The first thing that comes to mind is “The Ateneo-La Salle” but just you’d know, Ateneo transferred to UAAP during 1978-1979 season because of the prevalence of post-game brawls in the NCAA. For the same reason, La Salle Followed suits a couple of years after. You can say that their rivalry in the NCAA was carried over to the UAAP, and since then, both have seen each other as bitter contenders not just in sports, but in academics as well. Perennial victors UST and DLSU dominated the 1990s, yet the blue and green match-ups were always the must awaited ones.

It’s not surprising to see tempers rising and emotions flaring during crucial games. Today’s scuffles, though, are not as harsh as compared to those back in the late ‘60s and ‘70s, usually just the throwing of debris on court and the typical verbal exchanges between players and spectators.

Of course there was the recent post-game melee between former Ateneo players and La Salle alumni during their 2003 semifinals game, which Ateneo won. It involved a punching incident between the two camps. Fortunately, such episodes are rare nowadays. The ADMU-DLSU rivalry seems to have lightened up through the years, but from the looks of it, it’s not about to die down anytime soon either.