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Volume: 119 No.70, March 3, 2022

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T R I B U N E 2 4 2 . C O M

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1

HERE WE GO - GAS PRICE ROCKETS IN JUST WEEKS Sears concedes Govt is concerned and special measures will be needed

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net PUBLIC Works Minister Alfred Sears said the government is concerned about the rise in gasoline prices at the pumps, adding some “extraordinary” measures will have to be considered and taken in response to an expected continued increase in fuel costs.

Over the last two weeks, motorists in New Providence, especially those who frequent Rubis gas stations, have faced a dramatic price hike. In mid-February,

the supplier’s price at the pumps was $5.16 per gallon - below its competitors. But as of yesterday, that price stood at $5.52.

While Shell stations did not increase during that time frame, remaining at $5.37, Esso rose by five cents, increasing from $5.19 to $5.24.

It follows speculation The Bahamas could see the cost of fuel rise anywhere between $6 and $8 per gallon.

Rubis Bahamas officials did not respond to an email

5TH FEBRUARY 1

MARCH 2nD

2 5 .

5 6 $ 1 . $5 per gallon

per gallon

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE requirement for an antigen test five days after arriving in The Bahamas is about to end.

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, the Minister of Tourism, Aviation SEE PAGE FOUR

SEE PAGE THREE

GOLDMAN SIGNALS STRATEGY SUPPORT

‘DUMPING BPL HEDGING DEAL MAY COST $200M’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor

FREE National Movement Leader Michael Pintard said the Davis administration must explain the status of Bahamas Power and Light’s hedging programme, saying the government’s tinkering with that contract could leave Bahamians facing higher electricity costs.

The Opposition leader’s

claim came amid fears that BPL customers could suffer a $200m-plus hit over the next two years as a result of increased electricity bills stemming from the failure to renew fuel hedging contracts (see Tribune Business).

On Monday, BPL retracted a statement announcing a fuel charge increase of 3.2 cents to 13.7cents per kWh. The statement said the new fuel SEE PAGE FOUR

TOURISTS’ FIVE-DAY TEST TO BE SCRAPPED

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE price of gasoline at $5.52 at the pump yesterday.

PHOTO: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune staff

SHADOW OVER OLYMPIANS’ HOMES

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net RAMON Miller and Eldece Clarke-Lewis, Bahamian Olympic gold medalists, beamed with happiness yesterday as the government signed a $1.2m contract for the installation of infrastructure and development of Olympia Heights.

The subdivision in western New Providence contains parcels of land

THE signing of the $1.2m contract for the installation of infrastructure and development of Olympia Heights.

Photo: Racardo Thomas gifted to the elite athletes after their respective wins at separate summer Olympic

games in 2000 and 2012.

For Mr Miller, it was a long time coming, having gone public more than four months ago with his battle to have the area outfitted with light, water and telecommunications utilities.

However, the event struck a different note with Pauline Davis-Thompson.

The 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medallist admitted a certain level of disappointment that what SEE PAGE FIVE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

THE Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday asserted that the Government’s $206.5m “repurchase” deal with Goldman Sachs “speaks volumes” to the credibility of its fiscal and economic plans.

SEE BUSINESS SECTION

FRONT PORCH: SUFFERING AND GEOPOLITICS OF UKRAINE

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, March 3, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

MEALS ready to be served in Bain and Grants Town yesterday. Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune staff

APPEAL FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR BAIN AND GRANTS TOWN MEAL PROGRAMME, OTHER INITIATIVES THE Bain and Grants Town Advancement Association is appealing for more volunteers to assist the organisation in its weekly meal programme and other initiatives for the disadvantaged.

In a press release, the association said workers and volunteers prepare food packages for more than 300 households each week while hot meals are given out each Wednesday. The organisation wants to expand its outreach, but needs more help.

“None of us could have anticipated that the coronavirus was coming, resulting in a worldwide pandemic,” the organisation said. “Certainly we didn’t realise how great of an impact it would have on the world, the nation, and indeed the community of Bain (and) Grants Town.

“We have been providing clothing, food, and assistance within our community. Our aim is to support the needed, isolated, sick, elderly and the vulnerable.”

The association said there are over 4,000 households in Bain and Grants Town and “over two thirds of them don’t have the necessary essentials to survive”.

“Our organisation felt that it was critical that we step up even in the midst of a

global pandemic to continue to serve the community.

“Every Wednesday, persons are given a free hot full meal and those that need clothing are able to come and be clothed for whatever occasion.

“We also cater to the educational needs of individuals, with our Bain Grants Town literacy programme, we host free book giveaways throughout the year ensuring that persons have a fair chance to grasp the importance of reading and how it affects their future.

“Another initiative is our food package giveaway. This is where our workers and volunteers prepare grocery packages for over 300 households weekly to ensure that they are able to sustain themselves for another week or two.

“Our goal is to expand our operations, allowing us to do more to help residents of Bain Grants Town on an even greater scale.

However, in order for us to continue our initiatives and add new ones we are seeking volunteers who are selfless and ready to help during these trying times.”

Those who are interested are asked to contact Mt Olive Baptist Church at 3288984 or email: bgtadvance@gmail.com.

THREE ROBBED BY MASKED GUNMEN

By DENISE MAYCOCK effects.

The suspects Tribune Freeport Reporter fled the scene in a white dmaycock@tribunemedia.net Honda Fit.

A WOMAN and two friends were held up and robbed at gunpoint in Grand Bahama on Tuesday.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Stephen Rolle said that the Police Control Room received a call shortly before noon about an armed robbery in the area of Drake Avenue.

Initial investigations revealed that the woman was sitting inside a vehicle, along with her male and female friends, when they were approached by two masked gunmen.

She told police that the suspects pointed the firearms in their direction and demanded cash.

The victim handed over a black grocery bag that contained her floral purse and a Michael Kors clutch.

There was $500 cash in total and other personal effects in the bags.

The gunmen, she said, also robbed her male friend of his wallet with an undetermined amount of cash and other personal

A few hours later, another incident was reported in the Drake Avenue area.

ASP Rolle said that shortly after 5pm, a male reported to police that he was assaulted by a gunman.

When officers arrived at the scene, he said they searched the area and found a man hiding behind a two-story apartment building on Drake Avenue.

The officers informed the man of their suspicion, he said. The suspect then directed the officers to a bushy pathway and pointed out a black Glock pistol, with a magazine containing one .9mm live round and two .357 live rounds of ammunition.

Asp Rolle said that the man was arrested as a result. He said the man is also a suspect in the armed robbery matter that occurred hours earlier at Drake Avenue.

Investigations are continuing into both incidents.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 3

Here we go - gas price rockets in just weeks HOUSING and Transport Minister Jobeth Coleby-Davis.

NATIONAL EXERCISE NEXT WEEK TO TEST EMERGENCY RESPONSE

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC Works Minister Alfred Sears.

FROM PAGE ONE inquiry from The Tribune up to press time yesterday.

Asked about the matter yesterday, Mr Sears said the Bahamian government was no different from administrations around the world regarding the worrisome cost of fuel.

“Every country in the world, other than the countries which have large deposits of oil and natural gas, is concerned,” Mr Sears said in response to a question from The Tribune. “So, the answer is yes, we are concerned.

“Especially (with) the war going on now with the invasion by Russia into Ukraine. Russia is the second largest supplier of oil so again there will be an impact as we have sanctions being applied by a number of countries on Russia.

“So, like every country in the world, we will have to take extraordinary measures.

“The government has backstopped BPL in the provision of a hedge strategy which stabilises the price or the rate of electricity notwithstanding the fluctuations in the marketplace.

“The Prime Minister yesterday (Tuesday) made an announcement from Belize that the government will take every measure to ensure that the very challenging external environment and rising price of fuel, that certain safeguards will be put in place so that the most vulnerable in the Bahamian society will not have to suffer any more than we have already suffered.”

He continued: “So, the government is committed. I am part of (the) Cabinet subcommittee dealing with energy and in addition to the Ministry of Finance providing support for the hedge

GAS prices at $5.52 at the pump yesterday. strategy, we’re looking at a number of other options such as moving toward a cleaner form of energy that will also reduce the cost and that is LNG. “We are also looking at solar and many local as well as international companies have put proposals to the government. We are reviewing and meeting with these various parties.

