I
am just overwhelmed by the magnitude of this injustice.
My intention was to write about the World Cup and the way the poor
quality of whistle blowing is tainting the tournament, but after
hearing Jumping Jack on the radio on Tuesday morning, I lost the
entire trend of my column.
Sports fans, Warner may have contributed to the success of the Jumpers
and Wavers and I say congratulations to him for that! But this image
he is attempting to nurture of being the selfless servant of national
football is an enormous lie.
Whatever Jumping Jack puts in he can be sure he will get his returns
10-fold; sometimes he gets his dividends in advance.
There is very little to like about this PNM administration but while
most of the sensible people can’t wait to vote he and his
Cabinet into political oblivion, I have to concede that the PM is
right on the money to keep his distance from Jumping Jack.
The FIFA vice-president was cooing on the radio on his return from
Germany and loving the way one of the talk show hosts was kissing
his “a’se”, but I could not miss Jumping Jack’s
hypocrisy when he drew attention to the PM’s “pettiness
and small-mindedness”.
At the core of Jumping Jack’s peeve was being denied the VIP
lounge at the Piarco Airport to take a few drinks with his buddies
in the United National Congress (UNC) on his return this week.
What!
Is this a joke or something … because if this is supposed
to be funny, I honestly don’t get it. Okay, we all know how
petty the PM can be, but his ignorance and arrogance does not automatically
qualify Jumping Jack as a cross between Nelson Mandela and Mother
Theresa.
Jumping Jack, in his typical pompous style, told the listening audience
if he ever became prime minister -- what! -- he would be sure to
display more magnanimity in such a situation.
What utter s--t talk!
Jumping Jack went on to boast about being hosted by the Amir at
the VIP lounge in Dubai that has gold furnishings in the washroom!
Who really gives a flying s--t about Dubai’s gold toilet furnishings?
What does that mean?
This is exactly the sort of claptrap that Jumping Jack is pushing
and he is prepared to make the Jumpers and Wavers the biggest political
football of the year.
The players should just go back to their clubs as soon as possible,
for heaven’s sake.
Thankfully, most of the nation’s youngsters were in school
when this s--t was filtering through the radio.
Magnanimity?
Can Jumping Jack forget so quickly the way he dealt with reporter
Lasana Liburd after the expose on the World Cup ticket scandal involving
Simpauls Travel Service earlier this year?
And what about his vicarious “policy” of using FIFA
muscle to get Concacaf football federations, administrators and
players to stay in line?
You question Jumping Jack and you will surely end up persona non
grata, as he attempted to do with Liburd and many others before
him.
Jumping Jack’s money?
Where did he get it, I ask!
Sports fans, don’t you remember a few years ago when tiny
St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosted Mexico for a Concacaf World
Cup preliminary match and when the SVG football federation tried
to sell the TV Rights for the match, Jumping Jack jumped up and
told them they could not do that because he had already sold the
rights to the game.
The audacity of the man who thinks he can one day be prime minister
of this republic.
The biggest joke of all, though, was Jumping Jack’s offer
for the government to “take” the testimonial game for
the Jumpers and Wavers against Mexico in September.
After making all the money he can make from the Road to Germany
and Beyond, Jumping Jack wants the government to write off the Mexico
game and allow people to see the match for free.
Jumping Jack, you are just too generous for us; I don’t think
we deserve you, sir.
Life as a sports writer can be hell sometimes, especially when you
have to deal with the beautiful game and all the s--t that goes
on in our special little space.
Everybody is talking about the way the country has been united through
the Jumpers and Wavers, but the rhetoric does not manifest itself
into any real change to me.
This is just another passing phase for us Trinis.
As I was going home on Monday, I looked into my rear view mirror
as I was crossing the Caroni Bridge and I noticed the vehicle behind
me (PBF 8935 white Nissan B12) slowing down.
The driver, a huge beast it would seem to me, pulled close to the
rail and without any semblance of shame, threw a plastic soft-drink
bottle into the river.
Tour boat operators offer visitors the opportunity to see the Caroni
Swamp, but that was completely lost on PBF 8935. Sadly, my beautiful
country is being ravaged and the beautiful game is being brutalised.
Yes, it may be the beautiful game but it has been anything but in
Germany, with referees making a mockery of some of the encounters.
It goes way beyond what happened with Pencil Pete and Bustling Brent
because I don’t think that foul changed the final result of
the match, but the referees are so bad, generally, they are bringing
the game into disrepute.
Look at what happened last Sunday when Portugal met Holland and
four players got marching orders, prompting FIFA president Sepp
Blatter to comment on the outrageous decisions in that game and
the equally contentious penalty decision in favour of Italy in their
clash with the Aussies on Monday.
Despite all of this mediocrity, I have tried to remain upbeat about
the finals.
I was so excited about the Brazil/Ghana World Cup showdown, the
wife and I played out our own Brazil/Ghana showdown on Monday night.
Of course, I was the underdog in the bold colours of Ghana. (In
spite of my Portuguese ancestry, I must admit she looked distinctly
more “Brazilian” in her minuscule version of the uniform).
From the first whistle, it was a fast-paced affair, but I must admit,
while I managed a few attacks at the Brazil goal my play was much
too ambitious, and I had no answer to her crafty play-making and
imagination and she ran rings around me.
As expected, I went under 3-0. Amazingly, that’s exactly how
the real game ended a few hours later, with goals from Ronaldo,
Adriano and Ze Roberto.
Tu do bem! |
