Rants, raves and insights as seen through my myopic world view. And I mean that in a good way…

Let’s dive right into part two of my London Olympic 2012 track preview.

 

Share this:

With a month to go before the 2012 London Olympics, all eyes, bets and conversation will be centered on the many track events that will be hotly contested and as of right now, wide open.

Yohan Blake-Peaking at the right time and definitely the one to beat.

Justin Gatlin-He beat Asafa early in the year and hasn’t stopped chirping since. He’s running for bronze but if anyone slips up Gatlin could surprise.

Asafa Powell-Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Asafa is running better than he ever has, but…” Powell has the talent to win but not the intestinal fortitude. He’s a medal contender but not really a challenger for the gold.

Tyson Gay-Broke down a year ago trying to catch up and keep up with Bolt. He’s running well but sparingly. Can he hold up through the grueling rounds to really challenge in London? I don’t see him getting on the podium.

Prediction: Blake first, Bolt second, Gatlin third.

100 meters women

This is a three woman race. Set aside the US Olympic Trials Felix/Tarmoh mess for a second, as neither woman should factor in this race in London. This event will come down to Carmelita Jeter of the US, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Not every athlete can succeed in a world championship setting like the Olympics. Some runners, on any given day running one race, can be worl

d beaters. In the Olympics you have to bring it, bring it and bring it again, often in the same day, consecutive days or several days in a short period. Many runners have been Diamond/Golden League superstars and wither by the time they get to the Olympic finals.

Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce is not one of those. She shows up best when it counts the most, and if she gets a lead on the field the race is usually over.

Alyson Felix, Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast, Kelly Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Kerron Stewart of Jamaica all have the closing speed to crash that party, but I think this will end up as follows:

Fraser-Pryce first, Jeter second, VCB third.

200 meters men

This will have mostly the same cast of characters as the 100, except for Gay and Gatlin. The main challenge to Bolt and Blake will be American Wallace Spearmon, but he’s running for bronze. There could be a Jamaican sweep, but like Gay in the 100 meters, I am not sure how Warren Weir of Jamaica in his first major international championships will hold up through the heats, semis and final.

Bolt first, Blake second and Spearmon third.

200 meters women

This is one of the most competitive races in the entire slate of events. The top five female sprinters of the last decade will be in this one; Sanya Richards-Ross, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Alyson Felix, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, Carmelita Jeter.

Every single one of these women has at least one Olympic or World Championship gold medal on their resume. They are the cream of the crop in women’s sprinting and every one of them has a legitimate shot to win the gold. I think this will be best race of the entire Olympics.

VCB has had a very uneven season so far, but like Shelly Ann, she tends to raise her effort when it’s all on the line.

I think Veronica Campbell-Brown defends her 2008 Olympic gold medal, Alyson Felix second and Jeter third.

110 Hurdles, Men

This is another highly competitive race with a distinguished field. The biggest surprise going in is that David Oliver, the World Champion from 2008, did not make the US team. Personally, I could not see him getting on the podium with this field anyway, but rest assured, this race will be cracking.

Xiang Liu of China, Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson of the US, World Record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba, Hansle Parchment and the NCAA champion, Andrew Riley both of Jamaica are all medal contenders here.  I see this as a real fight between Robles and Xiang Liu, the two hurdlers involved in an infraction last year. (To those thatdidn’t see it, Robles was leading, Liu passed him, and Robles grabbed Liu’shand and slowed him down to a third place finish. Robles was disqualified and Richardson of the US awarded the gold and Liu the silver.)

00

This time around, Liu will leave no doubt. I think Liu wins this going away, with Robles, Merritt, Parchment and Richardson vying for second and third. Don’t be surprised if Robles’ world record of 12.87 falls in this race.

100 Hurdles, Women

As competitive as the men’s race will be, this will be just as anti-climatic. Sally Pearson of Australia was the silver medalist in 2008, the race notorious for Lolo Jones’ stumble on the last hurdle.

Pearson has dominated the event since Beijing, putting yards of daylight between her and everyone else. She has 3 of the 5 fastest times of the year going into this Olympics and has been more dominant than Jones was going into 2008. If healthy, she should win easily.  Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica, Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells of the US, Lolo Jones and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Canada are running for second and third.

