THE steady decline in the number of fans who watch the games of the Philippine Basketball Association actually hurts many of us who have been involved with the league since its inception and enjoyed the fierce rivalry in the glory days of the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Tamaraws and in more recent years, Ginebra San Miguel, Purefoods and San Miguel Beer.
The pain becomes even deeper when you switch on the TV and watch the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament or even the basketball competition, where the crowds far outnumber those who follow the PBA games in-venue.
Game 2 of the women’s volleyball finals at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday had an attendance of well over 20,000 and with the series tied between Ateneo and La Salle, we can expect an even larger audience for the sudden death playoff in Game 3 today.
There is nothing like a huge animated crowd to lift the spirits of the players and to fire up their competitive spirits already bristling with collegiate fervor.
While the PBA is a pro basketball league, which does indeed make a difference since it is anchored on brand loyalty and association with individual players, unlike the NBA which is built on the support of city-based fans and superstars, or the UAAP which underscores loyalty to one’s Alma Mater and rivalries between such exciting players as Alyssa Valdez of Ateneo and Mika Reyes of La Salle, whose apparent struggle for the attention if not affection of collegiate superstar Kiefer Ravena provides a sidelight that fills the pages of the entertainment section of media and helps fuel an added dimension of interest.
But what has obviously hurt the PBA in terms of attendance and the carryover effect on television ratings despite the excellent coverage of TV 5, is the issue of integrity which isn’t helped any by the multiple ownership of teams by the two richest conglomeratesSan Miguel Corporation and the MVP Group of companies, who regrettably can’t seem to inherit the kind of rivalry generated by two obviously poorer teams in comparison Crispa and Toyota.
The questionable trades of the bigger franchise holders through friendly third party teams with at least one or two suspected of being dummies that are influenced by the big boys, further undermines the integrity of the PBA.
The recent controversy surrounding the PBA board of governors’ decision to effectively exonerate the league’s marketing director, whose submission of patently falsified academic documents was glossed over when it is regarded as a crime under the law and punishable by imprisonment if the individual is found guilty.
But the PBA board ignored the transgression and while reportedly denying the concerned lady her perks over the past nine years which were obviously substantial and making her start all over again, demonstrated an inglorious cover up, which we are certain any of the corporations that are members of the PBA would never tolerate.
To the credit of Alaska, it was the only team that had the courage to shun the importuning to go along with the rest, typical of an old boys’ club, and by so doing enhanced its standing in the public mind.
We could never understand let alone appreciate how such businessman-sportsman as Manny Pangilinan could allow his representatives in the board to go along with a patently immoral if not illegal decision. The PBA board cannot claim it’s their right since it’s a private association because as the esteemed commissioner and lawyer, the late Rudy Salud pointed out during his tenure, that while the PBA is a private association, it is imbued with public interest since it banks on public support for its survival.
The constant badgering of referees by team officials during games and the constant summons by table officials and even Commissioner Chito Narvasa himself during timeouts is never seen in the leading pro basketball leagues in the world.
One never ever saw former NBA Commissioner David Stern sit at courtside and talk to or admonish officials, neither does current Commissioner Adam Silver engage in this distressing practice.
If at all, the NBA will issue a brief statement after a review of the game tapes and the technical committee notices a discrepancy as in the recent Houston Rockets—Golden State Warriors game when the buzzer-beating basket by James Harden was ruled—after the fact—as a charging foul which meant the basket should not have counted and the Warriors would have gone up, 3-0.
Despite this, nobody complained because the integrity and trust in the NBA is at an understandably high level unlike our own PBA. This pains many of us.
The one other damaging feature is the failure of crowd darlings Ginebra and Star Hotshots to advance to the semifinals at least. The disruption in the teams has primarily been due to management interference, with Ginebra and Star Hotshots seeing a rigodon of coaches whose philosophies were dramatically different.
Let’s face it, Ginebra enjoyed its best years under the renowned “Living Legend”playing coach Robert Jaworski, whose charisma and fiercely competitive never-say-die spirit fired the spirits of not only his players, but the imagination of the fans.
If the PBA is to survive and hopefully recover, the members of the board should have nothing to do with the hiring and firing of personnel, should stay away from interfering with the referees during games and allow the Commissioner to do his job as he sees fit and if the team owners are dissatisfied make a change, but never on the basis that he should be someone who is susceptible to the persuasive influence of team owners.
It’s time to return to the era of the late Leo Prieto and Rudy Salud, to whom integrity was non-negotiable and whatever they did was for the benefit of the league as a whole and not any single franchise holder. Those, indeed, were the glory days.