Andre E Baptiste Speaks Out

Clico 5K – A race to forget or a race to remember!!!

2006-02-18T07:01:00.001-08:00

SPORTS: DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH, 2006
By Andre E Baptiste

---Clico 5K – A race to forget or a race to remember!!!

What follows is an analysis of the CLICO 5K, which was held on Sunday 29th January, 2006. Names have been withheld to protect the integrity of the (dare I say it) athletes that participated. Any semblance or similarity to anyone known by others is purely coincidental, and this writer will accept no liability for merely stating the truth.

The build up to the Clico 5K was a quiet one for most. Overseas visits, including trips to Guyana, and horseracing activities restricted the preparation of certain participants which, if they were so inclined, could use that as an excuse but they wouldn’t. Pressures of work with people of varying degrees of talent could have been a distraction and used as an excuse, but it wasn’t. In fact, given the challenges that had to be surmounted, the fact that Mark lined up at 8am for the start of the race was a feat in itself. The race started at 8.15am though and in hindsight Mark should have started running at 8am.

Having learnt from prior experiences Mark bored his way to the front of the group for the start of the race. At the start, Mark was off to a very bright beginning – He looked around and could see Zondra, who had accompanied him to the front of the group, quickly losing her position with every stride, That was to be expected since she was walking, a fact confirmed by the television cameras subsequently, while all else were running or jogging. While Errol who was also on the pace up front was running but at one pace and being steadily past by men, women and even children. Poor Mark, the chap now believes the bright beginning told against him at the end of the race.

Mark raced very prominently among the group that was chasing the leaders. He picked off other runners one at a time though there were others who picked him off as the race went along. Still, all was proceeding well and he was running well within himself for the first half of the race. As the field crested the top of the hill, Mark thought to himself that he might be able to put in a strong performance but that thought proved to be premature. At the back of the pack, Zondra and Errol were making up numbers hoping to finish within the top 1000 and so secure a token medal.

Others in the race were Joe, a musician who seems to have lost his bearings more often than not and was getting all his chords wrong. Several old stagers were enjoying themselves and having a stroll, while others were breathing hard around them.
This was a race not only against the clock, but against old age, against father time, against some people’s will; this was about finishing, the time not as important as the effort. Those that ran were happy; those that walked (the majority) were overjoyed at the finish line.

The Banks were all well represented, with Republic Bank and First Citizens Bank more prominent than the others, which could suggest these are the fittest banks around or it could be that the other major banks were in the Marathon instead.

At the bottom of the hill, as they began what would be a long run to the finish line, Mark thought it was time to accelerate but he did not find the fourth gear he was looking for. In fact, the only gear that he seemed to find easily was reverse. His tank had emptied very quickly with about a mile and a half to go. His strides became much laboured and people that he had breezed past shortly after the start or during the course of the race began to overtake him. A proud man, Mark thoughts dwelled on slowing to a walk but he was determined to fight on, even if he was barely moving faster than a walk. Fortunately, another runner from his financially sound organization came up and he was determined to stay with her and we made it to the finish line in tandem. He could have probably found a final push to pass her nearing the line but he could not be bothered.

Further back, Errol was battling a tendon injury caused by lack of training. Great grit was displayed to make it to the finish line. Zondra had her own battle with a man pushing a pram with his son in it. Sadly for her, she thought she had put him away but was informed after the race that he was in fact far in front of her. The man had pushed his pram past Zondra and she did not even realize. She did cross the line in a respectable time for her but the organizers did not even take her medal out of the plastic to hand it over.

Joe was nearer the last runner than the first, but he is persistent and even as today he sits at his office desk, the memories live on, in the pain etched on his face. But like many others, he will return in 2007 for more of the same. This is what Sports is about, uniting even those who otherwise would not be frontline news.

The final time is unknown, but all of them would be surprised if their final finishing position is higher than previous years. On to next year! (We guess???)

Oh by the way , the winner among the men was Richard Jones with 15 year old Gavin Nero in second ( Nero would win the Guardian General Limited Secondary Schools 5k a week later).

:: AB

CHANDERPAUL READY TO PLAY WITHOUT CAPTAINCY (CRICKET)

2006-02-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: CHANDERPAUL READY TO PLAY WITHOUT CAPTAINCY (CRICKET)
By Andre E Baptiste

West Indies Captain Shivnarine Chanderapul is willing to revert to a player if the West Indies Cricket Board sees it fit after the Tour to New Zealand later this month. In an extensive interview on i95.5fm ISPORTS Thursdays, Chanderpaul made it very clear, he is a team man, and its hurts a lot when the West Indies do not perform as they should.
“I am open to anything, if the Board gives you whatever position you get, likewise they could take it away, so I am happy whichever way, so if I am not the captain, I will still go out there and give over 100%, the same way. And give the guys whatever support they need, whichever way I can help,” Chanderpaul stated on i95.5fm.
Chanderpaul has captained the West Indies in eleven test matches, winning only one (against Pakistan in the Caribbean) and drawing two and losing eight. He says of the pressure of captaincy ,” Pressure , you always have pressure on you , that goes with responsibility , but as the captain you need support from everyone, so when people blame you , have to accept it , but hope they are also realizing that it is a team game…”
Questioned on why it was perceived by many, that the West Indies players did not seem to be playing as a unit, at the beginning of the Australian test series in November 2005, he responded,” Some of the guys were coming into their own, later on; they got it right, it takes time …..”
“Maybe I am a conservative captain, and I know I need to open out a lot more and talk to people, go around and chat with the players… I don’t go out and party, just maybe a dinner …family life is very important to me, you and your family, you and your cricket. My wife has always been there supporting me...” said Chanderpaul.
Chanderpaul is naturally very disappointed that Zimbabwe will not be touring the West Indies later this year “ Yes it seems certain that Zimbabwe are not coming again, so we will have to find something to do, we hope the Board will be able to do something in that regard…sometimes though you can be happy for a rest” he noted.
On the retainer contracts , which the WICB and the West Indies Players Association ( WIPA) have been discussing for over two years , Chanderpaul believes ,” It is a good idea, because if you don’t play international matches and only play in the domestic matches, then the pay is not anything much and if you have a family to support it is very tough, to just play cricket and don’t make enough for your family life…but I have not seen any contract , and as a player you cannot just sign away all your rights , so we have to see what is in these contracts,”
31 year old Chanderpaul who made his test debut in 1994 against England says he may not have too much longer in the game,” It all depends on how well you are doing as a player and I would say I have a couple more years, we have been playing a lot of cricket , and I have some personal ambitions to make more test runs ( currently he has scored 6,156 runs ) , score more centuries ( currently 14 ) and improve my average( at 42.94) ….but I just want the West Indies to win, while all of this is happening,”
“We are all hurting , if you believe you the fans are in pain, the players are feeling it very much , we are giving our heart and souls , so that the support from the West Indies public is very important for us and it helps to build us up,”
“We are hoping to surprise some and do well in New Zealand, win matches and hopefully win the series,” Chanderpaul concluded.
:: AB

DR BRAVEWORD IS BACK!!!!!

2006-02-18T07:00:00.001-08:00

SPORTS: DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 5TH FEBRUARY, 2006
By Andre E Baptiste

---- DR BRAVEWORD IS BACK!!!!! -----

It is with much pride that I announce the return of Dr Brave word, the greatest living expert on Sports and author of the bestseller These Sort of Sporting Things. In his own words: "We all use sporting words every time we open our mouths, but we never listen to ourselves. If we did, my job might become redundant." His job, of course, is to haunt the bars and pubs of this beautiful twin republic listening to language as it actually changes, but luckily he has dropped in today to get a new drinking-cash float or research grant as he calls it, and has agreed to stay long enough to answer your queries. All yours, Doc!

Dear Dr Braveword: I note that your book These Sort of Sporting Things is referred to as a bestseller. Why do we always call these things "bestseller" and not "mostseller"? Why, come to that, do we use the phrase "best-loved", as in Sir Frank Worrell being one of our "best-loved West Indies cricket captains"? It wasn't the quality of our love, surely, but the quantity of our love that counted? We didn't love him very well - we simply loved him a lot. In my case, actually, I didn't like him that much. So did I love him badly? Is an unpopular Footballer a "badly loved performer"? Or, indeed, "one of our worst-loved performers"?

Dr Braveword writes: Thank you for inquiring about my book. Yes, it is still available in all good bookshops, as well as RIK. And the next!

