Will Bolt Re-Write History...?

The euphoria of the games of the 30^th Olympiad is upon us and it seem like it was only yesterday the Jamaican athletes were the toasts of Beijing, China and Usain Bolt was the emperor of the world, winning the men’s 100m thumping his chest a good 20 meters before crossing the finish line in world record time – 9.69secs, and in equally emphatic style, erasing Michael Johnson’s 12 year old 200m – 19.32 with a new world record 19.30. Before the games of the games were done, Bolt had teamed up with Nester Carter, Michael Frater and Asafa Powell to rewrite yet another record in the sprint relays.

In between then and now, Bolt has beaten those records and just about all who dear to challenge him… save and except for one loss to Tyson Gay in 2010, a false start in 2011 and two losses to Yohan Blake earlier this year, he has been Mr. Untouchable!

Jamaica’s other gold medalists from the Bird Nest in Beijing, China were; Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Melaine Walker along with the sprint relay team are all back and ready for more glory and the opportunity to pour salt on the open wound of the US sprinters… for those who have never tried the salt thing, it burns!!!

So onto London 2012, where the Jamaicans have been the buzz in Birmingham since arriving for their camp at the University of Birmingham, and there has been much talk about this team’s ability to better the 11 medals from Beijing to a possible 16 medals… at least by my count anyway. Let’s examine where I think the medals will come from:

Men’s 100m

Considered the most nerve-racking event of the entire Olympic games, this event will set London Bridge ablaze with the sparks that will fly from the sparks off the track. By his own standards, Bolt has had an average season thus far but by the sounds of it (coming from his camp) all appears to be well again in Bolt-Land. Not too far away though, Yohan “The Beast” Blake, Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell, Justin Gatlin, Christophe Lemaitre and Ricardo Thompson will all be licking their chops having smelled Bolt’s blood in the water.

It is my opinion that Blake, Gay and Powell are good enough to upstage Bolt if things are not quite right in Bolt-Land, but that’s a big IF and Powell is yet to prove his mettle in championship events under the bright lights while Gay will be flying like a freight train at the end but too late shall be his cry, Bolt defends his Olympic crown and becomes only the second man since Carl Lewis (’84 & ’88) to do so.

Event	Medal	Name	Country
Men's 100m	Gold	Usain Bolt	JAM
	Silver	Tyson Gay	USA
	Bronze	Yohan Blake	JAM

Men’s 200m

Ever since September 2011 in Brussels when Yohan Blake ran an eye opening 19.26secs it’s quietly mumbled in some quarters that he will beat his much-vaunted training partner Bolt. Beyond these two, 19.8 appears to be the ceiling for everyone else in the event so it should be a battle royal between both to the tape assuming Blake shows up ready to repeat his astonishing feat in Brussels. Bolt completes the double and writes his name in the Olympic games history books forever, as the only man to have repeated as sprint double champion, Wallace Spearman rounds out the medal table with the bronze.

Event	Medal	Name	Country
Men's 200m	Gold	Usain Bolt	JAM
	Silver	Yohan Blake	JAM
	Bronze	Wallace Spearman	USA

Men’s 400m

Much respect must be paid to the defending Olympic champion Lashawn Merritt in this field with a PR of 43.75secs for the event; whether or not he is in that sort of shape this time around only time will tell. If he is not, the youngster out of Grenada – Kirani James is as raw and as hungry as they come with the upside of youth in his favor. Add into the mix Luguelin Santos – Dominica Republic, Jermaine Gonzalez – Jamaica, Dane Hyatt – Jamaica, Kevin Borlee – Belgium, Rondell Bartholomew – Grenada and Renny Quow – Trinidad & Tobago and this event stacks up nicely. Kirani James surprises Lashawn Merritt by hanging on in the straight with Gonzalez finishing fast for the bronze.

Event	Medal	Name	Country
Men's 400m	Gold	Kirani James	GRN
	Silver	LaShawn Merritt	USA
	Bronze	Jermaine Gonzalez	JAM

110m Hurdles

If all report to the games fit and ready to race, the top contenders Xiang – CHN, Robles – CUB, Merritt – USA and Richardson – USA should occupy the middle four lanes of the finals all things being equal. The other four lanes ought to have two Jamaicans – Riley and Parchment along with Andy Turner – GBR and Jeff Porter – USA. The 2004 Olympic champion Liu Xiang wins again beating Merritt and Richardson.

Event	Medal	Name	Country
Men's 110mH	Gold	Liu Xiang	CHN
	Silver	Aries Merritt	USA
	Bronze	Jason Richardson	USA

Men’s 400m Hurdles

In this event is quite possibly the only man that could upstage Bolt if he doubles by winning. Angelo Taylor if he pulls it off will be the only man in the modern Olympic era to win the same event three consecutive games. This field will be no brush over though with Javier Culson – PUR, David Green – GBR, Jacob Van Zyl – SA, Michael Tinsley – USA and Kerron Clement – USA a great race beckons. The Puerto Rican – Javier Culson spoils the party beating Taylor into second and Green the World Champion in to third.

