Sangster owes 'Fortis' family an apology

[Sickko]

Sangster owes 'Fortis' family an apology

Published: Thursday | September 10, 2009


Sangster The Editor, Sir:
I am quite disturbed by the forum provided by your paper to Alfred Sangster in the Sunday Gleaner of September 6. He started out defining the historical missteps taken over the years at major track and field championships, with the point of departure being the 1968 debacle of Herbert McDonald carrying the flag into the Olympic Stadium through to problems in Berlin 2009. The historical order and brief history attempted to set out the table of events as they unfolded.

However, as a proud and supportive member of the Kingston College family, I found the attack on Kingston College old boys to be disingenuous. The attempt to portray the members of the 'Fortis family', as well as their staff, along with the 'KC label' as the root cause of what has happened is dishonest. This seems to smell of an unnatural bias and I don't know why this is so.

There was no definitive mention of the missteps of Herbert McDonald, Richard Ashenheim or that of the great Herb McKinley (and I say that with sincerity) - who incidentally was instrumental in helping KC to be the first Jamaican team to run in the Penn Relays.

Attack on their legacies
The tensions created and public displays of revolt by athletes in the past particularly stemmed from some of Herbert Mcdonald's decisions but there was no attack on their legacies or public images by Sangster. I don't want people to be attacked per se but rather that constructive criticism and viable solutions be offered instead.

The vitriol smacks of a personal bias against my extended family and I am seriously offended as I am sure are all of the family members.

The call for the removal of the current leadership of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association, thereby, giving the impression that these issues are recent, disrespects the intelligence of the reading public. I must have missed his paragraph about the Jamaica College connection or when Herb was in charge, the Calabar connection.

The call for a way forward does not, should not include an attack on Kingston College old boys. Sangster was interviewed on KLAS FM and struggled to give coherent answers to questions thrown at him; it was quite embarrassing to hear him provide non-answers.

The Fortis family should demand an immediate apology for this attack.
I am, etc.,
DR GARFIELD HALL
ghaul@yahoo.com
2A North Street
Kingston

[Karl]

Well?

[Sickko]

Well a lot of people here were ready to hand him the Pulitzer Prize the other day because I guess it mirrored what they thought, sorry i did not hear the KLAS interview.

[Mosiah]

what is garfield hall saying though? letter seems rather vague and uninformative.

[Sir X]

Vague and diversional , its all about Sangster attacking KC , nothing about the reality or any stand on the issues of the JAAA incompetence or competence.

Does his article excuse the issue of the detriment of an ole boy network on the JAAA whether it be KC or JC ?

[Don1]

Vague and diversional , its all about Sangster attacking KC , nothing about the reality or any stand on the issues of the JAAA incompetence or competence.

Does his article excuse the issue of the detriment of an ole boy network on the JAAA whether it be KC or JC ?

Lef JC outa dat.

[Sir X]

A nuh mi !

I must have missed his paragraph about the Jamaica College connection or when Herb was in charge, the Calabar connection.

[Willi]

Interesting:


Prezib Posted: Sep 10 2009, 04:36 PM


I hope you listened to the interview with the US lady incharge of track and field functions name miss Jill Gere thats a key interview that really show how ridiculous a mandatory camp is. When you hear her speak and you hear how our officials speak



I thought you heard it was repeated this morning on KLass . I would love you guys to listen that interview as i dont like to try to quote anyone as we might pick and choose what we write and plus add inaccuracies but i will try .

Miss Gere (spelling)was saying that to force athletes to attend a camp will cause disunity and ill feelings which is the opposite of what the purpose of the camp is for .She said everyone has a choice and if they choose not to attend ,this will not be looked up on in anyway by the organisation as the athlete must act in the best way that suits them and their performance .However she finds that most persons attends the camps because of this free will . In terms of facilities she says USA trys to find the best facilities thats close to the village but not too close to cause a distraction .If an athlete does not like the facility they are allowed to go where ever and to which ever coach they choose to work with as this is in the best interest of the athlete . Interms of relay practise thats the only thing thats mandatory but not necessarily for the 4*4 athletes .She says within her 9 years there hasnt been much problems with this as most athletes want to medal and run well on the relays so they know they have to practise and do various formations .
However when asked if these relay camps has worked for the USA she blatantly said no and pointed out various deficiences in this program like the fact that technical staff was always changing ( i dont remember everything ) .She said USA use to have problems with people wanting to run certain legs and wanting their clubmates to run in the relays and so on but that was before her time .

[Exile]

Nobody was handing out any prize just that it was refreshing to see sm Journalistic scholarship....this article has done nothing except to defend the od boys and a tongue in cheek attack at Sangster....

[Yuttie]

Garfield Hall sounds like he attended the tea party in DC today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Ntu...layer_embedded


Xprezib
They were asking him specific questions about
Tue Sep 8, 2009 04:18
72.27.166.40

the article but the most interesting part was when they asked him about the KC old boy situation .He said something about the accreditation of the officials that went to Berlin and that the JAAA gives their friends accreditations and that these same persons are the ones that voted at election time .He challenged the journalists to investigate .

Sangster said he doesnt have a axe to grind and that he has been on the intercollege sports board for a longtime and Utech \Cast president\prinicipal for 26 years .He has faced many school boards and can look straight in the face of anyone he wants to .The journalists said that the allegations that he has made are very serious and that they will investigate .

They usually repeat interviews the next morning between 8am and 9am on klass .