University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons’ Ricci Rivero scored the 2020 title for Most Tweeted Sports Account while fellow squad member CJ Cansino was ranked in 2nd place as both remained in the public eye even amidst the halting of the collegiate sports season in the Philippines due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rivero and Cansino of the popular UP Men’s Basketball Team (UP MBT) were named top 1 and 2, respectively, in the Year On Twitter lists for sports tweets in the basketball-loving Philippines, trailed by American NBA finals squads the Los Angeles Lakers (3rd) and the Miami Heat (4th), and the Golden State Warriors (5th).
The two members of the state university men’s basketball team, regarded as University Athletic Associaton of the Philippines (UAAP) superstars, ruled the Twitterverse in August for their tweet exchanges.
Ricci Rivero (@_ricciiirivero) kicked off the social media buzz when he tweeted and tagged Cansino on August 20: “yknow what’s UP @cjcansino” as news broke that the latter had left the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers following the controversial UST bubble.
CJ Cansino (@cjcansino) tweeted back: “Email me for collab” and sent sports fans’ hearts a-flutter while tweeting about the possibility that the basketball star might just join the UP squad.
The day after, Cansino was officially welcomed to the UP Fighting Maroons Men’s Basketball Team. The tweets between the two ballplayers went on Trending Status and eventually scored the top spots on the Twitter List released on December 8
Email me for collab
— Cj Cansino (@cjcansino) August 20, 2020
Ricci Rivero has been active on social media throughout the year, interacting with fans, and even started a YouTube Vlog while under quarantine. Rivera and his family went on relief missions in his hometown in Northern Philippines to help families cope with the lockdown.
The former DLSU Green Archer returned to the UAAP hardcourt in 2019 as a UP Fighting Maroon. He made his comeback memorable with a sensational one-hand dunk that made national and U.S. ESPN headlines. Rivero was also showcased by the FIBA World Cup.
The UP Fighting Maroons Men’s Basketball Team caught the nation’s attention as it made a historic UAAP Season 81 run to the finals, besting other school champions despite being a cellar dweller for years. Their spectacular story of resilience and the UP community’s banding together to lift the team has been made into a book, Nowhere To Go But UP.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to UP Fighting Maroons’ Ricci Rivero and CJ Cansino for being the top scorers in Twitter’s Most Tweeted Sports Accounts for 2020!
Want to know how to be a Proud Pinoy? Like, Follow, Subscribe to GoodNewsPilipinas.com, and our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Good News Pilipinas! TV on YouTube, for new good story notifications and e-mail newsletters for updates on more Filipino Pride stories