Things Fall Apart

Mar 09, 2009 Sports

As crunch time for the signing of a ‘Letter of Commitment’ between the stakeholders of local basketball dawns, I am conscious of a beautiful conclusive and philosophical line in William Butler Yeats’ 1921 poem: “The Second Coming”.

Godwin McPherson

The third line of the poem reads: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold,” to really sum up the fading passion and enthusiasm of the ideology of ‘what could have been’ if the ‘centre’ operated in unison and created cohesion.

The ‘centre’ in the acquiescence of a ‘Letter of Commitment’ to the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) is the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), an Olympic Association and the Government of Guyana.

These three major stakeholders are undoubtedly the ‘centre’ of arrangements in Guyana’s ambition to host the Caribbean Basketball Senior Championships but whether the ‘centre’ can hold and not fragment became questionable.

The ‘Letter of Commitment’, up to press time yesterday, was unsigned as negotiations in the corridors of those stakeholders continued, notwithstanding, the identified deadline for the submission of the important document today.

When contacted for an update yesterday, GABF President Godwin McPherson candidly informed Kaieteur Sport that he cannot definitively state whether or not the document will be signed because “negotiations” are ongoing.

Neil Kumar

“I don’t know whether we will sign,” McPherson said in a position that indicated that the ‘centre’ that Yeats’ poem spoke of was beginning to fall apart. The basketball fraternity should anticipate the developments of this week.

McPherson and Neil Kumar, who represent the Government of Guyana, met last week in a closed–door setting on the ‘Letter of Commitment’. Kumar has since said that he asked the GABF to submit a budget detailing the hosts’ costs.

As usual, the request was mere pragmatics as the various costs to host the championships were outlined in another section of the print media. While it was not officially prepared, it should have given Kumar some inspiration.

In addition, the request for a budget does not have much to do with the signatures needed for the ‘Letter of Commitment’ since the document does not guarantee Guyana the rights to host the 2009 Caribbean Championships.

Kumar’s delay in signing the document is unfounded based on the rhetoric that preamble the Government into the scope of Guyana hosting the event. He had clearly indicated that Guyana should “try hard” to host the competition.

Guyana has done everything possible to date to secure the hosting rights. CBC President, Usie Richards

made it clear that the Confederation has “serious interest” in Guyana as a possible host for the contest in his recent request.

What are necessary today are the necessary signatures on the ‘Letter of Commitment’ to have the document dispatched to CBC. The budget and other important documentation can happen after since time will be permissive.

Today will prove whether all the things Kumar had said about Guyana hosting the event was mere rhetoric and pragmaticism or whether the Director of Sport was serious about his optimism of the likelihood of CBC in Guyana.

Yeats’ poem concludes like this: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity”. Hold your breaths; this week will be very interesting for basketball where “the best” and “the worst” will be exposed.