Cheering Tradition
The Ateneo de Manila was successful in athletics even before the NCAA began. To help cheer the Ateneo squad on, the Jesuits decided that the Ateneo ought to have some sort of organization in its cheering. The Ateneo then introduced organized cheering to the country by fielding the first-ever cheering squad in the Philippines, which is now known as the Blue Babble Battalion. The Ateneo claims that its brand of cheering is both unique and rooted in classical antiquity. In the 1959 Ateneo Aegis (the college yearbook), alumnus Art Borjal explained:
| “ | It all started about 2,000 years ago along the Via Appia in Rome. The deafening cheers of Roman citizens, lined along the way, thundered in the sky as the returning victorious warriors passed by...The type of cheering that the Ateneo introduced was, in a way, quite different from that of the Romans. When the warriors came home in defeat, the citizens shouted in derision and screamed for the soldiers’ blood. To the Atenean, victory and defeat do not matter much. To cheer for a losing team that had fought fairly and well is as noble, if not nobler, than cheering for a victorious squad. | ” |
The words of some of the cheers seem incomprehensible or derived from an exotic language. Loud, rapid yells of "fabilioh" and "halikinu" are used to intimidate and confuse the enemy gallery. Meanwhile, fighting songs help inspire the team to "roll up a victory".
Read more about this topic: Ateneo De Manila University, Athletics
Famous quotes containing the words cheering and/or tradition:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Elaine Heffner (20th century)