THE EDITOR: But seriously, traffic violations are also criminal acts!! Trinidad and Tobago has always been a re-active society, never pro-active.
Drag racing has always been taking place at the Cross-Crossing traffic lights. And the Police did nothing. Now that an accident has taken place, there is a plan to stop drag racing. In a few days, the publicity stunt will be forgotten and all will be forgotten. Just like “operation anaconda” and “operation Baghdad”. Publicity is the name of the game. Along the Solomon Hochoy Highway, there is a dangerous stretch between the Chase Village fly-over and the Freeport fly-over. Now there are numerous access roads along the southbound lane. I presume that these access roads are illegal, for I cannot see any person giving approval for such. But then there are corrupt officials. The worse is the driver of PBN 1100 who decided to use the shoulder of the Freeport fly-over for overtaking. This happened on Saturday July 19, 2003 at 05.51pm at a speed in excess of 100km/hr.
In San Fernando, along lower High Street, between Unit Trust, Republic Bank, Royal Bank, etc., no parking signs are ever present. But vehicles park on both sides of the road. Even Police vehicles break the law, to play “Pay Whe”. This creates huge traffic jams, as all traffic must pass through this street. And why is it not illegal for vehicles to park in front of banks? The retired police officers, who may not be able to run after and shoot after the ‘real criminals’ could be appointed as “Traffic Wardens”, “Litter Wardens”, etc. This will address the small crimes that usually lead to bigger crimes later on. And Zero Tolerance means Zero Tolerance. But seriously, a crime is a crime, whether big or small.
PHILIP AYOUNG-CHEE FRCS
San Fernando
Although not originally entered to race in the 100 metres dash, former Pan American Junior sprint champion Marc Burns will still get his chance.
This according to Ken Doldron, president of the National Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA). The flat races start today in Santo Domingo. Trinidad and Tobago double youth sprint sensations Darrel Brown and Burns made their way to the Dominican Republic where they linked-up with the rest of their compatriots, currently involved in the Pan-American Games. Brown, the world junior sprint champion, and Burns —- the runner-up, are entered and will feature in the 4×100 metres relay event. They are due to be partnered by world and Olympic 100 metres bronze medallist Ato Boldon, newly-crowned senior sprint champion Jacey Harper and Nicconor Alexander in their quest to secure a gold medal at the quadrennial multi-discipline championships. Brown left TT on Sunday while Burns travelled via American Airlines to Santo Domingo yesterday.
Contacted on Sunday, Doldron gave the reasons for Harper and Alexander being the two Trinidadians entered for the premier event at the Games according to the exclusive Newsday story on Saturday. “Darrel Brown and Ato Boldon were the original entries to represent the country in the 100 metres. But Darrel wrote the NAAA and informed us that he would be unavailable because of contractual arrangements to run in Europe. “He indicated that he would be available for the 4×100 relay. He also informed us that he would be available to run the 100 at the World Championships. Marc Burns, through his representative (by word of mouth), had also indicated that he will be racing in Europe at the same time with Darrel,” said Doldron. “When Darrel and Ato were not available to be followed by Marc, we then selected Jacey Harper and Nicconor Alexander after the Senior Championships. Harper won the 100 metres ahead of Brown so he became the automatic choice to represent the country. “We submitted the numerical entries and subsequently the final entry by names to the Trinidad and Tobago Olympics Committee (TTOC). They are the ones who made all the travel arrangements and not the NAAA,” said Doldron.
According to the reliable source, Burns turned down an offer to race in Europe, the same time his compatriot Brown was racing at two major meets, to be available to represent TT in the 100 metres flat and 4×100 relay. Following an injury during the Collegiate Indoor season, Burns had recovered sufficiently and placed fourth at the prestigious NCAA 100 metres dash. With Brown, Boldon, Kittitian and Commonwealth champion Kim Collins and Barbadian top-rated Obadele Thompson out of the 100 metres fray, Harper and Burns could fancy their chances of sharing in the coveted medals. Brown has shown remarkable form and will definitely be an integral part of TT challenge for the sprint relay gold. But Doldron was unsure whether Boldon had arrived at the Games village because he has had no contact with team officials up to press time yesterday. On Thursday last, the immensely-talented Brown was narrowly edged out into third spot with a sizzling 10.17 secs, the same as Great Britain’s Jason Gardner who was given second to Namibian World and Olympics silver-medallist Frankie Fredericks (10.14 secs) in Austria. And earlier in the year in his first professional outing at the Pre-Fontaine Classic, the 18-year-old clocked a new personal best of 10.08 secs when he sped to the finishing line in second spot. With Burns, Boldon, Harper and Brown in that order, TT picked up the bronze medal at the last World Championships in Canada.
LONDON: West Indies cricket captain has maintained his place as the top batsman in world cricket.
