Room Left For One
This coming PPL Finals, it would be another one for the dynasty books, as arch-rivals TrailBlazers United and Jubas Beasts battle it out once again for the coveted PPL trophy. But now, things are a notch higher than last time...
This classic match up started on Season 5, when the Jubas Beasts entered the finals for the first time after failing to win conference finals in seasons 3 and 4. Dragged out by the Celestial Fury and their conference rival RED ROBINS (now MAPUA RED ROBINS), the Beasts were hungry for the title "champion". Season 5 entered, and the Beasts were having an impressive season, and was the favorites in the Great 8 conference.
Their first opponent, the season 4 champions Ateneo Jologs, who are now known in season 5 as TrailBlazers United. The mad dogs of the season had an unprecedented 20 wins, 1 win shy of tying the season best record held by Celestial Fury, who was eliminated in the later seasons due to management reasons.
TrailBlazers United, determined to defend their title, and also was determined to win the league title to prevent Jubas Beasts from being the first team to win both the League and Cup championship. Led by hotshot Ubaldo Nudalo, the Blazers managed to win against the Beasts in three games. the un-doable "double" is still not yet being reached.
Come along Season 6, most probably known as the most competitive season in that era, both the Blazers and the Beasts managed to regain their composure as the number one team of the conference. with the TrailBlazers tying the Beasts' winning record of 20 wins and two losses set only last season. Jubas Beasts was also impressive, finishing the regular season with just three losses.
Both are expected as the finals contenders, only with TrailBlazers United having the momentum being the Cup champions of that season, It's now up to the Beasts to prevent the Blazers from winning the double. One league executive even had a comment saying "We will not witness a match, but a form of dynasty."
The Beasts won it. Sweeping the series by winning two games. The league was impressed, and they can't wait for the next season to start.
Now comes season 7, the brutal season wherein one surprise has come to make the flame burn hotter in these two teams. It's organic, it's the team ribonucleic acid.
For the past 2 seasons, both Jubas Beasts and TrailBlazers United have participated in the BuzzerBeater Best, an international club team tournament representing the country's best of the best, the country's pride, the country's representatives. They represent the Philippines because they have won the cup finals and league finals in the past two seasons.
In season 7, ribonucleic acid, a known dark horse team even in league II, now PPL, has won the cup championship, winning against the Blazers by a comfortable margin, and was the Big 8's best team of the season, now ranked number 1.
TrailBlazers was surprising at the end of the regular season, finishing 3rd, and the Beasts was trailing in second in the first half of the season as the MAPUA RED ROBINS was having a surprising season.
Second half of the season was for the Beasts, as they manage to win 5 out of 6 games, thus ending the season with a three way tie at first place against MAPUA RED ROBINS and Queens Coast Silv3r. By point differential, the Beasts bagged the first seed once again.
The playoffs was way harder for both teams. as they both managed to win by just a close margin. And now that they will enter and face against each other again in the finals, the showdown will be in high stakes because neither of them has won Cup championship and one of them might not represent the Philippines in the upcoming B3 tournament.
The day to remember: Tuesday. For the third time, TrailBlazers United and Jubas Beasts will fight it out for that golden trophy with red sash, and for that final spot at the B3, because now, for them, there is only room for one.