What is a sweep? Apart from the literal definition of wiping clean with a broom the grime and dirt from a surface, the word “sweep,” when we think about it, also brings images of a quick, surgical-like movement of almost an unstoppable force to overcome whatever obstacle the force may face as it seeks to achieve its objective. It is akin to a martial-arts striking maneuver or the blitzkrieg of the German Nazis during World War II.

This brisk elimination of an opposing hurdle also conjures images of a sporting competition which, of course, is the closest proxy to a military confrontation.

There have been several sweeps of sorts in sports history that have caught the imagination of fans. In baseball, there was an unusual kind of sweep that occurred just a week ago, a reverse sweep of road team wins!

The Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros over seven games to win the World Series. But for all the seven games, it was the first time in World Series history that the visiting road team would sweep all the road games against the home team which usually has the home court advantage.

In tennis, there is the Grand Slam record of Roger Federer winning six consecutive Wimbledons from 2003 to 2007 but bouncing back to win three more in 2009, 2012 and 2017; and Rafael Nadal’s streak of 12 French Open titles from 2005 to 2019 to be interrupted only in three years when he was sidelined by injuries.

In golf, it is only the legendary Bobby Jones of the 1920-30 era that completed a sweep of all the major Grand Slam golf tournaments, Masters, PGA, US Open and the British Open, four in total, within the same calendar year. His record still stands until today.

And, of course, in basketball we have, to date, nine NBA sweeps since 1958, the most recent being the Steph Curry-led Golden State Warriors sweep over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017-18 season.

In the local scene, the PBA, a Grand Slam sweep of three tournaments within a single season was accomplished five times since 1975 when the play-for-pay league was established. These were the Crispa Redmanizers, two times; San Miguel Beermen, Alaska Milkmen and the San Mig Coffee Mixers, one each.

As for amateur basketball, would you like to guess why am I talking about sweeps and streaks?

Well, for a basketball fanatic like me, it’s pretty obvious that my excitement is because of the recent runaway victory of the Ateneo Blue Eagles over the UP Fighting Maroons during the final game of the elimination round of UAAP Season 82.

Finally, coaching wizard Tab Baldwin delivered a sweep,14-0! A first-ever in the storied basketball history of the Ateneo that was not even achieved by the five-peat coaching great Norman Black.

The other times we witnessed basketball sweeps of the UAAP elimination round were in 1993 when the Dennis Espino-led UST Growling Tigers swept the field to emerge as Champions of UAAP Season 56, and in 1990 during UAAP Season 70 when the Dindo Pumaren-coached UE Red Warriors swept all competition during the elimination round with an average winning margin of 16 points only to lose in the Finals, ironically also via a sweep, to the De La Salle Green Archers.

To be technical about it, however, UST’s championship run was when the rules automatically vested on UST the outright championship for having swept the field without having to beat the winner of the step-ladder eliminations of the next top three teams.

Ateneo’s sweep, however, should it extend for two more games in the Finals, will be unquestionably a perfect sweep. It will be a feat that’s never been achieved in the UAAP before — the Championship via a perfect sweep!

How did the final elimination game, the penultimate sweep, go for the Ateneans? With the UP Maroons fans slightly edging the Ateneo fans in attendance, the14th game started with Kobe Paras immediately going airborne and scoring on an alley-oop pass from Jun Manzo.

The first-five of Ateneo led by Ange Kouame and Thirdy Ravena, however, quickly reversed the score with lay-ups to take the lead for the Blue Eagles, 9-4.

But the entry of Javi Gomez de Llano energized the Maroons coupled with the twin triples of Bright Akhuetie and Kobe connecting, to give back to UP the lead, 9-10.

A seesaw exchange of baskets ensued with another UP triple by Jaydee Tungcab and the pesky defense of Janjan Jaboneta holding up against the offense of the Ateneo bench led by Isaac Go, Gian Mamuyac, Mike Nieto and Tyler Tio.

The first quarter ended with the UP Maroons up 20-21, eerily similar to their first elimination game of Season 82. But like that first game, the Blue Eagles led by sophomore shooting guard SJ Belangel and forward William Navarro puncturing the hoops with a triple and lay-ups, and Ange dominating again the paint, coupled with numerous turnovers by the Maroons.

Ateneo started slowly but surely pulling away at mid-point of the second quarter putting the Eagles finally and irreversibly ahead with its biggest lead by halftime, 45-32. At this point, the Eagles had shot at a 61-percent shooting clip versus the Maroons’ 32 percent, delivered on 10 assists compared to UP’s six, streaked to 11 fastbreak points against the Maroons’ measly three, and seven dominating blocks versus only one for UP.

By the end of the third quarter, it was more of the same, the lopsided score was Ateneo 65, UP 44. The fourth quarter was no different, Ateneo with its precision, clinical defense-creates-offense basketball and the UP Maroons with its puzzling penchant for fumbles.

The final score after four quarters had the Blue Eagles overwhelming the Maroons, 86-64.

As the UAAP Season 82 winds down to its final conclusion, the Blue Eagles now has the luxury of resting as its step-ladder opponents battle it out to be their ultimate foe in the UAAP Season Finals 82.

With fingers crossed, there will be a bonfire celebration in Katipunan, on the Loyola side, if there will be a perfect sweep. If not, I will hopefully still be smiling with a bonfire celebration on the Diliman side of Katipunan!

For comments, please email bing_matoto@yahoo.com.