Lara, double world record holder has 887 points with a 51.55 average and leads Indian Sachin tendulkar (843 points/57.57 average) in the PricewaterhouseCooper Test ratings released yesterday. South African Makhaya Ntini has climbed four places to sixth bowling ratings after his 10-wicket haul in the Second Test against England at Lord’s. His captain Graeme Smith, who scored a record 259 as South Africa completed an innings victory, also moves up seven places to 12th in the batting ratings. South African bowler Shaun Pollock, however, has slipped to second place behind Muttiah Muralitharan after suffering at the hands of Andrew Flintoff who scored a defiant century to salvage a little pride for England on Sunday. England bowler Darren Gough, who had miserable figures of 0-127 in the Second Test, is now out of the top 20 and at his lowest rating for six years.
Shane Stone waved the Trinidad and Tobago standard high as he swept to a straight set 6-0, 6-0 victory over Gerold Gellizeaux of St. Vincent and the Grenadines when the Pan American Games continued in Santo Domingo yesterday.
Stone will advance to the second round where he will meet Chile’s Marcelo Rios a former world number one, current number 43 and Pan Am number one seed. Shane’s brother Troy will meet Marcel Felder of Uruguay and Annaleise Rose will face off against El Salvador’s Marcela Redozmo. Puerto Rico’s volleyballers trampled Trinidad and Tobago 21-10, 21-7 on Sunday and 1999 Pan Am hockey champs Canada came away with a smooth 3-1 victory over the Trinidad and Tobago team in action yesterday. Today Trinidad and Tobago’s volleyballers will come up against Paraguay from 8 pm, the hockey team takes on Chile at 5.30 pm. On the track Jacey Harper, Nicconer Alexander, Fana Ashby and Kelly Ann Baptiste will compete in the 100 metre event. Candice Scott will throw the hammer at 10.05 pm, and Dave Stoute will compete in the shot put and in shooting. Trinidad and Tobago army officer Roger Daniel is set to compete in the 50-metre Pistol event.
Scarborough: The first day of practice yesterday for the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships was blessed with great weather at the Tobago Plantations Golf and Beach Resort.
The tournament, organised by the Caribbean Golf Association, gets underway in earnest tomorrow. The top amateur players representing the ten participating countries were able to test their golf skills yesterday while enjoying the ambience of the host site. The member organisations of the CGA are Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, OECS, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and US Virgin Islands. An early tee time for the defending champions Puerto Rico, helped them to get a feeling of the Bob Hunt designed par 72 golf course featuring approx 6,700 yards of excellent fairways and greens. Weather conditions did allow for practice yesterday and the Puerto Ricans managed to get some good scores as a preview to what could happen during competition.
Last year the team set a record by winning all five trophies as they hosted at their home course at the Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort and Golf Club. Trinidad and Tobago, second place last year; and Barbados found the course in great shape and look forward to an excellent competition among other Caribbean nations. This year the championship features a new division for the mid-amateurs, the “Ramon Baez Trophy” donated by the Dominican Republic Golf Federation. This competition will give the age group 35-50 yrs a chance to compete and will also level the Hoerman Cup Trophy teams. The flag raising and opening ceremony is carded today .
The major sponsors are Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs; Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Tobago House of Assembly; . Angostura/ Dewar’s; Carlsberg; HCL Group of Companies; National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd; Neal and Massy Holdings; Neal and Massy Motors; Rahamut/Texaco; Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrew’s; Scotiabank ; TIDCO Tourism and Industrial Development Company of T and T Ltd.; and Tracmac.
Trinidad and Tobago volleyballers Nolan Tash and Sean Morrison lost to Puerto Ricans Hernandez and Papaleo in the opening round of the Pan American Games Beach Volleyball competition in Santo Domingo yesterday.
Tash and Morrison, teaming up for the first ever in a competition, were outclassed 7-21, 10-21 by the much more experienced Puerto Ricans. This was the first time that TT had sent a two-member team to vie for honours at the quadrennial championships. Trinidad and Tobago are bracketed in the group with the gold medal favourites United States of America, Puerto Rico and Paraguay. In other results, Cuban duo of Alvarez and Rossell whipped El Salvador’s pair of Vargas and Medrano 21-12, 21-12 while Canada’s Ljubicic and Slean beat Cayman Islands’ Rankin and Thomson 21-11 and 21-9. However, there was a big scare for the highly favoured Brazilian tandem of Silva and DeJesus who were extended to three sets by the Dominican Republic’s Cabral and Flores. Meanwhile, in the team competition and on the indoor arena hard court, the Brazilian women squad signaled their intention of winning the coveted gold when they overpowered the vaunted United States of America team in a tense and entertaining showdown. However, the American men team coasted to a comfortable 25-15, 25-21 and 25-15 win over CAZOVA champions Barbados.
CL FINANCIAL San Juan Jabloteh have ended W Connection’s 12-match winning streak in the Under-17 division of the T&T Pro League. Playing at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Saturday, the San Juan lads jumped to third spot on the standings with a 3-0 triumph.
But the defeat meant little for Connection, who have already copped both Under-17 and Under-15 crowns. The Connection Under-15 team were also given a stern test by Jabloteh, but prevailed 4-3 in the earlier match of the doubleheader. Keron Ross and Brendon Boucaud were on target for Fire who edged South Starworld Strikers 2-1 in their Under-15 confrontation at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella. But the teams were unable to play their Under-17 fixture due to the unavailability of the venue, which was due to host a Sports Day.
