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Messages - PEG

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1
Football / Re: Who remember this !
« on: March 31, 2011, 08:53:52 PM »
bring back the ole time days

2
Football / Yorke is a stereotype come to life.
« on: September 27, 2009, 03:49:21 PM »
Yorke's interview is sad but not surprising. He is the prototypical stereotype of the Caribbean, black man stud come to life.  However, Dwight you are yesterday's news, cold product, and a has-been.  The money running low now.  You realise that nobody wants to hear what you have to say about anything so like a maccomeh man you have to make yourself relevant (or try to) by talking both a woman you been with and the mother of your child.  You sir are a laughing stock and a p**SY.

3
Football / Re: Thread for the T&T vs El Salvador Game (12-Aug-2009).
« on: August 12, 2009, 08:08:43 PM »
boy o boy.  3 points are 3 points.  However, those are by far the worse 2 teams in the Hex and it showed. However, I must focus on the 2 players with Premiership experience - Carlos Edwards and Jones.  Carlos Edwards is simply atrocious as a winger.  The amount of poor corners, shots spooned in the crowd, crosses the keeper just wrap up. He simply cannot bring in a proper cross. Absolutely no end product. I have been watching him for years - he may be better off as wing back.  Jones also has regressed terribly.  He simply has no striker instincts.  That 1 on 1 would have sealed the game.  Glen should be a starter on this team as he is the only one that can cause trouble on his own.  Jones is also of limited usefulness because there is no flank play (see Carlos) that can make use of his prowess in the air.  Points but poor display

4
Football / Random Musings
« on: June 06, 2009, 08:09:11 PM »
1. The Side is too old.  As I have mentioned time and time again, you cannot have the number of men we have the wrong side of 30 and expect to prevail.  You simply cannot have two old slow centre halfs and not expect to pay for it. Yorke also simply cannot do it at this level or any level anymore.  Assuming that Hyland is not suffering from the effects of his brother's death, simply amazing that he was not played.  Youth must be served.  We continue to pay the price for not making hard decisions

2. Jason Scotland & KJ cannot play together.  They are the same type of player - they cannot create chances but are dependent on service which is non-existent on this team.  KJ more and more reminds me of a boss athlete than a football player.  He simply doesnt score enough for club or country to be rated as highly as he is.

3. Birchall must start on this team.  He is a harrying presence. Midfield looks way to vulnerable with him out of the lineup. CR had all the time when they have the ball.

4.  Carlos Edwards must really learn to deliver a cross.  It is about time.

5. Glen must play he is the only forward we have that can create havoc with runs and stretch the defense


5
Football / Re: Colin Rocke
« on: April 12, 2009, 09:24:49 PM »
I know Colin well since he and I were at CIC together.  A more skillful and talented youth you would not hope to see.  It brings to mind the biblical parable about talents. He is about 40 now and to have all that football talent come to nothing is a shame. That interview is a inferiority complex masking itself as a superiority complex.  Another youth that I think of also is Kona Hislop. Injuries were not kind to him but when I see Kiko Machaeda for Manu a 17 year old boy and I remember Kona at that age and what he could be if he was growing up in this era.  Absolutely was a terror on Colleges league in the 80s. It is almost 20-25 years ago since the yorke/kona era and CL has not produced a player remotely of that calibre.  Fast skillful leftfooted with a wicked bullet. Ah memories.

6
Football / Re: Why don't we ever learn?
« on: April 12, 2009, 12:09:48 AM »
Trinity Cross,

For your benefit, I will clearly state what i said because you introducing a set of straw men in this discussion:

1. I believe I said explicitly in a post that Maturana could not be worth his salt if he is allowed himself to be treated in that fashion.

2. My main point had nothing to do with the fact that Latapy was appointed but the fact that with 2 months before the next competitive game he is appointed on an interim basis and where his chief benefactor comes out and publicly and explicitly says that he does not have full confidence in him and he is being evaluated on a game by game basis.

3. I wish Latapy well like anybody who puts on national colors.  However cheerleading is not analysis. I dont know what he has done in the coaching arena to make anyone believe he is up to the task.  However I could be wrong. As I said before he would not be my choice but I support him as he has been selected.  All I am saying is that the very manner in which he was selected does not augur well for him nor more importantly the team.  We have been down this road before.

Hopefully now you will not mischaraterize my point of view.

7
Football / Re: Why don't we ever learn?
« on: April 11, 2009, 10:45:47 AM »
1.  I made my post prior to Lasana's article.

2. Not understanding how your 2 quotes contradict what i am saying now:
- They still undermining the coach (only this time is Latapy).
- Absolutely stand by the comment about Yorke.  Accomplished a lot but is past it (no disgrace in that for somebody 38)

8
Football / Re: Why don't we ever learn?
« on: April 10, 2009, 11:12:29 PM »
allyuh should tell Lasana he also have sour grapes and out to f up the party since he say the same thing almost word for word. What idiots!

9
Football / Re: Latapy's loveless liaison
« on: April 10, 2009, 11:09:26 PM »
I say the same thing Lasana.  almost word for word. Maybe people will tell u you hate the Warriors too.

10
Football / Why don't we ever learn?
« on: April 10, 2009, 02:18:44 PM »
Now that the quite predictable firing of Maturana has taken place, the reasonable question to ask is what is next.  It is now easy to see what happens when you impose people in the player/coach dynamic and the undermining of authority in any sphere of endeavor. Maturana and the players had to know that their next coach was on the bench/field? with them.  Contrast that with what Leo did when they wanted to impose Latapy on him.  There can only be one message heard and clearly that was not the case in this camp.  Can't be when the messenger has been so publicly undermined.

