Walk and Talk

Photo Courtesy: Teen Link

The ISSA Grace Boys and Girls Championships begins this Tuesday. It is probably the biggest high school sporting event worldwide. Scouts from track clubs and colleges travel or watch from all around the world to see Jamaica's brightest talents.

I could tell you why you should watch Champs. I could tell you which races or athletes to look out for. I could even give you predictions on which High School will win. However, I'll leave that up to the people getting paid.

I'm going to talk about a very serious topic that is affecting our young athletes and the future of Jamaican track field or sports on a whole. It's something that should not be taken lightly: the interview.

After one of the girls or boys win a race, they are interviewed. Have you ever heard one ? Most of the time it's comedic relief. Why ? They don't answer the question well, they have poor grammar or my personal favourite, the generic answer.If you have watched Champs,tell me if you've ever heard the athletes give one of these answers:

1. Yes sir
2. No sir
3. My coach told me to do it so I did it
4. I just went out there and did my best

5. I've been working hard
5. Thank you sir

I could list out more but you get my point. Apart from their respect for the interviewer, I don't really get anything insightful from them. Isn't that the point of the interview ?

Also their body language or posture is poor. Them holding their faces, their head is down, hands on their knees, etc. That could be a result of nervousness or the fact they just ran their lives out.The interviewer should take some blame as well because they sometimes ask open ended questions like "Did you think you would have won the race?" or questions that would lead to those generic answers. Plus we all know they grab the athletes immediately after the race ends so we will hear their heavy breathing and see their collapsing bodies through our screens and speakers.

My advice is to introduce interviewing skills in the English Syllabus or communication majors should go into these track programmes and show them how to present and answer questions posed to them. This won't only help them in track and field but also when applying for jobs.

I don't want them to get to the big stage like some of our current athletes and not know how to conduct themselves in an interview. However, as someone pointed out to me, if they can win gold medals and break records, why should I be concerned about their interviewing proficiency ? Just give me some good answers please !

If you thought "I went out and did my best", comment and share. 

Beegie's Review

The year is basically finished. Seemed like yesterday was Christmas Day. Anyways, what a year for sports. There were over a billions events worldwide that I could talk about but I'm giving you my top 7 (strange but 7 is a number I like so live with it).

7. Boxing Day?

Photo Courtesy: The Daily Mail

Does anybody know why Boxing Day is important? I thought so. Neither was this fight. The most anticipated fight in modern era became the most constipated fight in history, meaning nothing really came out. Floyd "Money" Mayweather had gone 47 games unbeaten while Manny Pacquiao had 57 wins. Two champions going hand to hand. If you weren't a boxing fan, this fight did nothing to change your mind. I watched it in hopes to gain an appreciation for boxing. Guess what? It didn't. Just rounds of boredom. Floyd won but also won $220 million dollars for his victory, remained unbeaten and is the undisputed champ. He's definitely winning. 

6. Cricket? What Cricket? 

Photo Coutesy: ESPN

Do I really need to spend long on this? There was alot of cricket played this year but none that really excited. The Ashes and Caribbean Premier League T20 were the closest thing that interested me but The West Indies keep losing (which I will not spend long on else I'll be upset), international cricket wasn't that great and there were too many T20 competitions to keep up with. Cricket retired hurt this year. Hopefully, it will be back next year.

5. The Return of MSN

Photo Courtesy: FC Barcelona Official Website

MSN died a few years ago. Messenger used to be the thing but along came BBM and Whatsapp and womp. But another MSN arose who conquered the world. Messi, Suarez and Neymar (MSN) scored a combined 122 goals last season. No that wasn't a typo. 122 goals. That is incredible. Those goals helped Barcelona to win the La Liga, Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Champions League in almsot an unstoppable fashion. The football those three played were mesmerizing and I'm not even a Barca fan but you couldn't help drool at times. The greatest strike force ever? Yes. 

