Mo and Gamma -- Up Here

[Sir X]

That day is fast approaching if Penns dont offer some rewards for our participation , they might be getting C teams,Jamaican HS dont need to travel to the USA for exposure anymore to get scholarships.Its a costly adventure in these times.

[Jangle]

Bwoy X, I have been agreeing with many of your posts of late. Scary. Carifta has become a minor event for our athletes and that's not going to change anytime soon. When we can dominate so overwhelmingly with our second and third-rate athletes, then it will inevitably be seen as another developmental meet for us. A just so the thing set. It's up to the rest of the other islands to step and offer a challenge to us. Many of these little dots in the Caribbean Sea need to abandon their badmindedness and ask for our help. For years our athletes were running second and third behind the USA begging for their scholarships, we stepped up our game through Franno and Glen Mills. Now our youths realizing that it's in their best interest to stay home. As a natural progression, more of our tertiary schools will be adding sports, namely T&F to their curriculum. As X rightly said, soon The Penn Relays will start losing it's importance to our high school athletes. Gibson Relays needs to look into expanding to maybe two days and inviting more international teams to compete.

[Don1]

Don1, Gamma and Mo,

I agree with the observations and most of what you guys say, I just don't see that a successful Champs (pleonasm?) means that JA should not look to assist in the building of CARIFTA. The attendance (or lack of ) of JA athletes add presige to many meets and IMO we should look to enhance what we have in the region.

Why would the Penn Relays be considered more prestigious than CARIFTA? Are we again not looking to "Babylon" for validation? Why can't we build our own (regional) super meet?

I'm not advocating abandoning CARIFTA. Of course Jamaica should support it to help develop our fellow small islanders in track

Also I'm not particularly looking for Babylon validation

Penn is a great meet...but Champs has just as much history (well almost) fiercer competition....and nuff more vibes

Champs is irreplaceable

[Don1]

That day is fast approaching if Penns dont offer some rewards for our participation , they might be getting C teams,Jamaican HS dont need to travel to the USA for exposure anymore to get scholarships.Its a costly adventure in these times.

Incidentally there was a move afoot among certain circles in NY a few years ago to boycott Penn and create an alternative Caribbean Relays in NYC...this because of the lack of recognition and respect by the Univ of Pennsylvania to Jamaican athletes, supporters and sponsors. Babylon had to have its arm twisted to provide certain facilities needed to host our teams...

... they saw the light and did an about turn Nowadays we can go directly to the top of the food chain to get things done... Missa Johnson yuh respek konkrete

Penn realized that without Jamaican participation that meet would be a relative flop

[Peter R]

"Champs is irreplaceable" Amen

[TDowl]

Mo some Jamaicans are upset about that Team that came from Canada to Gibson Relays.

Carifta is the defeating it's own purpose of youth development, by trying to defeat Jamaica by any means..

JA needs to stage more Carifta & Pan Am games..

What's up on the addition announcement..

[TDowl]

Boss if JA HS stop going to Penn Relays, that's it for me..I have two miss since early 70's...NYC yuh hear..

[Jangle]

NYC me seh too....preferably somewhere in the Hudson Valley.

[Willi]

Thanks.

I think we need to threaten to withdraw to restore order.

All this bogus DQ of relay, 7 hour delay fi di pickney dem get hotel room followed by 5am "random" drug test and moving goalposts to reduce our medal count...pure badmind and bad bargain.

The JAAA people should have told Sands to his face that it dem dont stop di foolishness, we would pack our bags and go in the middle of the Games and have it flop pon dem...in no uncertain terms.

Dyam outtaorder!

[cmv]

Champs bigger than CARIFTA

Gamma: I agree that “it can only be good for the other islands to do well and catch up.” Nothing is wrong with that view, of course, but it doesn’t mean that we are to relax so they can catch up! As a greedy, diehard Jamaican track and field fan (to the core), I want Jamaica to EXTEND our margins of victory, not allow others to “catch up”!

PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS
By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, the prestigious Austin Sealy Awards is nowadays being captured by Bahamian athletes – this is the third year in a row! When last has a Jamaican athlete won that award? Sure, we have won it many times over the years, but the most recent one was Yohan Blake who won it in 2007 (that’s six years ago). Just before him there was Theon O’Conner, Usain Bolt, Anneshia McLaughlin, Veronica Campbell, and then Aleen Bailey (Aleen was in the late 1990s). (Of course, many other Jamaican athletes have won this award aside from the most recent ones I listed.)

These are all amazing Jamaican stars who were allowed to compete at Carifta, and who as a result were rewarded for their amazing performances.

Surely we have had Jamaican athletes since Yohan who quite possibly could have won an Austin Sealy Award? Don’t you think our other young Jamaican stars would love to have such an award displayed in their homes? Can you imagine the boost to their confidence and their resume? But how can they achieve this ultimate Caribbean junior athletics award when short-sighted coaches do not give them the opportunity to take part in the Carifta Games?

REGIONAL CULTURAL EXPOSURE
So, I still – and will always - feel that Jamaica should send it’s “A” team to the annual Carifta Games. These athletes can only benefit from the exposure to different Caribbean cultures, lifestyles and experiences. And it shouldn’t affect any Penn Relays ambitions very much. Trust me, 2013 Austin Sealy Award winner Shaunae Miller, who took part in three events this weekend, will be at the Penn Relays representing the University of Georgia.

CASES FOR EXCEPTION
Of course, there will be valid cases for exceptions, as with the Wolmers girls, as pointed out by our friend, the poster Time. Education and examinations should always take priority over sports and entertainment, and so I fully support this move by the decision makers at Wolmers.

CHAMPS
I will never downplay the vital importance of “Boys & Girls Champs” since 1912 (in the case of “Boys Champs”) in the development of our young athletes although, paradoxically, it has destroyed quite a number because of greed and ridiculous workloads. But a local high school national championship is not seen by anyone outside of that nation’s borders as being more important than a regional competition, and a few of our high school coaches need to realize this.

The shitty officiating in Bahamas show how far ahead Jamaica is where track and field is concerned. As a Jamaican to the bones NOTHING LIKE CHAMPS.

Jamaica medal count miss about 6 medals because suddenly if 3 countries don't participate in an even it nuh count.
CHAMPS have pole vault, steeple chase, 3000m 5000m you name it. Carifta nuh hab none a dat mi brethren. You look like you live in a bubble. I understand that you have to take up for the county that you are from or live and so do we.

[cmv]

Champs is irreplaceable

I'm not advocating abandoning CARIFTA. Of course Jamaica should support it to help develop our fellow small islanders in track

Also I'm not particularly looking for Babylon validation

Penn is a great meet...but Champs has just as much history (well almost) fiercer competition....and nuff more vibes

Champs is irreplaceable

Oonu see how ppl did bex how dem couldn't get fe see CHAMPS. International audience craving for this meet. LONG LIVE CHAMPS..fire fe dem who see otherwise.

[cmv]

Dam outta order bout DQ'd..Pure Badmindedness....fire fe dem!!

[Mosiah]

Carifta Games Coverage An Outrage

Just the televising of Carifta demonstrates its second class stature.

LETTER OF THE DAY - Carifta Games Coverage An Outrage
Published: Wednesday | April 3, 2013 39 Comments
THE EDITOR, Sir:

Following the Carifta Games that concluded Sunday evening, it is evident that not only does Jamaica sit on top in the championship, but also in media coverage.

For one thing, it was apparent that the main commentators for the games were proletarians in the field of media and communication. They oftentimes mispronounced names, had dead air while the coverage was live, had limited knowledge of the events and techniques, and most disturbing of all, they had poor commentating techniques.

To compound this, the only time one could get a feeling of adrenaline rush from their voices is when a Bahamas athlete is winning or has won the race. This clearly showed that they were doing commentary in their capacity as Bahamas commentators rather than regional commentators.

Witnessing such poor journalism and communicative behaviour should be of concern to the organisers of Carifta. Regional events should, by no means, be subjected to this sort of embarrassment.

Hubert Lawrence and Jermaine Deans are the epitome of commentators with excellent journalistic styles and in-depth knowledge, who know how to capture an audience's attention and educate them.

The camera shots from the event brought back memories of watching a home-made video. The angles were untimely and lacked transition in smoothness, contributing to a poor delivery of the races. The Jamaican audience, in particular, must have been annoyed because they are used to a much better quality of broadcast from their local media houses.

That aside, social media were appropriately used by The Gleaner and Jamaican's Carifta team sponsor LIME Jamaica, giving its followers timely updates throughout the meet. They catered for those persons who weren't before television monitors, and this is commendable.

At the next meet in Martinique, hopefully amateur media controls won't be as prevalent and punctuated as they were in The Bahamas 2013.

ROMARO SCOTT

scott.r.ja@gmail.com

[Gamma]

As for that .... Dem mek NBC look like them naw try when it come
To biasness!!

"an here comes team Bahamas" all when dem not even India tv screen!!!

[Historian]

Oh?

I understand that you have to take up for the county that you are from or live and so do we.

Very interesting statement! Normally I do not respond to emotional outbursts like this, but I strongly urge you to read a bit more closely my post which you quoted!