Then what of Latapy.  A player who was undisciplined at several stops in his career, who turned his back on the team as a player (which Maradona never did for all his demons) has been elevated to being the coach.  This literally while he was a member of the squad. Problematic for several reasons - no coaching experience, no distance between him and the players etc.  Are we serious?  We also hear that this is an interim appointment.  What does interim mean? One game, 2 games? Then what? If you want to appoint Latapy coach then appoint him coach.  Always bandaid solutions instead of strategic considerations.  We have set Latapy and ourselves up for failure

11
Football / Random Musings
« on: March 30, 2009, 11:52:24 AM »
1. Kenwyne Jones - It is amusing that after seeing his performance when he came on people still asking why KJ didn't start the game. I fully agree with the decision not to play him and Maturana's decision was fully vindicated by KJ's subsequent performance. KJ has been off the boil now for both club and country and he was justifiably benched. Play by merit. Maturana did himself no favors by his subsequent foolish explanation.  I am ok with the job FM has done so far but KJ's play was eloquent testimony to why he didnt start.

2. Carlos Edwards - Fairly frustrating player.  Seems to be able to ghost past players but really has absolutely no end product. His crossing of the ball and service to forward players is consistently poor.  Although easy on the eye and a languid player, is a major reason our forward play breaks down consistently.

3. Overall trinidad assessment. Team consistently bedeviled by propensity to give the give the ball away under no pressure.  Suffers from a lack of delivery from flanks (see above).  Very impressed by Scotland, he seems to be the only player we have that can conjure something out of nothing - very effective.  Young Hyland also was impressive, full of aggressive intent.  Really need a ball winner who can make the simple pass.

4. Honduras play.  Seems like they came for a draw but needn't have been so conservative.  If they had been more adventurous may well have easily secured 3 points away from home.  Overall standard of game was extremely poor however.

5. Crowd Support.  Could not help to juxtapose ElSalvador home support vs. T&T at home. El Salvador was frenetic we were apathetic as we are with most things.  However, this is a team that seems to play its best away from home.  Having seen the 6 teams play, TT is by no means outclassed in this company.

12
Football / Re: Maturana Limits Latapy.
« on: October 07, 2008, 10:46:52 AM »
I started a thread about this and was lambasted by many including the aptly named assrancid.  It's sad to say i told you so.  But i told you so.  I smile now at some of the comments I am seeing.  You didn't have to be Nostradamus. This was entirely forseeable.  I blame those on this board who cling to maudlin sentiment that a 40 year old, however talented in the past, is the answer.  We really do get what we deserve.

13
Football / Re: Sancho to NE Stars
« on: October 07, 2008, 10:28:32 AM »
Touches,

Off football.  That Andre Tanker tune is one of the greatest tunes of all time.  Absolutely under rated artist.  Everytime i hear that song brings back waves of nostalgia

14
Football / Re: Where Else in the World
« on: September 26, 2008, 03:25:03 PM »
Palos,

thanks for the post.  Well written and, as always, the class not to make a debate personal.  However, I disagree with you strongly.  You make mention that Stern cannot be controlled by Mat.  This raises two questions (1) why is Maturana the coach if he does not have the confidence of the authorities and (2) if Stern John's attitude is poor why is he on the team?  I will surmise on the former.  IMO, there is a waltz being played between the Fed. and Mat. in that Mat. will not resign and leave his money on the table and the Fed. don't want to fire him and have to pay him off.  That to me could be the only possible explanation for the utter absurdity taking place.  On Stern John, while I will give him credit for always making himself available for selection, he is not a Maradona or Lara even that you could rationalize his attitude for his brilliance.  If he has attitude problems he should not be selected. Period.  That is what has killed Windies cricket, you cant have a mediocre and ill-disciplined side.

I also can understand the foreign/Trini based dynamic and moreso the WC 2006/newcomers dynamic.  That is why the coach is paid to pick a the team.  There is no one on that team that is head and shoulders above.  Take for instance, Densil Theobald and Carlos Edwards.  I have seen all I need to see of the former and think him just to be a poor footballer who can't make a basic 5 yd pass while the latter is clearly being played on nostalgia.  That's why I say let the coach pick the side, I am a supporter.  What is causing divisions is that players smell blood in the water and all type of disagreements are coming to the fore.  Classic example of what happens when you undermine authority.

People seem to pay a lot of faith in Latapy's coaching and leadership skills on what basis I cannot hope to fathom.  But what is happening is sad and can not work.  There are no shortcuts, things must be done the right way.  If Latapy is the man, appoint him and give him the responsibility and accountability.  Palos, breds, you have it exactly back to front, dissension in the camp is not the problem but a manifestation of the problem.  The ironic thing is save the last minute equalizer, in a game we dominated, everything has basically gone as expected.  The same youths who now "ent ready" led us to within 1 minute from being where we want to be after 3 games.  Anyhow we are all supporters, and let's hope the patchwork that we have stitched up takes us where we all want to go

15
Football / Maturana's lack of vision.
« on: September 26, 2008, 12:31:58 AM »
Maturana's lack of vision.
Fazeer Mohammed (Express).


Is this the swiftest comeback of all time? Buh wait, ent this is a bringback?

I really don't know, nah, I really don't know.

One minute, we're hearing that Stern John is no longer part of Francisco Maturana's plans and that he got word of his permanent (or so we thought) axing via a text message. Apparently, the player himself took the back-of-the-hand dismissal in that context and, with his international career seemingly at an end, local football writers and fans were free to pass final judgement.

Well boy, I wonder if the old Sternos, who is now back in the thick of things for the next two CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, has taken note of all the characterisations of him as a glorified loafer and a dressing room troublemaker and will use that as motivation to hurl in the face of the critics, as he did three years ago when two late goals against Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium resurrected a campaign that was almost dead and buried.

This time, though, the critical clash with the Guatemalans is away from home on October 11, so he will have to save his off-field vengeance for the showdown with the United States four days later.

