THE PBA'S MVP : MEDIA VOTED PLAYER

The PBA just handed to James Yap his second season MVP award. Despite merely placing 6th in the MVP statistical race, James Yap emerged victorious because of the huge number of votes he obtained from Solar and the media. Interestingly, James Yap only got 15 player votes while L.A. Tenorio and Jay Washington obtained 133 and 129 player votes respectively.
With the current PBA criteria for the MVP award, I can't help but think that the MVP stands for Media Voted Player. With media votes accounting for 93% of the 70% of the MVP award, the player most favored by media will surely win the coveted award. And with statistical points merely accounting for 30% of the award, statistically superior players will have to build huge margins in statistics over their more media - friendly opponent to somehow have a glimmer of hope of pulling a victory. Less media - favored but statistically - superior players don't stand a chance in the present set-up and will always end up on the losing end .
In the history of the PBA, James Yap is the lowest ranked player in statistics to win the MVP. It is such a disservice to previous MVP winners who worked hard on the court to compile truly outstanding statistics. I hope that the PBA restores the honor and dignity of the MVP award by giving more weight to statistics than media and Solar votes. Only then will I truly regard the MVP award as the Most Valuable Player award.