Rewarding Mediocrity

As of today I am no longer putting in the effort to be above average. It is fairly obvious these days that mediocrity is the name of the game where success is involved. I look around and society is now bombarded with things of questionable standards but yet we praise them and uplift them. Then in these times where information is easily accessible we wonder why there continues to be a decline in the behavior of the youth around us. In these times being intellectually or morally sound is taboo and leaves you to fade to unknown. Crass lewd behavior is the tone of the day for public acclaim.

A look at the international charts in the past showed artist who were lyrically sound and who you could take the music away and the music was still nice enough to enjoy. Rap artist might have used some swear words but they told stories. These days the likes of Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne are the “gold standard.” Rick Ross is in his words the “boss” and his sales make that hard to argue but look at the lyrics. I got women, I got cars, I’ve got drugs and I will shoot you. Actually talented artist are over looked because they force us to think. No longer are the good singers loved but rather the good performers. Even in the case of our home grown talent many of her fans are quick to admit that her vocals even if improving are not the best. However she puts on a good show.

If we look at it in the local context we can use our most popular blogs as an example. I personally don’t expect more than 20-30 of you to read this blog and that’s fine. It is just me ranting. However look at the blogs we now promote with the bajan tag line attached and are ready to promote at large. The bloggers use a wide array of colourful slang terms to get their point across and regularly attack people. This behavior is promoted as being humourous and we are quick to spread the links to these video blogs. These people are now celebrities and can be heard voicing opinions on airwaves and promoting shows. In this age where Google is boss and information can be found easily consider the behavior we are showing our children as being rewarding? They hear us talking about these bloggers and when they search for them and watch the videos this is what they will see. How then can we correct our younger generations when they see this behavior as being good and welcomed?

Children learn from what they are shown. In this day and age where we are quick to post fights, lewd dancing, perverse songs written by artist who have no control over double entendres like the older performers used to do, what type of behavior can we expect them to see as being acceptable. Songs degrading women and women themselves dressing in sexually provocative ways lead to the sexual objectification of women. The ability to carry on an argument without either cursing or using violence is a thing of the past. Yet we hear the cry time and time again asking why the youth the way they are are? When in short the answer is simply we have made them this way and they will make the next generation a little worse unless some drastic global social change occurs.

We are rewarding mediocrity for the sake of popularity. Society is doomed.

my apologies for the hiatus on the blogs but I promise to be more consistent from here on out. a big thank you for my fans who kept requesting another blog and who support me and my little corner. anyone with topics they'd like to see me tackle can just email me a request and I will try to get to it.

Asafa Powell: Bitter Sweet Symphony

Records are made to be broken but a medal can never be taken away. This unfortunately will mean that one of the greatest sprinters in history will likely find himself a faint memory in the mind of only the most diehard fans. Currently the 3rd fastest man ever to lace up a pair of spikes and a multiple time record breaker Asafa Powell has failed to do the one thing that secures legacies in a sport where support can be as fickle and unpredictable as the weather; win a medal at a big meet. He has run more sub 10 seconds than anyone in the history of Athletics. Yet in 20 years it is heartbreaking for a fan like me to think that Powell will not be remembered for anything more than failing to live up to potential.

Powell first ran under 10 seconds in June 2004. Then one year later he entered elite territory when he broke the world record. Powell then equaled this record in 2006 and then broke it again in 2007. His silky smooth running form wowed many and the ease at which he recorded sub 10’s was impressive. In 2005 despite an early end to his season due to injury Powell had the 3 fastest times in the world. In 36 years between Jim Hines being the first man to run under 10 seconds and Powell’s 9.99 in 2004 there were on 43 men in this elusive group. Powell made number 44. Now in the 8 years since he ran this time 38 additional athletes have joined the sub 10 club. Perhaps the most popular member of this club, Olympic champion and world record holder, Usain Bolt has stated that Powell inspired him and paved the way for him and other Jamaican athletes to want to run fast. For you to inspire arguably the greatest modern sprinter to want to be like you is no small feat.

Powell went on a tear for close to 3 years winning the Gold and Diamond league titles. With the freedom of the pressures of the Olympics and World Championships Powell time and time again dazzled us with impressive times in quite easy fashion. Unfortunately during this time span Powell entered championship after championship as a favorite to win. Each time however despite his impressive times before and during in the preliminary rounds one fact kept reoccurring that has left many fan heartbroken and dumbfounded at the same time. Powell continually seemed to buckle under pressure and lose. Not only lose but lose to athletes that on paper were pale imitations of Powell. In 2007 Powell froze under the pressure of his rival Tyson Gay in the finals of the World Championships. Not only did Powell lose to Gay but finished behind Derrick Atkins. Atkins ran his personal best in this race. Powell had blown a big one.