But seriously, what are we to make of this complete about-turn by the Colombian head coach of our national team? Was there something lost in the translation and he didn't really mean that it was the end of the line for the veteran striker?

Otherwise, there are only two options: that the man is extremely erratic in his thinking or that he is easily swayed by influential persons in the team or administrative structure.

In either case, he clearly isn't fit to take Trinidad and Tobago's football forward, even if we do manage to scramble into next year's final phase of qualifying for South Africa 2010.

Again, I will happily defer to the experts, however, there appears to be no cohesive plan, no clearly defined strategy other than a policy of musical chairs, and whoever happens to find a seat when the music stops gets a game.

In keeping with the national pastime of completely missing the point, John's fans will interpret this column as saying that the Southampton player isn't good enough to be in the Trinidad and Tobago squad anymore, in the same manner that the PNM fanatics (both the well-dressed ones in Parliament and the rabble-rousers outside) saw the lawless Woodford Square show of force of two weeks ago as a vindication of their great leader.

For what it's worth, let me emphasise that it's not the people, but the process that I'm focussed on. You can't be going one way, then the other, then back to the point where you started from without questions being raised about your suitability for the job.

Only seismographs recording an earthquake or global financial markets in the last fortnight do that sort of thing.

No-one is clamouring for dead-boring predictability. Still, just because there is stability and consistency in a particular organisation it doesn't mean that innovative thinking and adaptability are stifled.

Like building in an earthquake zone, it's all about designing buildings on the same core concept of flexibility, while still allowing the freedom for individual architectural design.

Like playing the stock market, it is about having the discipline to recognise that there is a clearly defined lower limit to risk-taking, given that there are still so many profitable options in the safe zone.

So in the footballing context, it doesn't mean that so-and-so player must get a game no matter what, but that if there are changes, they are made in keeping with a particular vision that incorporates where you are now, where you would like to be by a certain time and the challenges that stand in the way of achieving that objective.

Okay, so we know that the immediate objective is to finish in the top two of Group A to advance to the final phase of qualifying. But the by-any-means-necessary way of doing things is like putting super in your premium engine just to save money.

When, after a while, the vehicle-or the team-isn't running as efficiently as it should, the quick-fix idea doesn't seem so bright, especially if there is considerable expense or inconvenience involved.

Amid the early-season preoccupation with the big-money sheikhs of Abu Dhabi who have bought Manchester City, and the expensive signings by Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool to boost their Premier League title aspirations, football writers in England are now falling over themselves in admiration of the next generation of talent emerging from Arsenal.

Last Tuesday, Arsene Wenger put out a team with an average age of 19 to face Sheffield United of the Championship Division in a League Cup tie at the Emirates Stadium. The result, 6-0 for the Gunners, wasn't so much a brutal mauling as a delightful exhibition of footballing artistry by youngsters groomed to enjoy the beautiful game in a specific structure.

Even if they don't challenge for the Premier League crown this year, there is already the belief that Wenger's vision is positioning Arsenal to enjoy a period of sustained dominance in the very near future.

Whether local or foreign, this is what we need: vision, structure, stability and consistency.

Francisco Maturana can't provide that. Indeed, no-one can if we continue to believe that the vaps of comebacks, bringbacks and begbacks is the way to go.

-fazeer2001@hotmail.com

16
Football / Re: Where Else in the World
« on: September 25, 2008, 02:27:39 PM »
I dont know how to respond to such elevated discourse.  However, you do seem to have a predilection for the posterior.  It's ok, you can get help.

17
Football / Re: Where Else in the World
« on: September 25, 2008, 09:57:18 AM »
A few thoughts on the responses:

1. It amuses me that some people believe that saying ... "your head is stuck up your ample ass" is a substitute for compelling argument.  BTW how do you know my arse is ample, less than ample or not ample at all? Ad hominems are the first resort of the weak mind.

2. I do remember Roger Milla but I thought you could cite a precedent near in time than a decade and a half ago.  You could go further back man in the 1950s used to play well in the forties.  I ask again if there is any precedent for a man in this decade playing in his 40s at this level?  

3. If Latapy bring skill, experience etc. Begs a couple questions.  Why wasn't he there from the start of the campaign?  Why is the arrangement for 2/3 games?  Again, subject to correction, this is an unprecedented arrangement at the national level.  Never said Latapy cant contribute.  If you want name him coach, asst. coach, dog catcher just not for 2 games.  Move borne of unjustified panic. Jokey in the extreme!

4. General responses to your adhominems.  Do live outside of Trinidad (is that a disqualification for posting on this board?).  However in Trini every 3 months.  Have been to several league games. Just for my edification what exactly is a first world mentality?  is there a third world mentality and if so do you have ,one?  Just asking.  And Assrancid, just for you, photos of my arse available on request


18
Football / Where Else in the World
« on: September 24, 2008, 11:59:21 PM »
Cro Cro sang a kaiso called "where else in the world".  Where else in the world is there such a thing as an assistant coach/player on a national side?  Where else in the world a 40 year old man gets recalled to a national team?  Seriously, if this wasn't the national team this would be funny.  Reminescent of a third division savannah team.  However, this move is symtomatic of a couple things that keep us down not only in football but as a nation.

