Which Video/Commentary was your favourite?

http://youtu.be/Bm5JeGPLUSA - La Londe wins Bronze!

or

http://youtu.be/KwYYNaPiyTI - T&T men win bronze in Men's 4x400 Relay

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZOvipMWdaU   Keshorn Walcott wins Gold in Javellin

WICB announces West Indies Squad for ICC World T20

WICB announces West Indies Squad for ICC World T20
St John’s Antigua — The West Indies Cricket Board’s Selection Panel today named the West Indies 15-man squad for the International Cricket Council’s World T20 Tournament in Sri Lanka in September.

FULL SQUAD
Darren Sammy (Captain)
Dwayne Bravo (Vice Captain)
Samuel Badree
Darren Bravo
Johnson Charles
Fidel Edwards
Chris Gayle
Kieron Pollard
Sunil Narine
Denesh Ramdin (Wicket-keeper)
Ravi Rampaul
Andre Russell
Marlon Samuels
Lendl Simmons
Dwayne Smith

The WICB Selection Panel has kept faith with the nucleus of the squad which defeated New Zealand in the recent Digicel Twenty20 Series in south Florida. Darren Bravo makes a return after missing the second half of the West Indies tour of England and the Digicel Series at home against New Zealand due to injury.

The squad boasts a number of the leading power-hitters in world as well as several world-class allrounders. The batting is led by Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard who are destructive in this format. Openers Lendl Simmons, Johnson Charles and Dwayne Smith have also done well for West Indies in the past at the top of the order.

The allrounders: Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Marlon Samuels, have all proven their quality with bat and ball in this format, while wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin brings a wealth of experience and know-how in this format.

The spin bowling department is led by Sunil Narine, who has excelled since his international debut last December. The other slow bowler is experienced leg-spinner Samuel Badree, who is the newest member of the squad, but has an excellent track record in this format at domestic level. He debuted against New Zealand in June.

The two main fast bowlers in the squad are the experienced Fidel Edwards, who offers firepower, and Ravi Rampaul, who can be called upon at any stage in the innings.

Fixtures for ICC World T20
WARM-UP
Thursday, Sept 13: vs Sri Lanka - NCC, Colombo
Monday, Sept 17: vs Afghanistan - P Sara Oval, Colombo

FIRST ROUND
Saturday, Sept 22: vs Australia - R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Monday, Sept 24: vs Ireland - R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

SUPER EIGHTS
Thursday, Sept 27: C1 v D2 - Pallekele
Thursday, Sept 27: A1 v B2 - Pallekele
Friday, Sept 28: D1 v C2 - Colombo
Friday, Sept 28: B1 v A2 - Colombo
Saturday, Sept 29: A1 v D2 - Pallekele
Saturday, Sept 29: C1 v B2 - Pallekele
Sunday Sept 30: B1 v C2 - Colombo
Sunday Sept 30: D1 v A2 - Colombo
Monday, Oct 1: B2 v D2 - Pallekele
Monday, Oct 1: A1 v C1 - Pallekele
Tuesday, Oct 2: B1 v D1 - Colombo
Tuesday, Oct 2: A2 v C2 - Colombo

SEMI-FINALS
Thursday, October 4: Super 8 Group 1-1 vs Super 8 Group 2-2 - R Premadasa Stadium
Friday, October 5: Super 8 Group 2-1 vs Super 8 Group 1-2 - R Premadasa Stadium

GRAND FINAL: Sunday, October 7 - R Premadasa Stadium

West Indies under 19 falls

WEST INDIES UNDER 19 TEAM FALL SHORT IN UNDER 19 WORLD CUP , conceding 18 runs in 50 over, including four runs off last bal from medium pacer Seales to lose QUARTERFINAL TO NEW ZEALAND.

This was BRAINLESS CRICKET , with the youngsters totally losing the plot, I wonder where was coach and manager to help the team

We lost a game , we should have won , poor poor cricket. Somebody must be held accoutable

Scores West Indies 237 ( all out) , New Zealand 238-7 off 50 overs.

Walcott Makes Me Cry!