The following year he had a chance to redeem himself on the biggest of stages. He came in to the Olympic finals as one of the favorites. The race was to be between a young upstart Usain Bolt, World champion Tyson Gay and Powell himself. Gay bothered by injury bowed out in the semis. Bolt and Powell qualified with the two fastest times. It was simple from here we all believed. Powell would either win the gold or silver. We were wrong. Powell was inexplicably tight and finished 5th. Redemption came for him when he teamed with Bolt to win a gold medal in a then record time. However he had failed to win one by himself and had received the baton with a clear lead and merely had to ensure he finished the race. The lack of pressure that came with this lead saw Powell run his leg in what at that time was the fastest split for anyone in a relay.Shortly after these games he went on to run 9.72 in a diamond league race. This added to the fuel that he couldn’t win in a big race.

In 2009 he finished 3rd behind Bolt and Gay. He also ran on the relay team with Bolt once more and they once more repeated and won gold. He had failed to win the big one on his own again but by now all hopes of him winning one had started to fade and all eyes were now on Bolt who unlike Powell loved the lime light and shone in it. Injuries meant that Powell had low key 2010 and 2011 seasons. With him even missing World Championships. In this time Yohan Blake joined the spotlight and placed Powell in a spot where no one expected him to win. However his long history of injuries saw him pull up in the finals and finish last. Many believe it was his mental weakness and not his injury and that he merely saw how far ahead the others were and pulled up since he knew he couldn’t win.

So what does this mean for Powell? He’s inspired a new generation of speed which in itself has inspired the future to want to go faster. How many of us can remember who came 5th in any Olympic 100m finals without running off to Google? Is he really that great a sprinter or merely shines best as Bolt’s sidekick with the batons involved. To me he is one of the greatest to ever run. Unfortunately without any medals and a less than stellar performance when it matters others will disagree. Powell himself may have summed it up best after his 2008 performances when he said “Maybe if it was just a one-off race without the qualifying rounds I would have done better. Who knows? Maybe I'm not the guy for those big championships but just the guy to compete in the Grand Prix and Golden League meetings. It's just unfortunate.”

Greatest ever?

I’ve waited for almost a week now before I chimed in on this topic and even now I will not put my personal views out there. What I will do however is put all the facts in front of you and let you decide for yourself. I’m sure most of you reading this know I’m a diehard track and field fan and I have even had my girlfriend look at me once and reason “your love for that sport is over the top.” So when two of the biggest names in the history of the sport publicly engage in a war of words it is sure to catch my attention. From this sparring match it has led to one argument coming up time and time again: who’s the greatest Bolt or Lewis? To answer this you would have to look at this from several angles: medals, accumulated impact on the sport and overall legacy.

Carl Lewis has accumulated a medal count at The Olympics and World Championships that will be hard to match. Between 1983 and 1996 Lewis amassed 10 medals at each of these championships. He has 9 Olympic gold medals and 1 silver. These include 4 consecutive gold medals in long jump, a back to back 100m title in 1984 and 1988, 2 4x100m titles and 1 200m title. His silver came in the 200m. it is to note that his back to back gold medal performance was only possible due to Ben Johnson being caught on drugs in 1988 and having his medals stripped. His tally at Worlds includes 3 consecutive 100m titles and 3 consecutive 4x100m titles. He won the long jump 2 times in a row before Mike Powell demoted him to 2nd in what is largely accepted as the best long jump showdown in history. The battle these two men had was so epic that they both set personal best with Powell setting a world record that still stands today. This defeat ended Lewis’s 65 consecutive victories in long jump. This is still one of the longest streaks in any sporting event in history. Many argue that Lewis’ medal tally might have been even higher had the USA not boycotted the 1980 Olympics. He would have gone into those games ranked in the top 10 in Long Jump and on a strong relay team. Lewis equalled Jesse Owen's record of 4 gold in a single Olympics with his 1984 performance.

