G. Michael Reid on basketball
He’s been wounded in the battle of the sexes and gone up against such touchy topics as the cruise ship, family court and National Anthem. Tonight G. Michael Reid just tries to follow the bouncing ball.
Although only recently accepted as a legitimate sport in America, football or soccer as they call it over there, has been acknowledged since time immemorial, as the most popular sport in the world. With the advent of television, however, and with satellites beaming signals to even remote corners of the globe, the more hyped up and fast paced action of basketball has all but stolen the spotlight. Nowhere is basketball’s increased popularity more apparent than right here in Belize where on any given day, our parks and playgrounds can be found full of young and even not so young kids all trying to be like Mike. Anytime during the NBA season, which usually runs from October to about May, the cable bill is the first one we pay and although oceans away from the nearest NBA arena, most of us in Belize have a favorite team which we root for passionately. To us, them is we and hear we nuh, we win last night or we loose last night. We’re on a first name basis with most of the players and we speak of Patrick or Penny or Shaq. And how about Magic or should we call this guy Miracle? What’s up with the AIDS thing dog, or were you just pulling our leg!
Now, notwithstanding the fact that the crowd at the M.C.C. last Sunday proved conclusively that football in Belize still has it’s share of faithful followers, the first thing that many of those attending that facility did upon leaving, was to find out who won between the Lakers and the Bulls. The Bulls of course got soundly trashed by the Matadors from L.A. and yeah, Scotty is back and Mike looks as good as he has in years, but the eye of this tiger might be closing and this dynasty at an end. This weekend, the annual all star game will be held in New York and with the engaging rivalry that has developed between savvy veteran Michael Jordan and the young upstart Cobie Bryant, the stage is set for a memorable game and one which might in theory turn out to be just in passing of the baton or a changing of the guard so to speak.
And speaking of basketball, I bumped into Nigel Miguel at the Calypso during the week and he showed me a proposal that he had been trying to present to someone in Government. It entails the purchasing of a new court, new rims, full training and game gears for both male and female national basketball teams and a firm commitment from Larry Drew, former NBA star and now assistant to Lakers? coach Dell Harris. If the deal goes through, he would be spending some six weeks in Belize teaching our players and coaches the fundamentals of the game. On paper, this is a very attractive package and I even felt a pang of guilt as if looking a gift horse in the mouth, when I inquired as to the price tag. Quite reasonable I am told, about two hundred thirty thousand Belize. Of course I felt a little better about asking the question after that for it seems that this horse will be anything but a gift. I think that maybe we should do a little shopping around or at least read the fine print carefully. And by the way, just where do we plan on putting this expensive new court, rims and what have you? Certainly not in the Civic as it is? Afterall, wouldn’t that be kinda like putting a pearl in the snout of a pig.
One thing remains certain, if we are to proceed with the plans to host this upcoming CARICOM tournament in June, and if we are to one day instead of the Lakers, Bulls or Knicks, root for our own Bombers, Builders or Bandits, then we will certainly have to do something about that atrocious rip-off known as the Civic Center. Rumor has it that Government is firmly committed to renovations but with volleyball and senior basketball poised to begin play, one wonders exactly when this work will begin? We’re already into February and that leaves us with March, April and May. And really, three months is not a lot of time for a project that size considering how fast time flies these days. Unless of course, we plan to get suckered into another overnight, get somebody else rich scheme.
With the last word, G. Michael Reid.”
The opinions expressed on the Last Word are those of G. Michael Reid and not necessarily those of Channel Five. Comments are welcome.