Pearson first, Harper second, Foster-Hylton third and it’s not even close.

800 meters, Men

David Rudisha is the name to know in this event. He has the three fastest times this year and is a full 2 seconds faster than everyone else. He has talked about taking the world record into the 1:30’s and he is quite capable of it. Rudisha owns the world record of 1:41.01 and this is another record that could fall in London.

Rudisha first, Abubaker Kaki of Sudan second and Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia third.

800 meters, Women

This is going to be another interesting and highly competitive race.  Pamela Jelimo is the favorite here. She is coming into this Olympics as the defending champion, and she has been consistently under 2:00.00 in all of her 2012 races.

Kenia Sinclair is the wild card. Quite possibly Jamaica’s best ever distance runner, Sinclair was in position for a medal in Beijing and faded down the stretch to 6^th place. She has run sparingly this season, but won the Jamaica Trials and could be a serious medal contender next month.

Caster Semenya of South Africa, Fantu Magiso of Ethiopia and Irina Maracheva of Russia are all in the mix for a medal but Jelimo is the class of the field and should get the gold medal.

Jelimo first, Semenya second and Sinclair third.

Next week i’ll give you part two, and yes, there will be more surprises!

Share this:

Last week at the US Olympic trials, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh tied for third in the 100meter finals. The top three spots are guaranteed a spot on the Olympic team competing in the 100, with the fourth joining the pool for the relay team.

Share this:

The worlds of art and politics collided again recently when the South African President (and head of the ANC) Jacob Zuma was portrayed in a painting with his Presidential privates on display.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Brett Murray, a South African artist, did a painting of the country’s leader which was displayed in the Goodman Gallery. The painting was a skewered take on the old iconic Lenin poster (below) with a prominent distinction.

The ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela and South Africa’s ruling political party, immediately denounced the artist and his work and called for its removal, saying it was, and I am quoting the ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu: “…an abuse of freedom of expression.”
The President himself claimed that it “perpetuates a shocking new culture by sections of the artistic world, of using vulgar methods of communicating about leading figures in the country, particularly the President.”

Now bear in mind that the ANC has been the ruling party in South Africa uninterrupted since 1994. Their leadership and membership is predominantly black, and their record is somewhat uneven.

Zuma is the definition of a political lifer; a man who walked the walk in support of freedom during the 70’s and 80’s of white minority rule. He was incarcerated on Robbins Island with Mandela and was instrumental in coalescing the ANC’s power with that of the powerful Zulu tribe, of which he is a member.

He ascended to the Presidency and continued the ANC’s hold on power over the last 15+ years. Zuma has also been involved in an obscene number of political scandals, questionable decisions and comments that could be considered at best ill-advised.

In brief, over the last decade Mr. Zuma has been:
1. Part of a corruption investigation regarding a government arms deal
2. Investigated regarding misappropriation of millions in government funds
3. A defendant in a rape trial involving a HIV positive woman (which led to his comments that he “took a shower after sex to protect him from HIV infection,”)
4. Got married to two women and
5. Fathered a child with the daughter of one of his long time colleagues, his alleged twentieth (20th) child.
Mr. Zuma has also vociferously opposed homosexuality saying that same-sex marriage was “a disgrace to the nation and to God,” and said that the solution to high numbers of teen pregnancy is to “confiscate their babies and have the mothers taken to colleges and forced to obtain degrees.”

Against this backdrop, Zuma was depicted by the artist with his privates on display. Naturally, the majority of South Africans were upset at the caricature. The government threatened to censure art in this vein, demanded its removal from the public view, and filed defamation charges in court papers against the gallery. A supporter of Zuma subsequently went to the gallery and defaced the painting by covering certain parts with paint (L.) 

This is a completely hypocritical stance by a party that suffered for decades under some of the worst government sanctioned discrimination ever, but the party that won the minds of the local people and the world at large under Mandela is clearly not the party that now governs under Zuma.

Now while I do think that the painting was in poor taste, and the obvious disrespect for the sitting head of state is curious at best and at worst inspired by some latent racist motives by Mr. Murray, who is white. I also believe however the truth lies somewhere in between.