1.  The Inability to Give Youth a Chance/Love of Nostalgia.  The winner of the Tri/Gua game is likely going to move on to the hex.  Despite all being left to play for, we panic and go back to the golden oldies.  Sorry to break it to u fellas we are not going to make the WC every time. Best we sink or swim with the youths.  Roy Keane made me laugh when he said that this was Yorke's 5th or 6th international unretirement.  We tolerate this.  I can understand it from their perspective, this is the only competitive football they will be allowed to play.  As Boys to Men sang it is hard to say goodbye to yesterday.  That does not excuse us from our indulgence - football at the highest level is a young man's endeavour.
2.  Lack of decisive Action. Instead of removing a man, we set up parallel structures around him to circumvent his authority and you end up with the worst of all worlds. See the Police Commissioner and Sautt.  If u want latapy as coach, do it properly appoint him to the job and fire the incumbent.  Instead, you appoint him asst. coach/player for 2/3 games and if it work out you may extend it.  What!!!Utter insanity!  I can predict this, we will not make the WC with Maturana as coach.  No coach worth his salt would tolerate this.
3. Onemanism.  The bane of T&T.  this is further evidence ( as if any were needed) that Trini football is Jack's fiefdom to do with what he wants.  This clearly smacks of a deal struck between jack and latas to everyone else's inclusion.  Like when he used to allow Latas and Yorke to stay at separate hotels from the team (even typing that making me cringe).  Now onemanism sometimes leads to inspired decisions e.g Beeneker but oftentimes leads to utter capriciousness. Manning anyone.

19
What about Track & Field / Ato- Apologies. You have my respect!
« on: April 19, 2008, 06:43:37 PM »
Fast and furious


Exclusive

Duncan Mackay in Los Angeles
Sunday April 20, 2008
The Observer


They were once the best of friends and the closest of training partners, as well as the greatest of rivals, but now it appears that Maurice Greene and Ato Boldon have fallen out spectacularly over allegations that Greene used banned performance-enhancing drugs.
A scandal that started nearly five years ago when Britain's Dwain Chambers tested positive for drugs given to him by Victor Conte's Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco) has now consumed Greene, statistically the greatest sprinter in history, and Boldon is furious, because he fears it has cast a shadow over his own achievements.


Article continues

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For nearly a decade Greene, the cocky gunslinger of a sprinter from Kansas City, and Boldon, the eloquent Trinidadian contemporary of Brian Lara and Dwight Yorke, were the best double act in athletics - on and off the track. They were coached in Los Angeles by John Smith, the former world-record holder for 440 yards, and they dominated the 100 metres. Their rivalry peaked at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when Greene won the gold, narrowly edging Boldon into the silver-medal position.
At the finish they embraced warmly, celebrating the fulfilment of a dream they had shared for several years through hard, gruelling training sessions in the broiling Californian sunshine, and shared a lap of honour. On the podium they hugged each other like brothers and at the press conference afterwards the affection between the two was clear for everyone to see as they joked their way through a laugh-a-minute, hour-long session with the world's media.

But, as yet unproven, claims by Angel Guillermo Heredia, the main witness in a case due to come to court next month involving Marion Jones' former coach, that Greene gave him up to $40,000 for advice and steroid creams, EPO, insulin and stimulants in 2003 and 2004, have certainly wiped the smile off Boldon's face.

A letter, widely believed to have been written by Boldon, the 1997 world 200m champion, has been sent to Smith accusing him, Greene and Emmanuel Hudson, his former agent, of betraying him by obtaining banned drugs behind his back, lying about Greene competing clean and leaving a stain on his own career. Together with Boldon the three were the linchpin of HSI International, the management group that was able to charge six-figure appearance fees for Greene and Boldon to run in televised meetings around the world.

Observer Sport has seen a copy of the letter, which offers a fascinating insight into the, until now, secret and mysterious methods of a training group that included some of the world's greatest sprinters. Greene was the star of the group, a winner of two Olympic gold medals and six world championship titles, who, in 1999, set a world record of 9.79sec for the 100m, one of 52 times he broke 10 seconds for the distance, another record.

The letter begins by addressing Smith as 'Benedict Arnold', an American military hero during the War of Independence whose name has become synonymous with betrayal after he switched sides and fought for the British. 'My own coach, doping my competition while he smiles in my face and preaches the "we are clean and they are not" gospel,' he writes.

Greene has always denied being involved in doping. Only last month when I interviewed him at the world indoor championships in Valencia, where he was unveiled as an official ambassador for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) following his retirement in February, he talked about how the sport is being damaged by so many drugs scandals.

'I don't think it's totally tainted, but every time the issue comes up it hurts us very bad,' he said. 'If it happens in baseball they hardly skip a beat. I feel cheated a little bit. It's hard in your mind if you have always got a question mark in your mind who's doing stuff behind closed doors. But you have to compete to the very best of your ability.'

The IAAF have said they will continue to use Greene as an ambassador. 'None of this is new. There is no reason to take action against Maurice,' said a spokesman for the governing body. 'With every ambassador we do an immediate check with the doping department. In this case, they said, "No, we don't have anything."'

Boldon, who retired in 2004 and is now coaching Saudi Arabia's Olympic team and working as a television commentator, is angry that no one from HSI has contacted him for four months or offered an explanation about a story in the New York Times last Sunday that claimed Greene had been buying drugs. Greene, who has never tested positive, denies the allegation, although he does admit paying for products for other members of the training group.

In the 'Boldon letter', the writer refers sarcastically to Greene as 'GOAT' - the tattoo on his arm that stands for 'Greatest Of All Time' - and claims that the revelations 'now taint everyone who has worked with you [Smith], even if they decided not to go this DRUG route. I might have an ounce of respect left for either of the two of you, the "GOAT" or yourself, if you had called me up when this first broke, to at least attempt to explain - like MEN - who are supposedly down for each other, do. You knew I knew, and yet both of you have done what you do best. Huddle in a corner and hide.'

As is inevitable with the world's fastest man, rumours always surrounded Greene and how he achieved his performances, but Boldon was very quick to defend his training partner, including on one occasion when the 1996 Olympic 100m gold medallist Donovan Bailey, who Greene succeeded as champion and world record holder, cast doubts about him.

'It's not like I didn't spend the past 13 years defending anyone who dared to talk about anyone in my camp or in my group,' the letter says. 'I never did that, right? Donovan opened his mouth to DARE talk about my "boy" Maurice, and I was on him in a flash, why because when you are down, when you have each other's backs, that is what REAL MEN do - they back each other up... Donovan was right too. My bad for thinking that I could trust any of you or believe a word you said.'

