US want Jamaica sprint showdown

[Sir X]

Your statement does have a tone of fear .Regardless if the americans have a superiority complex , where do you get off saying we dont have that mentality ?

Our arrogance is based on the foundation that no one is betther than us and we arent better than anyone else .Its ingrained in us by our little folk tales and saying , from Anancy to Big Boy to provocative sayings like the queen nuh sh*t to !.

Speak for yourself , but your postings have been emboiled in mental slavery of defeatism.Dont cast your blight on us all.

But you need to realize at the same time that the natural superiority over the rest of the world that is so much a part of the American psyche is not present in the average Jamaican. Our daily actions and results in almost every sphere of national life in Jamaica surely have made this clear?!

[Sir X]

I would like to add , our arrogance has put us in the Political /Financial /Narcotic terroristic state we are in because we believe we know it all.

Dont confuse it with our Sport endeavours thats the only thing we seem to be getting right in all this madness .

[Historian]

What I'm saying is....

I would like to add , our arrogance has put us in the Political /Financial /Narcotic terroristic state we are in because we believe we know it all.

Dont confuse it with our Sport endeavours thats the only thing we seem to be getting right in all this madness .

X, your first sentence above is very interesting in the context of my previous post.

Now, you probably don’t realize it, but the truth is that I was/am extremely impressed by our performance in Beijing, and I can assure you that I am not trying to belittle our athletes in any way! For example, the last time I watched Jamaica in the sprint events in Beijing was last night just before going to sleep! I have played and replayed my videos to the point where I’ve had to make copies! (I have in my possession excellent personal recordings of all the Olympic Games since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. I also have video clips from 1976 and from 1988, and also black and white video clips of our men at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games in London.)

I love our athletes and pray for them all like you do. Also, there’s no “fear” on my part.

What I’m trying to say (and this will be my final post on this topic) is that the USA will be coming strong in more areas than we are! Certainly I expect Jamaica to win any matchup in any men’s 100 and 200-meter races, and also in any women’s 200-meter race! We also stand excellent chances in the women’s 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles events!

On the other hand, we are very weak in the men’s hurdles (both 400 and 110-meter hurdles), the men’s 400 and 4x400-meter events, all long jump events, and to some extent the women’s 400-meter event (despite Shericka Williams’ gallant run).

Right now our athletes do not need the distraction of the USA coming with their much larger population of athletes to win a psychological war over us. And this is what it is, a psychological war, as why else couldn’t the USA simply wait until the IAAF World Championships?

[Sir X]

All the better , it would only highlight our weak areas and we would invest more into to it , as it would thiers.To me its healthy competition, the psychological aspect of competition is the best part of it , If as you say they might have an edge in that department which i dont , it only means that we can only become better by improving on that part of our game.

Our psychological advantage starts with 1st dictating the terms of the meet , schedule and payment , then whatever little detail can follow.

Why should we fear them ? Too much to gain , so little to loose if anything .

[Karl]

Thank you, Gamma!

The last thing we want is for an ego-bruised USA to distract our athletes as we prepare for the much more important (from an athletics point of view) IAAF World Championships this summer.

Can you imagine the morale boost that the mighty USA (the country that promulgated the idea of “Manifest Destiny” in the nineteenth century) would get if their athletes came out on top? Can you imagine the hit to Jamaica’s psyche (and Jamaica is not a country that always displays a “We-are-the-greatest-gift-to-humankind” persona) if our athletes somehow come out second best? How would this affect their performance at the real event in August?

Would not affect our athletes. They are, excepting Asafa...and he is getting help! ...strong individuals.

In fact it would good for our 2nd team athletes. (We would run 2 and 3 teams in the relays and at 4 in the sprints...and 6 in the longer races (800M upwards).

[Don1]

I'm happy to get you started

[quote=Historian;154318]
Yep, the typical Jamaican arrogance and the type of swashbuckling swagger that has today taken us to the very top of the region in social, economic and political achievements.

Don1, please don’t get me started!

Yes Jamaicans tend to be arrogant... that's what leads to our exceptional achievement in many areas.
Also it leads to national failures... but those failures have zero relevance to this discussion on track.

Since track is one of those exceptional achievements.. embrace and capitalize on it..


If you do not understand my post, please either say so or ask questions, but do not bring in statements like “We nuh fraid ah no guy” in order to slant my comments in a certain direction. Did I express any fear of the USA? And of course I know what the article said, but my concern is that a USA win in most events in both meets can affect our athletes as they get ready for Berlin.

I detected trepidation in your post and advised that it is both unnecessary and un-Jamaican especially as far as track is concerned... I stand by that.

Whether you realize it or not, the average American feels that they have a divine right to dominate the world! This philosophy is part and parcel of the “Manifest Destiny” approach to the Western Hemisphere that underpinned USA policy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We can see this today in the attitude of, for example, American tourists when they visit foreign countries. We can also see this superiority attitude in, to cite one additional example, the fact that their national events are regarded as world events, for example, baseball’s “World Series”.

Agree.. but this is a track discussion and that stuff is immaterial... let the Americans take care of their own feelings.. while we take care of ours.

This is not to say that we are – or should be – afraid of the Americans! Far from it! But you need to realize at the same time that the natural superiority over the rest of the world that is so much a part of the American psyche is not present in the average Jamaican. Our daily actions and results in almost every sphere of national life in Jamaica surely have made this clear?!

Who cares what American's feelings are with respect to this issue? This is interesting but immaterial to this track discussion.

Our athletes are exceptional, and we have darn well been proving this fact ever since we first entered the Olympic Games in 1948 at the London meet. Nevertheless, we might not have a “shift in the blocks” by Torri Edwards this time around, or botched baton changes by the USA 4x100-meter relay teams.

If one is prepared, confident and the competition is fair..there is no need to dwell on such matters.

In addition, despite our awesome performance in Beijing, we have very serious shortcomings in several areas of track and field, including the women and men’s long jump, the 400-meter and 4x400-meter events, and all the hurdles outside of the women’s 400-meter hurdles (and to a lesser extent the 100-meter hurdles).

Competition is good.. winning is not everything. Losing will show our weaknesses and point the way forward.

With this in mind, therefore, we need to pick our battles, which is why I say that after the IAAF World Championships would be the best time. I expect our athletes to once again make a mark this summer at the IAAF World Championships, and I for one will be following their preparations very carefully.

Glad that you now appear open to the notion of a head to head contest. You seemed opposed in your original post.
As I stated.. I agree with timing the event after the WC or whenever the coaches and athletes are comfortable with it.

[Jangle]

After reading everybody's comments, I believe a head-to-head battle with the US would be good............after the World Championship. I don't think it would be wise for our athletes to have this battle before as it would prove too distracting.

[Hortical]

I would support a one meet event in Jamaica, and after the world championships. There are significant economic benefits from this event, mi might even schedule sumtin in Jamaica if it were to come to pass.

[1of1]

true dem waan use we as measuring stick, mek dem wait pon big event,

[Karl]

After reading everybody's comments, I believe a head-to-head battle with the US would be good............after the World Championship. I don't think it would be wise for our athletes to have this battle before as it would prove too distracting.

Why would we be distracted?

We continue our preparations...as far as the actual meeting on the track is concerned just a part of our preparations. Now when we put it in the context of funding that can be realised for further development of track adn field (and putting some money in our athletes pockets) then clearly we are using the US ego tripping to satisfy our own needs.