What do you think of the NBA vis-a-vis the PBA (and the UAAP and USNCAA if you follow those)? Do you prefer one over the other?
Finally, something different.
The NBA just makes us look weak in comparison, because we're obviously not as physically capable as the Americans. That said, though, the disparity isn't quite as jarring since the NBA has become more and more of an international league itself, but I guess it's still quite visible when you consider that imports on a PBA team stick out like a sore thumb.
Think you should've asked me the other way around (PBA vis-a-vis NBA). I have always hated the fact that the PBA's teams are corporate rather than geographical. It makes us (this country) seem like a futurized dystopia where corporate brands rule everything. That's why the MBA intrigued me, but I guess their marketing sucked ass and the fact that they didn't have the stars hurt them.
But really, I don't see how going geographic hurts the country. Professional sports - when evolved properly - have always been proven to be helpful to the economy on a local level. The PBA sells small arenas out in Visayas and Mindanao, so why can't they start something up there?
This is more obvious in the UAAP/NCAA, vis-a-vis the USNCAA. Clearly, colleges and universities don't only exist in Metro Manila. So why can't the NCAA live up to the N in its name and provide for conferences in non-Metro Manila regions? They've got their own fanbases, and given time and proper marketing and exposure, those places will also be good sources of talent and entertainment. If you do this right, pretty soon young players who live in farther-flung areas won't have to live with the mindset that you have to go to a university in the Gates of Hell to be successful.
That said, there are too many conferences to follow in the USNCAA, but if you're an American who goes to an American school, or have just grown up with that system, this is generally easier for you.
Anyway, you can save the god damn country through sports. You just need political will.
(Apologies if this rant was longer and different than expected.)
The NBA just makes us look weak in comparison, because we're obviously not as physically capable as the Americans. That said, though, the disparity isn't quite as jarring since the NBA has become more and more of an international league itself, but I guess it's still quite visible when you consider that imports on a PBA team stick out like a sore thumb.
Think you should've asked me the other way around (PBA vis-a-vis NBA). I have always hated the fact that the PBA's teams are corporate rather than geographical. It makes us (this country) seem like a futurized dystopia where corporate brands rule everything. That's why the MBA intrigued me, but I guess their marketing sucked ass and the fact that they didn't have the stars hurt them.
But really, I don't see how going geographic hurts the country. Professional sports - when evolved properly - have always been proven to be helpful to the economy on a local level. The PBA sells small arenas out in Visayas and Mindanao, so why can't they start something up there?
This is more obvious in the UAAP/NCAA, vis-a-vis the USNCAA. Clearly, colleges and universities don't only exist in Metro Manila. So why can't the NCAA live up to the N in its name and provide for conferences in non-Metro Manila regions? They've got their own fanbases, and given time and proper marketing and exposure, those places will also be good sources of talent and entertainment. If you do this right, pretty soon young players who live in farther-flung areas won't have to live with the mindset that you have to go to a university in the Gates of Hell to be successful.
That said, there are too many conferences to follow in the USNCAA, but if you're an American who goes to an American school, or have just grown up with that system, this is generally easier for you.
Anyway, you can save the god damn country through sports. You just need political will.
(Apologies if this rant was longer and different than expected.)