Event	Medal	Name	Country
Men's 400mH	Gold	Javier Culson	PUR
	Silver	Angelo Taylor	USA
	Bronze	Dai Green	GBR

Men’s 4x100m Relay

Let me make this short and sweet… if the stick goes around the track, Jamaica wins hands down with USA second and the speedy soca boys from Trinidad third.

Event	Medal	Name	Country
Men's 4x100mR	Gold	Jamaica	JAM
	Silver	United States of America	USA
	Bronze	Trinidad & Tobago	T&T

Men’s 4x400m Relay

Equally sweet for the USA, even if the stick were to fall I still believe they could pick it up and still win; such is their depth at this event. Caribbean neighbors Jamaica and Bahamas share the medal spoils.

Event	Medal	Name	Country
Men's 4x400mR	Gold	United States of America	USA
	Silver	Jamaica	JAM
	Bronze	Bahamas	BAH

If my predictions prove correct, the Jamaican men would have improved from three (3) medals in Beijing to seven (7) in London, a massive improvement by any standard and a record haul our men at an Olympic games. Just to note, my brethren Teddy Bailey (find him on Facebook) did his own prediction and has Jamaica sweeping both the 100m and 200m for Men, and while I don’t share the same sentiment, it is possible.

Keep checking this spot for more insights on how I see the women performing in the same events.

One Love... One Heart... Let's get together & feel alright!

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A Me Man.... Shabba Ranks!!!

If you are a Jamaican and love Sports and the Arts, it is quiet likely you look forward to four (4) premium events annually. Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival, Champs, Carnival and Reggae Sumfest. Now, I am not for a minute suggesting that the high end parties like Osmosis, Smudge, Absinthe, Good Times, Yesterdays and the like aren’t super events, but truth is, they are just parties or as some would like to say “one night stands”.

Now those of you who know me well, know I love my music, live for sports and enjoy everything else in between (pun intended) LOL!!! Last weekend I was in Montego Bay for the 20^th staging of the Reggae Sumfest, which was headlined by dancehall emperor, Rexton Gordon aka Shabba Ranks.

For those of you who weren’t there, Sumfest 2012 was a good look… good stage production, quick band changes when it was necessary, good stage sets by majority of the artistes and excellent use of the venue for some sponsors, namely; Pepsi-Cola, Red Stripe and Craven A who all had excellent executions.

Now, I am ole-school and firm in my belief that Shabba’s mastery of lyrical content and his unbelievable ability to flow lyrics on just about any rhythm (as Jamaica’s would say; “di man a ride di riddim wicked”), makes him in my opinion the best dancehall DJ ever. When Shabba hit the stage in the early hours of Saturday morning, it was his first time performing on a Jamaican stage in 11 long years, a hiatus that made many wonder if the two time grammy award winning dancehall artiste had lost touch with the music.

Well, when Shabba touch the stage and declare himself present with his trademark intro… “A me man, big dutty sticking Shabba” di place mash up... Dun… Kapput!!! Compared to the night before which is the dancehall night on the festival, Shabba  tun up di decibel to a whole new level with hits after hits… ‘Get up, Stan up & Rock’, ‘Peenie Peenie’, ‘X-Rated’, ‘Hall fi Buddy’, ‘Womb Turner’ and ‘Bed Wuk’ had me and the rest of the fifteen thousand plus in Catherine Hall in a blaze.

As I said before, I am ole-school so you know me and my brothers were waiting for the roots and culture segment of the performance and the man did not disappoint at all; di man real off, ‘Oil up all a di gun dem’, ‘Just reality’ and ‘Roots and Culture’ and I thought it was all over by the shouting, only to see the amazingly beautiful and super sexy songstress Cherine Anderson joining the Ranks on stage for a series of duets, that included: ‘Telephone Love’, ‘Mr. Lover Man’, ‘Twice my Age’ and ‘Gyal yuh Pretty’. People I will not lie to you, I was a little jealous since I have a small soft spot for Cherine, but yuh dun know, mi just gwaan ole it an ting (LOL).

Suffice to say, Shabba made an epic return to the dancehall stage at a time when there is such a huge void in the business, but what was truly masterful about his return wasn’t just his performance of the songs, but at the end of his performance when he was presented with a special award by Lisa Hanna – Minister of Youth, Culture and Community; Shabba showed his years, maturity and class when he invited on stage with him, his wife Michelle (you will recall Michy Boo in many of his songs) and his two grown sons both of whom he told us are University honor students. At the end of his introductions, he remarked; “This is wha mi de a farin a do” and went on to say “a nuh gunshot alone come outta di ghetto”.

I don’t know about anybody else but I felt proud of the man and his achievements with his two sons at a time when so many influences are upon on our children and living in a household where your father is a dancehall god with some of the most explicit lyrics ever written and produced, yet his boys are mastering academia. Proud of you Shabba… keep doing your thing boss and we are all now waiting on some new recordings to start dropping fast, dancehall need you now!!!  

Thank you Reggae Sumfest for introducing in my opionion, Jamaica’s greatest exponent of dancehall to a generation of youngsters who have never seen Shabba Ranks before much less watch him perform live and in living colour, you’ve done the music a great service.

Love & Respect!

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