4. True Warriors 

Photo Courtesy: En Yibada

Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors won the Most Valuable Player for the NBA 2014-15 season. He beat out the likes of former MVP Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Curry averaged over 23 points and 7 assists. If that statistic doesn't amaze you, I should tell you that he didn't play 17 fourth quarters. That means that Curry missed out on way more points than he could have achieved. Curry also broke the 3 point record of 269 previously held by Ray Allen. Curry scored a mouth dropping 286. Remember, he sat out 17 fourth quarters. My goodness. The MVP led the Warriors to the NBA Title beating Lebron and the Cavs to defy all odds. Curry and the Warriors showed that you don't have to die by the 3 if you live by the 3.

However, while one Warrior continues to shine, another won't do so for very long. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in November announced that he will retire at the end of his 20th season in the NBA. Arguably the greatest player of all time, Bryant decided to call it quits after struggling to find form after 3 consecutive season ending injuries. The five time NBA Champion certainly made this blogger shed a few tears. Closer to his retirement date, I'll write a better article. But it's sad that this is the last season we will see the "Black Mamba" in action.

3. Nothing Serene About Her

Photo Courtesy: Yahoo News

Barely found words to write this. She won the US Open, Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. They even named it the Serena Slam. That's how good she was. She was invincible. Nobody really touched her. She just flew through tournaments like it was nothing. She was the greatest athlete of 2015 by far. Why is she then number 3 on my list? I'm strange like that. What Serena has done, no woman nor man can accomplish so easily and so gracefully. She broke records, barriers and hearts. She even chased down a man who tried to steal her phone and got it back ! She is one of a kind.

2. I Am Legend

Photo Courtesy: Malaysian Insider

As half the world found out, including myself, doubting Bolt will only make your predictions look foolhardy. Usain Bolt returned from injury and beat the man in-form Justin Gatlin to win 3 gold medals at the IAAF World Championships 2015 in Beijing. Gatlin was unbeaten in over a year, winning race after race. Asafa Powell made a great recovery and was doing quite well in the meets before the games. Even Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers looked dangerous. Bolt's titles were at threat, or so we were made to believe. However, there's a reason why he calls himself a legend in his 98534 interviews (don't quote me on that). He ran 9.79 seconds in the 100m and 19.55 in the 200m defeating everybody who thought he was beatable. Next year for the Rio Olympics, even if he loses one leg, doesn't train and goes blind two weeks before his races, DON'T BET AGAINST HIM. 

1. Black, Green and Gold Cup

Photo Courtesy: Concacaf.com 

Even though they finished second in the Gold Cup, they're number one on my list.  Just when you thought you couldn't trust the Boyz to pull off anything spectacular, they did. It began at the Copa America where they weren't embarassed going against the likes of Argentina and Uruguay. They took that spirit and brought it to the USA as they won the hearts of Jamaicans and the world at large by stunning their opponents, including the hosts USA who they beat 2-1 in the semi-finals. Despite losing to Mexico 3-1 in the final, no Jamaican player could hold their low. It was a historic year for Jamaican football. Hopefully, it will trascend and we will see them qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

From everyone here at The Beegie Flow (just me), I wish you the best for new year and like the action I saw 2015 except cricket, be a good sport. 

Haterade?

Photo courtesy of The Jamaica Observer

A story that made the front page of the Jamaica Observer reported that USA athletes from the 2015 World Championships in Beijing refused to drink Gatorade because World Champion Usain Bolt's face was on the bottle. For those who don't know or are too slow to pick up, Bolt's face is on the bottle because he is sponsored by the sports drink company. Please don't think that Bolt decided to troll the USA team by sending Gatorade bottles with his face on it, although that would be hilarious. 

If this story is really true then some of those USA athletes are really petty. The fact that they went out of their way to not drink Gatorade with Bolt's face on the front shows some real childish behaviour. When you drink Gatorade, you aren't drinking Bolt (Although that might make them run faster). This is cliche but it's what's on the inside that counts. If you feel that Bolt is going to make the Gatorade less effective then something is definitely wrong with you. However, let's change perspective for a bit. What if the bottle was on the other mouth?