Dear Dr Braveword: I note that your last correspondent uses the word "captain", which, as we all know, refers not to a female captain so much as to a male captain who specializes in good conduct and professionalism. The odd thing about this is that there is no female version of the word – captain-, at least not in English - no word for a cricket official who tends to comedy, such as perhaps those on the West Indies Cricket Board. There is the word "comédien" in French, of course, but the French word, I believe, is a general word for "actor". It's rather odd to find a French word in English that seems restricted to one gender. Though I suppose that the word "compère" might qualify, as we never refer to a female "compère" as a "commère". Interestingly, the French word "compère" means a crony or accomplice, which can be readily applied to Caribbean Football and West Indies, and doesn't mean a compère at all. If you look up the French word for "compère", you don't find "compère", you find "animateur" not amateur like those who run boxing now and seem intent on keeping Kerston Manswell and Kirk Sinnette in the rub icon days..

Dr Braveword writes: Good point. And one which is very well covered in my new book 'These Sorts of Sporting Things'. Next!

Dear Dr Braveword: We have recently heard a lot of talk about media practitioners going to the wall, which is very sad, of course, but also raises the intriguing question: which wall are they going to? Why should going to a wall suggest disaster? It is an example of what you were quoted as saying earlier - that we talk a lot without listening to ourselves. Were it not so, we would not use so many expressions that seem to have no innate meaning. Sometimes, indeed, the same expression can have opposite meanings. Engaged couples sometimes refer to their proposed wedding as "naming the day". Fair enough. But when a married couple split up or get divorced, they also say they are "calling it a day". So a day can be the start or the finish of something. Confusing or what?

Dr Braveword writes: Well put. Though not as well put as in the chapter in my new book 'These Sort of Sporting with Spirit Things' called Confusing or What?

Dear Dr Braveword: Of course, sporting couples (Agassi and Graf, Beckham and Spice) also refer to getting married as "tying the knot", and I have often wondered what strange ceremony that refers to, particularly when sportsmen are involved, because there are lot of nothings going on. Not so strange, however, as the ceremony of being confirmed as a bachelor in sport. We often refer to an unmarried man as being a "confirmed bachelor", and I wonder if indeed there is a Church of England ceremony whereby a man can be officially confirmed as a bachelor and received into a state of celibacy, which may explain why several of the leading sportsmen in the country are the way they are.

Dr Braveword writes: No. But the National Amateur Athletics Association has such a ceremony. It is called "receiving someone into the track ". I believe that the NAAA is having difficulty in recruiting enough qualified volunteers these days, and it may well be that young men are not prepared for the challenge of the strenuous free life that being a FREE VOLUNTEER now seems to involve (thoroughly covered in my new mostseller 'These Sort of Sporting in your Face Things', or, if it isn't, it will be in the next edition).

Dr Braveword will be back anon. Keep those queries rolling in!

:: AB

WICB PRESIDENTS HAVE SET US UP !!!!!!!!

2006-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 29TH JANUARY, 2006
By Andre E Baptiste

WICB PRESIDENTS HAVE SET US UP !!!!!!!!

Should the blame for the demise of West Indies Cricket be firmly placed on the shoulders of not only the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) but specifically the Presidents of the Board, who allowed the International Cricket Council (ICC) to perform their dirty work to upset the growth of West Indies Cricket?
Why is it that the WICB did not stand up and correct the following, as men who cared?
1) The bouncer rule, designed to upset the fear factor in the bowling department, and reduce the threat presented by the West Indies bowlers by placing a limit on the number of bouncers and over in test cricket.
2) The advent of the mandatory over-rate of 90 per day, made it difficult to employ four-fast bowlers, because of the time between overs and the reduction in over rate. This was meant to disrupt the West Indian momentum of pace and more pace. By imposing fines and punishment, this led to changing tactics.
3) The international enforcement of a limit on players outside of Great Britain, that could represent County teams in England. This was meant to restrict the number of West Indian players primarily involved in plying their trade in the popular English League. This led to an erosion of the level of overseas training and experience afforded to the West Indians, thereby resulting in players less equipped for the rigours of international cricket being pushed on the international scene after inadequate experience at the regional level.
4) The loss of proper value from television rights, while India, England and Australia fought internally to sell the money train – Television rights –, those that ran West Indies cricket were busy worrying about the insular and insidious needs of their respective cricket boards. On March 24th, 2000, the West Indies Cricket Board sold the exclusive broadcasting rights outside of the Caribbean to the various West Indies home tours from 2004 – 2008, except for the Cricket World Cup in 2007 for a minimum guarantee fee of $24.6 million US only. What sort of management team would enter in a contract for a four year period before it happened without some built in adjustment for inflation and other external factors.
5) The allowance of egos and petty jealousy to purvey West Indies cricket, while former players are left to twiddle their thumbs and toes , because those in power in West Indies cricket feel threatened by the thought, they may one day soon, lose all their power play if former players are utilize in any public forum.
6) The inability to recognize the great marketing portal, that is West Indies cricket , which would have guarantee a regular stream of income for the WICB.
While all of this was going on, our West Indies Cricket Board Presidents stood idly by, with their arms folded and legs wide apart.
When the ICC said, they were going to change the way that Revenue was distributed between test playing nations to make it fixed for overseas tours, the West Indies were the hardest hit because of poor attendances at test matches in the Caribbean.
Wes Hall was the President of the WICB at the time and for all his great talk and his poise and grace, he was not able to convince the ICC to change, he was outvoted 9-1.
This was the decision that has terminally confined the West Indies to the back benches and to the state of “beggar” in world cricket. Our greatest income was from overseas tours of England, India and Australia. The drawing card of the West Indies with their superior athletes, both fast bowlers and batsmen was still a factor, even though the team was losing. But in the last four years, since this system was implemented, West Indies cricket has loss income, in excess of $24,000,000.00TT ($4 million US) from overseas tours.
The current fixed figures from the new ICC ruling are as follows, payment of US$62 500 per Test and US$25 000 per One-Day International for the team touring which is totally inadequate to cover any visiting team's commitments of players' fees and return air fares.
There are some examples For a series of four Tests( nobody wanting five against the West Indies any more) and five One-Day Internationals ( seven now considered to much), the WICB' s bill to their touring board would now be US$407 500 (excluding local accommodation, expenses and internal travel), compared to just under US.9 million for major tours in the past.
According to information from the West Indies Cricket Board Gate receipts from the five West Indies Tests in England in 2001, even with one Test ending in two days and two in three, grossed US$101, 712, 665. (read it again). Under the present arrangement, the West Indies' share of that would have been US$162, 000.
Compare that with what the WICB has taken in from both Tests and One-Day Internationals at home over the last five years, which amount to between $4 million US to $6 Million depending on whether or not one or two teams tour the Caribbean each year.

All of this further emphasizes the names of men, who should all be held accountable for the failure of West Indies cricket to progress with the age, we live in.
Dinosaur thought logy, aided by errant knowledge of the game and scant respect for former players spell individually and collectively – disaster -.
These are the men and their places of birth; in no particular order, or by any specific damage to West Indies cricket:
1) Sir Clyde Walcott ( Barbados) 2) Captain Peter Short ( Barbados), 3) Patrick Rousseau ( Jamaica) , 4) Wes Hall ( Barbados), 5) Teddy Griffith ( Barbados) .
A strong West Indies Cricket Board President would not have allowed this, we have watched and listened as the India President of past and current, have stood strong against the ICC, and we needed that sort of leadership.
That is where the fault lies, because the dictates of a leader is what sets the tone for the organization, and that is why we have to give Kenneth Gordon some time, to understand what will be his legacy, particularly as it relates to dealing with the other Presidents at the ICC.
The West Indies President though has it tough, because no longer can he command centre stage because of the poor performances of his team, but he still has some sway because of the rich West Indies name.
Gordon must use these advantages in his strong negotiations with the ICC, who it is clear is more concerned with their own affairs, the ICC is currently quite insular as witnessed by the plan revolt led by India , England , Australia and South Africa.
Gordon must use the history of the West Indies team and the main drawing card of Brian Charles Lara as best as possible.
Nobody must be distracted by the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, because that will come and go, and West Indies cricket will remain. It is time for GORDON to show that he is a West Indian President in line with fellow Trinidadian Jeffrey Stollmeyer , who led West Indies cricket from the front , both off and on the field.
Is it not a clear sign that people always ask, who was the best West Indies Captain, and while there is some debate based on which generation you were born in, there is no discussion on the Presidency of the West Indies Cricket Board and who was the best President ?
Maybe it is time to do that?