Greene is one of three Olympic champions Smith has coached, but a dark cloud was cast over his training group in July 2004 when Larry Wade, a 110m hurdler, tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and was banned for two years, despite the support offered to him by Boldon.

'I vouched for everyone,' the letter says. 'When Larry's Rectus humongus [sic] went down (of course that mystery positive of his isn't so mysterious now, is it?) it was my house that I called the meeting to, because if one was going through anything WE ALL WERE.'

Among the other clients Heredia, a former Mexican discus thrower, allegedly supplied drugs to were the training group of Trevor Graham, who coached Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones, both of whom have admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs and have subsequently been stripped of their Olympic medals and records. They are now serving prison sentences after pleading guilty to involvement in a scheme involving fraudulent cheques.

Heredia agreed to be a co-operating witness three years ago into an inquiry into performance-enhancing drugs, originally triggered by investigations into Balco, when investigators confronted him with evidence of his drug trafficking and money laundering. Since then Heredia says he has provided prosecutors with documentation and with the names of many elite track athletes and Olympic medal winners, including Greene. Prosecutors have said he is a reliable witness.

Graham is charged with three counts of making false statements to federal agents and his case is due to start on 19 May. He claims he is innocent and that he has never met Heredia.

Conte has alleged that Smith encouraged Graham, who was based in Raleigh, North Carolina, to send a syringe with traces of the designer anabolic steroid THG to the United States Anti-Doping Agency in 2003, a move that accelerated the US government's ongoing investigation into the San Francisco-based company.

Conte, who recently completed a jail sentence and a probation period and is now writing a tell-all book, said Smith and Graham conspired against him because Chambers was following a drugs schedule drawn up for him by Balco and was threatening Greene's position at the top of the world 100m rankings.

'I was working with sprinter Dwain Chambers, who was consistently beating Maurice and Tim Montgomery, who was coached by Trevor at the time,' Conte said. 'It's my opinion that John and Trevor did what they did to me and the athletes purely out of competitive jealousy. It certainly wasn't done as a noble deed.'

A fierce rivalry developed between Smith and Graham's training groups that reached its height in 2002 when Montgomery broke Greene's world record for the 100m. But Montgomery later became one of 10 athletes, along with Jones, coached by Graham who were caught or implicated in drugs scandals.

'You are an older Trevor Graham - PERIOD - on a different coast of the USA - and that isn't easy for me to say, because you know what I think about Trevor,' says the letter to Smith allegedly written by Boldon. 'You think running to West Angeles Church every time you are about to get caught will solve something? I went to West Angeles for 10 years and probably saw you twice. God has a message for you, JS, "Don't give drugs to people's children! Steer them away from it if they ask you, too!"'

Heredia alleges that Greene stopped ordering banned drugs from him after finishing third in the 100m in the Athens Olympics, a race won by Justin Gatlin - another Graham-coached athlete who later tested positive - and being beaten on the last leg of the 4x100m by Mark Lewis-Francis as Britain claimed the gold medal, because he was fearful that the investigation into Balco had become so wide-ranging. It was the last major medal won by an athlete coached by Smith.

'Everything around you is withering and/or dying,' the writer taunts Smith in his letter. 'How can that be? You have won not a single medal that matters since 2004. Is it because you have sowed nothing but poison and deceit your entire life, and now the brief stay you had "at the top" is now over?

'Say what you want about me and my failure to win the BIG ones, but I did it cleanly, and I can look you or anyone else in the face, not to mention myself in the mirror, for the rest of my life. I know that, and so DO YOU.... John Smith the great "sprint guru" is nothing but the emperor with no clothes. No, wait a minute, we know you can coach someone to 9.86 and 19.77 [Boldon's personal best times for the 100m and 200m]. The rest I can't vouch for.'

This, however, is not the first time that Smith's name has been so closely linked with drugs. Charlie Francis testified at the Canadian government inquiry held after Ben Johnson, whom he coached, had tested positive at the 1988 Olympics that Smith had told him that he was using the steroid Dianabol. Francis subsequently repeated the allegation in his book Speed Trap, which was published in 1990. Smith denied the allegation.

'This case in the NY Times is not some mistake, some "oops" moment, some mis-step, some one-time weakness, it's a pattern, and going back to the stuff written about you in "Speed Trap" after 1988... Almost 20 years later nothing has changed,' the 'Boldon' letter-writer claims.

'Let me cut to the chase, as it concerns your ultimate betrayal, as you doped my competition and my team-mates while professing to the world (and, of course, to me) that you were the "drug-free coach". When you see me somewhere, just pretend you don't. You are dead to me.'

Boldon was unavailable for comment when Observer Sport tried to contact him, but last week he did speak to a Greek website he writes a column for. 'One thing is clear, that the evidence and the facts will show someone to be a fraud and someone will be vindicated,' he told them. 'I will make no further comment regarding this case until such time.'

Smith and Greene were also unavailable for comment.

20
What about Track & Field / Say it ain't so, ATO!!!
« on: April 13, 2008, 04:11:28 PM »
I believe that this story reported by the New York Times may well ensnare our Ato Boldon in the fullness of time.

LAREDO, Tex. — When one of the most successful coaches in the history of track and field goes on trial next month in the long-running federal investigation into doping in sports, lawyers for both sides are prepared to reveal that cheating in track is far more widespread than previously known.

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Ben Sklar for The New York Times
Angel Heredia, above, is a key witness in the case against the track coach Trevor Graham.

 
Angel Heredia
Angel Heredia and Trevor Graham in 1996 at Mr. Heredia’s Laredo, Tex., apartment.