Picture this: You're a Jamaican athlete. You're about to drink some refreshing Gatorade and when you pick up the bottle.... BOOM ! You see the smiling face of Justin Gatlin staring at you from the paper wrapper. As a matter of fact, forget that you're even an athlete. You're just a plain Jamaican and because of that, you have a strong disgust for Gatlin because of his past. You know in your heart that you would not drink it. Why ? Because you don't like him. He's your competitor. He's the guy you want to see lose. He's the guy that touches your nerves when you see him. And that's fine. So why can't the Americans do it?

There are many reasons why the Americans didn't drink the Bolt faced Gatorade.
1. They don't like him or see him as a rival which is perfectly fine
2. They're constantly photographed so the last photo you'd want to see as an American athlete is you drinking something with Bolt's face on it
3. They may not find Bolt attractive (If Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce's face was on it, maybe they would have been drinking non-stop. I sure would.)

The bottom line is that it's really not a big deal. It made the front page and stirred up many arguments on social media. But really. This is no Chris Martin song or a combo at KFC (if you don't get it, that's fine. Just live with it). If the Americans actually avoided Bolt and teased/mocked him in real life, then there would be a real issue. However, not drinking  a sports drink because your rival's face is on it should not be a huge controversy. The biggest part may be that Bolt doesn't care. He's making his money off endorsements and can get free Gatorade for life. If Bolt doesn't care, why should you?

P.S. If anyone from Gatorade sees this post, I'd just like to say that I'm willing to be on your bottles as well. If not, just send me some.

The Reggae Boyz Saga

Photo Courtesy of Jairo Cajina

Rated Beegie-13 - Strong film content.

Everyone reading this has watched at least one superhero movie.  You know when this regular guy was just plain and average then one day something happens then he becomes a hero then starts to fight crime and beats up every little thief and murderer in sight. Well, the Reggae Boyz have been doing action movies for a while and it keeps everyone in suspense.

In the 1990 World Cup Campaign and others before, Jamaica was that average man who didn’t do anything spectacular. However, they started to pick up powers in the 94 campaign and they were getting better. They were able to beat the minor CONCACAF criminals (not calling any of those countries bad, just stick with the analogy) but you know when the hero faces the big bad guy and loses, that’s what happened. They weren’t able to beat the top dogs in their qualifying. However, just like when the hero loses and goes back to train and find strength, the Reggae Boyz did so and were able to beat the villains such as Honduras and Mexico to qualify for the 1998 France World Cup. It was the best movie ever.  However, the sequels have not lived up to the 1998 movie.

The 2002 film was a decent film but they didn’t beat the powerhouses U.S.A., Mexico and Costa Rica in the final battle. The 2006 film was utterly unbearable, let's leave it at that. The 2010 film started off well but then just became awful. The 2014 film was the closest to the 98 epic but fell short as the heroes couldn’t manage the heat. However, the "company" in charge of these films, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) felt it needed a new director. The previous directors such as Carl Brown, Sebastio Lazaroni, Bora Minoknowhowtospellhislastname (I'm joking. It's Milu something. I kid, it's Milutinovic) and Theodore Whitmore just could not make a proper film. The JFF even brought back the successful 98 director Rene Simoes in 2008 but he was definitely a one hit wonder as his reboot crashed and burned very quickly. But the CEO of the JFF Horace Burrell decided to go for a German director, Winfried Schafer.

Schafer brought in a fresh new cast and wrote a new script. No more average lead actors like Dane Richards and  Luton Shelton along with a weak supporting cast. He toured Europe and started off fairly nicely in 2014 but there was a point when one villain, France, pummeled our heroes. It was so embarrassing. The movie made our hearts hurt but the director knew what he was doing. 

Our heroes won the Caribbean Cup in 2014, not convincingly but they did. They would travel to South America to face some of the biggest villains in the world, Argentina and Uruguay. Like the cartoons, we were saying “yikes”. We just hoped that they wouldn’t die. They didn’t. They stood and they fought against these mega villains. Bearing in mind they did lose those fights but they won the respect of the world, most importantly Jamaicans.

