17 thoughts on “Berlin 2009: Men’s 4x100m Relay Final”

1. thanks guys:good job all around. keep the red, white and black
   flying high.

   j. joseph

2. Once again, we showed them that the Caribbean(African descended) athletes are a force to be reckoned with. I am just waiting for them to clear the South African girl for my joy to be total.

3. thanks for a job well done i am a proud trini living in canada.

4. That situation involving the South African female athlete was badly handled from the start.She has already received her medal. If there were doubts or protests against her gender,the International Track & Field federation’s officials should have privately conducted their investigations. There was no need to publicly humiliate her.The South African officials should have also supported her by demanding that her situation was not made public.

5. Having watched the Women’s 4×400 relay, and the “quarter mile” the American team put between themselves and second place, I am again thinking that the South African winner of the 800 won by a smaller margin than did the US women’s team.

   Of course, they have run successfully before, but no one would dare suggest that they are “men”.

   In addition, as I watched the women’s 1500 meter race, and the almost deliberate tripping up of the frontrunner from Ethiopia by the Spanish runner who was later disqualified for this flagrant act, I wondered if anyone who reads and responds to these blogs knows of a situation where an African runner, including Ethiopia, Kenya, all of North Africa, the Caribbean and the US ever tripped up anyone? I cannot think of a case.

   I ask this to show how deep seated is the attitude that some others should win, and when faced with tough competition, they act foully. I would like to hear from someone with other case histories.Do we have to be fairer than fair, to be fair?

6. I have seen similar “stuff” occur when athletes and coaches believe that they are entitled and “others” should not win against them. My daughter represented Canada in cross country races all over the world. She also had the audacity to be a three time NAIA cross country champion. As parents we have made sure that she was always treated fairly, and believe me, there were incidents.

7. That South African 800m runner better quickly take a crash course and learn how to be a female if she wants to be anything more than a spectacle for the rest of her life. It is unfair T-Man to single out the ITFF for criticism on this one, as there was no politically correct way this could have been done to satisfy all. The fact of the matter is that there are precedents where a joker or two tried to deceive the world and pretend to be a female so as to gain an unfair advantage. If anyone should be blamed it might be the SA Athletic Federation for allowing this nonsense to get this far. Wait a minute , who are they guys on this bloggesphere that enjoys pontificating about folks walking /talking like a duck , and thus must be a duck? Sorry , wrong context.
   What happen Ms. L, isn’t Zola Budd the barefoot running South African of the white savage Apartheid era an African as well? If I am not mistaken She tripped up her Caucasian Yankeee counterpart Mary Decker in the 1984 Olympic she was allowed to represent Britain since her Grand Father was a Brit – or more appropriately, raped and killed some of Shaka Zulu wives , concubines, and together with the Dutch Bores slaughtered thousands of his warriors during their conquest and subjugation of the continent.
   I have not seen a single race by choice, but I would like to think this like the Zola Budd incident years ago, might just be a mere accident.

   I am aware the Spaniards can be a bit uncouth , or more bluntly, a bunch of insensitive ,classless bastards , as depicted in some of their collective behaviors in the last Olympics , and regularly during the Spanish football season by their disgusting attitudes against Africans – a shade darker than themselves. Again, I’ll give the runner in this instance the benefit of the doubt, but then I am a nice guy . I would like to think that you are as well Ms. L, hmmm?
   Hopefully this is it for another 4 years , and we won’t be subjected to snotty nose Yardees parading all across the streets with pompous attitudes , as if they’ve descovered a cure for Aids , or a remedy for perennial poverty and violence that treatends to destroy their society. Be magnanimous Neal , you are a nice guy remember?