SPORTS: WALCOTT MAKES ME CRY
By Andre E Baptiste


Tonight  I cried , I cried and I cried and then I sang , it was one of the best rendtions of the Trinidad and Tobago National anthem, I have ever heard. It was special and will remain forever in my mind , as I watched Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott climb the medal podium in gold medal position in the Mens Javelin.

The joy , he produced in London, cannot be described , because he was just smilng and happy , as all of us and while he cooly went out there and turned in two spectacular throws including his second , the 84.58 , that gave him victory in six , the media centre erupted.

Everyone knows , I am a commentator for football , but for the sixth and last round of throws, I was just counted them down with several of the international media and rachel Thompson- King , and we were having real fun.

Before that , it was just a lot of nervous action, as the javeling throwing was taking place between Mo Farah's storming win for Great Britain in the 5000 metres . But none of this phased this focus youngster .

When the last thrower Oleksandr Pyatntsya of the Ukraine stepped forward and threw a 83.53 with his sixth throw, the look on the face of this nineteen year old from Toco was of a mixture of surprise and joy .

" I did not think about winning until after the first round , when I saw how the other guys were throwing and I was still in the lead ," said Walcott.

Many underestimated Walcott , but this youngster stated that he had done a lot of reseatrch on his oppenents and when he mentioned he was a budding cricketer , the international media wanted to know how good he was ," Not that , good , I was a bowler ..."

Walcott was asked about how it feels to be now in the same ranking as Hasely Crawford , previously our only Gold Medallist and he replyed shyly," I am not famous , I just performed well today , I will ensure , I stay focus ,"

Indeed , he is very focussed, he has not forgotten what his mum wanted ," She really believed in me and believed I could get a medal, so I have already given the coach ( Ishmael Lopez) , the flowers for safe keeping for her "

Many wanted to know , if Keshorn had thought about getting a stadium named after him, like Hasely Crawford and he said ," No , I had not thought of it , but I hope so , we will see,".

For Walcott , though he admits ," Brian Charles Lara was my hero growing up, i really like cricket and football , but because my brother was in triple jump, I decided to try this sport in 2009 and now , I have achieved this ,"

Walcott whose success has caused many of the European countries like Norway and Finaland to stand up and recognize TRinidad and Tobago ," I am just so glad to put TRinidad and Tobago on the map again, I have to thank my coach, my family and everyone for all their support "

One persistent question rung through as Walcott did interview after interview including a major Press Conference and it was , if he would now leave Trinidad and Tobago and go elsewhere to train ," No , I am staying in TRinidad and Tobago , I will start university soon and continue to train with my cuban coach, we have something good going on," added Walcott.

This was a very emotional moment to watch our flag raised and our national anthem played for only the second time in history

:: AB

First Gold Medal since 1976

Keshorn Walcott broke the national javelin record twice and it was 84.58 that won the gold medal for trinidad and tobago. First gold since 1976! Congrats Keshorn

The Power of Languages

SPORTS: OLYMPIC JOURNAL

          ----- THE POWER OF LANGUAGES !!!!----

By Andre E Baptiste



There are several languages  at these London Olympics and some of them are a version of English , which even Trinidad and Tobago citizens have trouble understanding despite the fact that we can speak fast . Several of the workers in London, are not from london , so there are some Geordie accents , that would leave you still guessing , at what was said , much less to understand , what directional route they are advising you on .

The Scottish though have to be the worst, they seem to speak so that only Scotsmen can understand , even the Englishmen are struggling to understand what was being said by them, but then the Scots and the English do not seem generally to be the best of friends.

As we talk best of friends , the Jamaicans are not making too many friends with their boastful nature,before , during and after the mens and women's 100 metres finals . It is sad that the journalists from Jamaica can make themselves so disliked by not only many from Europe and Africa , but also from some in the Caribbean , with their constant taunting , while most of us , may accept it as a joke . I am not very certain, that in particular proud Barbadians are too happy with all the suggestions , about what has happened to most of their Olympic athletes since Obadele Thompson married Marion Jones. Just the inference , can cause a conflict in most cases.

What was particularly interesting was the fact , that whatever the language spoken, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, German  or Dutch , there was a general sense of competitiveness among the journalists , in particular , the Eastern Block of Europe , were very much against the Westerners , and while one may not understand their spoken word ( language) , it was their body language , that many times exposed their true feelings and thoughts.