Schafer’s script only got better as they made the final of The Gold Cup, even beating their arch-nemesis, USA. Our heroes celebrated and we celebrated with them. The Mexicans spoiled the fun in the final, knocking out the Boyz but there was no shame. We were confident that this film would end greatly by the Boyz qualifying for Russia. It wouldn’t be that easy though.

A surprise villain, Nicaragua came to town. Everyone laughed because these guys didn’t look scary at all. Well, they gave us some good punches and we were almost down for the count. Our heroes got back up and gave Nicaragua some shots but the fight was over, for now. The Boyz had to fly to the villain's home in Managua (which sounds like flavoured water) to defeat their villain and move on. Darren Mattocks got the bruising on early and things seemed to be okay. But as time progressed our heroes looked dim. The World Cup dream looked over. 

Imagine watching Batman v Superman in 2016 and Batman dies in the first 15 minutes. Wouldn't that suck? Our heroes seemed to be done and dusted. However, the heroes don't usually die do they? Simon Dawkins flew out of nowhere and scored the vital goal to knock out Nicaragua once and for all. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The heroes could take a rest and come back to face their next set of villains in the next round of qualifying. 

Director Schafer's movie has been going pretty well so far despite all it's close calls and heart wrenching moments. The Boyz don't have long before they face Panama, Costa Rica and Haiti. Will this film be a success? We'll just have to wait and see after the short intermission. 

Grab some popcorn and comment if you'd like. 

World Champs - What You May Have Missed

Photo courtesy of Team Jamaica 

The IAAF World Championships in Athletics is finished. Yes. Done. No more waking up at ungodly hours, no more joining together on social media to cheer on our athletes and (my favourite) not showing up to work/church early to watch a Jamaican run. This has definitely been the most fun I've had watching and discussing the World Champs and as a Jamaican, I'm very proud of our achievements. Some of us may not have analyzed or fully understood some things that were happening in Beijing. Well that's why I'm here. These are some things that you may have missed.


1. Bolt Needs Doubters.

Photo courtesy of PopSugar

Usain Bolt is the fastest man of all time, at least that's what the clock says. He's won medal after medal, broken record after record yet people still doubted him. When the media or fans think that Bolt sarcastically thanks his "haters" after he wins a race, he isn't being sarcastic at all. If Bolt did not have doubters, would he have performed the same way? Would he have put the extra hours in training ? My answer is no. He wants to look in that camera, look into eyes, look into your soul and receive that joy and say, "na na na na na !" The man cares about his haters. They help him to succeed. For those haters out there, keep it up. He's loving it.




2. Jamaica's Seven Gold Medals

A decade ago Jamaica received a whopping 0 gold medals in the track events at 2005 Helsinki Championships. Yes 0. Our only gold medal that year was by Trecia Smith in the TRIPLE JUMP ! A field event was Jamaica's only gold medal (kinda ironic huh?). Let that sink in for a while. Fast forward 10 years and we've been doing much better. Gold in the 100m sprints (male and female), 200 m men, 4 x 100 (male and female) and 4 x 400 women. My favourite medal was Danielle Williams' amazing run to win the 100 m hurdles. Don't take 7 gold medals for granted. This was an exceptional year.


3. Elaine Thompson is FAST !

Photo courtesy of Jamaica Observer

She's obviously fast but you probably underestimated her speed. This was an athlete that finished 5th in the National Championships last year and her season's best was 11.17. More than a year later, she runs the 200 m under orders by the very wise Stephen Francis and murders it. Despite finishing second in the final, Thompson ran 21.66 seconds. She almost broke the National Record and has run faster than the likes of Grace Jackson, Juliet Cuthbert and the queen, Veronica Campbell Brown. This is her first time running the 200m regularly. This is her first World Champs. She's 23. Marion Jones, Daphne Schippers and Merlene Ottey's times may not be the fastest times for long (I didn't even bother to mention Flo Jo and her ridiculous times. However, if Elaine breaks the 21.34 world record, I will donate a significant amount of funds to the Elaine Thompson charity, if she has one). 