In his defense, Murray has said: “In the apartheid years, I created satirical images which attacked abuses of power. For many years I have used, and continue to use symbols with sexual connotations representative of political power and patriarchy,”

He furthered stated: “It is an attempt at humorous satire of political power and patriarchy within the context of other artworks in the exhibition and within the broader context of South African discourse. I never intended the artwork to cause any hurt or to harm the dignity of any person.”

I believe Mr. Murray and support his right to free expression, but I do not believe for a second that last part about not intending to harm the dignity of President Zuma. His point is obvious, no pun intended.

Jacob Zuma is the elected head of the country and as such demands a certain amount of respect and gravitas. This respect and gravitas does come with significant responsibilities, and Zuma has not shown a willingness to shoulder the burden of moving the country forward, preferring instead to rely on the old divide and conquer tactics.

As such he has shown his office considerably more disrespect than any work of art could portray. He is a shining example of power corrupting the corruptible and he continues to pursue his personal agenda with impunity towards any opposition.

The ultimate irony of this latest debacle swirling around Zuma is how far he is from Lenin, whose political life and struggles served as a roadmap of sorts for Zuma.

Lenin has been described as one of the most influential people of the 20th century, his rhetoric has been used in relation to every regime change in Russia since his death. Lenin has inspired revolutionaries worldwide, including Castro, Mao Zedong, and Ho Chi Minh.

It is doubtful if there are any positive attributes to be taken from the life and times of Jacob Zuma. 

Or as Lenin himself said:

“There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.”

Share this:

Heading into the 2012 London Olympics, fans of track and field are gearing up for some amazing contests across the spectrum. From the sprints to the middle distances, hurdles to the jumps, the competition has never been tighter and more unpredictable.

It is fitting that on the 50th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence, the country is poised to continue its domination of the sprints that had previously reached a zenith in Beijing four years ago.

I watched a replay of the recent Penn Relays where an interview was conducted with the great Carl Lewis. As a young runner and fan of the sport back in the 80’s I was a huge fan of Carl Lewis. After the Ben Johnson scandal that rocked the entire sport, I supported his vocal opposition to cheating in track and field, particularly his pointed remarks about (among others) Florence Griffith-Joyner alleged use of performance enhancing drugs (PED’S.) As the greatest American runner since Jesse Owens, I felt he was sorely under-appreciated in this, his homeland.

When looked at in that context, I can understand it to some degree but I still have been more than slightly turned off by his continued bitterness towards every great runner to come along since he retired. He has been quite vocal in his skepticism about Jamaican sprinters and what he has said is their ‘sudden emergence’ on the scene. He stayed true to form at the Penn Relays interview, making another comment about the Jamaicans ‘coming out of nowhere’ before trying to backpedal and discuss ‘the long history of Jamaican runners.’

Now I could make the obvious statement about the multitude of American runners caught up in the BALCO scandal, and how the American sprinters have disappeared from the medal podiums since that saga came to light.  I could also point at Lewis’ admitted failing a test for PED’s; an act that makes his comments seems more than a little hypocritical. 

I won’t go to any lengths about that, rather I will merely highlight some facts that might shed light on the ‘sudden emergence’ Mr. Lewis referred to:

Since the middle of the 20th century we have been consistently well represented in the sprints, first our men and within the last thirty years, both our men and women. In a sport that had struggled with PED use for decades, we have been consistent winners with very few cheaters in our ranks.

Even before independence, starting with the 1948 London Olympics and through to the 1950’s, there was the golden generation of George Rhoden, Arthur Wint and Herb “Herb Mac” McKinley, the men who first showed the world the talent in our little island in the sun.

During the 60’s and 70’s Lennox Miller and Don Quarrie won medals on the world’s biggest stage.

The 1980’s and 1990’s ushered the women onto the podium next to the men; Juliet Cuthbert, Merlene Ottey (shown with her arm around Cuthbert) and Grace Jackson  joined the great hurdler Winthrop Graham in winning medals wearing the green and gold.

In addition, the number of sprinters Jamaican born and of Jamaican descent furthered highlighted our status as world beaters; Donovan Bailey won gold for his adopted homeland of Canada, Linford Christie did the same for Great Britain and Inger Miller, daughter of Lennox, won several medals running for the USA.

That dubious part of Jamaica’s tradition continues today with Sanya Richards-Ross and Debbie Dunn representing the Stars and Stripes over their ancestral homeland.

