De Robbing Hoard of Cricket

When ah was ah lickle youth man somebody gave me ah story-book on de Tales of Robin Hood foh Christmas, dah was so long ago, dat all ah could remember was Robin Hood as dis fear-most 16th century legend who had ah outlaw band of Merry Men; well loved and known for his gallantry, robbing de rich to feed de poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny at de time.{{more}}

Foh some reason me mind uses to run pon Robin Hood every time ah see Sir Ah-land Standford during his 20/20 Cricket Tournament, mill-in as in Millinaire thru de crowd, wid spectators rushing to shake his hands, touch him, ah show of appreciation foh de millions he handing out give our cricketers. Everybody welcomed and loved dis philanthropist foh his unprecedented generosity, nobody even took time out to question de real source ah de man’s income. Dis is de man who bought his own Airline to kill LIAT, in de end as ah compromise dey worked out ah merger and ah think LIAT owes him Millions. Ah hope LIAT ain’t get seize in dis fall-out.

When Standford announced his ambitious plans foh West Indies Cricket and demonstrated his intention by putting his money way his mouth dey, everybody hailed Sir Ah-land Standford as ah Robin Hood foh West Indies cricket, not knowing dat Sir Ah-land was nothing but ah Robbing Hoard and his game was “Not Cricket”.

De game of Cricket would have had its full share ah scamps. Remember Kerry Packer who in 1965 defied de (ICC) International Cricket Council’s ruling to ban Aparthied South Africa at de time from test cricket, Packer scrambled ah Rebel Team of some of de leading test cricketers in de world, including our own Gary Sobers and went to South Africa and played. De money was too big foh our cricketers to refuse. Kerry Packer series fell apart but not before opening our cricketers eyes to big cash, dat might have turned out to be good foh de players but bad foh de sport in de West Indies.

So it was only when Sir Ah-land pumped millions into our cricket dat our players, small islanders included, began to get ah decent slice ah de pie. Did I say Pie sorry, ah mean cookie. Just like in Robin Hood times, as he robbed de rich, he passed de spoils onto de poor and won dey support and sympathy, Sir Ah-land was doing his thing in Banking, offering unbelievably high interest rates to in-festors. Now in order to divert attention, he passed on some ah his spoils to West Indies Cricket. And is so we love Sir Ah-land, at de rate he was going, given ah few more years, we would ah dumped de WICB and put Sir Ah-land in full control ah West Indies Cricket. Just like how dey did mek Robin Hodd Earl of Huntingdon, Antigua Knighted Ah-land Standford and mek him Sir.

To be less unkind to Sir Ah-land, he gave West Indies Cricket ah shot in de Arm, but like de shot catch we in we foot too, soon we’ll be flat on we back-side again, thanks to our White Colour Scamp, suspected of illegal Drug dealing, cannot be found, no doubt hiding in de nest way he feathered wid de Birds and Bes at Aunt-Teega. Ley we don’t knock de Birds, because we got White Colour Scamps in our midst, but Melee-in-um., Bank on my word, dat’s ah Hot-hell wid Millions in de laundry machine, just wait you’ll see Melee-in-Um.

NO ! NO! NO! TO LIME

I am appealing to de National Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (NTRC) not to allow LIME aka Kay-Blue Why-less to impose ah 15 cents per minute charge on our fixed line service if and when we call Karib Cable Telephones. Dis is ah penalty, in de midst ah dis telephone war among LIME, Digicel and now Karib Cable we de consumers are being victimized by LIME. Dis extra 15 cents ah minute charge is an attempt to restrict us and block Karib Cable. We are paying LIME 8 cents ah minute for ah fixed line service, why must we now pay 15 cents ah minute foh de same fixed line service because it’s another company. LIME should be asking customers to stay wid dem offering us de advantage of calling Karib Cable customers at no extra cost. NTRC we say ah big NO to any 15 cents per minute penalty. Come on LIME, come better dan dat man!

VALENTINE CHURCH STYLE

Lie-Za was not too impressed when she saw ah Valentine’s Ad on TV wid our friend Joy telling her Grand-daughter dat Valentine is not what we think, it’s not about chocolate and sex and so on. Lie-Za say Joy dead wrong, I agree. Valentine is about chocolate and sex and dey like horse and carriage, dey go together, as ah matter of fact she begged me please remember to buy my wife chocolate foh her Valentine, or else. What ah know ah did foh Valentine was to Judge ah Valentine Carry-yoh-key and Fashion show put on by the Youth Club at Mespo Gospel Hall Church. It was enlightening to see young people making use of Church facilities, singing and dancing widout desecrating de Temple. De Carry-yoh-key as well as de fashions provided great entertainment, as de youngest and eldest of de Isaac boys still mourning de loss of dey Mom who passed away in December, graced de stage to defend dey titles. Javon really played wid de audience as he did ah great rendition of de love ballard: “Is it me you’re looking for” and in de fashions, his older brother Lerone aka “Jert” who like he mek ah borrow from Benny Hinn, stormed down de aisle in ah cream and red outfit, and got de judges nod in de male category. Amanda had ah good night winning de female fashion and third in de Carry-yoh-key. Full marks to de Gospel Hall young people and dey dynamic Pastor, Dolphus Isaacs.

Over de years young people in de Churches, in particular de Pentecostals, have been leading de way in Gospel, Drama and Dance. De Church is number one in SVG when come to Gospel and Dance. It is dis progressive form of Christianity dat is attracting young people and creating growth in de Church today. And yuh know something, dey’s less teenage pregnancy, less drug addicts, less violent and criminal offences coming from among young believers in de Church. If yuh are ah young person reading dis and yuh not already in ah church, find one. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.