The Tribune

By BRENT STUBS

IT’S not how you start, nor how you get there. Most importantly, it’s how you finish.

The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to comment on the state of affairs in the local sports scene, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

There’s a saying that all good things must come to an end. We’ve heard from time to time that records are meant to be broken and winning streaks are to be snapped. 

That’s the beauty of sports, finding the right edge to get over your opponent, especially if they are the defending or perennial champions.

As a sports writer, you love a story of an underdog prevailing and in this case, the Queen’s College Comets finally snapped the St Augustine’s 26-year winning streak at the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ Track and Field Championships.

By now, you would have heard that the Comets became only the second school to hold the title in the history of the championships, which started in 1988 when the private schools decided to breakaway from the government schools after their teachers had gone on strike.

Queen’s College disrupted the longest active dynasty in the country in all sports.

It was a tremendous turn around for the Comets, who lost to the Big Red Machine by about 150 points last year and bounced back to snatch the title this time by a similar margin.

When you add it up, it was a huge 300-point swing.

Everywhere you go in the aftermath of their triumph, rather than complimenting Queen’s College, the accusations started to swirl that they spent a lot of money building their team over the past few years by providing scholarships to their athletes.

What’s wrong with providing scholarships? 

If it wasn’t for scholarships, how many of our athletes would have had the opportunity to further their education and compete for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada?

Over the years, the same accusations were levied against St Augustine’s College and were denied, just as they are now by Queen’s College.

Why can’t we just give teams and athletes their fame and glory when they attain their success. There was no protest lodged to determine if any rules were broken, just a lot of speculation.

And while the fingers were pointed, the Comets went on their merry way with their celebrations all week long at Queen’s College. Who can blame them? 

They rightfully deserve to celebrate.

Over the last few years, Athletic Director Garry Markham pointed out that they were slowly putting the pieces together and they eventually got the job done.

The coaching staff, headed by Everette Fraser and including Carrington Maycock and Ronald Cartwright, should be commended for bringing down the Big Red Machine.

As SAC’s head coach William ‘Knucklehead’ Johnson indicated, the Big Red Machine may have become complacent after their 26th straight victory. 

Just like the Comets and the other schools had to go back to the drawing board year after year to find a way to stop the Big Red Machine, SAC now finds itself in unfamiliar territory, trying to bounce back from the loss.

This is what sports is all about. 

THE TRUE

COMEBACK STORY

Dale Davis’ rise from the MaxD programme in the Bahamas to the grounds of the Texas Rangers training camp in Arizona is a true testament of perseverance and never giving up.

It’s a story of not giving up on your dream, even when the naysayers told him that it can’t be done or he will never make it in life.

It reminds me of the story of the great Michael Jordan, who was cut from his high school basketball team but went on to become the greatest player in the National Basketball Association and now one of the richest men in the world - a billionaire.

I also recalled one of my collegiate friends from high school (not to call any names) who was told by our basketball coach that he may not amount to anything. But he went to college and eventually wrote a few books, the first of which he dedicated to the coach.

At 23, Davis is what you call a late bloomer in the sport, but obviously the Rangers took up the invitation by MaxD to come and take a look at him. They were impressed with what they saw.

Gill Kim, who represented the Rangers organisation, said Davis possesses all of the tools to become a major league player, otherwise, they would not have made the trips here to give him another lease of life after he graduated from college un-drafted.

Davis’ signing is just proof that anything is possible once you believe it.

And MaxD, led by the quartet of Jeron Sands, Greg Burrows Jr, Richardson and Cartwright should all be commended for taking the bold initiative to prepare our next generation of Bahamians for a shot at following in the footsteps of those who have paved the way as professional baseball players, either in the minor or the major leagues.

JONES ON A ROLL

Every time you see her name, Jonquel Jones is earning some type of award at George Washington as the Grand Bahama junior continues to excel for the Colonials women’s basketball team.

One day after helping the Colonials win the Atlantic 10 regular-season title outright with an 80-45 victory over A-10 foe and Revolutionary Rival George Mason on Sunday afternoon at the Charles E Smith Centre, Jones was named the 2015 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Winner of seven A-10 Player of the Week this season, matching the second-most weekly awards in conference history, Jones has posted a league-best 17 double-doubles, the 11th best in the NCAA, and she set a school record by going a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor against Fordham on February 21.

In addition, her 325 rebounds are the second-highest single-season total in the programme’s history, while her 579 rebounds in her George Washington career rank as 14th all-time.

Additionally, Jones was also selected to the A-10 All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team on Tuesday.

The only thing left to go on her résumé right now is the Naismith Trophy, the most prestigious national honours awarded each year to top basketball players in the nation.

The Naismith Award was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to recognise accomplished athletes, coaches, officials and contributors to high school and college basketball.

It is named in honour of Dr James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball.

A national voting academy of leading basketball coaches, administrators and journalists narrows the group to four finalists based on player performance throughout the season.

The four Naismith finalists will make up the ballot and the player of the year is voted on by the group.

What an achievement it would be if Jones, a Bahamian, could hoist the trophy.

But in talking to the modest Jones, it is not something that she is concentrating on. Rather, her emphasis now is on trying to get George Washington to hold an even more prestigious team trophy, if they are successful in the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Richmond Coliseum next week.

I’ve never seen any of our athletes in another sport rack up as many awards in the short space of time as Jones has done. She’s certainly having a phenomenal year.