We’ll be establishing a process and will begin to meet with them leading to a contractual relationship with the country.”

He said the government would be making a strong push to decrease the country’s dependency on fossil fuels.

“Well, the government has already committed to achieve 30 percent of renewable energy in the power generation by 2030.

“That is a very ambitious target but it is a target that we have promised the Bahamian people that we will meet and we’re moving very aggressively.

“I can tell you every ministry, this ministry, the Ministry of Works, the future purchase of vehicles, cars, trucks, bush hogs and so on but we are starting to purchase electric vehicles and we will be installing charge stations in the various compounds of the Ministry of Works so that we can move very aggressively towards a cleaner form of energy rather than the fossil fuel that we use

and just reduce our carbon footprint.

So, in every way we can.

“We also are encouraging conservation of the consumption of electricity.

So, we all have a mandate and I will also use this opportunity to encourage every consumer to conserve in every way that we can because it benefits not only our families but also benefits our country.”

Late last month Bahamian consumers and businesses were warned to brace for gasoline prices to hit $6 per gallon this month after the Ukraine crisis sent oil prices soaring to sevenyear highs.

Vasco Bastian, the Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association’s (BPDA) vice-president, told Tribune Business at the time he was monitoring Russia’s actions towards its western neighbour days ahead of the military conflict - and its potential disruption on world output and supply chains - sent oil prices soaring to almost $100. Yesterday it stood at $110 a barrel.

Mr Bastian, also owner/operator of Esso’s East Street South and Soldier Road gas station, added that “if war breaks out” then oil prices could possibly go up by another 50 percent.

A war began in the following days.

On the heels of this, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell predicted an $8 high due to inflation sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

GLADSTONE ROAD CONVERSION TO HIGHWAY WILL BE A ‘SIGNIFICANT’ COST TO TAXPAYERS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE “very important” conversion of Gladstone Road to a four-lane highway for its entire length will come at “significant” cost to taxpayers, according to Public Works Minister Alfred Sears yesterday.

While he declined to reveal the project’s cost, saying an announcement would be made later, the minister said there will be wide public consultation.

“At this point it’s going to be a significant cost, but it’s also going to be very important,” the Fort Charlotte MP told reporters yesterday.

“We will announce the figures. It is an important carriageway, bringing people from the southern part of New Providence to work and school in other parts and we know that it’s not adequate for the volume of traffic and time is of the essence in terms of getting to work, getting to school and, of course, getting home after work.”

He insisted that the cost of the project was not “a state secret”.

Tribune Business reported yesterday that the project is to be

completed by the end of 2024. The timeline came out of a town hall meeting on Tuesday night.

The plan will further add new roundabouts to be constructed at the new Rubis gas station, and another near Aquinas College high school.

There will also be changes to the roundabout at JFK Drive and Gladstone Road.

The JFK roundabout will be expanded to three lanes in some areas, and will be dual lane for the most part. An official said this will create better traffic flow for that intersection, and allow vehicles exiting Gladstone Road on its north end better access to join the traffic.

There will be a total of 13 new bus stops along Gladstone Road with designs that will mirror those on Baha Mar Boulevard, with adequate pull over space. There also will be a proposed four-foot pull-over lane for both north and south-bound traffic.

Mr Sears also referred to what the focus of his ministry has been since taking office in September.

He was asked about his ministry’s plans for shanty towns in view of reports that new unregulated

communities were popping up, not only in Abaco, but in other places.

The minister said no policy decision had been taken at this time, adding: “I’ve been focused quite frankly on restoration work in Abaco, in the Cays of Abaco (and) in East Grand Bahama.

“We have so many of our communities that are still in shatters. Docks need to be built in these communities where fishing is the life blood of the community and ramps need to be repaired.

“Also, airports need to be repaired, like in Treasure Cay and in Sweetings Cay. “Schools need to be rebuilt so we’ve been focusing on giving these

projects priority. “Travelling with me, technical teams were there and did preliminary assessments, went back and now they have prepared the scope of works.

“Those scopes have been quantified and we will be engaging contractors to really get this work done so that’s been the immediate focus and, of course, dealing with the usual and how do we move towards sustainability.

“We have to do a lot of work on the law and the whole Planning Subdivision Act. “That act was pronounced on the judicial committee of the Privy Council, section 62. So, we’re looking at what amendments to be made.”

HOUSING and Transport Minister Jobeth ColebyDavis advised members of the public yesterday that the ISPS Compliance Unit will be conducting a national exercise next week to test the country’s capability of responding to emergencies.

She stressed that effective security and efficient response to emergency situations at international port facilities within the country is a major priority for the government.

The exercise will take place on March 10.

“As the Minister of Transport and Housing, I am fully aware of the role that international port facilities play in sustaining and growing our economy. I also understand the far-reaching impact that security breaches and deficiencies can have on our country’s reputation. Therefore, we must ensure that our port facilities are in a continuous state of readiness to handle any emergency,” she said.

“I wish to advise members of the public that on March 10 the ISPS Compliance Unit will be conducting a national exercise to test the country’s

capability of responding to a synchronised incident affecting multiple international port facilities within The Bahamas.”

She said the exercise is being held to promote emergency preparedness, test the country’s implemented security measures, and evaluate the nation’s response to an emergency at selected International port facilities.

“The knowledge gained from this national exercise will highlight areas of strength and reveal areas of opportunity for improvement,” she said yesterday.

She noted her team has had a test run.

“They’ve had quite a number of meetings with all of the stakeholders involved and we’re ready.

“We had our team on the ground in Abaco that also hosted meetings in Grand Bahama and also the various other Family Islands.

“And so we are ready and they are connected and where there’s deficiencies that’s what it is going to show us.”

Acting Port Controller Berne Wright stated that in previous exercises, communication and resource challenges were uncovered.

“Those are two of things we would’ve noted in previous exercises,” he said.

PAGE 4, Thursday, March 3, 2022

‘DUMPING BPL HEDGING DEAL MAY COST $200M’ FROM PAGE FOUR hedge would remain well below market prices and added that without that protection, customers could experience the effects of soaring oil prices that have been exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict. BPL said the now-shelved fuel charge hike would have resulted in an $8 monthly increase in electrify bills for lowusage consumers and a $19 rise for those using 600 kWh. In the retracted press release, BPL CEO Whitney Heastie said waiting to adjust the fuel cost after June 2022, when the existing hedge expires, would bring a higher per kilowatt hour increase.

On Tuesday Alfred Sears, Minister of Works & Utilities, said the plan of BPL’s board was reversed because Cabinet had not yet discussed the matter. He said the recalled release issued by BPL was “premature”.

Mr Pintard said in a statement: “Why did the Prime Minister allow the Minister of Finance (to) overrule the decision by the board and executive of BPL, and no doubt the minister, that the hedging programme be continued?

This must be explained, especially in the face of rising fuel costs which must ultimately be passed on to consumers.

“Who was it that made the ill-advised decision to essentially cancel the programme, resulting in a comedy of errors that has embarrassed the minister and the administration?”

The first hedging transaction was executed in June 2020 in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank. That action locked the country into a fuel surcharge rate of 10.5 cents per kWh for 18 months.

Mr Pintard said: “We call on the administration to come clean and explain to the Bahamian public the fate of the unprecedented fuel hedging programme left in place at BPL by the FNM administration, which has been definitively demonstrated to have saved Bahamians and the public purse about $55m to date as projected when the programme was initially put in place.

“The Davis administration must come clean and tell the Bahamian public if the usual quarterly hedging trades were executed after the last trade that was conducted in June 2021 by the FNM administration.

“If subsequent hedging transactions were not executed by BPL and the Ministry of Finance, who gave the order to cancel

THE TRIBUNE

INCREASE IN MATERNAL MORTALITY IN THE AMERICAS DURING PANDEMIC

By PAVEL BAILEY

FNM Leader Michael Pintard. these hedge transactions and on whose authority was this order given?

“BPL announced in June 2020 that the fuel surcharge would drop to 10.5c/kWh. That price was significantly lower than any point in the previous five-year cycle, which saw fuel charges as high as 19c/ kWh. “The fuel hedging programme required a review after 12 months, and following the mandated 12-month review, in June 2021, the fuel charge remained at 10.5c/kWh and was scheduled to do so through June 2022.