It’s hard to make the argument that Jamaican runners have suddenly emerged when looking at that lineage.

Many will say Jamaicans have overachieved as a nation, stepping up on the world stage in a manner that a tiny country the size of Rhode Island and with less people than Brooklyn has no business doing. When you have been as consistently great as Jamaican athletes have been however, it is difficult to consider it overachieving. It’s most likely a case of being right where we should be.

With this current plethora of talent, what I will call the Greatest Generation of sprinters in our history, we are poised to stamp our pedigree once again. The Beijing Olympics of 2008 was a stunning introduction to the casual fan of what we can do. This time around there is no surprises, but 2012-our 50th year of independence-it will be an affirmation of who we are: World Beaters. And as we continue to rise, people like Lewis continue to shrink in stature.

To Mr. Lewis and those who question it as he has, I say this; Recognize greatness, Mr. Lewis. It’s always been there, maybe you just were too busy looking at yourself to notice.

Share this:

2012 is a big year for track and field participants and enthusiasts. The London Olympics are naturally the biggest event on the calendar, but there are a multitude of other events that should make this a very interesting season.

Already in 2012 we have had the World Indoor Championships, which featured a great couple of races for Sanya Richards-Ross, (400 meters and anchoring the silver medal 4×400 team) and a triumphant Justin Gatlin winning his first championship since his drug suspension, taking the 60 meter in a season best 6.46 seconds.

We also had the Boys and Girls Championships in Jamaica, where Calabar High School won the boys title with a great team effort. The girls title was won by Edwin Allen HS (R) breaking the nearly decade long stranglehold of Holmwood on first place.

And now, on the last weekend of April, comes the Penn Relays. This year Penn will be missing some of the biggest names. No Usain Bolt,  Yohan Blake or Asafa Powell  for Jamaica, but that doesn’t mean the stars wont be present.

Sanya Richards-Ross, Allyson Felix, the aforementioned Gatlin, Nesta Carter, Walter Dix and Kirani James are all named as participants in what should be a great weekend of races. I don’t see any real challenges to the American teams in the USA versus the World events, as while they have loaded teams competing in Philly this year, the other countries don’t seem to have the depth this year to beat them. As history has shown however, upsets at Franklin Field do happen.

Watch the Great Britain team competing in the Women’s 4×400 relay in particular; they could spring a major surprise.

The high school relays are of particular interest to Jamaicans living in the US. Coming into this week, the top schools by time and event are as follows:

High school boys 4×100:
Kingston College                                   40.17            
Wolmers’ Boys School                           40.21            
Munro College                                       40.41            
St. Elizabeth Technical High                 40.44              
Herbert Morrison Tech.                       40.55  
Jamaica College (under 16 team)         40.75
DeSoto HS (Texas)                 40.59

High School Boys 4×400:
Calabar HS(R) 3:10.19
DeSoto, Tx         3:14.88
Kingston College         3:12.64
Laurel HS (Maryland) 3:15:65
Boys & Girls, Brooklyn, NY     3:15.12
Jamaica College 3:13.64
Long Beach Poly         3:18:55

High School Girls 4×100:
Edwin Allen 45.28
Herbert Morrison 45.61
Boyd Anderson HS (Florida) 45.66
Long Beach Poly 46.04
Vere Technical 46.00
St. Jago HS 46.60
St. Andrews HS 46.93

High School Girls 4×400:
Vere Technical High                             3:38.91          
American Heritage HS (Florida) 3:43:15
St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida)         3:44:50
Holmwood Technical                               3:44.04          
Edwin Allen High                                 3:44.51          
St. Andrew High                                   3:45.07          

There should also be some great college races, with UWI, UTech and GC Foster competing with the traditional US college relay powerhouses; Florida, Texas A&M, LSU and Arkansas, who have all run under 39.70 this season.

One thing is for sure, this meet is not going to disappoint fans of track and field, and should give us a early look at some of the names we will see in London and also, maybe Brazil 2016.

Share this:

The modern footballer is a wealthy, globally recognizable star. The top players on the big teams, elite guys like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are icons, and the players who are not on that level or playing for non-traditional powers are still well known and major attractions for advertisers and headlines. With that being said, I also say this: Lionel Messi, as great as he is, is not Pele. He’s not even Maradona. And he may never be.