As it currently stands Bolt has 6 Olympic Gold medals from 3 Olympic appearances. His first Olympic appearance was in 2004 where after a stellar early season a hamstring injury hampered his performance and caused him to crash out disappointingly in the prelims of the 200m. Since then his Olympic performances have been 2 thing, golden and record breaking. His 7 World Championship medals include 5 gold and 2 silver. The Silver came in 2007 in the 200m and 4x100m as Bolt was regaining his form from injury and making his climb up the world rankings. His World Championship medal tally is believed to be 1 short due to Bolt surprisingly being disqualified under the false start rule. Bolt was the overwhelming favorite to win the gold medal that year. On medal tally alone it would appear that Lewis is the greater of the two but their impact goes deeper than just winning medals.

Carl Lewis has had a far from controversial-free career. In 1988 he tested positive 3 times for a series of performance enhancing drugs. The US Olympic Committee(USOC) ruled that his intake of these drugs were “incidental” and failed to report them or take any disciplinary action against Lewis. This has led to many Athletic fans placing some doubt on the validity of his records and accomplishments. Lewis was king in an era that saw many champions being caught or believed to have been on drugs. Lewis’ public image has also long been under scrutiny with him losing sponsors after his first Olympic games due to rumours of homosexuality. One sponsor even stated that the face of male athletics should be a masculine person. Lewis’ final gold medal in Long Jump at the 1996 Olympics is also held in some cloud of doubt over it as some believe he only won this due to injury to Mike Powell and Ivan Pedroso, the two leading jumpers at the time. Lewis wanted to grab one more medal and tried to get on the relay team. He had however skipped the mandatory relay training camp and after much debate and Lewis pressuring and trying to coerce public support the USA team decided to stick with their original squad. The team finished second behind Canada who were anchored by new Olympic champion and record holder Donovan Bailey. This would have been Lewis’ 11th medal and possibly 10th gold.

Bolt on the other hand has been the poster boy for drug free athletics in recent times. Bolt came about in an era when drugs were linked to all the stars. The sport had been rocked to the core by several world champions and Olympic champions being caught and the poster girl Marion Jones being involved in a huge drug scandal. Bolt however continually raised the bar and is yet to be caught doing anything wrong. He pushes the line with what is acceptable behavior for athletes. He’s seen by many as cocky due to his jovial and care free antics on the track. He’s been known to party and fool around and this has led to him being in 3 car accidents in recent years. However, in a sport crying out for a savior due to all the tarnish pelted on its name Bolt has stepped up and done just that. His signature “to the world” pose is 1 of the most recognizable and copied poses in modern times. All of a sudden there is fun now in athletics with his fellow Jamaican athletes joining in. English distance champion Mo Farah has even developed his own signature pose and even found the time to do sit ups after his win. Bolt found time to do pushups after the 200m and to even copy Farah’s signature “mobot” pose after the 4x100m. Bolt has broken the 100m record no less than 8 times in 5 years. He was once considered a lazy athlete due to the fact that he hated to run 400m but since the switch to 100m and 200m his work ethic has come in for high praise and the performances reflect this.

Are either of these men legends? In my views they both are. As it stands both Lewis and Bolt have set the bar high for all to follow. Despite what others may argue they are both living legends in the sport. Lewis retired in 1997 and since then the International Olympic Committee has voted him Sportmans of the Century in 1999 and the IAAF has voted him Athlete of the Century. Bolt is still actively participating so no comparison can be made at this time in those regards but on mere influence on the sport Bolt’s contribution is immense. will he be able to compete and medal in 4 Olympics like Carl did? Highly unlikely as it stands but we can only wait and see. So I leave it to you, the readers, who do you think is the greatest between the two?

Things Brown in soca prison

I would like to start a musical prison for those who continually destroy our ears and airwaves with trifling contributions to society they callmusic. It’s July so that means that Crop Over is in full swing . The climax is in just over 2 weeks and music is in quite abundance. With so much music in circulation there are some good, some bad and some Captain Sawyers that are so bad they go beyond description. With this plethora of music one eternal question keeps coming to mind? How does Ramases Brown and the like get so much work? There are artist such as Bobo who are lyrical geniuses and have more respect than a Ramases Brown amongst the general public but yet Ramases is at every fete, show and now party monarch. He is the first inmate I want to lock away in Soca Prison.

I’m a soca fan and this time of the year is immensely fun for me. I get an excuse to behave like a little boy in a toy store and no one cares. This juvenile debauchery is fueled by the music. Music that is known to make you have to tap your feet, know your head and in local vernacular “pelt waist like I mad.” No matter what even I go to with Mr. Brown performing I find myself driven to do two things when his set starts: either go to the bathroom or go to the bar to help numb the pain of his music.