“By July 2021. . . the average residential customer bills were down by 24 percent versus June 2018 due mostly to the sustained reduction in the fuel cost underpinned by the fuel hedging programme.

BPL reported that from August 2020 to July 2021, customers and the Public Treasury saved $15 million as a result of the fuel hedge programme.

“In fact, BPL executives were confident that if the current trend continued, the company could project savings of about $50 million to customers and public treasury from August 2020 to January 2022.”

Mr Pintard yesterday demanded a “more believable explanation” as to why Mr Heastie would issue a public statement announcing a fuel price increase only to have to retract that statement about an hour later.

“To call the release ‘premature’, given what must have happened before the statement was issued, is insufficient,” he said.

“What is the extent of the Davis administration’s interference in BPL operations?”

A PAN American Health Organization official said a lack of access to timely care and disruptions to prenatal services are to blame for an increase in maternal mortality in the Americas during the pandemic, with one in three pregnant women unable to access timely critical care.

PAHO Director Carissa Etienne spoke about the issue during a regional press briefing yesterday as she called for an uptake in vaccination among pregnant women, who are “among the most vulnerable” for COVID-19 infection.

With COVID-19 cases among pregnant women reaching more than 365,000 in the region over the past two years, and deaths surpassing 3,000, Dr Etienne said “this is a tragedy, especially now that we have safe and effective vaccines.”

A pre-published PAHO study on maternal mortality across eight countries showed that of 447 pregnant women that died between March 1, 2020 and November 29, 2021, 90 percent were already experiencing life-threatening symptoms when admitted to hospital. Nearly 77 percent delivered their babies prematurely and 60 percent were born with low birth weight – an issue that can impact the health of a child for the rest of its life, according to PAHO. “We must prioritise women to ensure they are shielded from the worst of the pandemic,” Dr. Etienne said.

Pregnant women are “among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, due to changes in their immune system which can put them at risk for severe disease,” she added.

She urged countries to urgently ramp up access to vaccines, ensure the continuation of health services that women depend on, and improve

access to family planning services.

These are “life-saving services that should remain open now more than ever,” she added.

While most countries in the region recommend COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women, their uptake is still very low.

“It is critical that health workers

“It is critical that health workers talk to expectant mothers about the importance of getting vaccinated to protect them, and their babies, from this virus.”

PAHO Director Carissa Etienne talk to expectant mothers about the importance of getting vaccinated to protect them, and their babies, from this virus,” Dr Etienne said.

Dr Etienne also said that as women make up the majority of the health workforce, this demographic accounted for more than 70 percent of COVID cases in the profession.

“Of course, COVID also had a significant impact on women’s health as the vast majority of our health workforce, women, were at the frontlines caring for COVID patients and putting themselves at risk. It is no surprise therefore that they accounted for more than 72 percent of all COVID cases among health professionals,” she said.

She also spoke about the pandemic’s effect on mental health as she said that both health professionals and young people’s mental states have been adversely affected.

“Our new scientific brief that was

based on global burden of disease data shows some early evidence of the pandemic’s impact on mental health.

In the first year of the COVID19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by more than 25 percent. “The greatest increase in depression and anxiety were found in places that were highly affected by COVID-19 where infections were high and movement was restricted. Interesting to note that females were more affected than males and younger people, especially those aged 20 to 24 years, were more affected than older adults.

“We are especially focused on the impact on our healthcare workers who really have suffered unprecedented burdens in caring for people with COVID-19 and in many cases not being able to save them. And while at the same time taking care of households and dealing with the fear of infecting their families. The scientific brief found that exhaustion in healthcare workers, loneliness, and a positive COVID-19 diagnosis increased the risk of suicidal thoughts.”

Turning to the COVID-19 situation in the region, the director reported that new cases dropped to 32 percent from the previous week, reaching 1.5 million. Countries also reported 24,650 deaths, a 10 percent decline.

These downward trends were seen throughout much of the region, with the exception of Central America where deaths rose by nearly 16 percent this week.

Cases in The Bahamas have also been trending down in recent weeks.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness reported four new cases of COVID-19 in its March 1 dashboard.

Up to that point, 13 people were in hospital with two of them in intensive care.

The country has more than 250 active cases.

TOURISTS’ FIVE-DAY TEST TO BE SCRAPPED

FROM PAGE ONE

and Investments, said this will end immediately after the new rules are gazetted.

Currently, people who enter the country and stay longer than four nights and five days are required to take a second antigen test.

“For the avoidance of doubt,” Mr Cooper said, “you still require a test to enter The Bahamas. What we are going to offer to our guests is a free rapid test for their outgoing travel. So, as you now know, persons require a rapid test to enter the US for example. Rather than having the post-travel five day test, we will offer that as a part of the travel health visa programme.”

Mr Cooper said the government is not concerned now that removing the day five test will allow COVID19 cases to go undetected, noting cases and hospitalisations around the world are declining.

“We have to strike a balance consistently between being competitive, between facilitating visitors and guests to our shores as well

DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper, the Minister of Tourism, Aviation and Investments. as protecting the health and safety of the Bahamian people. We’ve done well so far. Every time there’s a change we’ve pivoted well.

When Omicron came we changed it from a five-day test to a two-day test and we hope to be at the end of the pandemic soon, but we’re not there yet and the reality is we want to keep our infrastructure in place in the event there is a fourth wave we’re able

to respond very quickly so we’re making the adjustments as we go along.”

Mr Cooper said some tourism stakeholders are lobbying the government to further relax restrictions, including the mask mandate. “…Suffice it to say we’re looking at (the recommendations) and every week, if we deem it appropriate, we will make adjustments but we want to make sure we

are competitive, we strike the right balance between driving our industry and the health and safety of the Bahamian people.

“There is a recommendation to remove the mask requirement, for example.

And we see in some jurisdictions that this is the direction that some counties are going in. Some counties have declared that the pandemic is over and we want to ensure that we get it right as best as possible and, therefore, we are going to be very deliberate in our approach.

“Suffice to say, many of the people who say eliminate the requirement to wear masks also want us to have low levels of CDC rating and sometimes you can’t have both. There are some who would like to see no protocols whatsoever.

There’s some who say eliminate the need for tests to come into the country, but it’s the same people who say we need a low CDC rating to bolster our industry. It is our job as policy makers to ensure that we strike the right balance and this is what we will continue to do.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 5

Shadow over Olympians’ homes FROM PAGE ONE had been promised concerning her gifted property — a clause in her property’s documents that outlined that a road from West Bay Street was to be cut for access to the subdivision — has apparently been omitted.

She also told reporters she was somewhat “depressed” that so much time had passed since receiving the gift that she was now past the maximum age limit banks require to gain approval for mortgages.

“When we got our documents 20 plus years ago they stated on the document that a road to our property would be cut from West Bay Street, that the transformer was going to be removed and the road was going to get cut from there,” she said to Public Works Minister Alfred Sears when the event opened for questions from the press moments before the contract was inked.

“It was also stated to us that the reason why the road would be cut from West Bay Street was that it would make our property value more.

“So, the question I am asking now, sir, based on what was said, our road is not getting cut from West Bay Street.”

In a separate interview following the signing, Mrs Davis-Thompson said: “Well, my concern is that there are several of us now who are past the age of being able to go to a bank to get loan to build on our property and that deeply concerns me because that property was given to us by the people of The Bahamas. “…I am so excited to sit here today and hear what Minister Sears has to say and to know that, wow, 22 years and now we are finally able and going to be able to have access to the property, but at the same time while I’m excited and happy, there is a part of me that’s a little depressed because I recognise that the beautiful gift that the Bahamian people have given to us there are some of us, and that includes me, that are not at the age where we can get loans from banks. So, what is supposed to happen now?

“I want to live there. It’s important to me.”

Meanwhile Francis Clarke, senior engineer, noted challenges due to the terrain of the area and added that had the site been developed 20 years ago, it may have been possible to build the road access from West Bay Street.

However, he said, there were developments at the location now where the developers excavated and at the northern end where the road was planned to be cut there was a 20ft drop.

He said officials intended to build a stairway to give the public pedestrian access to West Bay Street and around the area there would be a monument

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis.

CARICOM AWAITING SECURITY COUNCIL DECISION ON RUSSIA

THE SIGNING of the $1.2m contract for the installation of infrastructure and development of Olympia Heights. Olympians Eldece Clarke-Lewis, Ramon Miller and Pauline Davis-Thompson are among those looking on. Photos: Racardo Thomas

PUBLIC Works Minister Alfred Sears and Pauline Davis-Thompson.

CARICOM is awaiting a decision from the United Nations Security Council before taking a position on whether member states should impose sanctions on Russia, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said yesterday.

Mr Davis spoke from Belize, where he is attending CARICOM meetings.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war were brought up yesterday at the sessions. “. . .The issue of Russia and Ukraine, as I mentioned earlier when I embarked to come to these meetings, I knew it would loom large in our deliberations and dialogue,” Mr Davis said in an interview with Press Secretary Clint Watson.

“We today issued a very strong statement in support of the UN charter that protects and preserves a country’s territorial integrity and their sovereignty.

And in that regard, flowing from that, is the question of sanctions (being) imposed by CARICOM states.

“The general consensus is that until the UN Security Council will pass a resolution to confirm that member states ought to impose sanctions, we have decided to just sit back and wait to abide (by) the outcome of such resolution.”

He also said: “A number of countries have indicated that overtures have been made to them in respect to sanctions, that’s why the question came (as) to what we will do as a collective body and came down on the side of awaiting and abiding the decision of the UN Security Council.”

Mr Davis said talks were also held on climate change at CARICOM meetings.

“We discussed the issue.

We are going to remain engaged in dialogue and we are going to make sure that our voices are heard in the right places.”

Regional leaders discussed accessing funding for mitigation and adaptation, and the challenges in obtaining these funds, he said.

Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Co. is looking for a suitable candidate to fill the following position:

Brewery Chief Engineer Qualifications | Suitable applicants must have:

• A degree in Engineering • 5 years experience in Beer Manufacturing RAMON MILLER and Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg speaking at the signing. commemorating the athletes.

For his part, Mr Sears said the ministry would look at the issue.

He also apologised to the athletes for the time it took to have the area remediated.

“We extend an apology for conveying the land and failing up to now, 20 years to install the infrastructure.

“I am aware, and we all are aware, that one of the recipients of the land, Mr Ramon Miller, has built in the absence of the infrastructure.

“I want to say to you thank you for your consistent advocacy and it was in fact through your advocacy

that it came to my attention and the urgency and when I brought it to the Cabinet and the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, we made it a commitment of the government to do what should have been done, but it was not.

“You deserve the best because of your hard work and your extraordinary global achievement.”

The work has been contracted to Stubbs Heavy Equipment and Construction Ltd. The company is owned

by Charles Stubbs.

The scope of work will include site investigation and surveying, design of utility infrastructure,

civil works, setting out the works, site clearance and earthworks.

Stubbs Construction will also see to the installation of utilities: water and sewerage, electricity and telecommunications, asphalt paving and striping, proper drainage, sidewalks and landscaping.

The price of the contract is $1,227,953.10 and there is a completion timeline of 270 days.

• 5 years experience in European Bottling System • 5 years experience in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and at least 5 years in Mechanical Engineering Interested persons may apply in writing to: Barefoot Marketing: P.O. Box F-41779 Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas

PAGE 6, Thursday, March 3, 2022

The Tribune Limited

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Plastic pollution is a global problem – here’s how to design a treaty to curb it PLASTIC pollution is accumulating worldwide, on land and in the oceans.

According to one widely cited estimate, by 2025, 100 million to 250 million metric tons of plastic waste could enter the ocean each year. Another study commissioned by the World Economic Forum projects that without changes to current practices, there may be more plastic by weight than fish in the ocean by 2050.

On March 2, 2022, representatives from 175 nations around the world took a historic step toward ending that pollution. The United Nations Environment Assembly voted to task a committee with forging a legally binding global treaty on plastic pollution by 2024. U.N. Environment Program Executive Director Inger Andersen described it as “an insurance policy for this generation and future ones, so they may live with plastic and not be doomed by it.”

I am a legal scholar and have studied questions related to food, animal welfare and environmental law. My forthcoming book, “Our Plastic Problem and How to Solve It,” explores legislation and policies to address this global “wicked problem.”

I believe plastic pollution requires a local, national and global response.

While acting together on a world scale will be challenging, lessons from some other environmental treaties suggest features that can improve an agreement’s chances of success.

A pervasive problem Scientists have discovered plastic in some of the most remote parts of the globe, from polar ice to Texas-sized gyres in the middle of the ocean. Plastic can enter the environment from a myriad of sources, ranging from laundry wastewater to illegal dumping, waste incineration and accidental spills.

Plastic never completely degrades.

Instead, it breaks down into tiny particles and fibers that are easily ingested by fish, birds and land animals. Larger plastic pieces can transport invasive species and accumulate in freshwater and coastal environments, altering ecosystem functions.

A 2021 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on ocean plastic pollution concluded that “[w]ithout modifications to current practices … plastics will continue to accumulate in the environment, particularly the ocean, with adverse consequences for ecosystems and society.”

National policies are not enough To address this problem, the U.S. has focused on waste management and recycling rather than regulating plastic producers and businesses that use plastic in their products. Failing to address the sources means that policies have limited impact. That’s especially true since the U.S. generates 37.5 million tons of plastic yearly, but only recycles about 9% of it.

Some countries, such as France and Kenya, have banned single-use plastics.

Others, like Germany, have mandated plastic bottle deposit schemes. Canada has classified manufactured plastic items as toxic, which gives its national government broad power to regulate them.

In my view, however, these efforts too will fall short if countries producing and using the most plastic do not adopt policies across its life cycle.

Growing consensus Plastic pollution crosses boundaries, so countries need to work together to curb it. But existing treaties such as the 1989 Basel Convention, which governs international shipment of hazardous wastes, and the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea offer little leverage, for several reasons.

First, these treaties were not designed specifically to address plastic. Second, the largest plastic polluters – notably, the U.S. – have not joined these agreements. Alternative international approaches such as the Ocean Plastics Charter, which encourages governments and global and regional businesses to design plastic products for reuse and recycling, are voluntary and nonbinding.

Fortunately, many world and business leaders now support a uniform, standardised and coordinated global approach to managing and eliminating plastic waste in the form of a treaty.

The American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, supports an agreement that will accelerate a transition to a more circular economy that promotes waste reduction and reuse by focusing on waste collection, product design and recycling technology. America’s Plastic Makers and the International Council of Chemical Associations have also made public statements supporting a global agreement to establish “a targeted goal to ensure access to proper waste management and eliminate leakage of plastic into the ocean.”

However, these organisations maintain that plastic products can help reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions – for example, by enabling automakers to build lighter cars – and are likely to oppose an agreement that limits plastic production. As I see it, this makes leadership and action by governments critical.

The Biden administration also has stated its support for a treaty and is sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Nairobi meeting. On Feb. 11, 2022, the White House released a joint statement with France that expressed support for negotiating “a global agreement to address the full life cycle of plastics and promote a circular economy.”

Early treaty drafts outline two competing approaches. One seeks to reduce plastic throughout its life cycle, from production to disposal, a strategy that would probably include methods such as banning or phasing out single-use plastic products.

A contrasting approach focuses on eliminating plastic waste through innovation and design – for example, by spending more on waste collection, recycling and development of environmentally benign plastics.

Elements of an effective treaty Countries have come together to solve environmental problems before.

The global community has successfully addressed acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion and mercury contamination through international treaties. These agreements, which include the U.S., offer strategies for a plastics treaty.

The Montreal Protocol, for example, required countries to report their production and consumption of ozonedepleting substances so that countries could hold each other accountable.

As part of the Convention on Longrange Air Pollution, countries agreed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, but were allowed to select the method that worked best for them. For the U.S., that involved a system of buying and selling emission allowances that became part of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

Based on these precedents, I see plastic as a good candidate for an international treaty. Like ozone, sulfur and mercury, plastic comes from specific, identifiable human activities that occur across the globe. Many countries contribute, so the problem is transboundary in nature.

In addition to providing a framework for keeping plastic out of the ocean, I believe a plastic pollution treaty should include reduction targets for both producing less plastic and generating less waste that are specific, measurable and achievable. The treaty should be binding but flexible, allowing countries to meet these targets as they choose.

In my view, negotiations should consider the interests of those who experience the disproportionate impacts of plastic, as well as those who make a living off recycling waste as part of the informal economy. Finally, an international treaty should promote collaboration and sharing of data, resources and best practices.

Since plastic pollution doesn’t stay in one place, all nations will benefit from finding ways to curb it.

(This article is by Sarah J. Morath of Wake Forest University for theconversation.com)

ICELANDIC stallions eat hay from a box in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The peak of utter madness EDITOR, The Tribune.

DEAR Prime Minister Davis and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs The last four days has shattered normalcy for many, as the Russian military made the decision to invade Ukraine in an attempt to “demilitarize” the country and remove the “Neo-Nazi regime”.

The chaos created a new migrant crisis, gas and oil soaring to new heights in prices and an economic crisis has only begun to take place in Russia.

Once again, Europe is now faced with a new war that could have been easily prevented. Russia, however, doesn’t take the blame alone.

For months President Putin wanted a simple demand that Ukraine would be forbidden from joining NATO, mainly because of an earlier agreement with Russia and the EU, stating that NATO would not extend membership to former Soviet Satellite States to set up military bases that would compromise Russian security and sovereignty.

Despite the aggressive nature of Vladimir Putin, he’s not wrong.

Historically, the US was faced with the same issue during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the Cold War era, where the Soviets were setting up missile launch sites across Cuba and almost started another world war.

Fortunately, level heads prevailed and the Soviet Union was forced to abandon the project.

The Russo-Ukrainian war is just another repeat of the Cuban Crisis of the 1960s, only now that the US and NATO have pushed the Kremlin into a corner by refusing to heed Putin’s advice and the threats of sanctions has followed. Because of the lack of wisdom found in both Russia and the West, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and Europe and Russia will face historical economic hardship that will rival the disaster that was the Second World War. Despite the initial sanctions to cripple Putin and the Russian Oligarchy, even those sanctions and blacklists would still fail because the highly wealthy upper class can still access money elsewhere through banking

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net

loopholes and other means of bypassing economic embargoes. Only the middle class Russians will suffer, and the poverty line and wealth divide will grow nationally as more people are added to the local food aid programmes and soup kitchens.

With the ruthless nature of the Russian government and the abhorrent lack of respect of boundaries found in the EU and the West when it comes to foreign nations.

The only logical solution is for the Bahamas, the Caribbean and all nations outside of the European Union and the Western sphere of influence is to denounce both Russia and NATO. When the EU or Moscow asks The Bahamas to put your vote in favour of supporting Ukraine or Russia while attending a UN summit, the government should refrain and put shame on both sides by simply calling out those responsible for the Ukrainians killed in the crossfire and the Russians who never wanted to be financially crippled and isolated from the world because of NATO’s shortsighted behaviour.

If Joseph Biden, Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin or any European leader tries to offer an enticing trade deal to Bahamians, do not be eager to accept it.

Instead, you should question everything they say to you and their intentions.

Find the strength and resources to put yourselves into a position of power and ensure that you won’t be betrayed when they try to undermine this country.

Any efforts by NATO or the Russian-led CSTO attempts to offer The Bahamas membership into one of these defense pacts against another nation’s sovereignty should be unanimously rejected and rebuked by politicians and the public.

When they attempt to antagonize this country by threatening sanctions, rebuke them as well and hire the best legal team to combat any baseless claims against The Bahamas.

Fortunately, history will remember us as the ones who wanted sanity in the midst of chaos.

These words should be repeated not just for the Bahamas, but to every non-European nation across the planet.

This is another major war that could have been prevented if it weren’t for the ambitions of Putin and the European Union, who believe that it’s okay to bully someone who can cause massive destruction equal to Western military forces.

The Asian countries should have been the Bahamas’ strongest allies and trading partners, because the Americans, Europeans and Russians are far too unstable and potentially destructive to developing countries like us. If they rope us into taking sides, we’ll get nothing but hardship in return for serving our “Allies.”

For the shortsightedness of the EU to set up sanctions?

Shame on them, because those sanctions will hurt the average Russian, but not the Oligarchs who benefit from the Russian Military Industrial Complex.

For Vladimir Putin to believe he can do whatever he wants to former Soviet Satellite States?

Shame on him, because he violated the inherent right of Sovereignty to other nations.

For NATO to persuade Ukraine and other Baltic nations to turn against Russia in a foolish proxy war instead of allowing them to have a beneficial neutral stance between Europe and Russia?

Shame on them, because they now face yet another war in Europe with global economic consequences.

If the Russo-Ukrainian war isn’t the peak of madness, then we don’t know what is considered madness.

What we do know is that the Bahamas and every non-European country must take no sides and condemn the EU, NATO and Russia publicly, give no support to any of them and stand our ground.

If we give support to one or the other over this war; then we’re tolerating foolishness, genocide and economic hardships.

AMMAKA RUSSELL Nassau, March 1, 2022.

THE TRIBUNE

COMMUNITY SERVICE FOR STEALING JUMPER CABLE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 25-YEAR-OLD man who claimed he stole a jumper cable from a man’s vehicle because he was drunk was yesterday ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

Lynden Williams pleaded guilty to stealing when he appeared before Magistrate Kendra Kelly after police found him with the stolen cable on February 28.

On the day of his arrest Police said Williams told them: “I know I guilty boss.”

When given the opportunity to speak during yesterday’s hearing, the accused told the magistrate that he was intoxicated when he took the item.

He also claimed he didn’t remember where he got the cable from nor any other details about the night.

“I took too much Hennessy at a party. I been out partying,” he said.

Asked if he was an alcoholic, the accused replied “no,” but admitted to smoking occasionally.

Before delivering her sentence, Magistrate Kelly told the accused that she would take into consideration his youth and the fact that his past antecedents were not of a similar nature.

As a result, he was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

Williams was told that completing the community service hours would result in an absolute discharge.

The magistrate also cautioned him against re-offending, warning that she would not be as lenient should he appear before her court again.

Also appearing in court on a similar charge was Leslie Knowles, 24.

Knowles was arrested after he tried to break into Valdez Carey’s home on February 27.

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to attempted housebreaking during his appearance before Magistrate Kelly.

However, the case was adjourned to tomorrow after the prosecutor told the court the charges may have to be amended given the time the offence took place.

Having heard this, Knowles broke down in tears, asking the court not to send him to jail.

He told the magistrate he was influenced by alcohol when he committed the offence and claimed to have fallen on hard times.

“I was hungry,” he said.

“I don’t live with anyone. I don’t have no clothes, nothing. My stepdaddy kicked me out of the house. My mother dead and I sleep in cars. I even showed (police) the car I sleep in.”

As a result, Knowles was remanded and will return to court on Friday.

Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 7

TOP FINANCIAL OFFICER CLAIMS EMPLOYEE ADMITTED STEALING CASH FROM COMPANY

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A TOP financial officer at a local insurance company yesterday recounted how a former employee admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from the company after officials found several compromised deposit bags in her desk.

Ricardo Underwood, chief financial officer at JS Johnson & Company Ltd, recalled the remarks after being called to the witness stand in the trial of 34-year-old Crystal Knowles.

Knowles, a former JS Johnson employee, faces several counts of stealing by reason of employment, falsification of accounts and money laundering.

The charges stem from allegations that she stole $83,430 while serving as a cash supervisor for the insurance company between February and March 2020.

The 34-year-old has denied the offences.

Mr Underwood told the court how he became suspicious of Knowles after a client alerted him to certain information.

The financial officer said it was this information that led him to start investigating

transactions made by Knowles and other employees.

Mr Underwood told the court after noticing a few irregularities, he called the accused into a meeting and claimed Knowles told him she would correct the issues.

However, shortly after the meeting, the witness said he received a concerning email from auditors concerning late deposits being made to the bank from the insurance company.

“As a result of that, I got very curious because our practice is to put monies that we collect in the bank the next day so that caused me to get really curious and I went looking for the company deposit register,” the witness told the court.