Messi is so good that the mythical title of world’s greatest player has not been in dispute the last two years. Actually Messi and Ronaldo, the clear second best player have separated themselves so much from the rest of the pack the only comparisons for them that can be made are with the all time greats. And therein lies the biggest knock on Messi.

As great a player as Messi has been, his achievements have been almost exclusively on the club level. Barcelona has used their considerable resources to surround Messi with some of the most talented players in the world. They, along with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City have created a chasm between themselves and the other teams domestically by throwing millions of dollars at player after player to win every year. George Steinbrenner would be proud of the zeal in which these team owners collect stars and assemble teams.

More than half of the World Cup winning team from Spain wears the red and blue of Barcelona and that incredible collection of talent and cohesiveness is breath taking to watch and almost impossible to defeat. Champions League, La Liga and World Club titles have all been won by Barcelona in the last three years, prompting talk of them being the best club team of all time.

Messi has not been able to even come close to matching those accomplishments with his Argentine national team. And when you want to be named among the greatest of all time, the measuring stick is World Cup titles. Pele won his first at seventeen in 1958 and his 3rd in 1970. Maradona went to two finals, winning in 1986 and finishing second in 1990.

While the Brazil teams of Pele and Maradona’s Argentina teams were comprised of some of the best talent in their eras, the Argentina team that played in the 2010 World Cup also had very good not great players and a plethora of world class strikers. But led by Messi and coached by Maradona they couldn’t even make the semi-finals.  Its worth noting that the only international title Messi has won is the 2008 Olympics gold medal.

One of the true marks of greatness is elevating the play of others around you. While the current crop of Argentine players may not be as good as some of years past, they are still one of the top 10 national teams, and that doesn’t figure to change before the next World Cup.

Having the transcendent best player of this generation should make them the prohibitive favorite for the next trophy in 2014, but if Messi doesn’t raise his game even higher when he puts on the Albiceleste jersey, his place in the pantheon of greats will reside below the likes of Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo (Brazil) and Zidane.

I’ve been closely following this crazy NBA season, and the more I see him, the more I think Derrick Rose’s playing style is the closest I have seen to Allen Iverson (minus the cornrows.) Like Iverson, I don’t see him having a long NBA career, because at the rate he’s getting dinged up, he will quickly lose his speed and once he does, he’s an average PG.

The baseball season starts this week, and my NY Yankees are reloaded for another pennant run. The AL is going to be stacked this year, with Texas, Detroit, Anaheim, Boston and Tampa Bay all legitimate contenders for a World Series spot.

In the National League, I don’t think any team can beat the Phillies, but I do think the Washington Nationals will be a contender this year. They are putting together a good young team in DC, and they will make the NL East interesting this year. Pitching is the major factor in a 162 game season, and the Nationals have some good arms on their team. They will be fun to watch.

Congrats to Calabar High School and Edwin Allen High School for winning the 2012 Boys and Girls Champs respectively. Penn Relays is coming up, and should be quite competitive. Some of the best individual performers at Champs; Shauna Helps, Delano Williams, Tiffany James and Shericka Jackson look like they will have very bright futures in track.

Check out the times below for the fastest US high school 4×400 times in all of 2012:
3:14.88 DeSoto, Tx
3:15.12 Boys & Girls, Brooklyn, NY (indoor.)
3:15.16 Timberview, Mansfield, Tx

Below are the times for the top three boys finishers at Champs 2012:
3:10.19 Calabar HS
3:12.64 Kingston College
3:13.64 Jamaica College

The Girls 4×400 breaks down like this:
3:43.01 Wakefield, Raleigh (indoor)
3:45.16 Lancaster, Tx
3:47.49 Garden City, NY ( indoor)
3:47.56 Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale
3:47.70 DeSoto, Tx
3:48.86 American Heritage, Plantation, Fl
3:49.25 Medgar Evers, Brooklyn (indoor)

The top three HS girls finishers at Champs 2012:
3:38.91 Vere Tech
3:44.04 Holmwood
3:44.51 Edwin Allen

Here’s to a great, competitive track season coming up in 2012!

Share this:

 The petition from MoveOn.org is here. Please sign and pass on.

Share this: