Ok this week is gonna be a very sporty week and I will begin by speaking about one thing that I should've posted from the weekend but just never got around to doing, and that is with regards to the West Indies and their massive beat down at the hands of a much better and much hungrier South Africa squad. I'm pretty sure most of the people who read this site see cricket and start to groan instantly and complain about how it makes no sense anymore and that its a waste of time, but sadly I cant say that I am one of them. I am one of the lone people who still watch cricket and as games end I need to speak my mind about the team and their performace.

Quite frankly the teams performance sucked... There is no other way to put it. I am not one to sugarcoat things as anyone who has read my articles will realize, and the only way to properly describe the performance of the West Indies would be poor and nothing for the team members to be proud of. It seems to me that the West Indies have mastered the art of pulling defeat from the clutches of victory, as was shown in the latter 3 one day matches. One can only hope that the embarassment which they faced as a result of the continued white washes over the years will somehow spur them to victory.

**Taken from Jamaica Gleaner

Two many times have the windows fallen as victim to misfields, poor batting, and even poorer bowling. How many catches were dropped during the series. One may remember in game 3 I think, where around 2 key catches were dropped on Amla, Duminy and Kallis... the same players who almost singlehandedly beat down every single score set by the West Indies. Especially Hashim Amla, I think only once did he manage to not score less than a half century. How can one expect to win a game if they cannot take control of easy opportunities to win, or at least put themselves in an advantageous position.

Then there is the batting performance. Am I the only one who realizes... No wait everyone realizes because the commentators say it. Does the West Indies team realize that in every instance where Chris Gayle fails to perform the entire team quickly collapses? I mean previously when we had an on form Chivnarine Chanderpaul, and an on form Marlon Samuels, and even further back to when we had Brian Lara, where Chris Gayle failed, there was somebody to pickup the slack, somebody would at least give some form of competition to the opposing team. Compare that to the final one day, only 2 people managed to put up a reasonable score in Chanderpaul and Deonarine, one middle and one lower order batsman out of a team of 10 batsmen. While South Africa (who's captain is also on poor batting form currently) has managed to at every game pull out at least 4 reasonable batting performances even while they were staring defeat in the face.

**Taken from Jamaica Observer

I really dont even want to go into the bowling and the fielding setup. Where it seems that the field is set to allow the opposing team to make as many runs as possible (albeit through singles) through a defensive setup, instead of an attacking setup forcing the batsmen to go on their back foot and rethink their strategy. The bowling is also quite tasteless and is simply not really that challenging, it is very rarely that you see some change in bowling line or length to through the batsmen for a loop. Is it that our bowlers simply cannot do it? I would disagree with that based on the fact that on occassion you do some some stroke of brilliance from the bowlers, and when that stroke of brilliance that comes out most of the times somebody is taken out.

What is it that makes Austrailia, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan different from the West Indies? Is it talent? Is it money? Is it skill? Is it staffing? I dont believe its any of that, we do have the talent, and we do have the money and the staff (look at how many past greats are still around today, why is Michael Holding still commentating instead of teaching the players how to bowl like he once did?), but still we are losing. I think it is none of the above, instead it is simply that we dont have the will or the drive to win anymore.  All in all however, this white wash is simply another disappointment and embarassment to West Indians all over the world.

The brand, which has been associated with undiluted energy throughout the years, has also become a staple among their consumers because of its ingenuity to seamlessly fuse charity with entertainment and this "Under The Cap", (UTC), promotion is yet another example of how the brand supports its consumers.

For the UTC Promotion, consumers will certainly be able to win in a big way, because they will be able to win free Magnum after obtaining specially-marked 10th Anniversary caps, as well as two daily cash prizes of $10, 000. It doesn't get any better than that.

According to Kaysia Johnson, category manager at Lascelles Wines and Spirits, distributors of Magnum Tonic Wine, "Magnum's aim over the years has always been consistent with the needs of our consumers. When they need entertainment, we always identify ways in which we can provide great entertainment that they will never forget. In addition, consumers are people and people have needs and one universal need will always be money. So many would have noticed that since we embarked on our 10th anniversary celebrations last year, we have been habitually providing ways in which we can give back to our consumers, and Magnum "Under The Cap" is a fine example of that: it's both entertaining to them but they also stand to gain a tremendous amount of cash if they win."

The promotion which has been entitled "Money Long and Magnum Strong" will last from June 14 - August 14 and in order to win, all persons will have to do, is collect three (3) of the specially marked caps and place them in an envelope marked with their name, address and telephone number. They will then drop it off at Irie FM, 1B Derrymore Road. If they have been selected, someone from Irie FM will call at 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday for the chance to win the $10, 000. If the call goes unanswered, the envelope is discarded and another winner will be chosen. Once the call is answered, the winner must state the Magnum Tonic Wine tagline, "Energy When You Need It" in order to collect the prize money. Additionally, winners can contact Whistling Frog in order to collect the cash prize.

Not to be left out, the winners of the Magnum Kings and Queens competition who won by landslide votes, Bumpa and Press Fyah, will be the faces of this year's Magnum Under the Cap "Money Long and Magnum Strong" promotion. Still, that's not all - patrons will be able to re-live the memories and see some of their favourite contestants perform live as the promotion progresses.

We'll group formations into three categories: "More-Offensive", "More-Defensive", or "More-Balanced". "More-Offensive" formations include three 4-3-3's (including Portugal and both Greece and Denmark who are not exactly attack-minded), one 3-5-2 (Uruguay), and one 3-3-1-2 (Chile). These formations are termed "More-Offensive" because they allow more players to get forward. It doesn't look like many teams are taking chances with more offensive-minded formations. That's just five out of thirty-two.

"More-Defensive" formations include seven 4-2-3-1's (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Holland), one 5-2-3 (New Zealand), and one 5-3-1-1 (North Korea). These formations are considered defensive in nature because six of the players are in more defensive-oriented roles. Some of these 4-2-3-1's may be more flexible 4-5-1's that allow quicker counterattacks. And, although 4-2-3-1 provides more cover with the option of two defensive/holding midfielders, Mexico, Holland, and Germany will probably have a more offensive-minded or at least balanced style of play. New Zealand and North Korea will play five at the back out of necessity. Nevertheless, nine out of the thirty-two formations expected to be used are "More-Defensive".

More than half the teams this time around will have what we'll call a "More-Balanced" formation. By this, meaning at least four at the back and where the two central midfielders provide a balance between creative play-making and defensive holding by either having two well-rounded midfielders or dividing-up the creative play-making and defensive holding duties. They include sixteen 4-4-2's (Algeria, Argentina, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, England, France, Honduras, South Korea, Nigeria, Paraguay, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, United States) and two 4-1-3-2's (Ghana & Spain). It makes sense to see a variety of styles of play being deployed by these teams given the flexibility in utilizing a 4-4-2.

What do we see in terms of style of play? We'll group styles of play into three broadly-based categories. Teams that want to initiate offensive either by possession or more attack-minded play we'll call "Offensive-Minded". Teams that like to sit back and absorb what a team throws at them and then hit on the counterattack via the spaced created we'll call "Defensive-Minded". Teams that do a variety of both we'll call "Balanced".

If we break things down this way, we see things similar to the formations, although they don't match-up exactly. We have eighteen "Balanced" styles of play (Algeria, Argentina, Cameroon, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, South Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, United States, & Uruguay), eleven "Defensive-Minded" styles of play (Australia, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Japan, North Korea, New Zealand, Paraguay, & Switzerland) and three "Offensive-Minded" styles of play (Chile, Mexico, & Spain). Again, we see lots of balance, some defensive-minded teams, and little offensive focus.

So what does all this mean in terms of scoring in the World Cup? Mourinho's Intermilan beat Barcelona 3-1 in their first leg of the Champions League Semi-final using a very defensive counterattacking style and a defensive 4-3-1-2 formation, so being more defensive and counterattack-focused may not necessarily mean less goals.

The majority of teams have balanced formations and styles of play. Like vs. like often means fewer points of weakness and fewer spaces to exploit on the field. So if we are judging by formations and styles of play alone we'll probably see a little less scoring than hoped for. But, that will be alright because a final of Brazil and Spain would create a lot of potential for scoring and drama between Brazil's defensive counterattacking yin and Spain's possession-based attacking yang.

The album is aptly named Romain Virgo, as it uncovers and demonstrates the depth of Romain’s talent. The project was released by VP Records in both digital download and cd copy format. Digital download fans may order their copies through itunes.com, planetreggae.com, or amazon.com, which also facilitates ordering of the physical copies of the album. The CD will immediately be available at the JNR and FYE stores in New York, and at Newberry Comics in Boston, before they become distributed through more outlets later.

“I am really excited about it,” notes Romain about the album’s release. He declares that there is a unique blend of messages to which his fans can all relate. “I hope it’s an album that will live long, because of the type of music and the messages that are in most of the songs. I write things that people experience every day, so even those after me will relate to it.” Romain Virgo boasts 15 tracks, with collaborations from Etana and Cameal Davis. The album features productions from known and experienced hit-makers in the business such as Donovan Germain of Penthouse, Shane Brown of Juke Boxx Productions, and Dawin Brown of Vikings Sounds. Romain Virgo is laden with solid hits some of these singles already released and have ridden the local and overseas charts, blended with some less familiar but equally well arranged tracks.

