The most repeated phrase: "The government will move heaven and earth to make sure Barbados will be ready..." attributed to PM Owen Arthur in early 2006, who wanted to make clear his determination that Kensington Oval would be ready for CWC. Oversight of the project was moved to the PM's office from the Ministry of Sport. The phrase has been used repeatedly by political opponents since when other projects have apparently lacked resources or commitment.
It may hang like a haunting spectre as people start to voice concern after CWC about whether the same effort will be made to fix things that affect people's daily lives. I heard yesterday about the sad situation of the single bus available to transport handicap patients, which has itself been incapacitated for the past three months.
The "legacy" thing: "The legacy benefits of Cricket World Cup...", attributed to Ken Gordon, President of the West Indies Cricket Board and Chairman of CWC 2007, when saying "This will be another opportunity for the region to show it is capable of delivering a world class event in the same way that much bigger countries, with greater economies and resources, have been doing for many years...This is the first major example of what the Caribbean can reap in the future because of the investment being made now." There do not appear to be clear plans for using the stadiums that were newly built or renovated, so the jury remains out wondering if these may end up as mere "white elephants".
Taking liberties with a great expression: Barbados' Tourism Minister, Mr. Noel Lynch said several times during a press conference at the weekend that hosting some of the CWC games was Barbados’ “finest hour” and the effort had been a “huge organisational triumph.” Winston Churchill had made the "finest hour" claim for the British Empire and the Commonwealth back in 1940, when the British withstood while the French collapsed. One local commentator, Patrick Hoyos, has already labelled this hyperbole and I will leave it there (see Broad Street Journal). The foreign media and much of the regional media has been critical of how the tournament went and it's hard to see why one could claim that something that was at best a success mixed with lots of failure represented a "finest hour". Anyway, as Patrick Hoyos said in BSJ, politicians are "cherry picking" the winning aspects and leaving behind the sour fruit of the losing aspects.
The "legacy" thing: "The legacy benefits of Cricket World Cup...", attributed to Ken Gordon, President of the West Indies Cricket Board and Chairman of CWC 2007, when saying "This will be another opportunity for the region to show it is capable of delivering a world class event in the same way that much bigger countries, with greater economies and resources, have been doing for many years...This is the first major example of what the Caribbean can reap in the future because of the investment being made now." There do not appear to be clear plans for using the stadiums that were newly built or renovated, so the jury remains out wondering if these may end up as mere "white elephants".
Taking liberties with a great expression: Barbados' Tourism Minister, Mr. Noel Lynch said several times during a press conference at the weekend that hosting some of the CWC games was Barbados’ “finest hour” and the effort had been a “huge organisational triumph.” Winston Churchill had made the "finest hour" claim for the British Empire and the Commonwealth back in 1940, when the British withstood while the French collapsed. One local commentator, Patrick Hoyos, has already labelled this hyperbole and I will leave it there (see Broad Street Journal). The foreign media and much of the regional media has been critical of how the tournament went and it's hard to see why one could claim that something that was at best a success mixed with lots of failure represented a "finest hour". Anyway, as Patrick Hoyos said in BSJ, politicians are "cherry picking" the winning aspects and leaving behind the sour fruit of the losing aspects.
I'll keep my eyes and ears open for more of these words to remember.
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