The man has been responsible for such atrocious nursery rhymes as Operator, All Circuits Busy and Stamina but yet he keeps coming back every year. worse yet promoters keep bring him to shows every year. Someone asked if this is because he works for a sponsoring company and wonders if they are so drunk that they push for him to be at shows. To make matters worse he aligned himself with 2 even less talented individuals in Styles P and Malcolm X meaning we get a triple threat of ear ache. There are those who would state that “ramases is a good writer, look what he did for Alison Hinds?” to you I say that he needs to stop giving away the good stuff then. I dare you to find 10 people who like Ramases’s music. If you can I show you 10 people never to trust.

Some people try to be nice and say that Ramases is better than a Contone or a Pong. I say this is untrue. Contone and Pong know they are humourous and they set about to sing “entertaining music.” This Saturday I have the displeasure of interacting with Mr. Browne and realized that the man actually thinks his tunes are world class. Next thing we’ll be hearing about a Ramases Brown in concert or a Greatest hit compilation. That’s sure to sell at least 4 copies.

I originally wanted to sentence him to death but his writing contributions have brought some leniency. I would instead like him to spend life in Soca Prison with no possibility of seeing a microphone again. All in favor say “I”

Emancipate Yourself

“Bussa is breeding contempt towards whites, they should leave bussa statue and move his.” I’m sitting here being forced to listen to a person with identity issues rant on about how he sees this as the case. He sees this as the case because his Caucasian manager stating this and he agrees with it. Bussa is a reminder of those bad days of slavery and will make “the black locals” want to rise up again or have contempt towards the whites. Nelson however was a hero for all to admire. The more this individual speaks the sadder I become to think that we as a people still look at things this ways.

This person goes out of his way to try “rub” shoulders with the lighter complexions in the office. It is ironic that he is light skinned and acts like the house slaves did. The fact he and others like him seem to believe that your colour makes you “better” or worse than another person or that you need to belittle yourself to be in the graces of these people makes me sad for these people. If a man has no pride in himself then what is he? When you like your existence to the approval/standards of another man what does that say about you or your accomplishments?

This type of behavior is sad but then it hits me that it is real. Whenever a black man starts to develop a successful business we hear he’s either doing drugs or has sold out. I’ve heard saying such as “I can’t work for a black man cause they can’t be trusted” or “white people treat ya better.” These saying to me show that slavery very much lives. It just now exists in a worse form. When mentally subjugated a person is happy to sit in their position and allow the abuse of powers because they can’t do any better. Physical slavery can lead to mental slavery but it also led to people fighting to be free. For the mind refused to settle for not being able to live like everyone else.

“white people don’t like we.” Another popular quote tossed around. I say to you how can anyone like you when you obviously don’t like yourself. these lyrics still ring true

Sinckler Theory

Little known fact about me: despite my current loves and direction work wise I have a BSc. in Management. As such every year for 3 years I was reminded of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and a host of other management theories. These should all be abolished now for I’ve found one that works better than any other. I call this The Democratic policy or more commonly refered to as the Sinckler plan. The Sinkler plan is quite simple: if it fails or causes employees to suffer just blame the previous administration. It also allows you to give a raise but implement new compulsory company laws to take the money back. All moneys saved should then be spent on pomp and pageantry.

Under the Sinckler management Theory there is never enough money to go around and this is due to the spending of the previous bosses. However for Grammys and any regal events money is to be spent at will. This shows that a company’s biggest responsibility is entertainment. However employees have had their individual powers to entertain taken from them. No expense should be spared for the impressing of the external high profile customers. However internal customers must be made to understand that previous management is to blame for all your errors.

The Sinckler Theory came about out of the need for change and is quite akin to George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Things worked well under previous administrations but with smoke screens and misguidance a bevy of issues were made to appear in place. After the ousting of the previous management the new one then proceeded to add on and magnify the old issues. A list of laws and promises were made and none were met as yet. When the highly unqualified management team was asked why it was stated it was the previous management’s fault. Thus Sinckler’s Theory was born.

I for one am going to adopt this with all aspects of my life. If a female and I have issues I will blame it on the previous boyfriend. If I can’t meet a time deadline I will blame it on the previous employee. If I run a red light I will blame it on the car that went before me. Sinckler’s Theory will lead me forward from in plenty to a time of need.