8. Excellent and informative historical analysis Dr. Cudjo. It is surely the necessary type of piece we need at this juncture , and beats the usual diatribes that we are daily subjected to by the usual suspects of the greedy , selfish ‘gimmie, gimmie gangs,’ that would scream like lascivious cats into the night while stuffing the pockets of families with national fortunes ,or solidifying and elevating themselves into position of power- if you catch my drift.
   As I said not so subtly on another piece recently, I’ll throw up if I have to read about how great our Yardee Jamaicans are again due to the fact that a few motivated athletes were successful in escaping the ever expanding ghetto of that ghastly country. Good for them ,but enough already of the folks with the biggest egos and inferiority complex in the world -outside of the French that is. Who regionally broke up the Federation and why? Who in Europe once tried to keep the Brits out of the EU, and today pretends to hate Mc Donald and Disney, and why? Wasn’t it Peter Tosh , the stupid ,weed smoking fool that described our pan as old noise , while he still came here and performed before a sell out crowd? Today with the help of Byron Lee – the cultural thief – Yardee girls might be able to gyrate like a real Trini in 2050 , and might boast that hey too invented whining , steel ban , and Soca. Well , I might be mistaken , but “me thinks,” I am on solid grounds when I say that , our ‘Afrocentric’ local athletes can be as selfish , and confuse ,as most of their global partners across the African Diaspora . Speaking of that , where is cousin Brian Lara the Prince these days when he is not too busy partying with another European flower , and our cricketing fortunes continue to falters? How about our Yankeee gerrycurl friend Ato B , when he can spare the time to stop kissing the butts of a Yardee, or Yankee sprinter on international TV? Isn’t Dwight York a bit long in the tooth for still trying to be a starter in competitive European leagues? Then why is he not trying to give back something meaningful to young nationals soccer aspirants ,as opposed to attempting to outshine Sir V.S. Naipaul in efforts to prove who is more British , with a more authentic Queens English? My only wish for my beloved country and it’s 1.3 million glorious people is to see if we too can develop the ability to capitalize on successes wherever we see it , as the benefits might be tremendous.
   This leads me to my major point. When I saw this commentary of yours today , and reflected on yesterday’s strong critical response by the good Dr. Ryan to your ‘African deficient doctor void’ in our country , I mumbled to my self – “Lord , not again.! What are we in for now ? Please not another Afro Trini intellectual genocidal beat down by these two respected educational luminaries.” I said , “wait a minute , Trini Arabs , Persian, and Jews can co exist in my country, make millions and laugh while pretending to still care about the political nonsense in the Middle East, and our guys are going for each other’s jugglers?” Many may not realize but, more Hindus and Muslims have been murdered in South Asia since Queen Elizabeth was a toddler in the House of Winsor , but you won’t know it in Sweet T&T aka Rainbow country where they are working peacefully together to control the entire country since Africans were kicked off the lands – as you‘ve so eloquently mentioned. El Secorro Kamal Mohammed with his Mastana Bahar camp , co existed quite well with Errol Mahabir and his Japanese Garden and oil fiefdom from the South under the guidance of the ‘Father of the Nation,’ our self opinionated Doc W , and no one was the wiser – especially as their interest thrived within the Agricultural Development Bank , vital Farming , important Health , and lucrative Oil sectors.
   What do we have in contrast , I thought -historical peon as I am- unlike some of our occasional amnesiac blogging experts? Dr Williams nearly destroyed the Tobago upstart ANR for daring to challenge him and -according to legends sat on his chair ,when he thought the Doc was absence . Thanks to Uncle Badeo , Robbie was saved from political obscurity , and the PNM ‘goat mouth brigade,’ led by a certain astute former UWI geologist. Robbie did fine mind you , but the majority African people of Tobago ? Not so lucky , as you historians seems to forget conveniently- one day to your peril. Manning would not hesitate to let loose every deadly snake from the Cumuto forest on the Mason Hall kid Dr. Rowley ,for thinking much less trying to oust him as political leader , when in his own view obviously, Hazel his wife is seen as a more worthy successor. Once more, Tobago suffers , as Chaguanas , Fyzabad, Arima ,and Sando , do fine.
   Now what lesson we can extract from the neighboring running geniuses? Powell was once the Yardee running giant , and although a new Sherriff is in town in Usain, ‘it’s still all good,’ for these guys and Jamaica. Like you ,I respect Dr. Ryan myself , but as the new buck on the scene you would understand what that can mean in terms of ‘man rat shenanigans,’ and missing the big picture etc. Let’s stay focus my friends . Yes Europeans have done an excellent job in keeping us divided from the lowest echelon inner city gang bangers , to high end political and economic rivals. However , the few of us that have invested time , money, and energies in the acquisition of lofty education should rise about the fray and stay fixated on the grand prize- the true emancipation of our perennially neglected and confused people ,building a cohesive national identity like Yardeees, Bajans , and racially divided Yankees. I would enjoy seeing the elevation of our present underachieving nation , so as to ensure that it lives up to the full tenets of our beautiful anthem – “where each and every race ,find an equal place,” in concrete and sustainable social , economic and political development.
   Keep them honest.
   Warm Regards.
   Neal.

9. Neal, should the said runner allow heself to be raped by some Africaner or member of the IAAF to prove she is female?that her vagina functions like every other woman’s? Shame. Her birth certificate was produced and photographed for the international media, it said Female.

   Having given birth myself, I know what parents look for to determine sex of a newborn. I was present July 20 when an African female child was born here in the US, to a scholar friend of mine.

   Should she persue an athletic career, and beat everyone else, would she then suddenly become a male? No one has yet addressed the spectacular distances by which the US women’s team beat the Jamaicans. From the first leg, the distance seemed greater than that by which Casker won.