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According to Angel Heredia, Maurice Greene transferred $10,000 to a Laredo, Tex., bank account of a Heredia relative, whose name is partly blacked out.
The main witness against the coach, Trevor Graham, has said he supplied illicit drugs and advice on their use to Mr. Graham and his camp of elite athletes, including Marion Jones, as well as to many other sprinters and their coaches.

Angel Guillermo Heredia is identified as Source A in the felony indictment. He agreed to be a cooperating witness three years ago when, according to court filings, investigators confronted him with evidence of his drug trafficking and money laundering. Since then, Mr. Heredia said, he has provided prosecutors with documentation and with the names of many elite track athletes and Olympic medal winners.

Mr. Graham, who is charged with three counts of making false statements to federal agents, says that he is innocent. A defense motion to dismiss, which was denied, said the government’s case had been built on accusations by Mr. Heredia that “are not true and are merely an effort to attempt to divert attention from his illicit drug dealing and the illicit drug usage by athletes.”

Mr. Graham’s lawyers have said they will expose prominent athletes who were Mr. Heredia’s clients in an attempt to discredit him. They have said they will prove him to be a tainted witness who continued to dispense drugs and who should be the one facing charges.

Mr. Heredia said he had named names to prosecutors, identifying about two dozen elite athletes as his clients in the hope of keeping his status as a federal witness rather than as a criminal target.

The federal authorities who have worked with Mr. Heredia for three years say that he is credible despite his unsavory activities, and that nothing he has told them has been shown to be untrue, said a lawyer with knowledge of the investigation who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss it.

In recent interviews with The New York Times, Mr. Heredia described how and with whom he worked, sharing copies of records that appear to link him to many of the best sprinters of the last decade. Those records include e-mail exchanges of doping regimens, canceled checks, telephone recordings, shipping records, laboratory readings of blood and urine samples, and Justice Department documents.

Among his clients, Mr. Heredia identified 12 athletes who had won a combined 26 Olympic medals and 21 world championships. Four of the 12 athletes, including Ms. Jones, had been named and barred from competition for illicit drug use. Eight of the 12 — notably, the sprinter Maurice Greene — have never been previously linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

Mr. Greene, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a five-time world champion, has never failed a drug test.

Mr. Heredia showed The Times a copy of a bank transaction form showing a $10,000 wire transfer from a Maurice Greene to a relative of Mr. Heredia’s; two sets of blood-test lab reports with Mr. Greene’s name and age on them; and an e-mail message from a close friend and track-club teammate of Mr. Greene’s, attaching one of the lab reports and saying, “Angel, this is maurices results sorry it took so long.”

Mr. Greene did not respond to numerous requests for comment over the last two weeks. His agent and his father each said he would pass along The Times’s messages to Mr. Greene. Copies of documents Mr. Heredia showed The Times were sent to Mr. Greene’s agent, Daniel Escamilla of HSInternational, based in California. Mr. Escamilla said he forwarded them to Mr. Greene but declined to make any comment.

The teammate also did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages asking for comment.

The Justice Department has kept its focus narrow in investigations rising from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, a California company raided by federal agents in 2003. The government has filed charges against only those who dealt the drugs or impeded the investigation, not the users who told the truth.

Regulators Take Notice

Even if the Graham case is settled before trial or the names of sprinters Mr. Heredia says he worked with never come out in public testimony, prosecutors are expected to pass along evidence to the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which investigates doping in sports after criminal proceedings are complete.

Travis T. Tygart, the chief executive of the antidoping agency, declined to comment about Mr. Heredia in a telephone interview Tuesday. Referring to his agency, Mr. Tygart said, “Usada continues to cooperate with the Balco investigators and will aggressively act on all reliable evidence of doping if and when received through the Balco investigation or otherwise.”

Mr. Heredia said he met with Mr. Tygart two years ago but did not reveal as many of his former clients to Mr. Tygart as he had to federal investigators.

The extent of Mr. Heredia’s disclosures were news to the International Association of Athletics Federations, track’s governing body.

“We would be very, very keen to talk to somebody who had information like that,” Chris Butler, a spokesman for I.A.A.F. antidoping programs, said in a recent telephone interview from his office in Monaco. Most of the doping suspensions last year were first investigated based on tips, which Mr. Butler said were “crucial to our testing and targeting.”

Mr. Heredia, 33, a former Mexican national discus champion, is a secretive figure on the track circuit who describes himself as a chemist, scientist and nutritionist. The son of a chemist, Mr. Heredia received an undergraduate degree in kinesiology from Texas A&M in Kingsville, records show.

He said he used family connections to pharmacies and labs in Mexico to help his business. For years, Mr. Heredia said, he helped his clients flout the rules and easily avoided detection. Substances like human growth hormone and the blood booster erythropoietin, or EPO, are still virtually impossible to detect, and “it is still easy to use testosterone” with fast-acting creams, he said.

“You combine all these things — boom! — you get amazing results,” Mr. Heredia said.

The I.A.A.F. performed 3,277 drug tests last year and barred only 10 athletes for doping. In her career, Ms. Jones passed more than 160 drug tests.

Mr. Heredia defended doping as necessary for his professional athletes to keep up with others who were taking performance enhancers or who had naturally higher hormone levels. “If you’re at the highest levels, you’ve got to do this to be competitive,” he said.

As for why he was talking publicly and without the approval of prosecutors, Mr. Heredia said he wanted to explain himself before the trial and to write books about his role in the track world, as José Canseco had done with steroids in baseball.

“I tried for years to protect them,” Mr. Heredia said of the athletes, “and at this point, I’m just doing what’s best for me.”

Decision to Testify

Mr. Heredia and his lawyer, Armando Trevino, said that prosecutors had not granted him immunity and that they still worried that he could be charged. Prosecutors offered last year to help Mr. Heredia, a Mexican citizen, with his American visa, if necessary, according to a court filing.

