January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
We throw money at the wrong people
After the election there was Christmas, Boxing Day and then New Year's Eve. And apparently I'm not as young as I used to be, because my recovery time this year was significantly longer than the time allotted.
Then I had a business trip. A word to the wise: If you're ever stranded in Phoenix Airport for six hours while they fly a part in from Salt Lake City so that the flight you got up at 5:30 am to catch could finally leave at 2pm - don't eat the chicken tortilla platter at the pseudo-Tex-Mex bar in Terminal 3. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that the green food colouring they use in the tortillas is not absorbed by the human body.
That was a very long day, but as the Captain said once we were back on board and cleared to fly: It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground.
Then there was the Super Bowl where I got to watch my New York Giants stomp all over Tom Brady and the New England Videotapers! And I'm not one of those people who only became Giants' fans when they learned that Antonio Pierce was on the team.
But no matter what our new Minister of Sports (and turncoat Patriot fan) El James says Antonio is NOT a Bermudian Hero. He's certainly a role model for what you can do if you combine talent with hard work, but he's no hero. He's a professional who did his job well.
And just because his father is Bermudian doesn't make HIM a Bermudian. But now that he's famous Government wants to give this one a parade - if he ever decides to return "home". But why would he deserve a parade even if he WAS Bermudian? Sure his team won the Super Bowl and now they call themselves the "World Champions". Of course the rest of the world wasn't in the competition, so that title is just a teeny bit inaccurate. That would be like Sandy's Boat Club claiming to be the World Champions of Fitted Dinghy Racing.
And its not like we don't have ACTUAL Bermudians who are ACTUAL World Champions. Malcolm Smith has won the Sunfish Sailing World Championship three times - 1994, 1998 and 2003. But apparently this feat is not worthy of celebration by the Bermuda Government. They'd much rather throw money at cricket and football in the vain hope that we might actually get eleven people all drug-free at the same time and of sufficient talent that they don't get completely embarassed in front of a global television audience!
20/20 fiasco
We all watched the 20/20 fiasco against Guyana. Well I watched some of it - I flipped over to the Grammy Awards to see Rihanna sing and by the time she'd finished six wickets had fallen! Then the under-19 team lost to Nepal by 188 runs! Nepal! That's in the Himalayas! There's not enough flat land in that entire country for a cricket oval! How do they practise? By bowling "up-mountain"?
And now we learn that our women's team was only able to score three runs in their entire innings! You have GOT to be kidding me! Talk about being "out of your league"! There isn't even a league here for them to be "out" of! Why on earth are we sending them to South Africa? Did someone in the BCB just want another free vacation? Were Antigua and Malaysia not sexy enough for them?
Then our Football team can't even beat the Caymans - at home! Of course we really shouldn't be surprised when a hungry opponent succeeds against our complacency. After all, they're doing the same thing in the business world by taking more and more of our International Businesses as our Government continues make life more difficult for them here.
Rather than throwing cash at people and hope that they become motivated, Government should be supporting the athletes who are already showing the dedication required for success. There are dozens of Bermudians spending their own money as they train for triathlon, sailing, swimming, diving and equestrian events just to name a few.
These are the REAL heroes. The people who actually WANT to represent Bermuda in International competition. And they have a REAL chance of winning.
Let's face it - Kim Swan has a better chance to be the next Premier than Bermuda has to ever compete internationally in cricket or football. And they get $26 million dollars between them while an actual World Champion in sailing doesn't even get a cocktail party, never mind a parade.
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