:: AB

Demise of West Indies Crcket

2006-02-18T06:58:00.001-08:00

DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 29TH , JANUARY

Should the blame for the demise of West Indies Cricket be firmly placed on the shoulders of not only the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) but specifically the Presidents of the Board, who allowed the International Cricket Council (ICC) to perform their dirty work to upset the growth of West Indies Cricket?
Why is it that the WICB did not stand up and correct the following, as men who cared.
1) The bouncer rule, designed to upset the fear factor in the bowling department, and reduce the threat presented by the West Indies bowlers.
2) The over-rate of 90 per day, made it difficult to employ four-fast bowlers, because of the time between overs and the reduction in over rate. This was meant to disrupt the West Indian momentum pf pace and more pace.
3) The international enforcement of a limit on players outside of Great Britian, that could represent County teams in England. This was meant to restrict the number of West Indian players primarily involved in plying their trade in the popular English League. This led to an erosion of the level of overseas training and experience afforded to the West Indians, thereby resulting in players less equipped for the rigors of international cricket
4) The loss of television rights, while India, England and Australia fought internally to sell the money train – Television rights –, those that ran West Indies cricket were busy worrying about the insular and insidious needs of their respective cricket boards. On March 24th, 2000, the West Indies Cricket Board sold the exclusive broadcasting rights outside of the Caribbean to the various West Indies home tours from 2004 – 2008, except for the Cricket World Cup in 2007 for a minimum guarantee fee of $24.6 million US only.
5) The allowance of egos and petty jealousy to purvey West Indies cricket, while former players are left to twiddle their thumbs and toes , because those in power in West Indies cricket feel threatened by the thought, they may one day soon, lose all their power play.
While all of this was going on, our Presidents stood idly by, with their arms folded.
When the ICC said, they were going to change the way that Revenue was distributed between test playing nations to make it fixed for overseas tours, the West Indies were the hardest hit.
Wes Hall was the President of the WICB at the time and for all his great talk and his poise and grace, he was not able to convince the ICC to change.
This was the decision that has terminally confined the West Indies to the back benches and to the state of “beggar”. Our greatest income was from overseas tours of England, India and Australia. The drawing card of the West Indies with their superior athletes, both fast bowlers and batsmen was still a factor, even though the team was losing. But in the last four years, since this system was implemented, West Indies cricket has loss income, in excess of $12,000,000.00TT ($2 million US).
The figures are as follows, payment of US$62 500 per Test and US$25 000 per One-Day International is totally inadequate to cover any visiting team's commitments of players' fees and return air fares.
There are some examples For a series of four Tests( nobody wanting five against the West Indies any more) and five One-Day Internationals, the WICB' bill to their touring board would now be US$407 500 (excluding local accommodation, expenses and internal travel), compared to just under US.9 million for major tours in the past.
According to information from the West Indies Cricket Board Gate receipts from the five West Indies Tests in England in 2001, even with one Test ending in two days and two in three, grossed US$101 712 665 (read it again). Under the present arrangement, the West Indies' share of that would have been US$162 000.
Compare that with what the WICB has taken in from both Tests and One-Day Internationals at home over the last five years, which amount to between $5 million US to $7 Million depending on whether or not one or two teams tour the Caribbean.

All of this further emphasizes the names of men, who should all be held accountable for the failure of West Indies cricket to progress with the age, we live in.
Dinosaur thought logy, aided by errant knowledge of the game and scant respect for former players spell individually and collectively – disaster -.
These are the men and their places of birth; in no particular order, or by any specific damage to West Indies cricket:
1) Sir Clyde Walcott ( Barbados) 2) Captain Peter Short ( Barbados), 3) Patrick Rousseau ( Jamaica) , 4) Wes Hall ( Barbados), 5) Teddy Griffith ( Barbados) , 6) Kenneth Gordon ( Trinidad and Tobago)

:: AB

CRICKETERS SALARY SURVEY

2006-02-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 12TH JANUARY , 2006
By Andre E Baptiste
--- CRICKETERS SALARY SURVEY ----------
LISTEN carefully to what I'm about to say. Put your ear closer to the page if you have to. This is not merely an update on two years of reviewing but actual reality based on evidence related to several retainer contracts.
It might come as a bit of a shock, but apparently CRICKETERS earn a lot of money.
Yes, it's a staggering revelation, isn't it? A "new survey” has "revealed" the average Test cricketer earns around $5,000.00US a week. Not only that, but fearless pollsters have also discovered "even lesser-known players are keen on designer clothes, loads of jewelry and fast cars."
Let us stop for a moment here. No doubt you will need to sit down and catch your breath while someone rushes off to fetch a glass of water.
(Two-minute pause).
Okay now?
The Press BODY of the West Indies Cricket Board was responsible for conducting this poll into the bleeding' obvious and accompanied it with a snotty legal fax warning newspapers not to infringe their copyright by pinching it, or at least I think it was them.
Leaving aside the fact these people should be on its knees begging for all the free plugs it can get, most other newspapers (including this one) ripped off their survey regardless. This is in keeping with the 'How to Succeed in Journalism' Rule 2 (b): "Let others do the work, however meaningless".
And so we were told us there are players who earn "more than twice as much as the Prime Minister, when they cannot run out anyone or run properly to field a ball, let alone the country". This proves one thing: The Honourable Prime Minister should have chosen a different career.
Mr. Manning Sir, you're going to have to make a choice. Do you want to become Prime Minister - or would you prefer to captain the West Indies cricket team?
"I'll get my bat."
Inevitably, the cricketers' poll was accompanied by tired comparisons to other professions. For instance, we were reliably informed the average cricketer earns 20 TIMES MORE than a Grade D hospital nurse.
I have conducted my own survey and discovered there are average journalists out there earning FOUR HUNDRED PER CENT MORE than a Grade D hospital nurse. Strangely, this comparison was not mentioned in the newspapers this week.
Let us examine another instance. You might have read about the 2001 court case where multi-millionaire Phil Collins generously decided to claw back some of the pounds 500,000 he paid in royalties to his trumpeter and trombonist.
Performing with someone as irritating as Collins obviously increases the going rate, but we should still consider how these musicians earn their money.
Song starts. Boring drum roll bit. Singer wails he's feeling something "coming in the air tonight". Everyone ducks, just in case. Then the big moment.
Trumpet: PARP!
Piano bit. Bald guy whines "You can't hurry love". Then another crescendo:
Trombone: BWAH WHAA, PARP!
Applause. Well done, lads. Here's half a million quid.
Every day there are millions of people earning money far in excess of their talent (present company excepted). Every day there are good folk who earn considerably less than they deserve (present company included).
It happens. Oddly enough, I have yet to see an editorial lambasting pop stars for earning more than nurses. The message being that it's okay for some pre-pubescent twerp to earn millions by wiggling in time and miming along to a backing tape on Saturday morning TV.
But put that same pre-pubescent twerp in a cricket kit on Saturday night television and his wages are held up as a sign that the values of our society have collapsed.
Come on. Our cricket stars are paid so much because they play in the "best league in the world".
That's right, they play in the WORLD.
Okay, so they don't play in the "best League in the world", they play here. But they are part of the richest league in the world and we should not be astonished to find they earn corresponding salaries.
West Indies cricket is in the middle of a slump, despite the supposed vast television revenue pouring into the game. Half the West Indies watches cricket. The other half talks about it.
Yes, some of the salaries might seem a lot of money - and it is a lot of money. But Naomi Campbell collects more than that for walking in a straight line.
Look down the list of the richest 1,000 people in the WORLD and not one cricketer would be among the elite. There are plenty of Earls, Lords and even a porn baron or two. But no cricketers.
So I cannot see anything wrong with TEST performers receiving their slice of the cake at last. There are plenty of smug, bearded oafs sitting in directors' boxes who have been buying new LEXUS vehicles on the back of the sport of cricket for years.
Just as there are plenty of ex-cricketers who have had to sell their awards to keep a roof over their heads.
Now that the modern player can afford to buy his own LEXUS, however, the boardroom jokers still have the cheek to pass the costs to supporters. That is the real scandal. In a few months, the prices of the tickets for the One Day series against –INDIA- will shock you.
The West Indies Cricket Board will most likely try this disgusting piece of PR spin when they finalize negotiations with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) over the planned implementation of the contracted players system in June 2006. They will no doubt give this as the reason for the hike in season-ticket prices. But if we can believe some of the reports, the figures being discussed with the New President of the West Indies Cricket Board are ridiculous to say the least, and there could be a delay to the implementation of this retainer system in the West Indies. That is why the West Indies Players Association needs to clear the air; they have the support of the people.
You don't need to conduct a survey to find out the only cheap shots come from the boardroom these days.
Cricket is truly, truly a glorious game!!!!!
:: AB