I understand a little Spanish, French and some Japanese words, so it was much more clear cut in dealing with them, but it does lead to the question of people stigmatizing you , just as is done in the Olympics , with the Swimming events , there was a belief , that preference was given to white coloured skin media as not many black persons are involved in swimming and while this might be in the minority , it is certainly another aspect of the games that the London Organizing Committee , needs to address

For the most parts , it has been extremely interesting sharing discussions on sports with journalists from all over the world . In particularly , once you are revealed as a West Indian and especially a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, a number of the Indian media gravitate to you , to talk cricket . It is they say , India’s greatest passion, and they cannot wait for its introduction into the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee , have already given its approval to the ICC , to introduce cricket most likely from 2020 Olympics and that should be rather interesting .

These olympics have certainly been able as well to draw spectators from all over the world and that is why young La Londe Gordon’s bronze medal on Monday night in the 400 metres, was very significant , as it allowed the world to hear , another Caribbean island name besides Jamaica . And for this , we have to thank sports for providing the powerful backdrop to this sort of promotion.

As , we looked at the many persons from around the world , it was rather interesting , that a lot of the journalists thought , I was either from Turkey , Spain or Morocco . Similarly , when I examined the looks of the public , it was hard to positively tell their country of birth . The one thing was certain, that a lot of Pakistan / Indian persons ran most of the small shops/ groceries in London , and they employed mainly their families in the said business.

This sort of stereotyping , while not always  good is what may have caused many of the Americans journalists during the interviewing of La Londe Gordon , Kirani James ( Grenada) and Luguelin Santos ( Dominican Republic), to wonder if “ All of you guys are friends being from the Caribbean, and is this is a plan to take over 400 metres running from the United States ,”

What he did not say , was - That the USA had won the last seven 400 metres and this was the first time an American had not qualified for a 400 metres  final since 1896 ( except for 1980 when they boycotted the Olympics).

It is this sort of paranoid , that is not good in life and sports, but unfortunately it still exists , and if the USA want to be afraid of the Caribbean now in the 400 metres after the fear the region has imposed in the 100 and 200 metres , so be it.

:: AB

Samuels says media needs balance in Olympics

SPORTS: SAMUELS SAYS MEDIA NEEDS BALANCE IN OLYMPICS
By Andre E Baptiste



On Saturday , a nineteen year old Trinidad and Tobago citizen- Keshorn Walcott , will seek further history , when he competes in the Mens Javelin final at 2.20pm ( Trinidad and Tobago time), having already become the first man ever from this country to reach so far . In fact , of the list of twelve finalists in the Javelin, Walcott is the only one from the Pan American region ( which includes the USA and Canada).

However , Executive member of the NAAA , and former Public Relations Officer - Peter Samuel - is not happy with the media coverage from Trinidad and Tobago , citing instances where he believes the media has gone wrong ,” The media in this country , like to build up athletes and then break them down , how can they be saying Keshorn goes for Gold ....yes we all want him to get gold or any medal, but we have to be realistic in the messages we send,” stated a clearly upset Samuel

“ If one examines the field of twelve , there are two men who have thrown 91 ,one who has thrown 88 and two more who have done 86 , these are the points which need to be put in context , Keshorn just broke the national record at 83 in the World Junior Championships , about a month and a half ago when he won the World title ...how can we then be putting all this pressure on him, and when he does not achieve a medal, people say , he has failed,” added Samuel

“ Of course , he is in the final and anything can happen and he can produce a herculean effort and be in the top three, but the media need to check their statistics and what they are saying , they should not just be looking for headlines at the expense of our young athletes....what we need to do is highlight what a great achievement this is and continue to support him, so that he and the sport can grow,” declared Samuels

Samuels drew reference to one media house , that had a headline -Semoy Hacket fails to impress -,” How can they say that , she has done her personal best in the 100 metes and 200 metres and become the first woman from this country to reach a 200 metres final , she has run over seven races so far , why are we doing this to her , it is just crazy.”