Mr Underwood said he was able to confirm the late payments after reviewing the company’s deposit register.

The witness said during that time, he observed several other irregularities, including the timeframe taken to transfer the funds into the bank after collection which he said were “abnormally long”.

Mr Underwood said while questioning Knowles, she claimed she was just following the directions of account

executives. In response, he said he told her “under no circumstances” should deposits be delayed.

Mr Underwood then noted his suspicions were further aroused after another staff member approached him and gave him certain information.

This, he added, led to a search being conducted of all cash supervisors’ desks.

Bags The witness said nothing was found in staff members’ desks with the exception of Knowles, where some six unsealed and ripped deposit bags were found inside her desk.

Cash in the amount of $2,900 was also discovered, he said, adding it was not normal practice for employees to hold company funds.

Mr Underwood said further investigations revealed that some $39,500 was missing from the bags in the first instance.

The court later heard that a total of $83,000 was discovered to be missing after officials conducted further enquiries.

Asked if he ever spoke with Knowles after discovering the

deposit bags, the witness said he did and claimed that she owned up to stealing over $39,000 to him and other company officials.

He also claimed that the accused seemed very calm during the meeting.

“She said her brother had medical expenses and she was trying to pay them off,” he added.

After police action was requested, Mr Underwood told the court that officers tried to persuade the company to make a settlement with the accused.

He said officials started to draft an agreement with her to reimburse the company but later decided against it. Asked if the accused signed the agreement, the witness said she did.

However, Mr Underwood was stopped from giving further evidence after defence attorney Wendawn Miller-Frazer raised objections to his testimony regarding the agreement and other claims.

Mrs Miller-Frazer also requested that certain documents be provided to the court to assist her with cross-examination of the witness.

As a result, the case was adjourned to April 6. Sgt Vernon Pyfrom is prosecuting the case.

COLINA DONATES $5,000 TO THE BAHAMAS KIDNEY ASSOCIATION

COLINA Insurance Limited is commemorating National Kidney Month by donating $5,000 to The Bahamas Kidney Association.

“Colina is committed to health and wellness in our communities and pleased to partner with BKA as they are likewise aligned,” said Maxine Seymour, director of corporate communications at Colina. “We must do all we can to prevent kidney disease and support those in the struggle as it is a debilitating illness with daily reminders for persons who are impacted by it and their loved ones.”

Colina employees will support The Bahamas Kidney Association by making donations and wearing green every Friday during the month of March to bring awareness to the cause.

“Kidney disease is growing more and more prevalent in The Bahamas, impacting hundreds of Bahamian families who struggle with the illness,” said Tamika Roberts, BKA president. “This makes the work of The Bahamas Kidney Association (BKA), a non-profit organisation, not only essential but critical in the prevention and management of kidney disease in our country.”

FROM left: Cheryl Martins, Colina manager of group sales and administration; Shanique Taylor, executive team member, Bahamas Kidney Association; Wendy Butler, Colina vice president of group and health benefits; Tamika Roberts, president of The Bahamas Kidney Association; and Sandra Thomas, Colina manager of claims and administration.

It is estimated that 10 percent to 13 percent of the adult population battles chronic kidney disease.

“We jumped at the opportunity to partner with The Bahamas Kidney Association to raise awareness in the prevention and management of kidney disease,” said Wendy Butler, Colina’s vice president of group and health benefits.

“We believe that education and awareness are key steps to lower the number of

Bahamians impacted by this disease.”

BKA has a variety of events during the month of March including webinars, free glucose and blood pressure checks, dietary supplement assistance for dialysis patients and an essay and video competition for high school students.

For details on all of this month’s activities, visit www.bahamaskidneyassociation.org, email info@bahamaskidneyassoication.org or call (242)457-0990.

PAGE 8, Thursday, March 3, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Suffering and geopolitics of Ukraine

Y

ESTERDAY, in an overwhelming vote signalling revulsion against the suffering in Ukraine and global opposition to Russia’s breach of the former’s sovereignty, the General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations supported a resolution “deploring Russia’s invasion and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces”.

The resolution unambiguously stated: the UN “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. It demanded “the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine” and “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces”.

In an emergency session, 141 of the GA’s 193 member states voted for the resolution. Thirty-five abstained and five voted against. Such lopsided votes on such contentious issues are rare.

The only countries to support Russia were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria. Cuba, Venezuela and China, longstanding allies of Russia, abstained.

The GA vote revealed the extent of Russia’s isolation.

The nations of the world have long grown weary of the imperialism of larger states, whether that of the United States, former European colonizers or Russia. The right to selfdetermination is deeply embedded in the consciousness of the global commons.

By invading Ukraine with such brutality, specious reasoning and imperialistic adventurism, Russia has breached and offended the core principle of national sovereignty. The abstentions by China and Cuba sent a compelling message.

China craves domestic and global stability.

It is likely President Xi Jinping, whose country enjoys a good relationship

with Ukraine, is watching the conflict warily, and is unhappy with the war.

A part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative is set to go through Ukraine.

Xi is also watching to see how the West, Europe and others respond to Putin.

The fog of war may last for some time in Ukraine.

It is still early days. How far is Putin prepared to go to subdue Ukraine and hold the country of 44 million, which is larger in size than France and also Spain?

How determined is the resistance?

How will economic sanctions against Russia play out in the intermediate and long-term? Countries such as Japan and other Southeast Asian nations have joined many of the Western sanctions.

How will opposition to the war grow in Russia?

Will this be a long urban war? How will this effect Russia long-term as the bodies of young Russians come home? The Russian people are tired of war. The memories of Afghanistan and Georgia are fresh.

The human suffering will be widespread and terrible.

Many civilians, including children will be killed or maimed in Ukraine. Scores of refugees are already flooding Europe.

There are continuing strikes on civilians, which is likely a strategy to lower the morale of Ukrainians.

And there are always horrible costs that cannot be seen or imagined.

Helmuth von Moltke, (1800-1891), was a German Field Marshal, known as Moltke the Elder. He cogently stated: “No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength.”

What has the authoritarian and brutal kleptocrat Vladimir Putin underestimated about the strengths of the Ukrainian people, Western powers, the United States and the global commons?

Another strategist put it this way. In an interview with a Sun Sentinel reporter years after a famous boxing match, Mike Tyson explained: “People were asking me, ‘What’s going to happen?

They were talking about his style.’ [They said] ‘He’s going to give you a lot of lateral movement. He’s going to move. He’s going

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) to dance. He’s going to do this, do that.’ I said, ‘Everybody has a plan until they get hit. Then, like a rat, they stop in fear and freeze’. “

A ROCKET fragment lies on the ground next to a building of Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) after a rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Ukraine, Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Andrew Marienko) Before Putin unleashed his forces, many analysts and others viewed the impending conflict primarily through the prism of the geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, ignoring the agency of Ukrainians and their desire for sovereignty and self-determination.

Anne Applebaum, who has followed Russia for many years, recently wrote in The Atlantic: “As it turns out, nations are not pieces in a game of Risk. They do not, as some academics have long imagined, have eternal interests or permanent geopolitical orientations, fixed motivations or predictable goals.

Nor do human beings always react the way they are supposed to react.

“Last week, nobody who was analyzing the coming war in Ukraine imagined that the personal bravery of the Ukrainian president and his emotive calls for sovereignty and democracy could alter the calculations of foreign ministers, bank directors, business executives, and thousands of ordinary people.

“Few imagined that the Russian president’s sinister television appearances and brutal orders could alter, in just a few days, international perceptions of Russia.”

Some were fixated on the imperialism and hypocrisy of America and the West, while saying little or more fully acknowledging Russian hypocrisy, imperialism and history of violence. America is a relatively young imperialist power. Russia has been a brutal imperialist power for centuries.

Throughout history, and in the world of contemporary realpolitik, great powers, such as the U.S., China and Russia, have spheres of influence and buffer zones. But by invading Ukraine, Putin may have miscalculated how far he can go.

With his bizarre rants about de-Nazifying Ukraine, and other behaviour, Putin seems isolated behind the Iron Curtain of the Kremlin Walls. Last week’s column noted how leaders may become isolated in a bunker mentality, incapable of seeing certain realities, and making avoidable mistakes.

