05 December 2011

What's Wrong with the PBA Banner?

PBA Header
Stare at the new PBA site banner above and you'll see it. Concentrate - it will take your eyes about 15 seconds to adjust and see what's wrong with the picture.

You can see the representative players of various teams playing in the league right now. From the grizzly veteran leader to one of the promising rookies to grace the draft a few months ago, all of them can best typify their team's strategy and become a FACE their fans can easily associate with, except one.

I'm not sure what criminal offense the Meralco Bolts did to the league which led to the posting of Mark Yee in the PBA banner as the one that represents the face of the team, but deliberately excluding Mark Cardona or Solomon Mercado defies the laws of nature.

I'm not personally against Mark Yee because for all I know he might be a good player and a person that children can emulate even after that perverted move he made against the import of Petron Boosters last conference. But, come on guys. Yee is not a familiar player to every 'tambay sa kanto' that you can think of. He was not even an original member of the two-year old team like Asi Taulava. What made the bright minds behind the PBA site put him in the same level as Arwind Santos, Willie Miller, Mark Caguioa, LA Tenorio and even Renren Ritualo is beyond me.

I'm trying to make sense out of all these but I cannot. For me, the 'Face' of a PBA team or ambassador is typically a player that had a strong fan base. Some level of fame, especially among the followers of the team, and an ability to work with both corporate and grassroots fans. This role is ceremonial and is awarded to an individual that cares about the advancement of the particular PBA team. Many teams consider the role of the 'Face of the Team' to be similar to an elder statesman in politics: he guides and promotes the on-court and off-court work of the talent on the team.

Working with sponsors and attending corporate sponsorship recognition events also falls within the scope of responsibilities for the 'Face of the Team'. Meeting leadership from sponsoring organizations, posing for photos with the staff and contest winners from supporting organizations and appearing in media campaigns related to sponsorship are some of the duties as well.

Is Yee anything close to any of these functions? The PBA management and support staff think so. No wonder the league is losing popularity and do not have a very solid fan base after years of competitive imbalance.

2 comments:

  1. This makes a lot of sense. Mac Cardona's face deserves to be there instead of Yee.

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  2. Maybe because of that perverted move he made during the last conference kaya na lagay sya dyan hehehehehe.

    But seriously he should not be there!!! It should be either Mac or Sol.

    Its an insult to PBA fans and to the Bolts fans.

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