Samuels would like the media in Trinidad and Tobago to pay more attention to the achievements and not always be looking to just getting gold , silver and bronze ,” That is an ideal, but you cannot be asking our athletes , like those in Swimming - George Bovell - or those in Cycling - Njisane Phillips , - questions , like - what went wrong or what they did wrong , have we thought that our competitors are just doing a lot more things right , like better support in all areas/”

“The problem, is that many times, the public will listen to what was said and they would react to media saying this sort of  poor comments about our athletes ,” said Samuels

:: AB

Bronze for Tdad in 4x400 men's relay

LaLonde Gordon picks up his second bronze medal in the men's 4x400 relay!

friday's schedule

FRIDAY 10TH AUGUST , 2012


Trinidad and Tobago go after medals again

3.40pm ( Trinidad and Tobago ) Time - Womens 4 x100 metres relay final



4.20pm ( Trinidad and Tobago ) Time - Mens 4 x400 metros relay final


EARLIER ON AT

2.45PM ( Trinidad and Tobago Time ) - Mens 4 x100 metros RELAY semi final


TUNE IN TO I95.5FM , for all the action

Jamaica sweeps 200m - Bolt, Blake and Weir

Jamaica sweeps 200m - Bolt, Blake and Weir

Bolt is unstoppable!

Unfazed at start

Doing pushups at end of race

Taking photos of photographers as he walked around track doing a lap of with hs t other countrymen Blake and Weir who won silver and bronze respectivelly

Then a second lap of honor!

Oh my Gord.... it is bronze!

SPORTS: OH MY GORD.....IT IS BRONZE

By Andre E Baptiste

 

 

Everybody wants a piece of him, and after his tremendous performance on Monday in the Mens 400 metres, the pieces that make up the part of  La Londe Gordon will be worth even more.

La Londe Gordon is 23years old and this Sagittarius born ,Trinidad and Tobago citizen made history for himself at these games winning Trinidad and Tobago’s first medal  with a spectacular finish in the mens 400 metres , to grab third and almost snatch second in a personal best time of 44.52

 

“If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!”

Those are the words from “ If “ , the last line of the famous Rudyard Kipling poem, and they apply to our new Olympic Bronze medallist - La Londe Gordon - , who stormed down the straight at 4.31pm ( Trinidad and Tobago time) , and almost caught second place finisher Luguelin Santos. 

And when asked by the media , why the 400 metres , is so popular , a clearly overjoyed Gordon , said “ It is a Man’s race , it is a Man’s race ...” . It seems this Tobago born athlete who also runs the 200 metres , has been doing extra reading in his spare time and reading poetry at that.

Gordon was born in Lowlands , Tobago and left for the United States at the age of ten with his family , he now resides in Queens New York and some members of the American media looking for a saviour  in the sport , given their previous dominance , asked him about that , but he quickly said ,” This is for Trinidad and Tobago , this is for all the support , I have received from the people of Trinidad and Tobago and all my team members,”

No one expected this , where did this young man come from ? He even said as much ,” I know , people may not know me , but I want to continue to improve in this sport, it is just a wonderful feeling .”

His teammates , describe him as crazy , Richard Thompson saying ,” He is a crazy character, he can either run a sub 44 or 45 plus, he is just so different and says all kind of things, but with good intentions, He is  very talented, we are not surprised by his performances”

Gordon laughed when told this ,” I agree , I am still crazy ...”

His Manager , Dexter Voisin was not surprised , saying the night before , everyone was talking about where this Trinidadian came from ,” After the semi finals on Sunday , all of the other 400 metres runners, were talking about him, who is this Trini Man in red , at the dinner table , Kirani James was sitting not far from s , but he was only staring at him,”

“ What makes La Londe so dangerous , is that , he is not one of those athletes , that thinks long and hard about anything , he just goes out and does his stuff” added Voisin

 

Perhaps what makes him so good , is his dedication, his desire to succeed and the fact, that he runs a pretty fast 200 metres, as evidenced by his time early this year in boston, where he ran a personal best of 20.58 in Boston on the 28th of January, 2012

 

Gordon  first represented Trinidad and Tobago at the CAC Games in 2010 , but did not make it to the World Championships.Gordon ran track and field at Mohawk Valley in 2009 and now runs for the Zenith Velocity Club team of Jersey City.

