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<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'>Rich - at the end of last week, in one of the threads in this section - you had asked the question to someone, as to whether or not they thought CWC was a failure. I wanted to share my thought on that but i was so slammed at work I never got the chance. Came back this morning to find you post and now I can't.
My memory is almost nil lately! [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70394-bawlout.gif[/img] I just cant even remember where the question was!
Anyway - I sat down to reply and remember this opin I read in last week's Gleaner. I don't know if it made it into the online edition - I could be mistaken but I don't think so ...
Interesting opinion, to say the least.</span>
_________________________________________________
<span style="color: #CC0000">April 4, 2007</span>
Jamaica Gleaner
SPINNING A LEGACY
<span style='font-size: 8pt'>by Peter Espeut</span>
Well for us it’s almost over. There is only one more World Cup Cricket match left
to be played in Jamaica, one of the semi-finals. We have already received about 90%
of whatever benefits we were expecting by helping to stage the third biggest
sporting event in the world.
We had some warm up matches in Florence Trelawny. In the first round we had with us here in Jamaica four of the 16 teams in competition, each playing 3 matches at Sabina Park; for the semi-final we will have 2 teams playing one match. Yes, for us, it’s almost over.
The West Indies is famous for fast bowlers, but in the aftermath of the Cricket
World Cup look for the spinners! Spiders spin webs to catch unsuspecting prey. It is
we they are trying to catch in their webs! “The payback of the legacy of the World
Cup is over the long term. We will continue to reap the benefits of this World Cup
decades after the last ball is bowled,” they will say. In other words, “Don’t look at
the billions we have spent and the little actual monetary returns we will have
gained. Project into the future and add up all that we will earn, and you will see the
real gains!” That will be the legacy of the World Cup.
Such an argument is nothing but spin, for whatever you apply it to, there can only
be winning, and no losing. For example, “The long-term legacy of poverty, illiteracy
and underdevelopment in Jamaica is that hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans have
migrated to foreign parts and send back billions annually in remittances.” What about:
“The long term legacy of crime is that we will have built up a first-class police
force.” How about this topical one: “The long term legacy of the slave trade is that
we are here, and we own Jamaica.”
LONG TERM BENEFITS FOR JA
And so if you believe the spinners, Jamaica will reap long-term benefits from the
billions we have spent in hosting the 2007 IWC Cricket World Cup. For example, the
cameras that are here now will show Jamaican scenery, which will attract millions of
tourists from all over the world in the years to come.
Let me ask you: Do you think that because live telecasts of these cricket matches
are being made available to all TV and cable stations which will pay for it, that
cricket will become more popular in the world? Do you think that any more people, any
different people, will watch Cricket World Cup that watch Test match cricket? The
people who will watch cricket are people from Test cricket countries, including those
who have migrated to other lands. While watching Test cricket over the years, they
will have seen footage from Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean, broadcasting
during the Test matches. If that didn’t make them come, watching footage during the
World Cup will not make them come. Where is this ‘legacy’ going to come from?
WHERE IS THE LEGACY
Like thousands of other Jamaicans, I have been watching on television cricket
matches being played in Jamaica, Guyana, Antigua, Trinidad, etc. Let me ask you, have you
seen any scenery of any of these islands outside of the cricket grounds? Are you
any more familiar with Guyana Antigua and Trinidad than you were before? Where is
this ‘legacy’ going to come from?
Let me ask you: Do you think that because Cricket World Cup is being played in
Jamaica, rich investors will come here to watch, and at the same time – in between
matches – invest millions of dollars in Jamaican business ventures? Where is this ‘legacy’
going to come from?
I wish some of these spinners would have offered their services to the West Indies
team. We might have done better in the matches, for our bowling has been less than
adequate.
My memory is almost nil lately! [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70394-bawlout.gif[/img] I just cant even remember where the question was!
Anyway - I sat down to reply and remember this opin I read in last week's Gleaner. I don't know if it made it into the online edition - I could be mistaken but I don't think so ...
Interesting opinion, to say the least.</span>
_________________________________________________
<span style="color: #CC0000">April 4, 2007</span>
Jamaica Gleaner
SPINNING A LEGACY
<span style='font-size: 8pt'>by Peter Espeut</span>
Well for us it’s almost over. There is only one more World Cup Cricket match left
to be played in Jamaica, one of the semi-finals. We have already received about 90%
of whatever benefits we were expecting by helping to stage the third biggest
sporting event in the world.
We had some warm up matches in Florence Trelawny. In the first round we had with us here in Jamaica four of the 16 teams in competition, each playing 3 matches at Sabina Park; for the semi-final we will have 2 teams playing one match. Yes, for us, it’s almost over.
The West Indies is famous for fast bowlers, but in the aftermath of the Cricket
World Cup look for the spinners! Spiders spin webs to catch unsuspecting prey. It is
we they are trying to catch in their webs! “The payback of the legacy of the World
Cup is over the long term. We will continue to reap the benefits of this World Cup
decades after the last ball is bowled,” they will say. In other words, “Don’t look at
the billions we have spent and the little actual monetary returns we will have
gained. Project into the future and add up all that we will earn, and you will see the
real gains!” That will be the legacy of the World Cup.
Such an argument is nothing but spin, for whatever you apply it to, there can only
be winning, and no losing. For example, “The long-term legacy of poverty, illiteracy
and underdevelopment in Jamaica is that hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans have
migrated to foreign parts and send back billions annually in remittances.” What about:
“The long term legacy of crime is that we will have built up a first-class police
force.” How about this topical one: “The long term legacy of the slave trade is that
we are here, and we own Jamaica.”
LONG TERM BENEFITS FOR JA
And so if you believe the spinners, Jamaica will reap long-term benefits from the
billions we have spent in hosting the 2007 IWC Cricket World Cup. For example, the
cameras that are here now will show Jamaican scenery, which will attract millions of
tourists from all over the world in the years to come.
Let me ask you: Do you think that because live telecasts of these cricket matches
are being made available to all TV and cable stations which will pay for it, that
cricket will become more popular in the world? Do you think that any more people, any
different people, will watch Cricket World Cup that watch Test match cricket? The
people who will watch cricket are people from Test cricket countries, including those
who have migrated to other lands. While watching Test cricket over the years, they
will have seen footage from Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean, broadcasting
during the Test matches. If that didn’t make them come, watching footage during the
World Cup will not make them come. Where is this ‘legacy’ going to come from?
WHERE IS THE LEGACY
Like thousands of other Jamaicans, I have been watching on television cricket
matches being played in Jamaica, Guyana, Antigua, Trinidad, etc. Let me ask you, have you
seen any scenery of any of these islands outside of the cricket grounds? Are you
any more familiar with Guyana Antigua and Trinidad than you were before? Where is
this ‘legacy’ going to come from?
Let me ask you: Do you think that because Cricket World Cup is being played in
Jamaica, rich investors will come here to watch, and at the same time – in between
matches – invest millions of dollars in Jamaican business ventures? Where is this ‘legacy’
going to come from?
I wish some of these spinners would have offered their services to the West Indies
team. We might have done better in the matches, for our bowling has been less than
adequate.
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