   As for Zola Budd, she was an Africaaner, masquerading as a Brit, in order to defeat the ban on South African athletes. The US allowed her in without a peep, and the ancestors rose up, and cancelled both their chances. That was karmic justice.
   Budd would not have considered herself an African. They only do that for political purposes.The wife of John Kerry makes the same claim, at least she did during the election campaign. An African is distinctive by hair texture and skin colour.This goes back to the times of the Pharoahs, before the Greek invasion.

10. Should “said runner allow heself to be raped by some Africaner or member of the IAAF to prove she is female?” I know when I am over my head Ms. L , and therefore would leave this hot button issue alone for the more well informed on the subject like yourself. Having said all that ,let me just jump in nevertheless and add that ever since the Professor Anita Hill / Clarence Thomas Mickey Mouse Yankee Democratic sideshow on Capital Hill, I just wished the day would come when women of the African Diaspora would not allow themselves to be duped into being used to push skewed agendas for a Feminist movement hijacked by privileged upper middle class , elites that often believe fervently in their hearts that even sex should be considered as rape.
    As for elite John Kerry, and his arrogant wife , the Yankees could not decided who they despise more – a man who served his country , throw away his medal of honor while running for office before he took off his uniform in Vietnam. In the end , they decided he was either too boring, or Jewish , and was more of a gold digging opportunist than Ms. Heinz his one time SA wife.
    In the Case of the Mc Cain, they could have lived with a pill popping beer heiress, whose husband expediently dumped his first supportive wife. Politics can be a rough business for women at times that are ignored by the Femenist political movement. I am certain Winnie Mandela will agree. I wonder if the movement have much say when women suck it to other women?

    “An African is distinctive by hair texture and skin colour.This goes back to the times of the Pharoahs, before the Greek invasion.” Let me see if I get it correct, based on this definition, Anwar El Sadat the half Sudanese must be African , while in 1992 Boutros Boutros Ghali truly African when convenient ,and Mubarak fully Egyptians because of his Greek blood. Now I am confused with all these Africans from Sudan , Mali, Senegal and the whole of North Africa that are denouncing this African heritage and considering themselves Arabs.
    Some people makes pledges to stay away from political and religious discussions, I prefer to only touch men hating ,ultra-feminist , and racial/ ethnically sensitive issues with a ten foot pole if you push me . Sorry V.S Naipaul that means you can never be an Englishman/British gentleman even if you can regurgitate the entire Oxford dictionary verbatim in 45 minutes, nor can I consider myself an Asian even if I lived in Panaji Goa Southern India for the past 4 decades and plan to do so for the next one hundred and sixty. See, this unfortunately is the confusion our ‘African Sun God’ who art in heaven, created unfortunately after the attempted construction by a few misguided, decadent folks of the Tower Of Babel fame.

11. If that Baptiste woman, who just got her throat cut in TnT by an abusive husband/lover/boyfriend, all same like a lotla, had embraced a”feminist agenda” she would have first got herself an education so that she could get the sort of job that she could work anywhere in the world. Then,when the idiot husband etc becgan acting up, she could have packed up and left his behind in the dust. Now, she will be confined to the dust.
    Women who embrace the “feminist agenda” tend to have one or two children. Enough that you could hold each child’s hand, as you start the long walk to freedom. When women with less education allow themselves to be saddled with more mouths than they could feed off their own earnings, they often end up dead at the hand of a controlling male. The history of third world countries as well as the USA is replete with such examples.
    A “feminist agenda” woman has two best friends, her job skills and her bank account. They would last forever if she minds them well. Amen? Amen.

12. “Why is it that many contemporary male thinkers, especially men of color, repudiate the imperialist legacy of Columbus but affirm dimensions of that legacy by their refusal to repudiate patriarchy?”
    bell hooks
    Now tell me Ms. L , what would become of a family when we have a confused , misguided educated , allegedly liberated independent -yes -feminist woman, like the one just quoted?