 

After winning the 400 metres at the national trials in June  , when he beat Renny Quow  with a storming late surge , Gordon’s time of 45.40 , was still not good enough to secure a place on the 400 metres individual team for London as it was outside of the qualification time of 45.30.

 

 However , again in the face of adversity and Doubt , this tall elegant runner  responded like a “ man”Two weeks later in July, Gordon ran at a United States meet in Omaha , Nebraska and won in a time of 45.02 to book his place in the team.

 

The rest is now history , he has become   a household name with immediate effect in Trinidad and Tobago, and he deserves it for his great spirit and openness,

 

today's schedule

Today :

Wayne Lewis in the 110 metres hurdles semi finals - 2.15pm ( TT time)

Kershorn Walcott in the Javellin Qualification from 3.pm ( TT time)

Semoy Hackett in the Womens 200 metres finals , drawn in lane 3 at 4pm ( TT time)

Njisane phillips is into keirin second round at 11am tt time

Njisane phillips is into keirin second round at 11am tt time

Bronze for LaLonde Gordon

LaLonde Gordon gets bronze in men's 400m with 44:52

Finally a medal!

Way to go Gordon!

Times for finals today monday 6th august 2012

Times for finals today monday 6th august 2012..... Njisane phillips in semi finals of match sprint from 11am tt time...........jehue gordon in 400 metres hurdles final from 345pm tt time....la londe gordon in 400 metres final at 430pm tt time.

three medal chances for T&T on Monday 6th August

Three medal chances for trinidad and tobago on monday 6th august......cycling match sprint njisane phillips....400 metres men finals la londe gordon....400 metres hurdles final jehue gordon.

LaLonde Gordon wins his 400m semifinal

Congrats to LaLonde Gordon for winning his 400m semifinals with a time of 44:58!

Thompson into men's 100m final

Richard thompson has made it into the men's 100m final with a qualifying time of 10:02
Please note that his personal best is 9:89 when he won silver in Bejing in 2008
If anyone can make us proud Richard surely can

kelly runs at 4:55pm

Jejune Gordon reaches 400 meters hurdles final with fourth best time. He will run in final on Monday. He told the fearless one, he is going to do what he said on imports.

Richard Thompson,Keston bledman and rondell sorillo all in 100 meters men semi finals on Sunday at 2.45pm TT time.

Kelly Ann Baptiste runs in women's 100 meters final at455pm TT today Saturday

Kelly Ann Baptiste INTO 100m FINALS

Yes Kelly Ann Baptiste hs made it into the WOMEN's 100m finals
Are we surprised? No we are not.
Trinidada and Tobago managed to have 3 women qualify for the smi-finals and now one has made it through to the FINALS
Throw your support behind KELLY ANN BAPTISTE

njisane phillps qualifies

Trinidad and tobago cyclist njisane phillps produced a marvellous display to qualify for the match sprint quarter finals on sunday. It was a stunning finish as he overhauled new zewland edward dawkins

jehue Gorgdon is into semifinals 400m hurdles on saturday

Ayana alexander 14th in womens triple jump final....

jehue gordon second in his 400metres hurdles and now into semi finals on saturday 4th august.

Bovell says 21.5 , will get him a medal.

George Bovell will swim for the GOLD mnedal at 3.09pm ( TT time) on Friday 3rd August, 2012 in the Mens 50 metres Freestyle swimming final at the Aquatics Centre  in Olympic Park, London.

Bovell was second in the 2ND Semi final in a time of 21.77 to reach Friday's final with the fifth best time .

Bovell says 21.5 , will get him a medal.

Let us all STAND BEHIND GEORGE RICHARD BOVELL

george bovell is in 50m freestyle finals

Yes
george richard bovell came 2nd in his semifinal heat with time of 21.77 (winner had 21.63)
Previous heat the winner had 21.54
Hence he placed six overall in semifinals
But he has never the less earned place in 50m freestyle final!
This has been your update

George Bovell qualifies for SemiFinal with fastest time

George Bovell has qualified for tonights semi-finals with the fastest time
Be viewing tonight at 7:32pm London Time (2:32 T&T Time)