BENNETT KING IS AN EMPEROR

2006-02-18T06:56:00.001-08:00

SPORTS: DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 15TH JANUARY, 2006
By Andre E Baptiste

------- BENNETT KING IS AN EMPEROR ----

Who is he accountable to?
Bennett King is an Emperor of West Indies Cricket.
The King of cricket seems to have only subjects.
The King’s rule is clear – obey me and play -, disobey me and starve!!
Not even a newly recruited President – Kenneth Gordon – has been able to make any difference.
The King is his own man and GOD-ON cannot touch him, or he will be burnt.
Let us examine the facts.
King was appointed without being told that Trinidad and Tobago’s Gus Logie would be his assistant and shortly after notified the West Indies Cricket Board, he would not accept on the terms they gave him.
A FEW months later he was appointed, after Gus Logie had coached the West Indies to a thrilling victory over England in the ICC Champions Trophy Finals.
King arrived with loads of Australian baggage, not only suitcases but also three fellow Australians to keep him company while coaching...
His tenure has been filled with defeat, remorse, small hope, defeat, defeat, remorse, self incrimination, partial relief, fading hope and finally false promises.
But yet still The King remains in power.
Is Bennett King – UNTOUCHABLE-
If so, why?
How is it that a mere mortal, King or any other king with no name can rule roughshod over a group of islands that claim to be independent.
How the people of the region can, ever has any faith in the West Indies Cricket Board?
Is the Caribbean, full of second rate citizens who worship the ground walked on by the King of cricket?
Yes, Bennett is a King, he is not a former player, he is not full of years of experience at the highest level, but he did become West Indies coach and is now wheeling all the power of a benevolent coach.
What do we owe this man?
A bunch of defeats?
A set of excuses, all of which are empty and sound more wishy washy, than sensible.
Who is checking the work of the King?
Is it the CRICKET COMMITTEE?
These are the MEN, or should we say MOUSE that belong to this committee.
;David Holford Chairman ,Jackie Hendricks JCA ,Huge Gore LICA ,Michael Findlay WICBC ,Sir Everton Weekes BCA ,Dudnath Ramkissoon TTCB ,Joe Solomon GCB
Roland Holder WIPA Representative, Ann Browne-John WIWCF Representative
Vivian Johnson WICUA Representative, Michael Carew Chairman Senior Selectors
Clyde Butts Chairman, Junior Selection Committee, Kenneth Gordon President
Roger Braithwaite CEO, Dr Michael Seepersaud Chief Cricket Development Officer and Zorol Barthley Chief Cricket Operations Officer.
It is time for someone to make a stand and be accountable, if Kenneth Gordon wants to build himself up as the –SAVIOUR- , then he must start to walk the talk and not just present himself at news conferences with great ideas, but no follow up.
Working from Tobago, may be comfortable for some and relaxing for most, but at this juncture, West Indies cricket needs more than that, it needs people with purpose and conviction.If because of medical reasons, a person is limited in what they can and cannot do, then that should have been taken into consideration before they were appointed.
Gordon is running THIN on a diminishing timeline , soon his long holiday with the people will be over and he will feel the wrath of a region crying out for CHANGE .
While changes at the WICB are needed, certainly to only be making decisions that a CEO cannot attend an international CEO meeting , but instead send a Director from Barbados , reeks of small mindness and Gordon must have better things to do with his time.
While we continue to naturally be concerned with the entire question of RETAINER contracts, this is not the only way forward.
The players have to believe in a coach, they must have respect for him, and believe that he knows what he is doing, he must also have good people skills and it is certain that King and his Australian outbacks are not so inclined.
We must hold up Bennett King to the HIGHEST ORDER and FULL ACCOUNTABILITY.
His performance evaluation sheet, should have read like an unsuccessful love novel on the shelves of stores in the Caribbean.
We have to ascertain control on our cricket once again, and if it means hurting some feelings, then it must be done.
Our current players are no different; we must not be intimidated by names, because apart from Brian Charles Lara, there is no other player of pure WORLD class on the West Indies team.
Therefore if Ramnaresh Sarwan continues to use his brawn rather than his brain, then we should not beat him to learn, but instead allow him to become bored with being left out in the cold.
Christopher Gayle, despite his health concerns has flattered to deceive on too many occasions, so this Jamaican must also be read the riot act immediately by brave men.
If President Gordon wants to be considered sincere and not just a lousy talker, he must turn his attention and bemused glaze away from the Cricket World Cup Incorporated( because under Chris Dehring , they know what they are doing and only need loyal and dedicated support).
Gordon must spend his time with the West Indies Cricket Board.
If he does not have enough time, then give up the job to someone who has and who can address the concerns of the West Indian public.
Bennett King has FAILED.
The West Indies Cricket Board has FAILED all of us!!!!!!!!

:: AB

DWIGHT YORKE WILLING TO GIVE TIME

2006-02-18T06:56:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: DWIGHT YORKE WILLING TO GIVE TIME
By Andre E Baptiste

Even as discussion rages on about what the Trinidad and Tobago Government will eventually give the national footballers, reports are suggesting that some players are not as anxious as others.
Trinidad and Tobago Captain Dwight Yorke is willing to give the Trinidad and Tobago Government sometime , according to an article published on Monday in the Independent Newspaper in England
Yorke is quoted in the internet interview as saying in response to what the special reward or recognition has been given to the players ,” Not just yet. I think the Prime Minister is planning something, though. It would be nice to be recognized for getting there for the first time in our Country’s history,”
“ You’ll see what it means to us in the Caribbean . The islands will be going crazy during the tournament. It would be a great place to be if I wasn’t actually playing,” added Yorke
On the question of Bruce Arena , the coach of the United States m saying that Trinidad and Tobago will be the whipping boys, a fiery Yorke responded,”The Manager of the American team is entitled to his opinion. Hopefully when he comes up against one of us we can shove the words right back in his face. America was in our (qualifying) group. They know they were very fortunate to beat us. They are not a brilliant team like they are making out to be. We’ve been playing them for years – they are not that special.,”
Yorke says there are things he willnever forget about November 16th against Bahrain,”
I remember speaking to a lot of my friends and family before the game, the noise of the ground and how we controlled most of the game. There were a couple of incidents that will stick in my mind – like taking the corner for the goal and the feeling of seeing the ball go in.”
“It means absolutely everything to me. It is definitely one of the highest moments of my career. I will remember captaining my country to the finals. I came back because I thought I didn’t want to end my international career thinking I could have been better or done more as an international footballer,” noted Yorke.
34 year old Yorke dismissed any talk of retirement saying” I have another year of my contract with Sydney FC to run so I will see in February 2007. I’ve always been very fit so continuing to play in midfield won’t hold too many problems.”
On the standard of football at his new club Synedy FC in Australia,” The standard is decent. I would say it’s comparable to Championship football at the moment. But it’s improving as more and more quality players come into the league. The Aussies qualifying for the World Cup finals will really help…..It’s already caught on. Believe it or not there are half a million kids playing football in Sydney but the FFA (Football Federation Australia) just need to learn how to tap into all that talent.
……To be fair, all the Aussies have been top class with me. They’ve made me feel very special because of my achievements in England. I love the way they live – pretty laid-back and relaxed like myself,”he concluded.

:: AB

SCARY SPORTS TV GUIDE

2006-02-18T06:55:00.001-08:00

SPORTS : DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 18TH DECEMBER, 2005
By Andre E. Baptiste

SCARY SPORTS TV GUIDE

This is an updated guide to SPORTING Misery on Television in this country. Dancing Brave has a lot of balls: red, white and black striped footballs that will fly like kited cheques in the in the Football World Cup, and orange basketballs whose pigmented leather was hard to grip in the National Basketball Federation . There were dark blue hockey pucks held over from our Hockey success at World Cup qualification, smart little slabs of rubber that look alarmingly like those urinal disinfectant cakes. So what follows is the about the boldness of the brave one, and may lead some to think that dare we say it, Vigara has gone to the head of the bravest brave.

SPORTING TV GUIDE----

When and where to watch or listen to your favourite sports event, even when you are sick.

VIGARA SPORTS 1 -

- 7pm – Local Orgainsing Arm of the Germany 2006 World Cup meeting- a lot of talk about energy and strength in all arguments on the week-end to get as much to go one way as possible, without proper thought.

- 8pm - World Wrestling Cricket style- Ringside mayhem from the opposing factions in cricket in Trinidad, with the Incredible Hulk under pressure.

