The Good Book is full of advice about how adversity’s really good for us – since it evidently really builds “character”, and prepares us to deal with whatever contingencies might come our way. So, as our Eyewitness has been soaking in the Warriors’ first championship victory, after completing ten long years dealing with the adversity of perennially being the bridesmaid but never the bride – he wonders whether it was this adversity that prepared them for this eventual success!! Maybe it was…but he wished it coulda been earlier!
But it was what it was – and now they’ve finally hit success after ten years of famine, the question arises as to what will success do for the Warriors’ fans in general, and the Warriors themselves in particular. Well, after just one day, your Eyewitness can see that Warriors’ fans have really built up a head of steam during the decade of disappointment – and now they can finally let it all hang out!! Many fans at Providence kept on celebrating through the night, and were joined by their countrymen and countrywomen all across our dear Mudland in alcohol-fuelled merriment. Your Eyewitness even saw fireworks bursting in the air like it was Divali!! And maybe it was to the Warriors’ longsuffering fans!
This “sport” was picked up and continued with even greater fervour on Monday – and employers certainly lost hundreds of thousands of man-hours because of the exuberance generated by this (unexpected?) win!! After all, no matter what the bravado of boasting that “this was our year” – even by this Eyewitness – there had to have been some smidgen of doubt to make even the most diehard of fans wonder if the apparent jinx would manifest itself once again this year. Seems to your Eyewitness that the intensity of the extended celebration is in direct proportion to the relief felt!!
Now we come to the Warriors. The over-the-top exuberance of the players was expected. Were they also relieved that they broke the jinx?? Even though, in franchise cricket, the players do change – TKR’s Pooran was once the Warriors’ captain! – they still represent the team and its history. They had tasted the agony of defeat for long, but now that they’ve tasted the thrill of victory, your Eyewitness expects them to keep to their winning ways!
He was especially touched by the emotions of Captain Imran Tahir, who broke down in tears after victory was clinched. He was made captain late in the day this season – and at 46, certainly late in the day for him.
Your Eyewitness feels winning the title will make several underperforming stars pull up their socks. In particular, he really hopes that Hetmyer – who’s now a veteran – will fulfill his potential at last!
…and CSEC
For donkey years, those in the educational sector have been promising a “turnaround” in the delivery of their various curricula in a more efficient manner – meaning, we’d get better results. What’s happened, however, is when they say that, they simply mean they’ll just intensify their efforts to “teach to the test”, so the results would APPEAR better. But even here they’ve failed abysmally!
Take the NGSA. (As Rodney Dangerfield would say, “Please!!”) When it was the “Common Entrance”, there were complaints that the test wasn’t accomplishing its purpose – “evaluate” the children in their areas of strengths and weaknesses, so that remedial/customised efforts could be made.
To date – 20 years after the “assessment” change – there hasn’t been a SINGLE review of a student’s score after they moved on to Grade 7 (secondary school) to follow up with remedial/customised interventions.
So, the top 1% will have their 15 minutes of fame, and we will all bask in their reflected glory,
then sink into the (educational) slime once again!
…by Cricket Carnival
The Day after the Warriors’ victory, the overarching Cricket Carnival unleashed its Road Parade – an explicit imitation of the Trini Road March, with nothing left to the imagination!!
But those Trini girls spend all year preparing their bods!!