The three charges against Mr. Graham all involve his statements about Mr. Heredia. According to the indictment, in 2004 Mr. Graham told Jeff Novitzky, a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service, that he had never met Mr. Heredia nor had they talked on the phone after 1997. Mr. Graham also said he never received or distributed drugs from Mr. Heredia and did not send athletes to him for drugs.

Ten months after Mr. Graham’s interview with Mr. Novitzky, Mr. Heredia was called before the grand jury. Before testifying, Mr. Heredia said, he was interviewed by Mr. Novitzky, who held up a thick stack of phone records and said, “We’ve got you.” He said Mr. Novitzky gave him a choice: either cooperate and tell what you know about the underside of track and field, or face years in prison for drug trafficking.

Mr. Heredia showed The Times a photograph that he said had been taken in December 1996 in Laredo; in it, his hand is resting on Mr. Graham’s shoulder. Mr. Heredia said they stopped working together in 2000 after a financial dispute.

Mr. Graham’s lawyer, Bill Keane, declined to comment on Mr. Heredia, the photograph or the pending trial, except to say that he expected Mr. Heredia to be a government witness.

Gail Shifman, Mr. Graham’s former lawyer, described Mr. Heredia in a 2006 statement as a wrongdoer who was making “fraudulent allegations.” She wrote, “It is a sad comment that the pursuit of justice can be turned and twisted by personal vendettas and revenge.”

Mr. Heredia showed The Times e-mail messages, lab reports or financial records relating to 10 of the 12 Olympic medal winners he identified as his drug clients. The documents show that Mr. Heredia was paid by the athletes, had access to their private medical records and sent e-mail messages suggesting doping regimens, often with first-name familiarity. They are not, however, definitive proof that any of these athletes took performance-enhancing drugs.

Although most of their names are not mentioned in this article, Mr. Greene was identified because he is the most prominent athlete not previously linked to doping and was given copies of the documents Mr. Heredia provided as evidence of their working relationship.

Three of the 12 won Olympic medals in 2004, the others won theirs earlier. Mr. Heredia also identified as clients another dozen elite track stars who never won an Olympic medal.

“All these people are talented,” Mr. Heredia said. “The thing is they needed an extra boost. It’s a difference between running 10 flat all year, or 9.8 four times a year when you had to.”

Mr. Heredia told prosecutors in December 2006 and The Times recently that Mr. Greene had paid him a total of about $40,000, including the $10,000 wire transfer, for advice and steroid creams, EPO, insulin and stimulants in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Greene had already won two Olympic gold medals when Mr. Heredia said Mr. Greene first contacted him after the 2002 track season. By then, Mr. Greene had lost the title “world’s fastest man” to Tim Montgomery and was also losing races to Dwain Chambers; court records later showed that those sprinters were being helped by taking Balco drugs.

Reviewing Mr. Greene’s two blood reports for The Times, Dr. David L. Diuguid, director of hematology at Columbia University Department of Medicine, said they looked “totally normal.”

Mr. Greene, slowed by injuries in 2003, ran faster in 2004. He ran the 100 meters in 9.87 seconds — his best time in three years — for the bronze medal at the Athens Olympics. He also took a silver for anchoring the 4x100-meter relay.

Mr. Heredia said he stopped working with Mr. Greene after the Athens Games because of the expanding Balco investigation. Mr. Greene has not broken 10 seconds since then. He retired from racing in February at age 33 and was named an ambassador for the I.A.A.F.

Suspended Athletes

Of the two dozen sprinters Mr. Heredia said he worked with over the years, official track records show that seven of them have been barred for periods of two years to life for drug violations. Mr. Heredia said some took drugs that he did not recommend. Others were implicated in records seized from Balco after they switched from working with Mr. Graham and Mr. Heredia to working with Victor Conte Jr., a Balco co-founder.

Mr. Graham portrays himself as a whistle-blower because he sent a Balco syringe to investigators. But Mr. Heredia and Mr. Conte, in separate interviews, said that Mr. Graham was simply trying to put Mr. Conte out of business. Mr. Conte confirmed that he had known Mr. Heredia was supplying drugs to and advising athletes, including Ms. Jones, but he considered Mr. Heredia less sophisticated.

Some of the records Mr. Heredia showed to The Times were blunt and to the point. One e-mail message from a world indoor champion sprinter stated: “Send me some GH to my house. I am running Zurick. Let me know how much it is and I will send.” Mr. Heredia said “GH” was shorthand for growth hormone.

An e-mail message from July 2003 from Mr. Heredia to Raymond Stewart, a track coach in Texas who was a silver medalist in the 4x100 relay for Jamaica at the 1984 Olympics, described the drugs Mr. Heredia had recommended for two of Mr. Stewart’s runners. It referred to bottles of “g,” another shorthand for growth hormone, and testosterone. Reached by phone at his home, Mr. Stewart initially denied knowing Mr. Heredia. But after being provided with a copy of the 2003 message, he said that they had met. Mr. Stewart also said that he had rejected the drugs Mr. Heredia offered in the note. “We don’t do that,” Mr. Stewart said.

As Mr. Heredia waits to testify and worries he will be arrested, he still has work to keep him busy. He continues to advise foreign athletes on performance-enhancing drugs, he said, but never in the United States and no longer as a supplier.


Michael S. Schmidt and Elena Gustines contributed reporting from New York.


21
Football / Re: Shame on allyuh fellas..
« on: July 14, 2007, 11:13:39 AM »
Couple of points.  I agree with most of what the original poster has said.  It always amazes me.  Man bed not wet in Trini.  It extends to more than football.  Man does be living here illegal for 20 years, miss they loved ones funeral for fear that they wouldn't be allowed back in but have the worst things to say about this place.  As I have always said, unless they playing T&T, I supporting the US.  They more amazing thing is where the US has reached since 1990.  love it or hate it it is what makes this place great.  Money allied with organization allied with accountability.  Dont be amazed if we see the US in a WC semi in our lifetime.

