What The PBA And Kia Motors Are Really Saying Hiring Manny Pacquiao

” Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there’s the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red “S”, that’s the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears – the glasses, the business suit – that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He’s weak… he’s unsure of himself… he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race. Sorta like Beatrix Kiddo and Mrs. Tommy Plimpton.”

 

Bill in Kill Bill Part 2

 

Somebody in the GRP Community FB page posted a link to a SMH (shaking my head) reaction  to Manny Pacquaio’s foray into coaching and playing in the PBA. I was shaking my head when it happened back in June.  Manny Pacquaio’s profession is boxing. He was really good at it. Somewhere along the line he snapped and he decided to be Leonardo Da Vinci without the brains. The key question in this thread was is it fair to label Filipinos as stupid based on a “sound business decision” made by Kia ( the team where Manny is player / coach)

 

It may not be entirely fair to base the label stupid on that sole event but for me it is fair to say that is one stupid event joins a list of other stupid events/ decisions that the Filipino culture is responsible for and contributes to their mediocrity and their irrelevance in the world.

 

You may have heard the expression ” She is out of your league !”. What that implies is that a guy who thinks he is the right match for a woman possibly overestimates what he brings to the table or underestimates what level of guy the woman is capable of attracting. I have long ago said that pinoys love using English words but assign their own meaning to them.  In effect ignorant pinoys penalize educated pinoys by being allergic to something called a dictionary. To answer the question if Kia is making a sound business decision let us first look up how the dictionary defines a league:

an association of persons or groups united by common interests or goals (2) : a group of sports teams that regularly play one another

 

 

The crux of many GRP submissions makes light of the central paradox of pinoy culture. How pinoys internally have such low standards for themselves yet expect the world to take notice. They will refuse to give world class effort to an endeavor yet they expect the world to pay attention regardless if the result of their effort is not world class. KSP is the root of all evil indeed.

Pinoys historically only care about one team sport which means they already have the devotion. In fact no other country in the world is as devoted to basketball as the Philippines. Pinoys in the back of their minds feel that this devotion entitles them to basketball glory. More of my thoughts on that here.

 

If pinoys stopped looking for pansin on the efforts of other people who don’t even know them and instead how they can contribute to their community in a positive way I think this country would be a better place. I personally believe that we live in a country of chaos where life is cheap. Part of the reason for that is the country is more fixated on being noticed by the world than it is fixated about improving the living standards of their own community.

 

There I used the “S” word. Which is key in many of the points that I make about the Philippines and why such a gulf exists between their world class expectations and their reality of not even being a contender in the Asian Games  let alone the Olympics. Everything you need to know about that I wrote here.  Out of 95 million people Filipinos elected a 50 year old nil achiever to lead this country simply because his mother died. He rode in on his high horse and never got off. The guy did nothing with his life and he was rewarded by the voters with the presidency. Once elected he shed all humility and acted like he cornered the market on virtue and wisdom. If that does not speak to lame standards and lame expectations I do not know what does. You elect somebody out of sympathy and not respect and yet you expect to be taken seriously??

“Our fleet is only as fast as our slowest ship”

 

Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) Battlestar Galactica

 

Speaking of slow, if Noynoy is our idea of the sharpest knife in the drawer then we deserve to be made fun of and we deserve not to excell in anything where we take on the best in the world. There is a thinking in that thread that Kia made a business decision to allow Manny to be a player/ coach. The person says Kia has every right to do it and if you don’t agree don’t watch Kia. In my opinion that is short term thinking. Having a player/ coach who has experience in neither does not speak ill of Kia. It speaks ill of the league as a whole. Last I looked coach of a team is a position of leadership. A position that requires to scheme, develop players, develop game plans, analyze opponents and make game time decisions that have bearing for the remainder of the contest. Where in the hell did he pick up the experience and knowledge to be able to this at the professional level? Oh and he still gets to play. What’s next elect a president of a country solely because his mom died? Speaking of slow.

 

I love sports but you couldn’t pay me to watch the PBA. They cater to the baduy. People that want to see Manny perform in something that he has not devoted his life have no standards. They have no concept of conflict of interest . They have no concept of tradition. They are league whose teams derive their identity not from region but from the pinoy concept of epal. They have no idea that the only sport that has a dugout is baseball.  Nobody who is not FIlipino aspires to play there. Nobody who has options will play there. Well if you can’t provide quality basketball be a freak show instead.

 

Manny being handed two positions in the country’s only pro sport despite never playing said sport speaks volumes to the pinoy’s sense of short cuts, entitlement, KSP and notion of not paying your dues. Basketball is a game but Manny being player / coach of a PBA team cheapens the notion of being professional. The PBA is a bush league and people with standards can see that. I have no idea why it is called a business decision when it devalues every team in the league but then again this is the Philippines. A country where a 50 year old nil achiever gets elected solely because his mom died and yet he is referred to as popular. Like I wrote a year ago. Whether it is politics or basketball, pinoys do not value work. Maybe because in the end they do not value results or quality. This is the Philippines where dignity , elegance and refinement are shunned .

 

Kia Motors hands Manny Pacquiao the coaching position of their team not because he is good but because it will make headlines and draw people to their team. People who have no standards for basketball, people who can’t see though a cheap publicity stunt, people that couldn’t think to save their lives.That is how Kia Motors and the PBA view the Filipino audience. Our media, politicians and the one professional sport we have continuously compromise standards to placate to the baduy. Hiring Manny Pacquiao to coach a “professional” basketball team is Kia Motors and the PBA’s critique on the Filipino consumer. The thing is they are 100% right. Look who is president of the same consumer they are trying to attract?