Source: www.guardian.co.tt
Good Morning neighbour! What's going on? It is J'Ouvert morning and 3Canal is sending out a powerful but positive vibe and energy. It is Carnival time and sport takes a back seat. But in many ways, Carnival is a massive positive for sport here in T&T. For those who believe that 'Trinis' cannot be dedicated and disciplined. Paying close attention to how many citizens prepare for Carnival Monday and Tuesday will be a revelation, the enthusiasm and vibrancy, the energy that fills the air.
How to harness and redirect that passion for Carnival into other national activities including sport? Find the answer and T&T will never be the same again. In this respect, the lack of a compelling vision and strategic action plan for promoting and marketing T&T as the Mecca of Carnival is a travesty. The fact that T&T Carnival attracts just around 40,000 visitors annually is really an indictment about the haphazard way we treat with activities and assets that are uniquely Trinbagonian.
T&T over the years have wasted the potential that is Carnival as it has done with sport. Carnival is a big lime and party, a time to get drunk and free up or not get drunk, but still free up. For others it is a time to get away from it all and head to quieter and calmer less frenzied environs. Most commentators claim that were it not for Carnival the society would have no managed outlet for evaporating the many frustrations faced by the citizenry. However you look at it, Carnival remains one of this country's greatest assets. In sport and Carnival T&T owns a potent economic cocktail.
I may just need to pinch myself so that I am not lulled into a false sense of reality by the feel good generated by "good morning neighbour". But who cares? I make no apologies for suspending disbelief. It is Carnival time in T&T and nothing is wrong with indulging in the fantasy of it all. Sport and Carnival a wonderful snap shot of T&T at its best. There is no place on the face of this earth like T&T. Good morning neighbour! What's going on? 60,000 strong-well according to media and police sources-at Soca Monarch! Can you imagine 60,000 turning out to see T&T play Jamaica at the Hasely Crawford Stadium or to see our world class athletes run, throw and jump? What about our hockey, volleyball or rugby teams? Surely they could attract 25,000 paying spectators? It is carnival time in T&T and we are all allowed to dream and make believe.
Good morning neighbour? What's going on?
I was telling a good friend, who considers himself a devoted couch potato, that he is one of the most disciplined Carnival athletes I know. He looked at me with utter contempt, but maybe it was the fact that his drink of choice was a tad stronger than my plain bottled water, Carnival Monday and Tuesday I reasoned are back to back marathons. Most world class marathoners will not even entertain the thought of attempting back to back marathons. For most mas playing Trinbagonian completing two days of the reign of the Merry Monarch is never a serious doubt.
Carnival is not seen as or considered by any stretch of the imagination as a sporting activity. But the activity otherwise known as "playing mas" is certainly not sedentary. But that is not the point of today's column. The point is that we just seem to waste the immense creativity, energy, positivity and imagination of T&T Carnival. In that regard sport is no different. Good morning neighbour! What's going on? Have a safe and enjoyable Carnival.
Editor's Note:
Brian Lewis is the Honorary Secretary General of the T&T Olympic Committee- www.ttoc.org <http://www.ttoc.org/> .
The views expressed are not necessarily those of the TTOC.