- 9pm - Regional Sports Digest - No athletics to be aired until the next elections for Presidency of the National Amateur Athletic Association.

-10 PM - Sporting lies, half truths and innuendoes - Hosted by the local newspapers ( not Newsday ) with some help from a few friends who are all looking very blue - please note there are no much viewers and no advertisers are interested

10.30 PM- Sporting Bites - Approach your sporting official carefully to avoid getting bitten, maybe even get a muzzle. If you are bitten by the words from the Hampton promises, do not use the tourniquets at the Stadium, instead seek professional care, and call the present army, not old major generals.

11pm - Riding bareback can affect the horse- Not for users of Vigara, who fail to saddle their mounts and leave marks on the skin, that not even pure cocoa butter can remove. Do not allow anyone to ride your horse without a saddle (whether or not he is on Vigara tonight), even if they have a loaded gun.

12.30pm- Sporting Blanks- there is needs to test our winners on Saturdays for Vigara, with some owners getting confused with all the tablets on their night stands.

1.30pm- After hours with a horseman-Certain well-bred colts seem not to be interested in Breeding and they need to be encouraged, even if the side effect is that they want to mate whole day, anytime, anywhere and anything.

EXCEDRIN SPORTS CHANNEL 6----

5am - Aerobics Style- Dance with the West Indies Cricket Board early in the morning as they get their way and nominate their own ilk to the various committees, you can no Longer drink a Red Stripe and eat a Jamaican patty, but instead Carib is the flavour of the day.

6am- Inside the Senior tour- Play golf with all the wealthy foreigners who are taking hours to get around an 18 hole, your children will laugh, it will be better than any cartoons.

7am- Football League Review - Watch Dwight Yorke smile with the British Media, then switch to the local media and local football and treat them as family, that is a great change to years gone by, what difference a year makes in sport.

8am - Racing News- Hosted by Dancing Brave and where the tone of the series will be on the forgotten men in racing, the grooms, the office staff, cleaners and many small punters.

9am- Sports unlimited - where Muscular aches are discussed by the bodybuilders after taking their nutrients behind a screen. Some guys are seen to be overly zealous and others look very strange, almost cokey eye.

10am- Schoolboy cricket- The Southerners seem to have all the luck with the decisions of the umpires and the other schoolboys want to go on their own

11am- Taekwondo blues- Former champ discusses the arthritis pain, that caused him to lose his bearing and lose a match he should have won at Caribbean Championships OVER six years ago. He is seen using Excedrin as a means of helping the problem.

12pm- Fishing - About one angler beating another, all seeking weight, but a lot of them suffering from their sinusitis, as the seas react to the lost souls, with still many unanswered questions from St Vincent in 1997.

SIGN OFF - as all are now sleeping from the tablets received when you sign up early

DIARRHEA TERRESTRIAL TV 2---

1.30pm- National Atheltics News and dues- interrupted by investigators from the Board of Inland Revenue who are there to investigate some reports they have heard

2.30 PM- Dwight is a Blight- Replays of the 'diarrhea' Dwight constantly messing up things over and over for Trinidad, whether it be in the World Cup, the Gold Cup and the Shell Caribbean Cup , now with Blackburn Rovers, there is not much going on.

3.30pm- Ringside Boxing- Claude Noel, now bald headed, steps back into the ring against another former World Boxing Champion, Leslie 'Tiger' Stewart. However in a shock-delaying tactic, Stewart pulls out sighting other commitments, his destiny with the legal system can only be redeemed by his work with his new friends.

4.30pm - A Question of Sport - An all-female programmed, hosted by bikini clad blondes who are brainless, but have good companions on the screen with those in Basketball, Swimming and athletics.

5.30pm - Surfing - Not the net, but instead described as a sport for the rich, famous and white on Sundays in Trinidad.

6.30pm - Tobago Skating - staged in Tobago, at the home of the Minister of Sport, who has to skate her way around and through a lot of questions.

7.30pm- Cycling woes- Gene Samuel on dedication, discipline, maturity and character building, unfortunately not on house building as the Government continues to drag its feet after another sportsman

BLEEDING HEARTS CHANNEL 4

2am - Live Tennis 1 - Dexter St Louis says the real reason he in Trinidad, is because there are racial problems in Europe , but he still loves FRANCE.

2.45 am - Live Tennis 2 - Former Lawn Tennis executives are killing themselves laughing at the work of the current team in destroying the fabric of lawn tennis, as several players grumble.

4.45am - Hold the Back Page- reviews Dancing Brave convincing THE editors at NEWSDAY that he should automatically have the back page lead at all times.

5.45am- Breakfast with Football - Officials talk of their right to nominate who, what, when and where in the CONCACAF region, and who does not like it, can go eat wild meat and souse elsewhere

6.45am- Coaches Scrapbook - Former Coaches explain their dilemma with those that say one thing to you face, and then use the phone to bury you, because they have not played the game at a higher level. Also a number of wannabe coaches speak such as the Manager, President of the Association, and C.E.O of Football body, who have all had some intense coaching in their own rights

8.45am- Former West Indies players speak out - Exposing their battles and the pitfalls of representing the West Indies, scheduled to make three consecutive appearances are Ian Bishop, Phillip Simmons, Rajendra Dhanraj, David Williams and maybe Richard Gabriel..

10am-Play the Game - see your favourite administrators at home with their families, shouting, kicking and crying their way through a Sunday.

:: AB

COZIER GOT IT VERY WRONG-But was it a plan?

2006-02-18T06:55:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: COZIER GOT IT VERY WRONG-But was it a plan?
By Andre E Baptiste

What is the real story?
Was Tony Cozier guilty of a lack of journalististic integrity?
His behaviour in utilizing the name of an influential member of the West Indies Team in an article without seeking clarification, reeks of old age.
Surely Cozier is intelligent enough to realize, he was setting up an employee of the West Indies Cricket Board by writing comments without proper permission.
Is it that the newspaper, the weak Cozier writes for, is so suffering for attention, that old man Cozier is clutching at headlines, even when his best days are behind him.
Can anyone trust a journalist like this again?
Should anyone believe what Cozier writes in the future?
Then, there is even a more serious concern, expressed by many, was this a deliberate plan by Barbadian born, but Trinidad educated Cozier to undermine a Trinidadian who is held in high esteem by many.
Cozier has been guilty in the past of attacking Trinidadians ; Phil Simmons , Mervyn Dillon and Brian Charles Lara
Simple reason for this assessment is that Cozier would know that the selectors cannot only nominate and the matter has to be ratified by the West Indies Board.
If Cozier was a rookie, everyone would have forgiven him, but people can only ask again, why is this man always on the case of a citizen of this country?
Certainly Cozier must realize that the damage done now to his faltering reputation is severe, and will now place him in a compromised position with those in authority.
Cozier, we are reliably informed, was left fumbling for words and excuses, when accused of selling his soul for a byline.
While it is clear, that several young journalists have superseded the wily Cozier in terms of credibility, despite the attempts by his old editor counterparts to keep Grandfather clock Cozier around, we must now say to Cozier, we have had enough in this country.
Fair is Fair.
Journalist must respect the public to earn respect, Cozier has demonstrated he has lost sight of this and needs to apologize to all concerned.
Tony Cozier was either a journalist who wanted to be an actor or an actor working as a journalist- a very common Caribbean media job euphemism. He was or was perturbed by his actions. He did or did not speak with a West Indies selector on occasion- which did or did not upset the West Indies Cricket Board directorate.
What Cozier has done is sullied a good man’s name and reputation, which may not be easily corrected.
It is hoped that those are in authority will find a way to treat with Cozier, because he has failed as a journalist in utilizing people’s name and quoting them without seeking their permission.
How can anyone in cricket, talk to Cozier from here on and feel safe?
Will it be fair to believe, Cozier will keep his word?
This betrayal by Cozier has demonstrated too many who were ever in doubt, that you cannot trust the media.
Cozier has ruined for most, the trust, some officials had in the media.
Cozier must hang his head in shame and should stay in his Barbados home, as long as possible, pondering the errors of his ways.
Does this mean , that people in authority will no longer speak with the media.
Most of the media are not like the Bajan Cozier, we hope?