Church vs state of the poor

What many of my readers may not know about me is that I battle daily with my inner demons. I was raised going to church every Sunday and my godfather was even the pastor. however, I will admit that I have faltered from that path these days. However in recent times I’ve found myself finding faith and belief again and making small but incremental changes to reflect a better me. The hardest part for me is to find myself sitting in the pews again when all my faith in man and his churches has wavered. I know any Christian readers I may have will say to me that it is not the church or the man that I am there for but the Father and Saviour who I’m showing my love to. I know that they will all be sending me to the numerous verses in Corinthians that promote worship in groups but I guess that is a battle for The Father and I to work out.

My main issue and why I am writing this blog is the hypocrisy that I’m seeing with churches today. What hypocrisy am I talking about? Pastors profiting as members of the church struggle to make ends meet. Many church goers follow their pastor blindly as he represents to them God's representative on earth. They pay their tithes and contribute to every offering made be it building fund or someone needs school clothes fund. Yet, especially with these new “super churches,” we are seeing pastors preaching in designer suits, living in big houses and driving luxury cars. I have issues with this type of behavior.

I’m in no way saying that a pastor does not deserve to live a “comfortable” life but many of these pastors today are living way more than comfortable. The bible states that it is easier for a camel to enter into the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven. This verse obviously doesn’t extend to some pastors. The money collected from offerings in my views need to go to maintaining the church, helping those members of the church who are in need of help and yes helping the pastor and his family make ends meet as well. Making ends meet does not however include driving a BMW, to your upstairs and downstairs home to watch your children play their wii on a big screen television.

Any pastor living life luxuriously instead of comfortably and even humbly should be shipped to Afghanistan to do missionary works in my views. A true pastor’s obligation should be to the spreading of the word and the well being of his flock. A chain is as strong as its weakest link. No pastor should be happy and kicking back when there are people in his pews struggling to eat. Worse yet there may be some who want to be in the pews but can’t afford to get there. Jesus walked amongst the poor and was not too big that he couldn't wash his own disciples feet(John 13 for those who never heard the story).

However don’t let my mild ramblings discourage any of you. My battle is my own and The Lord and I will discuss that in length when the time comes I pray. If you can afford to pay tithe as your obligation be it wholeheartedly or as a token go right ahead. I’d just rather you help those people in life who need the help.

For the Parents

I’m going to spy in my children for their own benefit. In a previous article I spoke of the short comings of some parents and the way they let their children run rampant without proper supervision. Due to the nature of the article many believed that this was a problem isolated to lower income families located in areas we would refer to as the ghetto. I’m here today to point out that incompetent parents reside in any and every socio-economic spheres. Having your child in the house and not knowing what they are doing in the house is equally as bad as not knowing where your children are.

As some of you would know I spent 4 years coaching athletics. In this short time I formed some relationships with some of these athletes and some of the things they have told me leave me in shock and awe. This week one of them revealed to me that she was tired as she headed off to her part time job. The reason for her tiredness was that her boyfriend spent the night with her. We can only assume what activities went on that kept her awake all night. I enquired as to how much things had changed with her mother that her boyfriend was now sleeping over. She let me know that her mother didn’t have any idea that he stayed over. Her mother knew he had visited and assumed he went home after she went to bed. In my world this gentleman would have had to have made his way home before I went to bed. Similarly how can you leave for work the next day without speaking to your child?

This is just one example of negligent parenting in the upper caste. Children these days have rooms equipped with televisions, computers/laptops, iPods and every other electronic convenience available. Whilst they are happily watching television and feeling safe their children are on numerous pornography sites; they’re listening to vulgar lyrics and cursing their new found friends from around the world for bad playing in Call of Duty. The children have recreational drugs stored in their sock drawer right next to the condoms and birth control pills. The parents are unaware of all of these things because a child’s room is their sanctuary. My children will hate me because as long as your room is in my house it falls under my jurisdiction.

I believe that you must trust your children and you must allow them to grow but we all have been children and we all know that we will push the limit as far as we believe we can go before getting caught. Parents are today more concern with being their children’s friend than sometimes taking the necessary villainous route needed to instill discipline. Some of you will be saying that if you raise your child correctly then it won’t do anything that requires you to spy on them. To you I want to ask how many good parents do you know have had their hearts broken due to a child doing something out of curiosity or to fit in with the peers at school? As hard as you work as a parent sometimes outside influences will seek to undermine and undo what you’ve done.

Would you rather have your child be upset with you for a day and safe from unwanted pregnancies, STD, drug abuse and people who would prey on them or be your friend and have all these things be possible? Not saying that your child may not still engage in these things away from your homes but should you leave them unattended at home to further develop and encourage any deviant behavior?