CREATING AN IMPACT

Some Major ‘Olympics’ Quotes

The customer is always RIGHT . . ." Why do I reiterate that clause? Because for this article, I wanted to write something light, say, about the annual West Indian Labor Day celebration in Brooklyn, or something heavy, say, about the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Before I forget, how could we minorities allow those folks to resume school one day after Labor Day Monday, when the minds and bodies alike of we Caribbean people and our friends, are still healing from a hectic weekend of fun and frolic? — I hope that BAMA will change things.

Back to the customer-clause, with the Olympics just finished in China; the U.S. Tennis Open going on in Queens, New York; Major League Baseball games heating up towards the Play-Offs; and the National Football League heading to the starting line (to mention a few), the readers have been yelling out to me — What about the quotes? — So, I had to take heed and come up with some pertinent quotes.

COVERAGE

Well, my bosses — Dennis Nelson and Godfrey Wray — were extremely generous to me, by assigning me to cover the recent Olympics in CHINA(town).

They utilized the scarce financial resources at their disposal to house me at the KISKADEE nest in CHUNG VIET’s Hotel on President Arthur Chung’s Lane in CHINA(town).

Although Dennis and Godfrey fooled me by telling me that they were sending me to cover the Olympics in Beijing, China, and ended up sending me to CHINA(town), they did go out of their way to ensure that I had all of my amenities shipped to me from oldtime Guyana . . . They ensured that:

I had supplies of wine from Sue-A-Quan.

My clothes were cleaned at Sun-Tai-Lee’s laundry.

My pictures were developed by Lee’s Photo Studio.

My on-call medical doctors were Dr. Hugh and Dr. Fung-Kee-Fung.

My cooked food (low-mein/fried rice, etc;) came from National, Far East, Chinese Dragon and Bamboo Gardens.

My groceries came from Kwang Hing; Sue Kim and Leung-A-Low.

The Bird’s Nest that I operated from, was like the Botanic Gardens zoo — it was occupied by parrots, macaws, blue sackies, Dr. Swees, canaries, fire reds, ring necks and crown heads, etc.

And, athletes from COSMOS Sports Club visited with me from time to time, in order to be interviewed.

COVERAGE (quotes)

Again, please do not blame me, I was going to write on more important matters, but my fan-base wanted to read the motivational quotes, which, they claim, help them with stimuli and encouragement in their personal and organizational lives and existences.

PHELPS/MONEY: Money is the current that makes most things work and run, so after Michael Phelps won his eight (8) gold medals from a variety of swimming events, let us look at what public relations/advertising agents had to say:

(a) Mark Ganis — President of Sports Corp., Ltd., a Chicago-based sports business consulting firm said " . . . If he’s handled properly, he should generate in excess of $40 million . . ." (ladies and gentlemen, please find an effective handler to take care of our natural resources).

(b) Madison Avenue experts commented that the 23-year-old swimming champ from Baltimore, who had already made a splash before the Beijing Olympics with $5 million in endorsements from advertising sponsors, could easily sell products ranging from food (since he eats 12,000 calories a day, mostly pasta and pizza when training) — to cars, clothes and shaving cream.

(c) Brandon Steiner, C.E.O. of Steiner Sports Marketing in New York opined " . . . Phelps represents health and fitness, two hot buttons in America, right now, along with 20 other categories I can think of . . ."

(d) Howard Freeman, President and C.E.O. of a New Jersey-based marketing agency argued: ". . . Phelps will reap the biggest financial rewards from water since Jaws . . ."

(e) Ryan Schinman of Platinum Rye Entertainment thought " . . . Phelps has put himself in another stratosphere, he can even see global deals — even in the Persian Gulf.

THE WILLIAMS’ SISTERS: Before quoting from Venus and Serena, I must explain that readers have been complaining that the television and other media, have not been showcasing black and other minority athletes, hence my slant and concentration.

(a) SISTERLY LOVE: After Venus and Serena won the Olympic Doubles, Venus revealed " . . . It does mean more for me to win it with Serena, to share this kind of moment with your sister . . . I mean, we are practically joined at the hip . . ."

(b) FOCUS: After winning the Doubles, Serena disclosed " . . . Well, it wasn’t easy, we were so focused and we wanted every point, we pretty much worked for every point . . . playing that way, makes life easier . . ."