    On our more important subject we just might have to define our concepts as well , shall we? There is physical abuse as you have articulated quite well here ,then there is psychological abuse as displayed by Bill Clinton, Jim McGreevy, Elliott Spitzer, Mark Sandford, and several of the legendary examples in our neck of the woods in Sweet T&T aka Rainbow country, where cultural expediency also forces our middle class elites subjected females to grin, bear and embrace their dormant spirituality ,as well as bolster charitable endeavors to stay active and away froM St. Anns.
    Am I understanding you well though , that only working class , poverty stricken ,illiterate , overwhelmed , ‘barefoot,’ scrunting , underemployed women are the prime victims of abuse, misuse, and other disgusting ‘patriarchal’ behaviors across the globe? Something tells me that the spoiled Yankee Chris Brown “was acting up” long before he let loose on his equally spoiled Bajan entertainment beauty goddess Rihanna- or perhaps it’s the other way around . One never knows with these high school drop out ,African, illiterate ,nuvo rich millionaires today.
    Are you then saying that feminist political agendas as epitomize by the likes of Hilary Clinton and her 18 million shining pieces of the glass ceiling,” are the panacea for all the discriminatory and unfair social ills of the victims- imagine or otherwise?
    You are correct about one thing , Women with feminist agendas tend to have “one or two children,” but there might just be other reasons why this is the case, one of which is simply due to the fact that they make proper choices in the type of mates they are attracted /attached to, that can eventually complement their lives and careers, as they in turn return the favor. I’ll leave the other reason for the imagination presently. Perhaps what we should be discussing here is not necessarily if large scale Feminist organizations like NOW ,and similar others are relevant , and or necessary as such – since we do know they were historically . What is however needed today are critical reassessments of whether many are still living up to the high ideals originally put forth by dedicated and conscientious founder members , or if they were highjacked by self centered ,chiefly whites elites , and merely attempting to justify power existence in current state. If the latter , then efforts are needed to follow up by either a tweak of ,or more appropriately ,take radical actions aimed at reformulation in efforts to ensuring that the needs of the groups they initially claim to represent are still met. That however is a much different story , beyond our scope -and more importantly this thread.
    I am glad we got a chance to distance ourselves from the narrow parameters of sports per se and touch on Organizations and change within the global North / South divide context , as matters of race, justice , and empowerment for marginalize classes remains a constant battle.
    Speaking about SA I hope the world is not looking at their new Zulu leader in President Jacob Zuma, and think this is another Nelson Mandela , Mbeki diplomatic apologist clone. Any guy who can callously have unprotected sex with prostitutes and survived politically in that country – or anywhere in the world- should be treated with kid gloves.
    I wonder if he’ll have a different Aids policy than Mbeki, and would push for a halt on the rape of SA young virgin girl and babies as practiced by his countrymen ,for the cure for the deadly disease . Is it possible that multi millionaire Oprah’s 40 million dollars private elite school can help insulate the young girls in her academy , and change the attitudes of men in that country? Welcome back to the limelight Winnie!Think of where women’s right would be in that country today if you were not conveniently cast aside in the hereday of ‘post Racial SA.’ Indeed!
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090825/ap_on_sp_ot/af_south_africa_semenya_s_return

    Back to this woman Ms. L , what exactly is her and the similar self hating Alice Walker’s gripe ?

    “No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women… When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.”
    bell hooks

13. I have not read your entire last post, but you must know from history, that it is the woman who keeps the family together.
    The warrior societies from which we emerged often sent men off to war, or exploring, for years on end.(In the Roman army a period of ten years service could be the norm,depending on where the war was being fought) the women kept the home fire burning during Alexander’s, Columbus’, Lord Nelson’s and other exploits. Women are the culture bearers and they raise their families. Where were the father and brothers of Jesus when he hung on the cross? His father, Joseph had apaprently died, and his brothers were in hiding. it was Mary, the mother and her friends who were there. In agrarian societies, woman planted, in hunter-gathering societies, they packed the tents and moved, and set up house while the men hunted. Today, the woman’s skills allow her to hunt(work for pay) and raise a family.

    In the aftermath of WW11 in order to make way for men returning from the war to find jobs, women were encouraged to stay home from the munitions factories, the manufacture of airplanes and even driving the civil defense vehicles, which Queen Elizabeth did as young woman. The woman’s place is in the home idea sprang from that era.
    Modern women who read, take a different approach leaving that myth to utra-orthodox religions, and branches thereof.

    I respond, not only to educate you, but becuse a number of young women read these posts. Occasionally I hear from some of them.

14. The South African athlete is not a woman. That’s why he-she was running so much faster than the other woman athletes. It should be stripped from its title.

15. How does the fraudulent and misleading South African runner represent the feminist movement? If I would have stated on the day of it’s victory that the South African runner looked like a man, I would have been roasted to know end about how insensitive I was and probably fed some conjured up voodoo about how African Woman are built a certain way. I tell you it would be much better to be able to say I told you so but I will settle for laughing at the expressed thoughts on this post about false accusations and certain people taking offense to something that every man with eyes and a brain could see and acknowledge. That was not any kind of women that I know.

16. The story is not ended. I have not seen an official statement from the IAAF, and the Australian papers seem to have gotten the inside scoop, from whom, a Black South African writer? No not at all. More to come.Just how many women have you known?In the Biblical sense or otherwise?

17. Denial.LOL!
    http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=1980487
    LOL!

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