The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunmedia.net

IT’S not how you start, nor how you get there, but more importantly, it’s how you finish. The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to invoke commentary on the state of affairs of the local sports scene, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures as we transgress from one week to the next.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

After watching the College of the Bahamas men’s basketball team hold their own in the New Providence Basketball Association, it was good to see how they perform against some international competition.

The Caribs, coached by Bacchus Rolle, was riding a three-game winning streak in the NPBA, but returned from the Florida National University’s Basketball Classic at the Bucky Dent Gymnasium in Hialeah, Florida, after losing all three games.

While their two matches against the host Florida National University Conquistadors were by 30-point margins, their other match against the University of the Virgin Islands went to overtime.

I concur with head coach Bacchus Rolle when he said the Conquistadors are not 30 points better than his Caribs. They just played that much better than they did.

Consider the fact that the Caribs faced a team that played a systematic style of basketball unlike the teams in the NPBA, who for the most part very seldom slow the ball down and run as many plays.

I think the trip was an eye opener, as well as a learning experience for the College of the Bahamas. They will only get better when they return to the local league, if they can execute some of the plays the foreign teams ran against them, they should be in a good position to finish off the final half of the season on a high note.

They will be back in action against the Real Deal Shockers 8:30pm Saturday at the DW Davis Gymnasium.

However, I believe the real worth of the trip for the Caribs will be experienced as the College of the Bahamas gets closer to becoming a full fledged four-year institution. At least they will have an opportunity to travel a lot more and play more international teams.

In the meantime, if there’s anything I would like to see with the Caribs’ sporting programme is that more local players take advantage of what the Athletic Department, headed by Kimberley Rolle, has to offer with more athletic scholarships being offered to the local players.

I know everybody wants to go to the United States and Canada to play, but there are just as much opportunities for the local players and athletes in other sports to excel right here at home. At least those that don’t get the opportunity to go off can be assured that they can get an education and graduate from college when they are done.

The College of the Bahamas, soon to be the University of the Bahamas, will be a viable option.

Sean ‘Bass’ Bastian, the former coach of the Caribs and now the assistant athletic director at COB, put it so aptly: “Let’s take advantage of what we have at home.” I hope that more of our athletes will heed the request and check into being a part of their athletic programme.

HUGH CAMPBELL

SHOULD GB COME

OR NOT?

The 28th Annual Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic is currently in high gear at the AF Adderley Gymnasium and there has been a lot of conversation as to whether or not the Grand Bahama schools were right or wrong in their decision to not compete this year.

There’s been a lot of conversation in and outside of the gym on the attitude of the six teams, who all could have made a big difference in the outcome of the games, considering that they are always favourites to emerge as champions.Their absence will definitely leave an asterisk behind the name of this year’s winners.

But before we take this too further than it has been blown up, let’s remember that we live in a democratic society where we all have the ability to make decisions that we feel are in our best interest.

One of the arguments against the Grand Bahama teams is that they are hurting the players by not coming. I beg to differ. It’s not all about the players. Nobody has put in a plug for the coaches, who are responsible for preparing the players, getting them here and ensuring that they are in the right frame of mind to play. So I’m going to err on their side.

On the flip side of this whole episode is the fact that there are at least three tournaments hosted in Grand Bahama. Can many of the New Providence teams go there and participate? How many of them have pulled out for various reasons and have not returned?

Don’t hear too much commentary on why the New Providence schools don’t go.

The Hugh Campbell Tournament is an invitational and as such, teams can chose to come in or not. When this was initially started in 1982 by Doug Collins and Alsworth ‘Whitey’ Pickstock, it started with the idea of providing an avenue for just the New Providence-based teams to display their talent.

The Grand Bahama teams, through the insistence of Gladstone ‘Moon’ McPhee, came on board in 1983.

Ever since, some of the Grand Bahama schools have opted not to compete in one year or the other. There have been schools from New Providence and even the Family Islands, for one reason or the other, have declined to participate in a particular year. Can anybody remember how long ago St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine stopped competing? The St Anne’s Bluewaves just returned this year after a short hiatus.

I’m sure with whatever the problem they experienced this year, the Grand Bahama schools will be back. Even if all of them don’t return, the show will still go on. Yes, the absence of the Grand Bahama teams will be missed. But let’s not take away from the other 28 teams who are participating this year.

Kudos to tournament director Reggie Forbes and the organising committee for carrying on without the Grand Bahama teams.

Maybe, it’s time for a true national high school tournament to be implemented where the criteria is set up for all of the championships teams, both government and private in New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands to make it a priority to compete.

BASEBALL

MAX D IN SCHOOL

The Maximum Development Sports Academy, now into its third year of existence, hosted its MaxD Pro Day at Her Majesty’s Prison baseball field this week and it was amazing to see the number of professional scouts from the various Major League teams in town to view the local players.

Despite the fact that there is no structured programme for the senior league players or a proper baseball stadium available, the scouts continue to flock here in pursuit of expanding their organisations with the view of providing an avenue for more players to get athletic scholarships and to play at a higher level in the minor league before advancing to the majors.

Geron Sands and Greg Burrows Jr have been doing a fantastic job while Antoan Richardson and Albert Cartwright, two other members, are pursuing their dreams of playing in the major league. Whenever they are home, Richardson, who has been to the top of the ladder twice playing with the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees, and Cartwright, both make their contribution when they are home.

The concept by these young men, who all played at the collegiate level, is a brilliant one and is already starting to reap its benefits. The scouts are coming back again and they will continue to show up as long as there are players in the programme for them to look at.

Just imigine what will happen when the Bahamas Government rebuilds the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium. We could end up seeing the Major League Baseball making the trek over here and providing even more opportunities for our local baseball players.