The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.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

Now into its sixth year, Marathon Bahamas was in the spotlight as the husband and wife tandem of Justin and Melissa Gillette highlighted the outstanding performances that included Bahamians Keithrell Hanna and Crystal Strachan and the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015 team.

Grand Bahamian Keithrell Hanna made history as he carted off the top spot in the half-marathon on the men’s side, while American Kathy Provencher was the first female finisher. Another Bahamian, Crystal Strachan, who has spent some time last year in Kenya training with Oneil Williams, was the third female finisher. She came in ninth overall.

Sidney Collie, Mackey Williams, Ronald Kemp and David Ferguson combined their skills to win the relay segment of Marathon Bahamas. The quartet was invited to participate as a team to promote the IAAF World Relays with a view of getting a team entered from the Bahamas in the men’s distance medley. We will talk a little more on the World Relays in short order.

But based on the huge support that Sunshine Insurance is generating, Marathon Bahamas is fast becoming one of the most popular events hosted in the Bahamas. It could also turn out to be one of the most attractive events if the organisers can lure some of the European or African runners to compete in the future.

Last year’s inaugural IAAF World Relays saw the Kenyan men and women 4 x 1,500m relay teams shatter the world records, so there’s no doubt that the Africans can come here and compete in our weather. It’s just a matter of whether or not the organisers will be willing to increase the incentive for more acclaimed competitors to make the trek here.

Marathon Bahamas is growing by leaps and bounds and it’s only a matter of time before the stakes are higher.

2nd IAAF World Relays

The official statement came with 100 days away from the return of the IAAF World Relays. The second version is scheduled for May 2-3 at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium and will have some significant changes that should enhance the inaugural event last year.

Now dubbed ‘Bahamazing’ by a United Kingdom reporter because of what he termed the most successful track meet he’s ever witnessed, the Local Organising Committee has decided to switch the start time from 5pm to 7pm to avoid the heat that spectators in the eastern segment of the stadium had to endure.

After watching the Kenyans dominate by rewriting the world records in both the men and women 4 x 1,500m relays, the gruelling event has been pulled and will be replaced by the distance medley, comprising of consecutive legs of 1,200 (three laps), 400 (one lap), 800 (two laps) and 1,500m (four laps).

The LOC is hoping that by swooping the two races, they will encourage more teams to participate in the 4,000m race. Hopefully, one of those teams will be the Bahamas. With the event here at home, there’s no reason why the distance runners should not be given an opportunity to test their skills against the more experienced competitors.

Talking about competitors, the Bahamas should again have a treat as the IAAF has decided to move the 4 x 400m back to its regular spot as the closer at its international meets. A couple years ago because of the magnitude that Jamaican multiple world record holder Usain Bolt brought to the meets, the IAAF switched the 4 x 100 as the marquee event or the grand finale.

All of that has been reversed and now the 4 x 4 is back as the closer. So come May, if the Bahamas doesn’t have any success in any of the other races, the spectators can look forward to hanging right until the end as the quartet renews their rivalry with the United States.

Let’s just hope that the BAAA can put together a management team that will ensure that our best elite athletes are available to compete. After all, the finalists will have a chance to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, just as they did at the inaugural meet for this year’s IAAF World Championships coming up in Beijing, China, in August.

The Doctor in the House

It was a pleasure to interact once again with the legendary Dr J, Julius Erving, the man who personified the National Basketball Association with his high-flying act when he left the defunct American Basketball Association after the 1975-76 season.

Erving, who retired from the NBA in 1987 after a storied career that comprised of him winning three championships, four most valuable player awards and three scoring titles with the ABA’s Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, stopped in to encourage the College of the Bahamas Caribs men’s basketball team.

The 6-foot, 6-inch guard/forward, who defined the Slam Dunk during his era in the NBA, left some positive words of advice to the Caribs as they pursue their season in the New Providence Basketball Association where they have a 1-10 win-loss record.

They are preparing to head to Florida next month to play in a series of collegiate games against their peers. Hopefully they will have a little more success than they have so far at home.

But from an international perspective, as a long-time die hard fan of the 76ers, I’m even more disappointed that the rising young team is finding it just as difficult as the Caribs in winning. The 76ers, coached by Brett Brown, are riding a three-game losing streak as they take an 8-34 record into their game against the Toronto Raptors tonight.

It’s just a pity that the 64-year-old Erving is not a part of the 76ers’ landscape. I’m sure they could use his expertise to help turn around their dismal season just as I hope the Caribs will benefit by his presence here in the Bahamas. Erving has certainly been a class act on and off the basketball court.

I was just fortunate, as I’m sure the players from the Caribs were, to once again rub shoulders with one of the greatest ambassadors ever of the game of basketball right here in the Bahamas.