|-- THE BEST SPORTS DEBATE IN BERMUDA --|

BFA election

Don Burgess
By the early part of this evening the BFA affiliates will have voted to stay the course with Larry Mussenden or opt for a different direction with Richard Calderon. It seems like the biggest complaint with Mussenden's tenure as president is that he's 'not a football guy'. Bermuda football has done very well under Larry's hand on the helm - It is getting a home at Gym Field, The sport has received millions of dollars from government to build its programme and a first rate technical director in Derek Broadley. Not bad for 'not a football guy.' Richard has a passion for the sport and has detailed plans in the direction he wants to take the sport. They could very well mean that Bermuda won't enter the World Cup as development becomes the catchword of his term. Who will prevail tonight?

It's about time

Don Burgess Bermuda has sorely lacked an Olympic-size swimming pool and it looks like it will finally get built at the National Centre. Sports minister El James words' will be like a salve to the swimming community who will get a proper training facility. Hey, as an added bonus, cricket will get the dressing rooms they need to get certified as one-day international facility. The minister deserves a lot of props for moving this forward.

PHC's trophy case

Don Burgess How many trophies will PHC win this season? They already hold the Charity Cup and I'd say they are a good bet to repeat as league champs, so that's at least two. Cup competitions are a funny thing where the best team doesn't always win, but I'd say they will come away with four this year. What's your prediction?

Wellman, James and money

Don Burgess Ouch! There are times as a journalist I write things that hurt people. I can assure you that I don't rub my hands in glee when somebody says things that might make headline fodder, this is especially true with people I like and admire. A case in point are the two articles that have played out in the Bermuda Sun this week. Sports minister El James was talking about revamping the Elite Athletes Fund - something I fully endorse as our athletes don't nearly get the money they deserve - and used triple jumper Brian Wellman as an example. Brian called me up to complain about what the minister had said, which in the meantime put sprinter Xavier James (El's son) under the gun. I like and respect Brian, El and Xavier. Xavier called me up to wonder why he had been thrown under the bus. People are entitled to their opinions - even if I disagree with them. Brian certainly had the right to defend himself as does Xavier. I can't help but wonder how this all could have been avoided if Government hadn't been so penny pinching with the Elite Athletes Fund all these years? Brian deserved a lot more money then he got (and I mean hundreds of thousands dollars more). Xavier deserved more then he got too (not as much as Wellman, but more). The Minister is getting ready to make amends for future athletes, but the process to get there is a bit painful.

What home advantage?

Lionel Cann Home advantage…. What home advantage? I’ve been waiting to play in front of a home crowd since we qualified for the World Cup. Now, after my first international game in Bermuda for over four years, I’m starting to think I prefer playing away. No spectators, nothing but negative remarks and the ball turning square is not what I’d call home field advantage. I don’t need to say too much about the pitch. It wasn’t the worst I’ve played on but 18 wickets in one day sums it up. We could cope with that to play in front of a home crowd, but there was no crowd — maybe 50 people. Even for the game against Scotland — which was our first at home in four years — there was not even 100 people there. Maybe people don’t like the longer version of the game. I’m sure the crowd would have been bigger if it was 20-20. But the bottom line is people just don’t support the national programme. People don’t support their country. I feel I also have to comment on the negative press. We’ve received a lot of stick over the years but the ultimate was Saturday. The words this guy (The Royal Gazette’s Josh Ball) used to describe the team were over the top and flat-out disrespectful. I can tell you the players would have liked to have got him out on that wicket for ten overs and had use him as a dart board and see what comments he made after that. Seriously, you expect bad press in sports, particularly when results aren’t going your way. But for me that was way overboard. We’re still people. I don’t think you would see any other team in the world getting that kind of stick from their home press. The upside of this is that it really reminds me of where we were four years ago. The same press was trashing us, we were surrounded by the same negativity but we came through and we qualified for the World Cup. We have to respond to all this in the right way. We’re going to stick together and we’re going to fight and we’re going to prove people wrong.

Frick was wrong... but so were the BFA

By James Whittaker
There will be few sympathetic voices speaking up for Kris Frick this week after he walked out on Bermuda in the midst of their failed Digicel Cup campaign. There’s no greater offence to the spirit of the game than deserting your team-mates. But a five-year ban from international football — roughly half his playing career — and two years from local football seems like a disproportionate and draconian response from the BFA.
Players walk out on their country every day. You could pick a select XI in cricket and football from the number of players who refuse to represent Bermuda for a variety of reasons.
Frick did it more publically and in the middle of a tour, leaving his team short on numbers at a crucial stage in a competition when they were already struggling badly. It’s impossible to defend his actions.
But, at the end of the day, he is a teenager who made a bad decision. Angelo Simmons took similar action when he wasn’t picked for the Under-23s during the Island Games last year and he did not miss a game for Boulevard the next season. It’s a different matter, says Larry Mussenden, when you’re playing for the senior national team.
But where is the sense of proportion? How are these disciplinary decisions made? The process seems to be completely arbitrary. Whenever it’s time to prove a point or the executive is in a particularly rough mood, an extraordinary ban is handed out.
Suspensions like that may make the BFA look tough but in reality they only serve to alienate another player from the administration and harden attitudes on either side. Teenagers are prone to make strong-headed, some would say immature decisions but they are also capable of changing.
There has to be a better way to resolve this kind of situation than handing out a ban that will effectively end the player’s international career.
Consider these high profile football punishments.
Eric Cantona, Manchester United — eight month ban from football for leaping into the crowd during a Premiership game and kung-fu kicking a fan.
Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United — eight month ban for failing to take a mandatory drug test and therefore de facto failing the test.
Paulo di Canio, then Sheffield Wednesday — 11-game ban for pushing a referee to the ground during a Premiership Game.
Roy Keane, Republic of Ireland — No ban for walking out on his country during the World Cup.
No-one’s comparing Frick to Roy Keane, but you get the point.
Why should an essentially amateur football nation hamper itself and deplete it’s small resources further by handing out punishments that are far more severe than in the professional game.
Wouldn’t a public apology, some serious discussions with the player and a six-month suspension suffice?
Then, at least, it would be up to the coaches to decide whether he had reformed enough (at any time in the next five years) to be selected again.