Among those in the line-up are, Mi Caa Sleep, Wanna Go Home (Rain is Falling), Murderer, Love Doctor, Who Feels It Knows It (featuring Etana), and Live Mi Life.

Romain has always been known for maintaining above average standards since his official entry into the music business in 2007. Throughout the Rising Stars talent competition which brought him to national attention, he was a cut above everyone, and at 17, managed to charm the ears and hearts of the nation for the victory. Since then, he has been working with a few of Jamaica’s best producers who have molded him into the star he is today. Romain Virgo is a talented and vibrant artiste who is steadily gaining widespread recognition for his quality music. He is currently pursuing a Diploma in Music Performance at the Edna Manley School for the Visual and Performing Arts, after which he plans to complete a Bachelor's degree. His formal training and immense natural talent have allowed him to become attuned to making hits and delivering star performances. He has made several television appearances where he debuted as lead singer of his high school choir on All Together Sing. Based on his success there he entered the Digicel Rising Star Competition and emerged the winner.

Romain was also featured in a high profile Pepsi advertising campaign. He has also performed on some of Jamaica’s major concerts including Rebel Salute, Reggae Sumfest, and the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

The artiste has done several tracks, some with accompanying music videos, that are extremely successful not only in Jamaica, but across the Caribbean and sections of North America. Cyaan Sleep, I Wanna Go Home, and Love Doctor for example were heavy hitters on music charts in the US Virgin Island, St Croix and in the UK.

Led by veteran national representative Simone Edwards, a US based basketball player who recently retired from a professional career with the WNBA Seattle Storm basketball team, Edwards is using her celebrity status to raise awareness about the team’s plight and the urgent need for financial help for the team.

“I appeal to all Jamaican companies and individuals at home and in the Diaspora to rally around the team and give us some financial support. Without funding our Olympic dream will not be realized. Sports has brought Jamaicans globally a sense of national pride and joy. Win or lose our athletes - in track & field, football, netball, cricket and swimming - have all done their best to make our country proud. I am just exhausted begging for support to represent my country each time we have to compete in a championship” a frustrated Edwards declared.

Although both male and female teams will begin their quest to compete at the 2012 Olympics, the men’s team has no problem securing sponsorship dollars even though the female team is ranked higher.

“I know there may never be equality with the men but at least there should be some sense of parity” she noted.

This summer, the team will represent Jamaica in two major tournaments to be held in Puerto Rico: the Centro basket Tournament from July 10 through 14 – top four teams qualifies for the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship which is the final qualifier for the 2012 World Olympics; and the Central American and Caribbean Games from July 15 through August 1 – qualifier for the 2011 Pan American Games. The squad will compete against perennial powerhouses Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and US Virgin Islands. The team is half-way towards their goal, but to get there they must compete in Puerto Rico and the Centro Tournament.

During the weekend of June 28 –July 7, 2010, the team will be hosting try-out sessions in the New York/New Jersey area for both competitions. Despite a four year hiatus from international tournaments, the women’s team is ranked by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) - the sport’s controlling body - as one of the top 50 female basketball teams in the world, and eleventh among the Caribbean/Latin American and North American/Central American countries. This ranking was based on their third place finish at the 2006 Centro Basket tournament held in Mexico City, and an eight place finish at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship.

Mrs.Coke Lloyd is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF) where she served for 10 years. During that time she was influential in advocating and facilitating improvements in employer-employee relations and general productivity in the workplace. Before working with the JEF, she worked as Personnel, Internal Relations and Administration Manager with the Thermoplastics Group of Companies, and as an Officer of the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ).

Recently, she founded Make Your Mark Consultants (MYMC), a corporate support firm of which she is a partner. In addition to her professional commitments, she remains committed to her family, which consists of husband, Evon Lloyd, and their three children.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Sagicor Life Jamaica Richard Byles, said Mrs. Coke Lloyd is a welcome addition to the Board. "Mrs. Coke Lloyd's experience and expertise will bring great value to the organization. We welcome her to the Sagicor Life Jamaica family," he commented.

Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited (SLJ) is the foremost life insurance company in Jamaica. Since it began operations in 1970, it has gained a solid reputation as an innovator and market leader in the Caribbean life insurance industry. The company was recently reaffirmed A (Excellent) by AM Best and was recognized as the Top Performing Company for 2009 by Stock Track, a publication of the Financial Gleaner.

