Gary Granada’s ‘Pag Natatalo ang Ginebra’ still resonates

AKTV/Paolo Papa

It’s a sad night for fans of Barangay Ginebra, after watching their bitter Manila Clasico rivals B-MEG defeat the Gin Kings in the Commissioner’s Cup semifinals. During big losses, we couldn’t help but look back at Gary Granada’s classic opus about the squad:

Granada released the first in the series of Ginebra songs during the Marlou Aquino-Bal David-Noli Locsin era, so the songs contain references to players from that team, which dates them a little.

Still, few pieces of Filipino pop culture capture the intricacies of being a basketball fan so well.

Sinusundan ko ang bawat laro
Ng koponan kong naghihingalo
Sa bawat bolang binibitaw
Di mapigilang mapapasigaw
Kahit hindi relihiyoso
Naaalala ko ang mga santo
O San Miguel, Santa Lucia
Sana manalo ang Ginebra

The players’ names may have changed but the feelings when Ginebra loses, for the team’s fans, remain the same. Judging by comments on Twitter, a lot of them are just about ready to go to war:

Dumidilim ang aking paningin
Ang tenga ko ay nagpapanting
Bumabalik sa aking isip
Ang nakaaway ko noong Grade 6
Parang gusto ko nang magkagiyera
Pag natatalo ang Ginebra

Galit ako sa mga pasista
Galit ako sa imperyalista
Feel na feel kong maging aktibista
Pag natatalo ang Ginebra

Beyond all that, Granada’s Ginebra songs capture, so fully and so perfectly, the very best aspect of PBA fandom: how it’s just a small indulgence, really, a balm to soothe a heart weary of everyday life, a fact that doesn’t stop the singer from living and dying with every shot.

Think about how much effort it takes a regular fan just to support his or her favorite team: lining up for tickets, figuring out how to get to the venue, perhaps even taking time off work just to go to the game, and once there, shouting himself hoarse cheering for his team. There’s a certain unique pleasure about knowing how silly it is to invest so much of yourself to a team named after a brand of gin or milk or hotdog, but going ahead and doing it anyway. There is something to be said about loving something so irrationally, and yet making no bones about it.

Pagbigyan nyo na ako
Paminsan-minsan lang ito
Gumaang ang nabibigatang puso
Pagbigyan nyo na ako
Sa munting hilig kong ito
Kung hindi baka mag-away pa tayo

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