Historian: for your eyes only...

[HL]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_at_the_Olympics

NOTE: the number of sports participated.

[Historian]

A Most Timely and Appreciated Post, HL!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_at_the_Olympics

NOTE: the number of sports participated.

HL, I really appreciate this post, and primarily for the reason that it shows once and for all why you and I have recognized what being a “Caribbean Sports Power” really entails!

What annoys me, more than anything else, are those occasions when ignorant posters on this forum deliberately oppose critical sports comments just because those comments do not go overboard in praising Jamaica! As such, I say “Much respect” to sensible people like you (HL) and Islandman and Siccko, who recognized the truth from as early as my first post on the topic several years ago. (I still recall the responses.)

Quite simply, not only has the sports and educational and health achievements of Cuba dwarfed Jamaica by a huge margin, but that absolutely self sufficient island some 90 miles or so off our coast has been, to a great extent, our savior via their late 1970s gift of the precious Gerald Claude Eugene Foster’s (G.C. Foster) Sports College. This most welcome gift from Cuba, incidentally, allows many of us Jamaicans to boast today that we have the “only sports college in the English-speaking Caribbean”!

And yes, we actually do, thanks to the benevolence of our nearest neighbor!

Once again, many of us Jamaicans are misled by the Jamaican who, once in a while, makes international headlines, and by the many foreign-born, so-called Jamaicans who make an impact here and there. Being a bona fide sports power involves much more than this!

[HL]

Truth is over-rated.

Let's let this one go.

[Peter R]

It would be safe to say though, that their sporting triumphs have dwindled since the demise of the communist bloc. Nuh true?

[Historian]

Yes, But....

It would be safe to say though, that their sporting triumphs have dwindled since the demise of the communist bloc. Nuh true?

That may be so, Peter, but remember that of all Caribbean countries, Cuba won the MOST medals at the most recent Olympic Games (London, 2012). And those medals were in diverse areas.

Jamaica was the Caribbean island with the second most medals, and every one of them was won in the sprints and the relays ONLY.

[Historian]

In Addition....

That may be so, Peter, but remember that of all Caribbean countries, Cuba won the MOST medals at the most recent Olympic Games (London, 2012). And those medals were in diverse areas.

Jamaica was the Caribbean island with the second most medals, and every one of them was won in the sprints and the relays ONLY.

Of course, we cannot discount the facts of Cuba’s much larger population (I am tempted to say more than three times that of Jamaica, but I hesitate to do so because there are millions of Jamaicans and part-Jamaicans living abroad) and greater emphasis on education are no doubt factors contributing to Cuba’s status as a “Sporting Giant” in the Caribbean and Latin American region.

When all is said and done, however, Jamaica has punched well above its weight in track events, making us, in my opinion, without a doubt the greatest sprinting nation on the planet at this time. We are also, without question, a genuine netball giant.

My personal sporting wish is that Jamaica begins to produce greater successes in the jumping, throwing and middle distance events in track and field, and in swimming, boxing, volleyball, basketball, cycling, and so on. And, of course, I will not upset the forum by saying anything about soccer.

To give an example, how can a tiny nation like the US Virgin Islands dominate us so often in men’s basketball, despite the fact that much of our team is made up of “foreign Jamaicans”? Want another example? What excuse is there for tiny Barbados to so often do better than Jamaica in volleyball?

I guess street dancing is more important than sporting achievements? Anyway, I think it’s time I take a step away from this rather controversial topic.

[HL]

I have a feeling thay have gotten the point Historian.

It was hard work...but someone has to do it.

Stay resolute!!

[TDowl]

"their sporting triumphs have dwindled since the demise of the communist bloc" What year was that?

[HL]

...and even with the dwindling...Cuba is still a more sporting country than Jamaica....