For sports lovers this summer was Nirvana. One cannot put it any simpler than that. For most of us the summer began with the West Indies cricket tour of England which started in May and for me it ended on Sunday, September 9th with Roger Federer winning the US Open.
Some members of the WI cricket team will swear that at least the first two of the test matches against England were played not in the summer but in winter-like conditions. (It is a well known fact that in some years in England there are no summers at all.) The fact that the team lost the series badly would also contribute to the feeling of playing in winter. Chanderpaul was the only one who probably enjoyed the conditions as he made a ton of runs and refused to surrender his wicket.
For most Jamaicans the performance of our athletes in the World Athletics Championship in Japan was probably the highlight of the summer. Veronica Campbell continued to show that she is our star female athlete and Maurice Smith revealed that he will be a big star in the future in the most gruelling event in track and field.
In the heights of the summer there was the Tour de France – and I inexplicably found myself watching a few of the races. Of course, there were many spills and thrills and the usual allegations of drug use by some cyclists. In one memorable race through the French countryside a French mongrel darted across the street in front of the cyclists causing about ten riders to land on top of each other in a heap. The mongrel was more scared than hurt and disappeared into the nearby fields while the riders were left to lick their wounds. Due to the drug scandal I am sure that no-one can remember who actually won the Tour.
There was football and lots of it. First of all we were entertained by the COPA which was dominated by favourites Argentina who beat all and sundry until they were surprisingly ambushed by Brazil playing without their two best players Kaka and Ronaldinho. In the final a breath-taking early goal by Gilberto followed by a nightmare of an own goal by the Argentine captain was enough to kill the game as far as the Argentines were concerned. The own goal hurt the Argentine captain so much that he announced his retirement from international football as soon as the referee blew the final whistle.
The Under 20 World Cup was held in Canada in July/August and football lovers were entertained by the rising and future stars of the game. This time Argentina did not falter at the finals disposing of the Czech Republic 2-1. Just a few days ago Nigeria beat Spain in the finals of the Under 17 world Cup but amazingly I did not see a game and am yet to meet someone who did.
Of course I watched a few baseball games, especially those involving Barry Bonds as he chased the home run record. Pity about his steroid use allegations. Formula One racing is now fun to watch as we watch Lewis Hamilton of Caribbean descent battle for the title with defending champion Alonzo.
Superman tennis player Federer won Wimbledon and the US Open without breaking a sweat and is making great past players like Borg, Sampras, Agassi, Becker and McEnroe look ordinary or not so great.
Disappointments of the summer? The Michael Vick saga of course. Here we have another successful black super athlete self destructing or trying to self destruct.
Quotations of the summer? That came from our own Michael Holding. During the first or second test match India vs England, Holding and David Gower were commentating as the Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan took two wickets with consecutive balls. As Ryan Sidebottom approached the wicket to face the hat trick ball Gower, a past captain of England, told the viewers that he was expecting Khan to bowl a ball of full length or a yorker in the block hole. Not to anybody’s surprise, including Sidebottom’s, Khan did in fact bowl a yorker in the block hole. Sidebottom, who was apparently expecting it, played it off his big toe with some degree of ease, thus saving the hat trick. Said Holding, “I’d have made him play it off his nose!” Gower replied. “Mickey, you are as feisty as ever!”
See you in Beijing for the summer of ’08; let’s hope that it will be as memorable as the summer of ’07.