There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, of an exchange between Nikita Khrushchev and fellow-Politburo members after he became First Secretary of the Communist

Party following Joseph Stalin’s death.

Khrushchev detailed for the members, the savagery, mass deaths and failures under Stalin.

A voice from the back of the room asked, “Where were you!?” Three times Khrushchev asked, “Who asked that question?”

When no one replied, he declared: “I was where you are!”

Who is going to speak truth to power or raise objections or queries to Putin, a former head of one of the country’s major intelligence bureaus, who is also a murderous authoritarian?

Putin’s isolation, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, may be worse than we realize.

By example, his hope for a coup de main in Ukraine in general or Kyiv in particular may have evaporated. Putin needs to win quickly militarily.

If he does not, the political, military and economic costs will mount rapidly, especially with Russia being under severe economic and financial sanctions, and becoming more isolated by the day.

Is he prepared to unleash on his fellow Slavs the same brutality he did on Muslims in Grozny in Chechnya?

How far is he prepared to go to secure what he deems a victory? What is the end game to hold Ukraine?

Calculations A number of commentators argued the Russian war on Ukraine would be a death knell of sorts for NATO and “the liberal world order”. So far, Putin’s war is making Russia a pariah state. His calculations may have backfired.

He appears to have reinvigorated NATO and the European Union, and galvanized global and Western opinion against Russia.

Germany has made a sea change in its approach to Russia. Finland and Sweden have talked about joining NATO. Various European countries are giving stepped-up bilateral military assistance, including fighter jets, to Ukraine.

Also writing in The Atlantic, Kori Schake observed: “Hungary, thought to be the weakest link in the Western chain, has supported without question moves by the European Union and NATO to punish Moscow. Turkey, arguably

the most Russia-friendly NATO country, having bought missile defence systems from Moscow, has invoked its responsibilities in the 1936 Montreux Convention and closed the Bosporus Strait to Russian warships.”

Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Putin, condemned “Russia’s military intervention”.

His Foreign Minister stated: “We stand with Ukraine — we stand with Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Applebaum also noted: “And what about Russia?

Is Russia condemned always to be a revanchist state, a backward-looking former empire, forever scheming to regain its old role?

“Must this enormous, complicated, paradoxical nation always be ruled badly, with cruelty, by elites who want to steal its wealth or oppress its people?

Will Russian rulers always dream of conquest instead of prosperity?”

But what about Ukraine?

What will this war mean for a people, with a history as old as Russia’s, that has struggled for self-determination for centuries? We are watching extraordinary history being written in real-time.

Timothy Gorton Ash, the British historian and political writer, who covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as well as the Balkanization of Yugoslavia, recently opined in The Guardian on the war in Ukraine: “ … We must be prepared for a long struggle.

It will take years, probably decades, for all the consequences of 24 February to be played out. In the short term, the prospects for Ukraine are desperately bleak. But I think at this moment of the wonderful title of a book about the Hungarian revolution of 1956: Victory of a Defeat.

“Almost everyone in the west has now woken up to the fact that Ukraine is a European country being attacked and dismembered by a dictator.

“Kyiv today is a city full of journalists from all over the world.

“This experience will shape their views of Ukraine forever. We had forgotten, in the years of our post-cold war illusions, that this is how nations write themselves on to the mental map of Europe: in blood, sweat and tears.”

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 9

Biden hit his stride in first State of the Union address Wow, we hadn’t see Biden perform like this since he took office When US President Joe Biden stumbles over a word or phrase when speaking in public, delivering everything from prepared orations to large audiences to impromptu remarks to a few reporters shouting questions at him from a distance, he tends to react the same way.

He reflexively closes his eyes for a brief moment, brow furrowed in likely frustration at the exposed imperfection, corrects himself and ploughs on.

He did so several times during his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. Some media, both left and right politically, will doubtless harp on that. But as his 62-minute address gained momentum, something else happened. Viewers could see it. Biden hit his stride – perhaps for the most visible and perhaps even for the first time in his presidency so far.

Whether he was castigating Russia and its venomous President, reassuring Americans that “we’re going to be OK” or touting his many legislative proposals that have mostly foundered on the shoals of partisan opposition in the Senate, this President, despite the stumbles noted above, did just fine.

He was especially strong on subjects he cares about, and at several points Biden rolled along with a kind of kinetic power that was actually mesmerizing.

Resolute Republican foes of Biden like House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and his top assistant Steve Scalia of Louisiana rose to join Democratic applause – reluctantly – on several occasions, and so did many other Republicans. Biden wisely led off with harsh words and policy announcements directed at Putin and his government. “He (Putin) has no idea what’s coming,” Biden boasted of future sanctions and other financial measures.

Feeling and looking expansive, Biden then declared that “we’ll defend Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania” – the NATO countries that border Russia or its near satellite Belarus, or Ukraine, whose future is so parlous just now.

Biden didn’t specifically mention Article 5 of the NATO alliance charter that mandates defence by all other alliance members if any member nation is attacked from abroad, but it was that precept that he was emphatically reinforcing.

Biden simply will not give up on congressional bipartisanship, and referred on several occasions to legislation he feels should enjoy support from every member of Congress regardless of party or place on the political spectrum. It often seems he just cannot acknowledge the Republican Party and most of its congressional leadership aims only to weaken and sabotage his presidency sufficiently that the GOP returns to power in the House and the Senate.

In that spirit, he touched on numerous Democratic and liberal priorities like abortion rights and support for workers’ rights to

Right man for the job

Y

ou’d expect that the top career professional in the British Embassy in Washington would be a “top man”. After all, it’s no secret the elegant low-slung chancery building on Massachusetts Avenue in the shadow of the National (Episcopal) Cathedral and practically next door to the official residence of the American Vice President is the most critical bilateral British mission anywhere overseas.

Michael Tatham, CMG, Oxford-educated and the son of a veteran diplomat, doesn’t disappoint. In his capacity as the second-incommand at this key mission, Tatham agreed to a lengthy discussion of the situation in Ukraine with a private audience the other day.

He has been at his current post for nearly four years, including service as Charge d’Affaires for a while after previous ambassador Kim Darroch, KCMG, resigned his post in 2019 five months after his sharply critical assessments of then-President Donald Trump were leaked to the press. Darroch was appointed to the House of Lords not long after his return to Britain.

In his interview, Tatham reflected the increasingly tough line of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “cynical and hypocritical” in launching his cause-free invasion of Ukraine. But at the same time, the diplomat lauded the “impressive shared resolve, substantive and clearly infectious,” of both the European Union and the G-7 group of top industrial nations in responding to the Russian invasion with sharp measures

delivered with alacrity.

He opined that based on what he has observed, the Western “locker of potential financial (sanctions) is hardly empty”.

Tatham confidently asserted some of those measures now held in reserve “will go much further than what we have seen so far, and far exceed what the Russians appear to have expected.”

He pointed out that many of the sanctions now being directed at Moscow have been marinating for eight years, ever since the Russians seized Ukraine in 2014.

“Today, more than 25 nations have agreed to send defensive aid to NATO nations who are now on the front lines facing the threat of further Russian aggression,” he said.

“My government has committed over $200 million for support of Ukraine and refugees from the area, and deployed over 1,000 troops to ensure proper delivery of that aid.

We expect that we may eventually welcome as many as 200,000 refugees to Britain under family reunification schemes.”

That such petroleum giants as BP and Shell have pulled out of Russia and their partnerships with Russian firms will be “massively self-defeating” for the Russians, Tatham predicted. Asked about the attitude of the Chinese government toward the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said he has noticed “a degree of unease in Beijing at what Russia has done,” despite the current rapprochement between the two.

Finally, Tatham noted Russia has become a “sports pariah,” which will hurt Moscow with soccer and other sports fans all over the

organize into labour unions, but did not dwell on them.

It felt like he knew he needed to reference these divisive subjects, but was determined to rush past them before the Republicans had a chance to organize a boo or even a groan.

He elicited that response only when criticizing his predecessor’s 2017 tax cuts that were criticized for benefitting mostly the richest American corporations and individuals.

