The stands - An Inquirer Sports Newsletter

 

October 13, 2023

Led by Favour Onoh, the UP Maroons have flattened the opposition thus far. (UAAP Media)

Hey there sports fan, It's Friday the 13th! But the day has really lost its superstitious mystery and the greatest fear of people when that day and date coincides is the traffic. After all, it is a Friday, and it's also payday. Luckily, we've got a lot of sports to go home and relax to. So drop your worries for a moment and chill out to this trivia question: The UP Maroons stunned the NU Lady Bulldogs recently, their first win over the college powerhouse since what year? The answer will come at the end of this letter. But yes, you read it right the first time. And in case you're thinking, "Well, it is the Maroons, going up against the Lady Bulldogs," please remember that like Ateneo, Univesity of the Philippines has opted to use the same moniker for its men's and women's teams. So yup, we're talking about UP women's team here. Led by the hardworking Favour Onoh, the Maroons finally scored one over the nation's most fearsome women's college program to produce the stunner of the season so far. Not only that, it gave the Maroons the early lead in UAAP Season 86. And yes, you can take that satement both ways. The Maroons in the men's side have kept in stride so far with their women's team, making great use of all those preseason acquisitions to steamroll their way to the top so far.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, University of Santo Tomas, which also kept the offseason buzzing with its own haul of recruits, continues to search for its footing after slipping into a 13-game spiral last season. Meanwhile, La Salle, whose biggest offseason move was to hire coach Topex Robinson, seems to be doing just fine early on. It's going to be an exciting UAAP basketball season so keep it here with us as we provide you with varsity content across all our platforms.

Tim Cone returns to Barangay Ginebra in a rush to get some preparation in before the PBA season starts.  (Marlo Cueto)

Meanwhile... After winning the gold medal in the Asian Games, Tim Cone is headed back to Barangay Ginebra, hoping to get some practice in with his "baby" in preparation for the new PBA season. Cone "wrote" his entry into basketball history but is looking to make sure he gets the Gin Kings ready for what could be a grueling season ahead.  And oh, yes, volleyball. The PVL is getting ready to fire off its next tournament and already, we've got loads of features for you already. Check out our archives for the latest on the next PVL conference here.  What we're up to next: The Asian Games is done, but you can still catch up on the stories you may have missed by checking out our archives here. You know, in case you want to weigh in on this hot-button issue. And, like we said, we will be launching our coverage of volleyball with fresh digital features so watch out for that. And we will start to ease into the coverage of the new PBA season. For the meantime, get your latest varsdity features and stories on the UAAP and NCAA here! Number of the Week: 2011 The answer to the trivia question above.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I think, stop analyzing. Just enjoy. This is a great moment.” —Tab Baldwin, Ateneo coach, on people trying to break down how the Philippines won the Asian Games gold medal in men's basketball.

There are more trivia questions in our weekly sports quiz which you can access by joining our Viber community, which also featres the freshest sports updates.  Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. Have a great and safe weekend! See you next Friday. Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).