One organization called Manifesto|Jamaica has taken up the mantle for a unique approach to national redevelopment. It is getting ready to stage the Festival of ART’ical Empowerment this October and those who already know about it are very excited.

According to Lesley-Ann Welsh, Festival Producer for Manifesto|Jamaica and one of its directors, “The power of the arts and culture to effect change is undeniable. Jamaica is a creative and cultural super power and its time we harness that energy and be the change we wish to see. There are many talented youth in Jamrock and we intend to empower them to pursue their crafts with passion and pride.”

Already, the good news is being spread in places where bad news is likelier. Having aligned with the Three Miles Development Area, they have visited communities in the vicinity with the message of ART’ical Empowerment. On Sunday (Labour Day), with gunshots typically too close for comfort, Manifesto|Jamaica had set up a booth at a community Sports Day at the Tinson Pen Sports Complex. There they painted kids’ faces, displayed visual art by the likes of Kai Watson - whose artistic lineage include father Basil Watson and grandfather Barrington Watson - and even conducted an artistic World Cup 2010 poll. These and other activities were done in an effort to expose the power of arts and culture to the youngsters who already have creative energy within them. To close the day, Manifesto|Jamaica unleashed a presentation of drumming by Kenardo, dancing by the Fantastic Girls and the Untouchable Squad, and singing by Chevaughn from C-Sharp and Bebble Rock’s Kabaka Pyramid and Roxy.

As I said in the first part of this topic, I think Jamaica is pretty much devolving instead of evolving (note the word devolve may or may not be made up). It seems that for some strange reason we just dont believe in ourselves enough to think we can progress anymore. Instead we try to go as far as back as possibly into slavery days as possible... or maybe thats just my opinion. Anyway previously I touched on some social issues such as language, education, and the acceptance of lawlessness in having gained Internal Self Government abolished the Council of Ministers and this was replaced by the Cabinet headed by the Premier the Hon. Norman Manley and 11 other Ministers chosen by the Premier and appointed by the Governor. The position of Parliamentary Secretary was also introduced. The our society. Today I'm gonna switch up the tone a bit to get to some political issues. Essentially Jamaica has alot of problems politically so much so that I can actually make about 3 parts based on politics alone, but I dont think anybody would want to sit around and read a 3 part article on one topic so i'll try to spare you the frustration and cut it down to fit into one part.

The first issue I'm touching on is kind of 2 pronged. It involves the 2 party system that we currently have and also the garrison politics that we practice. I say this is a 2 pronged issue because one really lead to another, this is so as garrison politics really started in the 70's when the two parties in Jamaica in a fight for power began to arm whoever was willing to be given arms and basically told them to go shoot at each other. This arms race basically meant that whoever could win this war would then have what was more or less free passage to become the ruling party. Of course over the years this continued to massive proportions which ended with Jamaica being in the situation that we are currently in right now... Alot of guns, and alot of political violence at levels that nobody seems to be able to control.Yet its something that we allowed to happen and we have allowed to continue till it grew to its current unprecedented levels.

With regards to the whole 2 party system being a big issue one has to take note of the fact that having two parties is what has caused all of this. I mean have you ever considered that the last time somebody not tied to the PNP or the JLP has ever won a seat in office is 1944... thats before we gained independence. Am I to believe that the only people who are worthy of leading our country are tied to either the JLP or the PNP? The problem has grown to such levels that even the recently created NDM was treated as a joke by the electorate despite the fact that we know that currently neither the PNP or the JLP is fit to rule the country. I have heard people debating and absolutely no one has ever considered voting for the NDM, not because they dont have the political ideas or the people to lead, but because they aren't PNP or JLP. When I ask these same people why not try the NDM the best answer I've gotten is "because we dont know anything about them", and I ask, why not try to learn something about them, or at least give them a chance?  This is met with stutters and blank stares, so ingrained in our thought is the two party system that voting for a third seems to be too far out of our reach. Is this the thought of a forward moving society? If A doesnt work try B, if B doesnt work try A.... ignore all others. Seems pretty silly when you think about it doesnt it.

The other political backward thought that we have is the first past the post electoral system. This system means that essentially who wins the most seats may govern the country. Well that sounds pretty fair right? Well consider this imagine a country with a population of 5 million people, where there are 11 constituences. 5 of those constituences have a population of 3 million people while the other 6 constituences have 2 million people. There is an election held where party 'A' wins the former 5 constituences outright winning 3 million of the votes, while party 'B' wins the latter 6 seats which means they won 2 million votes. Under the Jamaican system, party B will then be allowed to rule the country, despite the fact that the voting majority clearly voted for party 'A'. Does that make sense to you? I thought it was the majority that ruled in a democracy, the mere word democracy is derived from the greek meaning people (demos) power (kratos). Most educated younger Jamaicans understand this and its one of the reasons why you will find that the voting population of young Jamaicans is so small. We just dont see the point. It would make more sense for Jamaica to switch to a system where the majority rules and where we can vote for a party outside of the 2 that exist without having to worry about our lives being threatened.