4. 400m Men Curse Continues

The 400 m event for men each year is a depressing time for me because I know we won't medal individually and we'd be very fortunate to win a medal in the relays. Having said that, I had some hope this year that at least one of our males would medal and that we'd get a relay medal as well. Rusheen McDonald ran a national record of 43.93, IN THE HEATS. I was pumped. This was our time surely. Surely, I was wrong. How do you break the national record in the heats and don't make it to the final? Javon Francis and Peter Matthews looked promising but didn't make the cut. Not one Jamaican in the final. Our relay team was outdone again. Finishing fourth, just edged out by Great Britain. The men have been improving but it's a long road.




5. Team Spirit 

Finally, I'm not sure about you but this has been the closest knit Jamaica team I've ever seen. There was no drama. None. No Shelly doesn't like Veronica and vice versa debate, no MVP vs Racers, no who'll run this leg and that leg, nothing. All that was portrayed was harmony. Everyone seemed to respect and love each other and much credit should be given to the veteran captains, Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell-Brown. They were extremely professional and it oozed down to every other athlete. On social media, they were congratulating each athlete, even if they didn't win or make it during their qualification. The guys' 4 x 100 team stopped practicing to watch the women's 4 x 100 and then the women stopped their celebration to cheer on the men. Their unity and organization was absolutely beautiful. I hope this continues in Rio next year. 



If you missed any of these then it's understandable. It's not like you love track and field anyways (shots fired). Seriously though, tell me things that you think I or others have missed. Comment below.

By the way, don't you love my green and gold font? Of course you did.

Jamaicans DON'T Love Track & Field

2008 changed everything for Jamaica. Why ? The Beijing Olympics. It was a championship that no one expected. Usain Bolt, along with his 4 x 100 team were shattering records, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the "pocket rocket", Veronica Campbell Brown showed she still had it, Melanie Walker impressed, Shericka Williams, honestly I could go on and on.

Since then, Jamaica has been branded a "track and field nation". The Boys & Girls Championships have been bigger than ever, more athletes have emerged on the scene (Yohan Blake, Kemar Bailey-Cole, Hansle Parchment, Javon Francis, Kimberly Williams, Elaine Thompson, Kaliese Spencer, etc.) and the spotlight when it comes to any world track and field event is usually on Jamaica. Despite all this, Jamaicans don't love track and field, technically.

Jamaicans are very proud of their athletes (except for their wavering love for Asafa Powell). They will stop what they are doing to watch a race on television. Some will spend thousands to go to the stadium  to watch the Jamaica Invitational and Trials. Many will spend to get Boys and Girls Champs tickets (if they aren't sold out). But let's be honest, apart from the sprints and the hurdles do Jamaicans really care?

If the IAAF and the IOC decide to cut out the 100m, 200m, 400m and the respective hurdles events from their championships, Jamaicans would be outraged. However, I don't think Jamaicans would give two flies if the field events and long distance races were cut. If you ask the average Jamaican who runs sprints for Jamaica, whether male or female, Bolt will be the first thing out of their mouth and then start listing out the rest. Ask that same person name two long/high jumpers, throwers or any long distance (800m,1500m), they will either say "ahmmm" or look in the sky and scratch their head like they are trying to remember.

Obviously the reason why they don't is because Jamaica has not produced any spectacular athlete to dominate those events, apart from O'Dayne Richards, James Beckford, Kenia Sinclair or Trecia Smith (names that some of you may Google because you have little to no recollection of who they are). However, if you do "love" the sport of track and field, you would make a huge effort to watch these events. People who love cricket will follow all formats of the game. People who love swimming will follow all the formats. You get my point, hopefully.

This is not to criticize any Jamaican fan who claim they are lovers of the sport. This is just to clarify that you love a selected aspect of the sport and if I am to be fair, you only love when certain athletes run. So let's not make it seem like our hearts yearn for track and field. It does not. It will never.

If you think I'm wrong, you can comment.