(c) WINNING GOLD: In conclusion, Venus noted " . . . In Olympics, a gold is a gold, it doesn’t matter what event or discipline, it just matters that you got the gold or a medal . . ."

DESIRE: After 30-year-old Keith Smart won a silver medal in fencing, he explained " . . . It’s going to be pretty tough to top this feeling; this is all I’ve ever wanted in my life, in the sport of fencing . . . I couldn’t have asked for anything more . . ."

In a three-month stretch before the Olympics, Smart lost his mother to cancer; he spent two weeks in Intensive Care, and had medical doctors tell him that his career as an elite athlete was over.

ACCEPTANCE: Abdul Abidir Ahman had hopes for a medal in the 10,000 meters, but ended up with a 15th place finish. He stressed : ". . . That’s sports, you can’t win everything all the time . . . you can only give all that you have. . ."

FATHERLY LOVE: Deontay Wilder, a 6-7, 198-pound heavyweight, lost in the finals to World Champion Clemente Russo of Italy. Wilder ended up with a Bronze Medal. Instead of talking about his boxing performance, twenty-two-year-old Wilder opted to discuss his three-year-old daughter, Naieya, who is suffering with a debilitating, spinal cord condition — termed Spina Bifida, he mentioned " . . . she is my daily inspiration. Her name is tattooed over my heart. Everytime I take off my clothes and put on the U.S.A. uniform, I can see who I am doing it for; she’s always on my mind, and I can’t wait to see her when it’s over; I am a person who truly believes in God — I agreed to bring Naieya into this world, in spite of her serious ailment, and against doctors’ advice; I believe that every person who is brought into this world deserves a chance at a good life; who knows, she may become a doctor or a lawyer . . ."

I carry this quote, because most of the paternal stories that we hear are about the negligent and irresponsible displays of black and minority fathers.

WINNING GOLDS: Lisa Leslie has now won her fourth (basketball) gold medal at consecutive Olympics — She started Olympic competition twelve (12) years ago in the Deep South, and she ended it Saturday night in the Far East.

As 36-year-old Lisa stood at the Wuketung Olympic Basketball stadium with her fourth Gold Medal around her neck, surrounded by her teammates, point guard Sue Bird shouted " . . . Of course Lisa is going to win Gold Medals — she know what it takes to win Gold Medals, she knows how to score, she knows how to get rebounds; she know how to make

plays . . ."

REDEMPTION: The American men’s basketball team also won gold, called the "REDEEM-TEAM" — Lebron James emphasized " . . . This is a different U.S. team: it has commitment, energy and yearns to win . . . this team has been together for three years and that makes a difference . . ."

CLAY: BRYAN CLAY became the world record holder in the most gruelling event in track and field — The Decathlon.

The 5-10, 185-pound Hawaiian stated " . . . I can’t tell you how happy I am to have worked for something for so long, and finally accomplished it; my dreams have come true . . ."

MOTIVATION: After the American (men’s) volleyball team defeated Russia, veteran Leroy Ball admitted " . . . We’ve got motivation coming out of our ears . . ."

BOLT: I have deliberately left the best for last; 22-year-old Usain Bolt broke the 100 meter mark in 9.69 seconds; and he smashed Michael Johnson’s iconic 19.32 second mark — capturing the 200 meters by running 19.30 seconds into a headwind . . . Bolt became the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984, to pull off the 100-200 double.

(a) Michael Johnson called Bolt, " . . . SUPERMAN 2 . . ."

(b) Former 100 meter champion, Kim Collins of St. Kitts/Nevis asked " . . . how fast can another human being go, before there’s no more running fast? . . ."

(c) Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica, told a reporter " . . . Usain Bolt is a superhuman being; the world has never seen anything like him . . ."

Bolt concluded " . . . I just blew my mind, and blew the world’s mind. Right now, I just want to chill out, I want to sleep . . ."

* * * * * *

I enjoyed covering the Olympics

Though I had to cope with some tricks,

I had a lot of fun

Staying in CHINA (town)

Athletes got to the finish lines

Many in record time

Who could forget the ceremonial opening

Or the bachanal-like closing?