The last thing I'll be looking at is brought on by the recent activities in Jamaica... specifically our Prime Minister Bruce Golding. You may remember that after it came out that Bruce Golding was lieing to the country and no longer has the trust of various sectors of the country, most people called for his resignation. People simply wanted him out of power after he's obviously corrupt and a lier. However to put it frankly Bruce Golding and his party simply said "no". He will not resign and Jamaica will return to the status quo... What?!?! Why didn't we impeach the Prime Minister.... oh thats right Jamaica has no impeachment clause anywhere. In 2003 Seaga even called for a policy to be implemented and Bruce Golding then leader of the NDM also shared a similar view. How can we allow our ministers, senators, and leaders to do anything they wish without having to answer to any higher power? Thats not smart is it? We can't even force our Prime Minister to resign, he has to actually resign himself. In the end, he will also receive all the pensions and benefits that every Prime Minister is entitled to. Despite the fact that he has lost the trust of the country and has lied to us. The Prime Minister could essentially do anything he wishes and walk off with nothing more than a dirty look by the people of Jamaica.

Really forward thinking dont you think? Look at other countries, in the USA, Clinton faced impeachment because he lied to the country about cheating on his wife... we cant impeach our Prime Minister because he lied to the country about PROTECTING A CRIMINAL! If that isn't backwards behaviour I don't know what is.

Before South Africa took the pitch against Iraq in their opening match in the Confederations Cup, there was much speculation about the potential of the Bafana Bafana. After extravagant opening ceremonies, few questions were answered following a 0-0 draw against a defensive-minded Iraq. The second match against New Zealand yielded a better result with a 2-0 win, and an encouraging double from Red Star Belgrade (now FC Twente) forward, Bernard Parker. Following two disappointing, yet well-fought defeats to Spain (2:0) and Brazil (1:0 on an 88th minute free-kick by Dani Alves) South Africa found themselves in the third-place match against Spain.

After 90 minutes South Africa found themselves down 2-1, only to see Katlego Mphela dramatically equalize with a thrashing free kick. Despite their loss in extra time, to yet another set piece from Spain's Xabi Alonso, South Africa had put together a convincing string of results against two of the strongest teams in the world. Surely, Parreira will expect nothing less than performances of this caliber from his team come June 11.

With the World Cup looming, many seem to be reverting back to similar predictions made about South Africa before the Confederations Cup. Not only did the Confederations Cup provide South Africa with a significant boost of confidence, but they are also coming off of an eleven game unbeaten streak, the latest being a 5-0 thrashing of Guatemala. It would be a grave mistake for teams in Group A to underestimate the talent of the South African-based players in the Squad. Mamelodi Sundowns striker Katlego Mphela, who has scored 15 goals in 29 appearances at the international level, will most likely be starting alongside Bernard Parker who netted in their latest match. This is a strike force chosen by Parreira ahead of South Africa's all-time leading scorer, Benni McCarthy. In the midfield, the in-form Steven Pienaar and the talented Orlando Pirates midfielder, Teko Modise, will be streaking down the wings of pitch providing service for Mphela and Parker to finish. To anchor the backline, South Africa's most-capped player and captain, Aaron Mokoena (Portsmouth), will be paired with the massive Matthew Booth (Mamelodi Sundowns). This is a pairing who caused some of the best strikers in the world trouble, and will certainly try their best to do the same to the likes of Forlan, Vela, and Anelka.

It is quite possible, almost likely, that South Africa will indeed stumble against difficult opposition and fail to reach the knockout stages of the tournament. However, our beloved game has never failed to provide us with the unexpected, and the stage is set for South Africa to do just that. Mexico, France, and Uruguay beware, despite a squad mostly made up with South Africa-based players, the bafana bafana could cause many problems. And with tens of thousands of deafening South Africans behind them, do not be surprised to see the rainbow nation make it through to the knockout rounds of the tournament. As their Carlos Parreira put it, "Once the ball moves, anything can happen."

As the countdown to the World Cup continues, and the days slowly diminish to less then ten days until this historic tournament, an imminent sadness grows inside of me. Only a few days before the opening match between South Africa and Mexico