ROXBOROUGH LAKERS pounded Northside Combined 7-0 in a qualifier to advance into the round of 16 to challenge for the Pepsi FA Cup in the Tobago Football Association.
Dyke Reid made it a personal match scoring six goals, while Elion McCommit got the other for the runaway winners. Stag Uprising were also big winners, flogging Signal Hill United 7-1, with Gary Cadiz scoring a hat-trick. Harvey Butcher, Preston David, Wellington Baynes and Errol Wight got the other goals for the winners, while Deon Thomas got the consolation for Hill Boys. Others making the forward charge were Argyle Youth Stars who beat Leeds United 4-1. Golden Lane edged Calder Hall 3-2 in a thriller, while Main Street defeated DSX Young Hearts 1-0, and Mason Hall Police Youth Club won by a similar margin over King David Goal City. The six winning teams now join the 10 Premier Division clubs, including cup holders 1976 FC Phoenix XS, in the round of 16. Meanwhile, Bethel United shut out HV Milan 2-0 with goals from Jerry Woods and Jason Surrey, and Charlotteville Unifiers edged Sidey’s 1-0 on a Kirby Spencer goal. This completes the first round in the Premier Division of the Warner’s Group of Companies-sponsored Semi Professional Football League.
FA qualifying round scores: ARGYLE YOUTH STARS (4) Earl Trotman 2, Kyle Wilson, Cleavon Edwards vs LEEDS UTD (1) Robert Toney; GOLDEN LANE (3) Azel Taylor, Dylon Charles, Tyronne Sealy vs CALEDR HALL (2) Alden Wheeler, Brent Joefield; MAIN STRTEET (1) Desmond Cox vs DSX YOUTH HEARTS (0); MASON HALL POLICE YOUTH CLUB (1) Kenyon McPherson vs KING DAVID GOAL CITY (0).
Fixtures for today: Mason Hall PYC vs Charlotteville Unifiers, at Richmond; Bethel Utd. Vs HV Milan, at Dwight Yorke Stadium training ground; BiWater Stokelyvale vs Main Street, 5 pm; and 1976 FC Phoenix XS vs Roxborough Lakers, 7 pm at Shaw Park.
Tomorrow’s fixtures: Golden Lane vs Stag Uprising, at Plymouth; Sidey’s vs Argyle Youth Stars, at Roxborough; Pepsi Hills Utd. Vs Georgia, 5 pm and St. Clair’s Coaching School vs Earlbrokes, 7 pm, at Dwight Yorke Stadium.
CRAB CONNECTION snuffed out last year’s runners-up Carib FC 3-0 to move to the top of the Eastern Football Association Arthur “Jap” Brown League.
The Crabs got as double from Marlon Warner and another goal by Sheldon Thomas for their victory. But lowly Delta Glass Young Hearts scored a shock victory, edging defending champions WASA Clean and White 3-2. Fabrien Henry got the deciding goal to add to those by Sheldon Lynch and Mark Hernandez. Kurt Hutching and Rolston Haynes netted for the champs. Previous leaders Zamba Xtra Malt East San Juan United were held to a 1-1 draw by TSTT. Allan Sorzano put the San Juan men ahead only for Marvin Lee to grab the equaliser. Police swatted Joe Public 5-3 in a high-scoring match with ex-national striker Dexter Cyrus scoring a hat-trick for the winners. Sean Rosal and Andy Roberts got the other goals. Shiron Noreiga scored twice and Aaron Raper got the other goal for the Eastern Lions.
Other scores: MALONEY TWO TOUCH (0) vs ATHLETICO SPORTS INSTITUTE (0); BM SPURS (3) Earl Williams, Comas Robinson, Kirt Craig vs EAST/WEST COACHING SCHOOL (2) Marlon Yearwood 2.
Saturday’s fixtures: Crab Connection vs Joe Public, at St Joseph Recreation Ground; Hearty Food Bulls vs Police, at Arima Velodrome; TSTT vs Carib FC, at Valsayn; Athletico Sports Institute vs Samba Xtra Malt East San Juan Utd, at Aranguez; East/West Coaching School vs WASA Clean and White, at Five Rivers; BM Spurs vs JGS Maloney Two Touch, at Bourg Mulatresse. Kick off 4.15 pm.
CRITERS Six-a-Side Football League staged their formal opening over the weekend on the Ramleela Grounds at Esperanza Village, California.
Rhonda Bartholomew-John, the lone People’s National Movement Councillor on the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation, for the electoral district of California/Point Lisas, kicked off the ball to start the proceedings. A total of 33 teams have entered the competition. Sheraz Ali is the main co-ordinator of the league. In making a few comments at the opening, recently elected Councillor Bartholomew-John told the teams it is better to get involved in sports rather than in criminal activities. “As such I commend the organisers of the competition for the role they are playing in keeping young people off the streets and from being drawn to negative forms of behaviour,” she said.
