Where’s the UAAP headed?
It appears to me that the UAAP has now quite a situation in its hands.
With the way the outcomes of the games are panning out, the league, indeed, has much to think about. It seems to me that this is a perfect time, before the final game is played, for the board to rethink where the league is headed and what its intentions truly are.
Let’s not kid ourselves into believing that the UAAP is still only a collegiate league that merely facilitates the provision of scholarships to those athletes who can’t afford the tuition, promotes sportsmanship among its student-athletes, and provides a bit of entertainment for the college student and alumni alike.
Those days are long gone. Just looking at the amounts of money that prized recruits are receiving boggles the mind.
Could this be why many of us seem to be losing our sense of objectivity, logic and civility, passing judgment and observation on the events that have transpired this far, only to the tune of one’s particular music and color?
The league is clearly masquerading as a college league. In reality, it has already turned commercial in a big way.
The schools involved have always had their pride on the line. What is different this time are the investments involved. The money spent by each school to reach the Final Four is enormous. Consequently, there is now too much at stake in each and every game that is played.
The question now is: Is this the direction the UAAP board wishes to continue to take? Is this the direction we—students, alumni, investors—wish the league to take?
If previously, these collegiate leagues were established to promote sportsmanship, and so that everyone involved should have a bit of fun, should we now just accept the fact that schools these days use the UAAP as part of their marketing strategy to promote themselves?
Perhaps the UAAP board should look into how they could put some checks and balances on how much is spent on the recruitment programs to make it fair game for all schools.
For at the rate it is going now, there will be only a couple of schools who will be able to build a competitive team.
Also, since we also want to develop our local big guys, including the Fil-Ams, the board could also consider putting limits on the number of imports of non-Filipino lineage in the lineup of the team.
Perhaps with these measures we may regain the values which had prompted the league’s founders to put up the UAAP in the first place.
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