PBA Top 40 still hot a week later

A hot public issue doesn’t simply fade away in this era of the social media. With the most sophisticated or the simplest of technologies, ordinary folk have an opportunity to voice their approval, disappointment or even outrage on topics like traffic, corruption, governance and even the most trivial entertainment fare.

Older, more traditional public figures or performers can opt to dismiss or embrace what is trending in the social world. The more perceptive know how to use it to their advantage and how to react when a position or stand is not exactly popular or well received.

The PBA 40 Greatest Players list is still trending in social media. From my own Twitter followers (a number that increases daily and makes me comprehend the power of social media), the reactions cut into two streams: The process of the selection and the five players that were added outside of the 10 Most Valuable Players who were shoo-ins for spots and the fans’ choices among those who were not selected.

No selection process is definitive and no matter how many credible or qualified individuals make up the committee, there will still be disagreements with the final selection. We’ve seen this in the baseball and basketball Halls of Fame in the United States where media makes the final roster of enrollees.

Through the years, there have been snubs and misses and the discussions about omissions continue long after the new inductees have been honored.

We’ll make one suggestion though: Perhaps it might be helpful in creating spaces for fans’ favorites and choices if active players are not named into the Greatest roster.  There’s no question about the recent MVPs being fantastic players but I am sure that they can still wait a few more years to be fully honored as all-time greats because they are still playing.

No process can ever satisfy all the thousands of PBA fans but it’s clear that the favorites among those snubbed for a possible slot have been Danny Seigle, Nelson Asaytono, Abe King and the late Arnie Tuadles. Seigle is of fairly recent vintage and we have already discussed Asaytono in our last column. Both deserve a slot, but perhaps because of the criteria of the still active MVPs gaining an inside track, they may have lost out on being included.

Let’s talk about King and Tuadles whom we have followed as a PBA spectator and later as a broadcaster. King played for the San Beda Red Lions and then became the PBA “Chairman of the Boards” when he played for Toyota, Gold Eagle, Great Taste and Purefoods. He wasn’t exactly a prolific scorer but did the messy jobs of rebounding, boxing out and even guarding the opponent’s import.

Tuadles, on the other hand, was one of the craftiest shotmakers in the game. For Toyota, Great Taste, Shell and two other teams, Tuadles could manufacture shots even in the tightest situations. He could score from afar and from inside with that graceful finger roll of his.

King and Tuadles are clearly throwbacks to a different PBA and era. But there’s no question that they connect to PBA diehards because there was a time when the league was so dominant on the airwaves and the fans knew the league inside and out. Tuadles and King were part of the passionate Crispa-Toyota rivalry and were reliable veterans for their subsequent teams. This is what fans remember and hoped that would be sufficient for inclusion in the Greatest List.

Join the talk on Twitter@sportssev.