22
Football / Re: Berry wins court matter over "Warrior" Jack.
« on: July 13, 2007, 08:47:02 AM »
This appears to be a relatively cut and dry matter.  Did Jack sign the contract signing over 10% of his purse to the agent? The answer appears to be yes given the court ruling.  Additionally, i don't find 10% to be particularly exorbitant.  Trini players are marginal players in the grand scheme of the English leagues so the choice maybe paying the 10% or having no contract at all.  simple economics - is not like you have Manu, Barca and Real Madrid chasing you where you have leverage and could go to the agent with the best terms.  There is no market for most of these players so the agent's job is 10 times more difficult as he has to find a club and that club will essentially dictate terms.  Also, you run up against the law of small numbers, these guys probably are paid so little relatively that his fee must be high enough to make this worth his while.

23
Football / Re: WARRIORS REALITY CHECK
« on: January 17, 2007, 01:21:24 PM »
Touches boy fight the good fight.  I am pretty much an observer now for the same reason for to say anything objective is to be branded crying down the team etc.  Sometimes people on this board are so laughably outlandish in their comments that it is not even funny.  Just look at the threads: Densil is a Premiership midfielder (although he couldn't make the bench for a second tier SPL team).  Hardest is a big talent (despite that he can't distinguish himself against side like B'dos and Martinique).  We could win the GCup with this current B side despite getting cut arse time and time again when we at full strength.  BTW, what is our record in the past 5 years against CRica, USA and Mexico. I know that we all support T&T but some reasoned discourseplease.  Anyway, Touches be that voice of reason

24
Small Mag,

Don't want to misinterpret.  Are you saying that Kona is Rooney's driver?  I know Kona had injuries but his a story of an almost criminal waste of talent.

25
Football / Ronaldo v. Rooney - The great Man U debate.
« on: December 28, 2006, 10:05:56 PM »
I am the biggest Man U supporter and i always getting in to argument with a pardner about the relative merits of Rooney and Ronaldo.  My view is that Ronaldo is proving this year beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a superior player to Rooney.  I just think that it is typical English bias that has cast Rooney as this great player.  I watch all Man U Prem. games and i think that while Rooney is a very good player, the hype surrounding him has long since exceeded his value as a player.  Last game was a prime example when Man U only came to life with Ronaldo's introduction.  IMHO Ronaldo has the potential to be the best Man U attacking player in my lifetime.  Rooney to me is very good but is not the savior of the English game like he is portrayed.

26
Football / Re: Yorke feeling frustrated
« on: December 28, 2006, 09:49:13 PM »
i would hope that Yorke makes this season his last and hangs up his boots.  It is sad to see a former Treble winning Man U automatic selection fighting for a sweat on a mid-table Division 2 team.  What happening to him is why I love sports - reputation means nothing. You either producing or you not.  Clearly over the hill and at his age, having lost 2 steps not cut out for English football. A man like Keano will be man enough to tell him to his face that he's past his sell by date.

27
Football / Re: Why i left Falkirk.....densil theobald's story
« on: August 18, 2006, 08:35:29 AM »
I have been following this thread and would like to state a few facts that i believe are being glossed over:
1. $TT1 million is not a lot of money.  People who talking about that as Lotto money out of their mind.  It was a good token by the govt. but by no means is that money you could live off of.  That may not even be enough money to buy you a decent house and car in T&T.
2. Densil's behavior has been utterly unprofessional.  He has not discussed that the manager treated him in any untoward way other than not playing him which after all is his perogative.  The mgr. didn't appear to be malicious, he just appeared to believe right or not that he wasn't ready for first team football YET.  The lying about his intent i.e claiming injury, etc. doesn't help
3. Fine he left Falkirk.  Now it is foolhardy to expect another team to pick him up given the circumstances.  You not playing home but you training with Caledonia.  Who is you to believe that a team will sign you when you are not playing with another team.  You on;ly do what you do at Falkirk if you cool playing in T&T which he doesn't appear to be.  The young man has destroyed his career.
4.  It is being extremely gracious to Densil to call him mediocre.  We have all been complicit in overhyping these players and it seems that Densil has drunk the coolade.  The WC was a magic time for us that shall forever remain burnished in our memories.  Let us not as a consequence take our feet off the ground.

I wish the young man well

28
Football / Re: Falkirk set to throw book at AWOL Theobald.
« on: July 28, 2006, 10:38:08 PM »
Who vex lorse but Theobold should lose his job.  He is an exceedingly mediocre player and league starting today and you ent report to the team saying you in T&T and hope they understand.  He must believe there is no future for him there or wants out but there are professional ways of handling these things

29
Football / Re: Falkirk set to throw book at AWOL Theobald.
« on: July 28, 2006, 03:29:14 PM »
Rastaman,

What nonsense yuh talking.  The Trini doctor has no place to tell anybody to take 4 weeks off.  That can only come from the falkirk staff after they examine their asset. if the T&T vdoctor could tell him to take 4 weeks off, he should pay him for vthem 4 weeks also.

30
Football / Re: Falkirk set to throw book at AWOL Theobald.
« on: July 28, 2006, 02:25:40 PM »
Filho, great post.  We must be mindful of not making excuses for these players although we emphatize with them as ours.  Your suggestion that TTFF could organize a seminar on professionalism is an excellent one.  From the words coming from Denzil he is being utterly unprofessional.  how u could tell your boss that you want to stay in t&T to recuperate whiletheir are doctors on their staff.  When you are under contract you are an asset of the Club.  Not unlike a piece of furniture.  You report to training, if you are injured their doctors are to look after you.  These boys are totally unprofessional.

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