:: AB

West Indies Selectors to meet in T&T on Monday Night ( Exclusive)

2006-02-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

Sports: West Indies Selectors to meet in T&T on Monday Night ( Exclusive)
By Andre E Baptiste

The West Indies Selectors in a twist, will now meet in Trinidad on Monday Night to both nominate a West Indies Captain for the tour to New Zealand in February, as well as select the 16 member West Indies team for the test series and one day series.
Other items to be discussed include the Future tours programme as well as the retainer contracts, and the players to be named. Although this newspaper understands that the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association are still to settle on a financial commitment and the number of players in the retainer contracts.
Convenor of Selectors Michael “Joey” Carew who is based in Trinidad and Tobago will be joined by West Indies coach Bennett King who has been in Trinidad since Saturday conducting a strategic planning meeting with the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board.
They will be joined by Former West Indies Off spinner Clyde Butts who are due to arrive in Trinidad on Monday night.
The meeting has developed into a major discussion based the high expectation that there will be a change to the previous captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul who has suffered 10 defeats in his last 12 tests.
A lot of speculation surrounds the appointment with many experts and supporters divided between recalling Chanderpaul and replacing him with either of Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Darren Ganga or Denesh Ramdin.
It has been stated though that Brian Charles Lara is not interested in the post anymore.
Although efforts may still be on the way to convince him to change his mind. At this stage though, there is not much chance of that.
The meeting comes on the heels of a protest by the Guyana Cricket Board over the fact, that too much money is being paid to Bennett King and his team ( in excess of $1 million US a year) , and the results are not forecoming. Questions have been raised over the reporting guidelines of King and his team, with many suggesting that he is accountable to no one.
Although under the current set up of West Indies cricket, it would appear that King and his team are required to report to West Indies team manager – Tony Howard-.

:: AB

IMPORTANT: THE 2006 WORLD CUP DRAW

2006-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER, 2005
By Andre E Baptiste

---- IMPORTANT: THE 2006 WORLD CUP DRAW---

The final draw for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany will take place in Leipzig on 9th December. The draw will begin at 3:30 p.m. Trinidad time. There will be eight (8) groups of four teams selected at the end of the much anticipated draw.
Eight teams will be seeded 1 to 8, based on a combination of factors, such as current FIFA rankings and also their past performances in the World Cup.
The group matches in the first round will be played at the following cities, Berlin, Dortmund, Franfurt, Gelsankirchan, Hamburg, Hanover, Kaisorslantorn, Cologne, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuggart.
The opening match, involving the defending Champions and probably number one seed Brazil will occur at the picturesque Munich venue.
The Czech Republic is in second position, the Netherlands are down one place to third, Argentina are fourth, France are fifth and Spain surprisingly in sixth.
The two (2) Concacaf teams in the top ten are Mexico ranked seventh (7th) and the U.S.A. ranked eight.
The FIFA rankings clearly tell the true picture, as all of the top ten teams will appear at the 2006 World Cup, the remaining two teams being England at number 9 and Portugal at number 10.
Sixth more qualifying teams for the World Cup 2006 are in the next best ten. Twenty five of the 32 teams that have qualified for Germany 2006 are in the top forty spots.
Trinidad and Tobago is ranked at number 51, with only two of the remaining 31 teams with a lower ranking, they are from the African Zone – Togo (#56) and Angola (#62).
The eight seeded teams could be as follows, based purely on our calculations.
Brazil, Argentina, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, England and (either Mexico or U.S.A.)
If a Concacaf team is eventually seeded, then as far as advancing to the second round, Trinidad and Tobago would prefer as a first choice one of these two teams in the opening group.
Those persons that are speaking “in tongues” of drawing Brazil are foolish and calling down penance and turmoil on this Country’s footballers.
This Trinidad and Tobago team under the brilliant Leo Beenhakker would be better served playing one of the European seeds like France, Italy or England.
Not Germany, because we want as much of the home fans on our side as possible.
If the draw for positions is separated into four (4) layers.
(a) Top layer of eight seeded teams.
(b) Second layer of eight next highest ranked teams
(c) Third layer of remaining eight highest ranked teams
(d) Final layer of eight teams.
Trinidad and Tobago would be in the last eight teams which would be Ukraine (#40), Cote d’Ivoire (#41), Serbia and Montenegro (#47), Australia (#49), Ghana (#50), Trinidad and Tobago (#51), Togo (#56) and Angola (#62).
There are a lot of differing ideas, but below I will give you my best three ideas for Trinidad and Tobago to progress to the final 16, by placing in the top two in one of the following three groups.

Choice #1 Choice #2 Choice #3
1. Mexico / U.S.A.
2. Sweden
3. Tunisia
4. Trinidad and Tobago
1. Italy
2. Japan
3. Cote d’Ivoire
4. Trinidad and Tobago
1. Netherlands
2. Iran
3. Switzerland
4. Trinidad and Tobago

But on Friday, all will be revealed and one way or the other, the “Soca Warriors” will be aiming to make a major impact in Germany, in a positive way both off and on the field of play. This is our time and make no mistake; we must ensure that it counts. So everyone , man, woman, child , minister , politician, footballer , administrator , priest, pundit ,imam, soldier, police officer, secretary, accountant, doctor, lawyer, taxi driver, construction worker, mechanic, technician, information system analyst, clerk, housewife, telephone operator, sportsman, sportswoman….all of us must ensure we support the team.

Those of you, who are merely satisfied with an appearance at the finals, need to properly evaluate the advantages of our team being at the World Cup for the first time. The Goal now is to repeat it over and over. That is why , we need to understand fully the words of Austin Jack Warner , all he wants is that no step be missed , no stone left alone , as we aim to give the coach all he wants. It is a given , that there must be transparency, but please let not play politics with football, Jack Warner did not play any political football games with the team and we made it , he could have done that , be his love for Trinidad and Tobago and football did not allow. So give Jack what he desires.

So as we prepare for another historic week in FOOTBALL, let us pray that we get a favourable draw that our team can have the best chance to progress to the last 16 and thereafter let the chips fall where they may in the knockout phase.

WICB WRITE ICC ON UMPIRING DECISIONS (CRICKET)- EXCLUSIVE

2006-02-18T06:52:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: WICB WRITE ICC ON UMPIRING DECISIONS (CRICKET)- EXCLUSIVE
By Andre E Baptiste

Even as the people of the Caribbean and particularly those in Trinidad and Tobago are still basking in the glory that is Brian Charles Lara of Santa Cruz, there is some good news as well for Lara and others on the West Indies team.
The Sunday Newsday can reveal that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has indeed written the International Cricket Council (ICC) on the matter of umpiring decisions since June 2005.
“ The WICB wrote to the ICC asking for a status on umpiring decisions , and particularly related to match reports from the captains and the manager of the West Indies Cricket teams,” disclosed a source close to the West Indies team.
“In particular attention was drawn to the constant Television replays that identified clear errors being made by the umpires and the fact that there were a lot of questions being raised in the region about the consistency of such action,” the source noted.
Many in the region are very upset over the fact, that it is the same umpires making the same mistakes over and over again, most of them too blatant to be true.
In most sports internationally it is recognized that it is the officials, the managers and the coaches that protest when a player, a team has been given in their opinion an unfair decision, so a lot of West Indians have been upset by the apparent lack of initiative from the WICB. But we can believe now, that the WICB have been active.
In a previous discussion with Newsday, the ICC through Jon Long, ICC Corporate Affairs officer said,” The members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires are selected on merit. As you will have seen recently there are members of the original panel whose contracts have not been renewed and new members who have been promoted onto the Panel.”
“It is the members of the panel who are generally appointed to officiate on Test Matches.
The performance of all umpires is monitored in the following way, by three reports, the Captains and Referees report, the Independent ICC Video Assessment and Feedback to Umpires,” he added.
Long was lucid in his explanation about the way each report works,” In the case of the Captains & Referees Reports, Both captains and the Match Referee submit reports on the performances of the on field umpires and the TV Umpire. These forms are then used to help generate a performance score for each umpire. This is an essential part of the process and any comments added to the forms by the captains are an essential part of the feedback given to the officials following the match.” he remarked.
“While in the case of the Independent ICC Video Assessment The ICC uses videos of all Test Matches and One Day Internationals to assess the performances of each of the umpires. A former Test Match umpire scrutinizes all appeals which were made during the game and gives a rating for each appeal being answered. The application of the law, regulations, Code of Conduct and technique of each umpire is reviewed and a written report sent to each official along with a DVD of his decisions. These rating are all included in the performance scores of all umpires,” he declared
“As to the Feedback to Umpires, Following the independent report from the assessor, the ICC distributes a DVD of each umpire’s decisions and supplies this to the umpire along with his written assessment. Each umpire is then encouraged to discuss this report with the ICC and to use the content of the assessment to plan their future development,” Long concluded.

