Keep the PBA past alive

You could tell that PBA fans missed an unforgettable era of the league when the uniforms of Jerry Codiñera and Rey Evangelista were retired last week at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Kept on hold for a variety of corporate reasons, the Purefoods name has resurfaced in the current Philippine Cup.  And when the schedule pitted two former rivals in Purefoods and Ginebra, nostalgia filled the venue and the places where the radio and TV coverage of the game reached.  Purefoods went the full route and wore retro jerseys from the ’80s and ’90s.

It would have been even more fitting had Ginebra gone retro as well.  Its Barangay Ginebra tag would not have diminished at all.  Instead, fans would have made the connection as well that the roots of their fandom run very deep into a colorful past. Perhaps more so that Ginebra romped over Purefoods that day.

The dramatis personae from the ’80s and ’90s were clearly no longer around in their retro jerseys. Gone from Ginebra were Robert Jaworski, Chito Loyzaga, Francis Arnaiz, Dante Gonzalgo, Dondon Ampalayo, Leo Isaac, Rudy Distrito and others.  Done with playing are Codiñera, Evangelista, Jojo Lastimosa, Alvin Patrimonio, Dindo Pumaren, Glen Capacio and many other players who became the new stars of the league back then.

Fans still see them play in their younger selves on a cable channel that churns out retro games on a daily basis. All become young again when they watch these games and a colorful era remains alive.

PBA members have every right to change the names of the teams that bear their products’ tags and logos.  This is the main reason they join the league: To expose their products on a sustained basis in print, TV, radio and now online media. With the approval of the league and a relatively small fee, it’s easy to make a name change in every conference.

But there’s no question that certain names and uniforms do ring a bell because of the length of time they were used, the players that wore their uniforms and the battles they participated in.  It would be just as titillating to the PBA faithful if Alaska and San Miguel, two of the other longest member teams of the league, went retro as well every now and then today.

It is important, and perhaps more so on its 40th year, that the PBA constantly remind fans of its rich and colorful past.  This in no way diminishes the value of the younger and even newer teams of the league.  Memorabilia in different forms and platforms should be constantly available to the fans: retro uniforms, coffee table books, videos, and even meet and greet encounters with former PBA stars.  The older stars can also pitch in to help PBA advocacies.

Spending a lot of time recently with former PBA stars Atoy Co, Ed Cordero, Ronnie Magsanoc and Codiñera to help run and cover the UNTV Cup, I have noticed that not an occasion with them passes that they are not stopped by fans to request for photos.  And in this Instagaram and Facebook era, there’s nothing like a photo with a former PBA star.

This simply means that the luster of these stars is still there.

Retro is great every now and then, even for a PBA that is constantly changing and dynamic.

CHECK POINT:  In our Pacquiao-Algieri column last Monday, the sixth paragraph should have read: “In a recent bloody battle with Russian Ruslav Provodnikov, Algieri survived two knockdowns and boxed out a decision in the end.” The knockdowns were mistakenly printed as KOs. Algieri survived being floored twice by the Russian to hammer out a close split decision win.

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