I LIKE Patrick Gregorio’s enthusiasm. He’s got some great ideas on how to unify basketball and push it right through the stratosphere. But any time there’s change, it’s a frightening move from the familiar to the unfamiliar. And those who live in the status quo are wary of young turks like Gregorio, who they liken to stealing their thunder. It’s a natural reaction. And right from the start, this proposal was doomed.

We spoke to quite a few basketball officials in the last few days and, while all of them like the idea, they had one thing to say.

The manner of how Gregorio went about promoting the idea was done in poor taste. Rather than put it on the table for discussion, he took it to the court of public opinion…through the media. Although he did speak with several people, some of them think that he did not heed their advice about taking it slowly and not revealing it to the media, which would jeopardize the whole idea. Some even from his alma mater thought that he was “grandstanding” with his big talk. Some opined that if the proposal was shot down by one party, in the eyes of the public they would be deemed as a “spoil sport.”

For the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), some board members were slighted about not being consulted. There are schools that chafe and bristle at all the hoopla that Ateneo and La Salle receives and having asked the opinion of representatives of the two elite schools certainly did not augur well for Gregorio. The UAAP is an old guy’s club (with all due respect to Mrs. Felicitas Francisco and Dr. Arlyne Royo). I don’t like some of their policies that I have always lambasted as Jurassic and self-serving. It is only but natural they will close ranks on this one.

Think about it, had the “merger” happened, it would only help the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), not the UAAP. In terms of viewership and sales, the UAAP trumps the senior circuit anytime. The certified crowd drawers are San Beda and Letran, but even so, the NCAA games are played on weekdays because, according to a policy board member, they will lose the students during the weekend.

And there’s the serious matter of eligibility. One reason for the shift in the balance of power in interleague play is that the NCAA has less stringent entrance rules. Have they even cleaned up the PCU Philippine Christian University (PCU) and College of Saint Benilde (CSB) mess? Whatever happened to that anyway? An investigation was even conducted into the infractions of PCU’s senior division that ,when coupled with the cheating in the junior ranks, might even be enough to warrant expulsion. So now they’re sweeping things under the rug just like that and welcoming the Dolphins back to the fold. And what happened to the game-fixing problem of that CSB player?  After that press conference by the (National Bureau of Investigation), nothing more was heard of this. I know that a gag order was issued by the school authorities but what gives? So typical of Filipino culture that we’re even willing to forgive and forget, yet when laws are violated again we complain and fret.

If the two leagues played together and got the same exposure, then there’s no way the UAAP schools will be able to recruit from the NCAA junior ranks. Why should players transfer now when they’ll get the same media mileage?

And for the schools that are in the lower tier in the rankings, does it follow that they would fall down even further? Some UP alumni joked that the Maroons wouldn’t be ranked No. 8 but No. 16.

From a basketball fan’s standpoint, the “merger” is a fantastic idea. From a business point of view, it’s not. When the NCAA came knocking at the doors of Solar Sports several years ago about transferring from Studio 23, the cable giant’s sales force was concerned about the ability to sell the league. “If the NCAA isn’t exactly raking in sponsorships, how much more if it’s the Champions League. In the minds of the corporate world, the UAAP is a more viable vehicle for advertising,” says a top sales executive of the cable channel.

ABS-CBN also said that there has yet to be a formal proposal tendered. Everything that has been discussed is nothing more than informal chit chat and on the side. The first two months of the year are usually low in terms of corporate expenditure, as the bulk of it was spent during the holiday season while the new fiscal year’s budgets are being finalized (if it hasn’t been done so). Contrary to what people may say, there is a finite amount of adspend for sports. Much of it just gets reallocated from some ventures to big events. With at least two fights expected from Manny Pacquiao this year and the upcoming Olympic Games, placement planning is already being prepared. 

The “merger” theoretically can be done if everyone put their heads together. There is the matter of scheduling, the number of events to be played, venues and the prime concern of the yearly hosts. A couple from both leagues will be celebrating their anniversaries in the next few seasons. What will that mean for a merged league?

With respective interests at stake and a lot of groundwork that needs doing, if it does ever take off it won’t be for another year.

The SBP would have been better served had it gone out to say that it intended to build the Champions League as the true national championship. They should have arranged the competition calendar and built it up for the Champions League that is the end all of college basketball competition.

Maybe the winner could have gone on to represent the country (beefed up with a few imports from other teams) to the Universiade Games. Maybe the winner could be sent on all-expenses-paid trip to some big-time basketball camp and receive a trophy that is similar to the Stanley Cup, but never a cash prize. If they are hell-bent on matches between UAAP and NCAA teams, then they might want to take a cue from Major League Baseball’s Interleague play.

Maybe this could happen during the elimination round of the basketball season when schools can play at most two games with teams from the other league and where the wins and losses count in the final standings (think of how cool this could be).

As it is, they dropped the ball on this, short of declaring that the UAAP and the NCAA are still a cut above every other competition. But this is the Philippines, the other leagues will feel slighted but when you ask them to join the sandbox, they’ll come out and play. After all, we are always willing to forgive.

Doomed from the start

I LIKE Patrick Gregorio’s enthusiasm. He’s got some great ideas on how to unify basketball and push it right through the stratosphere. But any time there’s change, it’s a frightening move from the familiar to the unfamiliar.

Superleague will have its time, says Gregorio

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Juvic Pagunsan, Antonio Lascuña and Jerome Delariarte are each eyeing at least one victory in the 2008 Asian Tour.

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