:: AB

THANK YOU JACK WARNER (FOOTBALL)

2006-02-18T06:51:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: THANK YOU JACK WARNER (FOOTBALL)
By Andre E Baptiste

There are two of him these days, There is the nearly mythic figure with his obligation to his legend, and there is the man with his uncertainties.
The legend’s visage smiles down on him not from posters and T-shirts. This man does not have a back on the mend and hair that has not gone silver on all sides as yet.
The hagiography of Austin “Jack” Warner, with its heavy helpings of solemnly told tales about humility and an ascetic work ethic, always has masked the reality of Warner – obscured his worries, his fierce pride, his boyish appetites to test himself in contests rough and rougher, his compulsion to win, his zeal for control, his quirks and excesses – as if the glimpse of any of these traits might undermine our apotheosis of him.
Sometimes now you feel the urgency in his pauses and the way he clarifies and reclarifies the condition of football, as if, against his nature, adversity is peeling back his layers and allowing a glimpse inside. There are days when his eyes narrow and he sighs hard and his head swivels toward an empty spring training diamond and it is easy to see clear to that fierceness at his core.
Jack Warner is passionate about football more than life itself, he has been haunted for over 16 years by the specter of the 1989 ticket fiasco, but believes he has wrongfully being crucified because Trinidad and Tobago lost to the United States.
He does not make much effort to hide his thoughts, dreams or resentments any longer, his yearning to one day control the team outright and remold an organization that he believes has lost his ways has perhaps dissipated with age; his conflicted feelings over how the frequently changing governments alternately treated him and his family ; his zest to teach structure to his kids the way his family taught it to him; his desire not to lose control over his life like so many aged administrators ; his enduring belief in the athletic prowess of our sportsmen ; his determination to rise yet again from societal problems and prove he is young at sixty odd, no sixty years and ten months now. He came in with Havelange. He can hear time ticking now on his becoming the next FIFA President...
He seldom permits himself public expressions of worry. Some of this is inscribed in his genetic code.
Even more than reflexes, what a great administrator loses late in his life is control – over his body, over his dominion, over prerogatives and privileges that once felt like his forever but, in truth, were always tenuous, tied on his on-field supremacy.
He is unaccustomed to uncertainty.
It is part of his low-key charm that this doesn’t sound like a boast, merely a request that the cynics wait before pouncing, and a suggestion that his prospects are high if Trinidad and Tobago qualify at last for the World Cup. He is a rabid competitor not above discreetly gloating, and he has a long memory when it involves observers who have questioned either his tactics or his disinclination to listen, even his style, when he was the only one investing money in football.
Jack Warner begs to differ over opinions that he has made millions from football, so he owes the country more than that , instead he states , he spent his money on Trinidad and Tobago’s football and there is nothing to disapprove that.
He issues challenges often not only to his staff , but to the media , where he has gone from public enemy number one , to someone people finally admit has contributed to the progress of Trinidad and Tobago’s football and ultimately the Caribbean’s growth on the World Map. He does not have an athlete’s physique but a litigator’s mind-set, heavy on logic, keen to rhetorical openings, bent on winning the point. Even talking offers the chance of competition.
Questioned on how he would like to be remembered, he falls silent. For a moment, the office is quiet as a morgue. He sees the risks ahead (as Trinidad and Tobago is on the verge of World Cup qualification in a two legged play off with Bahrain) to his status and legacy and does not care.
This he says is bigger than Jack Warner.
And he is correct. On Saturday, this country will be one again, and sports will unlike politicians united every single person. This is Jack Warner’s legacy, he has done it before on November 19th, but this time we are all hoping for multiple happy endings.
By the way, did I hear Jack Warner says after this, he will concentrate on his career in politics?
Maybe he likes to suffer and adore punishment, because that is a thankless job and deservedly so at times.
Thank you, Jack Warner, we may not always agree, but without your assistance, neither the coach nor some of the players (Dwight Yorke and Russell Lately in particular) would be on the field today.
When you are wrong , you are wrong , but when something is right, let us give him/her credit.

:: AB

2005 BREEDERS CUP PREVIEW

2006-02-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

2005 BREEDERS CUP PREVIEW
By Andre and Nigel Baptiste

This is “local” version of the Breeders Cup review , highlighting all the important points for all Trinidad and Tobago punters, whether in the betting shops or at the Arima Race Track. Last year, we were able to give you correctly five out of eight winners for a rewarding win accumulator of $545.00TT to $1.00TT. So Enjoy but bet wisely.

R1 Juvenile Fillies – One Mile

The opening race on the day’s card is a very competitive event with no obviously dominant juvenile filly. The top two in the betting are likely to be Adieu and Folklore who between them have won the three major preps on the East Coast – the Frizette, Spinaway and Matron Stakes. Both fillies have beaten each other in the past with Adieu holding a 2-1 advantage. From the West, we have their two leading ladies Diamond Omi and Wild Fit who have dominated their division. But the two fillies that attract me most are the unbeaten Arlington Lassie winner Original Spin, the mount of Jerry Bailey and Sensation, a Dixie Union filly who has won three of her four starts and comes to the Breeders’ Cup off an impressive romp in the Astarita Stakes. In a very open race, in spite of the betting, I like Sensation to start off a sensational day of racing.

R2 Juvenile – One Mile

Another hugely competitive event in spite of the betting suggesting it is a one horse event. That one horse is First Samurai. This son of Giant’s Causeway is the unbeaten winner of both the Hopeful and Champagne Stakes in impressive fashion. In both races, he dispatched Saratoga Special winner and the previously unbeaten Henny Hughes, who cannot realistically hope to reverse placings, even with a smarter ride on the last occasion. There are however some other useful contenders who are stepping into this sort of company for the first time and three European invaders that could be anything if they adapt to the surface. Of the three Europeans, the John Gosden trained Leo is the most interesting following his win in the Royal Lodge Stakes in September. I expect Dawn of War, Sorceror’s Stone, Private Vow and Stevie Wonderboy to be much more credible threats however and of this quartet I like Futurity Stakes winner Private Vow and Johnny Velasquez to score his fourth win in five starts.

R3 Fillies and Mares Turf – Ten Furlongs

In spite of the presence of European and defending champion Ouija Board, this is an extremely competitive event. In the end, the race will come down to who handles the rain-softened turf best and for this I turn to Wonder Again. This mare has shown her best form with some ease underfoot and has shown solid form this year when conditions have been against her. She was narrowly beaten by Riskaverse in the Flower Bowl Invitational in her last start and was a very close third to Ouija Board in the 2004 edition of this event and I confidently expect her to step forward here. Her main challengers should come from Riskaverse, Angara and Film Maker. There is the usual strong European challenge for this event with six out of the fourteen runners but I am comfortable with sticking to Wonder Again.

R4 Sprint – Six Furlongs

Lost in the Fog first, the rest nowhere. This is the only way to summarize what is possibly one of the lowest standard races on the Breeders Cup card – at least when you exclude this unbeaten colt. Lost in the Fog has decimated the opposition in winning his ten starts to date and the only question marks against his name is the track conditions, which could be sloppy, and the fact that he is facing older opposition for really the first time (if you ignore the mickey mouse race he contested in his last start). On the other hand, the older brigade headed by Wildcat Heir, Lion Tamer and Taste of Paradise are far from special. This should really be a question of how far for Lost in the Fog.

R5 Mile Turf – One Mile

Usually one of the best races on the card and no exception in 2005. There is not enough space to talk about the exploits of Artie Schiller, Whipper, Leroidesanimaux, Singletary and Valixir. If you are reading this article, you have got to know all there is to know about these outstanding thoroughbreds. When you add Host and Funfair to the cast, you have a very competitive event. The one I feel will prove unbeatable is the remarkable Leroidesanimaux. This Brazilian bred horse finished fourth in his first US start in January 2004 and has not been beaten since. His win in the Atto Mile on a yielding course was awesome even admitting for opposition beneath the level of those here. He will receive a sterner test here, but if he is the champion I think he is, he should handle it easily.

R6 Distaff (Fillies and Mares) – Nine Furlongs

Another very open championship race headed by last year’s winner Ashado. She has been far from dominant in 2005, in fact some would describe her as disappointing and he win in the Beldame did not impress as that of a Breeders Cup champion. Happy Ticket appeared to be a pretender to the throne until the Beldame but she has shown form on the Belmont mud but over a shorter distance. There are numerous other fillies that can be given a shout including Society Selection, Stellar Jayne, Sweet Symphony, and In the Gold but the one I will take a chance with is Pleasant Home. This filly has been a slow maturing filly but she is coming good at the right time with two strong finishing seconds in the Ballerina and Spinster Stakes. She will benefit from any speed duel at the front.

