Eala needs to prove himself in 2004.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Manolo R. Inigo

MOST fans will remember the Philippine Basketball Association more for its failures than for its successes in 2003.

I am not saying that Noli Eala was ineffective as the PBA commissioner in the season just finished, but many said his management style was all pa-pogi, pa-cute, leading to a most chaotic year in the history of the PBA, once widely regarded as the country's most profitable and premier professional basketball organization.

While the competition among the teams never stops-the teams are already busy getting new players and coaches and getting ready for the transition Fiesta Conference in February next year-still the league did not make any headway when this season was done and dusted. Why? Could it be because the PBA has a leadership without direction? Has it lost its mass appeal then?

The usual banner crowd was missing from the recent season-ending Reinforced Conference, while earlier this year, the All Filipino Cup, which was supposed to be interesting, failed to attract the fans and was a box-office flop. The foreign-flavored Invitationals was an even bigger disaster at the gates. Because of this, Eala said the PBA would make sure that the foreign teams that will come here next year are better and tougher and will give the locals a run for their money unlike the "patsies" that played during that ill-fated Invitationals.

Many wouldn't want to be in the shoes of Commissioner Eala right now because of the many bad things that had happened since he replaced Jun Bernardino early this year. They blamed Eala for losing control of the whole situation, saying the PBA is facing not only dwindling crowd attendance, but also many other problems such as the loss of television and radio revenues and ratings, the ticklish drug scandal, the unequal treatment and discrimination of erring players in the league, the mounting complaints against biased officiating, the lack of a permanent venue, and the unpleasant reports linking league insiders to the importation of several Fil-foreign players with dubious documents.