R7 Turf – One Mile Four Furlongs

Europe first, the rest nowhere. If one of Shirocco, Bago, Azamour or Ace cannot land this relatively weak event, I will be very surprised. The Americans are headed by last year’s winner Better Talk Now who prevailed in an event that was weakly represented by Europeans. This horse plus the unbeaten Shakespeare, English Channel and Gun Salute represent the best of the Americans but their form is way below the Europeans and the change in surface is likely to also favour the invaders. Of these four, Bago stands out. Although this year cannot be considered a vintage year for the colt when compared to winning the Arc in 2004, 3rd place finishes in the King George and Arc are nothing to feel embarrassed about. He is reported to be looking much better than early in the season and with the going in his favour, should be favourite on the day and win!

R8 Classic – Ten Furlongs

To me, this is the best race on the card for 2005. First of all, forget Starcraft. This Australian/European invader has no chance of success. In spite of a deep field, this race comes down to Rock Hard Ten, Borrego and Saint Liam. This dynamic trio has taken American racing by storm over the last three months and it is impossible to look past. Borrego and Saint Liam were breath-taking in the last wins while Rock Hard Ten has been solid in all of his victories. There is just the worry that the Rock is a bit one paced and so could be found out at the business end by a speedier rival. In such an event, the one that really appeals is Borrego. He has won his last two major events in contrasting styles, producing a devastating burst at the end of his race to win the Pacific Classic and then producing that burst in the middle of the race and then sauntering home in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. The only worry is whether he can handle a sloppy surface but I am willing to take a chance with him doing so. It is Borrego to win the Classic!

YEARLING SALES 2005

2006-02-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

SPORTS: DANCING BRAVE COLUMN FOR SUNDAY 27TH NOVEMBER, 2005
By Andre E Baptiste
------ YEARLING SALES 2005 -------
SEX.
Football is about war, tennis is about dueling, and cricket is about pursuit and capture. But Flat racing is about sex. This elementary - perhaps I should say elemental - fact was brought home to me as I look ahead to the upcoming Yearling Sales at Santa Rosa Park today, Sunday from 12pm.
IMAGINE:The pre-sale ring is the place to be, from 9am to 11.55am. There, the next half dozen lots parade, yearlings just beginning to feel their strength. They have been walked in hand for hours every day in preparation for this moment, fed and exercised to build the muscles, to bring out that swinging athletics walk, that comely sway of the hips.
And all of them naked but for a bridle, so that every nuance of conformation and musculature can be ogled and yearned for. And all around me, just about every other person I have spoken to in pursuit of stories for this column was doing exactly that, some of them even drinking while the horses paraded.
I thought about swanking up to one or two of them and giving them a piece of advice. Lot five looks pretty ordinary to me, and seems destined for a return to his breeder. But lot eight, the nice Freshly Squeezed colt; he looks a real tough chap to me. What an eye for a horse I possess.
Lot five , a bay filly by Gilgamesh, fetched $70,000.00TT; lot eight made $35,000.00TT. But you see they all look gorgeous. You need a special eye to see beyond the dazzle of gorgeousness. Every single horse looks a winner, for that is what they have been bred to be. Or at least to look.
And I fancied them all, every one of them. It was a bit like being an adolescent in a nudist colony. You don’t really have time or inclination to be discriminating, you are too busy looking around and saying phwoar.
One Trainer , told me at the 2004 sales that spotting the right horse was like seeing a beautiful woman, not a matter of analysis of action, walk, poise, eye, expression, anatomy, mien. It was simply a matter of one instantaneous click, and somehow you know, you know even then, that some day she’ll win, again and again . . . . Then I thought I should be very very good at this ( at least so I am told !!!!).
Or he, of course. But it is the same sort of feeling, the same response to beauty. And every decent Darwinian will tell you that this response to that perfectly desirable person goes back to the urge to procreate, to pass on your genes. In the same way, the response to a perfect horse is about sex, is about breeding.
For buying a horse is about more than winning. It is also about the future generations of champions, for horse racing is Darwin’s struggle for existence turned into the largest and most beautiful parlour game in the history of the world.
The mood is one of politely restrained hysteria. Everything in the sales ring is designed to inhibit the process of rational thought.
Surely no one, once inside, can make a calm assessment of mathematical and fiscal possibilities. The horses walk from semi-dark into the bright light and most squeal in excitement and distress, bemerding the ring in alarm as they greet this, the turning point of their young lives. It is the coming of age ceremony.
And as the horses squeal, the auctioneer gabbles a hysterical précis of the horse’s charm and beauty and a brief glowing summary of its ancestry, and then commences the chanting litany of money. It is every bit as easy to follow as the changing odds in American racing with less than one minute before race time.
Everything is designed to frazzle nerves and inject that manic spurt of adrenalin: the hand in the air, the lofted catalogue, and the nod. A demon has briefly taken possession of you and you have gone $15,000.00TT over your agreed limit.
I sneaked into the area marked Bidders only, and was truly alarmed.
The guest auctioneer, Jeremy Mactaggrt seemed to look me straight in the eye the entire time. I suppose this is a knack that auctioneers learn at auctioneers’ school: how to look several hundred people directly in the eye at the same time.
Mactaggrt was lucky we hope, and BWIA was on at time for once in its recent life.
Quite a nice horse arrived , a Ministar colt, though I was not the only one to think so. Showing quite incredible restraint, I managed to avoid making even a deliberate twitch, and saw the animal knocked down for $78,000.00TT.
I found I was standing alongside some of the leading owners (Junior Sammy, Neil Poon Tip,Merlin Samalsingh,Wilma Primus,Russell Ramsammy, Nigel Mark Baptiste ,Bertwin Samalsingh, Ainsely Mark, Pierpont Scott,Wendell Kangaloo,Bernard Dulal-Whiteway, Peter Ganteaume and Douglas Bennett), all fans of this column. I asked them why they hadn’t bought the colt, and one said. “I don’t like.” Then the shrug, like a stage Frenchman, which he does so well, a man who, relishes racing’s best ironies. “Other people, they like.”
“Tell you what. In two years’ time, I’ll tell if you are right.” A sheikhly laugh. “Then we will know.” What’s round the next corner?
What’s over the next hill? The only way to find out is by going there.
And one of the great things about these owners is that he is never going to die wondering. As usual, he has spent heavy and deep, but if your ambition is global conquest, you need a bit of ammunition here and there.
And there is plenty of logic and thought and knowledge, but it is, above all, the visceral response to a horse that guides top owners and their insider friends - as it guides everybody else who has ever had anything to do with any horse for any reason whatsoever.
And, of course, it is about sex, not simply the thunderous, earth-moving act of generation that takes place on the great studs of the world but in the river of genes, the endless river in spate, flowing and flowing on.
I bumped into a breeder I knew in the bar: the horse has fetched a five-figure sum. Which was good, but not great. Somebody’s vet was unconvinced by an X-ray of the stifle joint, the one high up on the back leg, and advised against. “Which probably cost me sixty five grand.”
Two fillies went through the ring in quick succession, each one fetching more than $50,000.00 TT. “And not a drop of Researching blood,” cooed the auctioneers. What, I hear you ask? Surely having Researching blood is a good thing, the best thing?
So it is. But breed from animals too closely related and you get the problems of inbreeding, incestuous liaisons, recessive genes. A near-perfect Bandsman -free filly is perfection itself for putting to one of Bandsman’s polyphiloprogenitive sons. Of course it’s all about sex, why else would we be here? Here at the sales or here on earth, for that matter.
“Of course, you realise it’s a stitch-up,” an insider said. “You know about kickbacks, don’t you? And agreements not to bid, and agreements to bid the price up? And how to use the sales as a way of laundering money?
It’s as ruthless and as cynical as commodity dealing . . . it’s just that the commodities are rather nice.” Cynicism and romance meet hand in hand; love and money meet in helter-skelter collision. This is the great marriage market of the horsey world, and every one is out for a suitable boy, a suitable girl.
And they are, as I say, all gorgeous, every one of them. And in less than a decade, all of us who are saved plus a good many new insane hopefuls will be back looking at their progeny. Looking for the spark, waiting to hear that silent phwoar. The river of money and genes in full spate, and this is their confluence.
Oh to buy the next Trinidad Derby Winner? This will be my third attempt, maybe I can get lucky!!!!
:: AB

He's back

2006-02-18T06:46:00.000-08:00

I am Back