There is still an everyman quality about Biden, despite the fact he is the American President. Who knows what the polls will show when they are breathlessly revealed in the days to come, but for one

PRESIDENT Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, in Washington. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP) observer, this man reminded his countrymen and women why they voted for him, and why the man he defeated so

presciently identified him as the candidate most likely to be his most troublesome opponent.

Selling the family jewels

S

PEAKING of sports in general and soccer in particular, Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine has shone the bright public spotlight on Roman Abramovich.

This Russian oligarch, with a fortune estimated at $13 billion from gaining ownership stakes in key Russian commodities and energy monopolies after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, 12 years later purchased ownership of English Premier League soccer club Chelsea, based in southwest London.

Since that purchase, this reputed Putin confidante has bankrolled the transition of what was previously an average mid-table club to a powerhouse that has won more championship trophies than any other in England since Abramovich took control.

During just this past year, Chelsea has won the world’s toughest club competition, the European Champions League; the Super Cup matching the winners of Europe’s top two tournaments, and the Club World Cup, which features the winners of all the soccer competitions on

every continent.

Now Abramovich is the subject of rampant rumours that he faces imminent British sanctions. Yesterday’s press was full of stories about his frantic efforts to sell Chelsea football club, purchased for $140 million 20 years ago. Boris Johnson faced sharp questioning in Commons the other day. One member said: “we must stand up to Putin and those who prop up his regime. Roman Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea Football Club and various other high-value assets in the United Kingdom,” according to the Guardian.

Meantime, in the midst of all this, Chelsea faced Liverpool Sunday in the final of the football League Cup (now sponsored by energy drink Carabao), before 85,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London.

“This was the best 0-0 draw any of us is likely to see in our lifetimes,” said one commentator. Liverpool won after added time on a Chelsea missed penalty shot.

These were two brilliant teams led by skilled German managers.

It will likely be the best match of this season.

PAGE 10, Thursday, March 3, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

UN Assembly votes to demand that Russia stop war in Ukraine

By EDITH M. LEDERER and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted at an emergency session Wednesday to demand an immediate halt to Moscow’s attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops, with sustained applause breaking out after a formidable show of support among the 193 member nations against the invasion.

The vote on the “Aggression against Ukraine” resolution was 141-5, with 35 abstentions. It came as Russia bombarded Ukraine’s second-largest city and pressed its assault on two important ports, and a huge convoy of Russian military vehicles was poised outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Only Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea joined Russia in opposing the measure, a powerful indication of the international isolation that Russian President

Vladimir Putin faces for invading his country’s smaller neighbour — and that the resolution’s supporters sought to emphasise.

The abstentions included China and India, as expected, but also some surprises from usual Russian allies Cuba and Nicaragua. And the United Arab Emirates, which abstained on Friday’s similar Security Council resolution, voted “yes.”

Cuba had spoken in Russia’s defence on Tuesday, with Ambassador Pedro Luis Cuesta blaming the crisis on what he said is the U.S. determination to keep expanding NATO toward Russia’s borders and on the delivery of modern weapons to Ukraine, ignoring Russia’s concerns for its own security. He told the assembly the resolution “suffers from lack of balance” and doesn’t begin to address the concerns of both parties, or “the responsibility of those who took aggressive actions which precipitated the escalation of this conflict.”

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Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do have clout in reflecting international opinion. Under special emergency session rules, a resolution needs approval of two-thirds of those countries voting, and abstentions don’t count.

After Russia vetoed a similar Security Council resolution Friday, Ukraine and its supporters won approval for the assembly to hold an emergency special session -the first since 1997 -- to try to spotlight opposition to Russia’s invasion.

Deploring Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine “in the strongest terms,” the measure demands an immediate halt to Moscow’s use of force and the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian forces.

The resolution says that Russia’s military operations in Ukraine “are on a scale that the international community has not seen in Europe in decades and that urgent action is needed to save this generation from the scourge of war.” It “urges the immediate peaceful resolution of the conflict” and reaffirms the assembly’s commitment “to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.”

The measure also condemns “the Russian Federation’s decision to increase the readiness of its nuclear forces” — an issue raised by many U.N. members concerned about that prospect.

Before the vote, Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, told the assembly, “They have come to the Ukrainian soil, not only to kill some of us ... they have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist.” He said that “the crimes are so barbaric that it is difficult to comprehend.”

UNITED Nations members vote on a resolution concerning the Ukraine during an emergency meeting of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia urged U.N. members to vote against the resolution, contending Western nations exerted “unprecedented pressure” with “open and cynical threats” to get support for the measure.

“This document will not allow us to end military activities. On the contrary, it could embolden Kyiv radicals and nationalists to continue to determine the policy of their country at any price,” Nebenzia warned.

“Your refusal to support today’s draft resolution is a vote for a peaceful Ukraine” that would not “be managed from the outside,” he said.

“This was the aim of our special military operation, which the sponsors of this resolution tried to present as aggression.”

The resolution also calls on Russia to reverse a decision to recognise two separatist parts of eastern Ukraine as independent. The measure further deplores “the involvement of Belarus in this unlawful use of force against Ukraine.” a characterisation that Belarussian Ambassador Valentin Rybakov flatly rejected in his speech to the assembly shortly before the vote.

He said Belarus’ only involvement in the conflict was organising talks, due to continue Thursday, between Russia and Ukraine. Belarus has taken Russia’s side, with Rybakov saying the resolution reflected “double

standards” toward Russia and the West.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters immediately after the vote: “The message of the General Assembly is loud and clear: End hostilities in Ukraine — now. Silence the guns — now. Open the door to dialogue and diplomacy — now.”

“We don’t have a moment to lose,” he said. “The brutal effects of the conflict are plain to see … It threatens to get much, much worse.”

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield followed, saying “the world has spoken with a clear, united voice” and the vote “demonstrated that Russia is isolated and alone, and that the costs will keep rising until Russia relents.”

She urged all countries to “keep the momentum going,” do everything possible to help the Ukrainian people, hold Russia accountable and “match our strong words with strong actions.”

Explaining China’s abstention, Ambassador Zhang Jun used more emotional language than at previous U.N. meetings, citing “dramatic changes of the situation in Ukraine” and calling what is unfolding “heart wrenching.” He reiterated Beijing’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, and for the peaceful settlements of all disputes in line with the U.N. Charter.

“The top priority right now is to ease the situation on the

ground as much as possible, and prevent the situation from escalating or even getting out of control,” Zhang said.

During more than two days of meetings preceding the vote, there were speeches from about 120 countries.

From the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau to Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany, country after country lashed out at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urged support for the U.N. resolution.

There were only a few that supported Russia and some that took no position, such as Suriname and South Africa.

The latter urged compromise and diplomacy to find a lasting resolution to the crisis. In Wednesday’s vote, Suriname voted “yes” and South Africa abstained.

The resolution’s co-sponsors included Afghanistan, where the Taliban ousted the elected government last August, and Myanmar, where the military overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021. But neither the Taliban nor Myanmar’s military government have gained U.N. recognition, so that support came from representatives of their previous governments.

During the meeting, some supporters of the resolution had signs under the nameplates of their countries in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colors reading: “#TodayWeAreAllUkraine.”

THE TRIBUNE

AKEEM GARDINER

Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 11

BERNADETTE TURNQUEST

ANTONIO THOMPSON

COLYN KRISTOPHER

CYNARA MUNROE

GABRIELLE FINLAYSON

A celebration of a new era of gospel music in the Bahamas

By ALESHA CADET Tribune features Reporter acadet@tribunemedia.net

U

nder the theme 'The New Class', Edgy Management along with the Caribbean app Cargos, will present A Celebration of Gospel this coming Sunday, March 6, at the Bahamas Harvest Church, East Campus, beginning 7pm.

According it the organisers, A Celebration of Gospel is an event designed to build a platform for both seasoned and upcoming gospel artists in the Bahamas.

“Music is being released frequently now and you will only hear the artists on the radio and not actually see them perform live.

As an executive producer, I decided to create this annual event to highlight the gospel talent we have here locally,” said Travis Edgecombe of Edgy Management and Cargos.

The gospel artists set to perform are: Akeem Gardiner, Eman, Stermon Rolle, Leandria Smith, Hadassah Thompson, Gabrielle Finlayson, Davian Chase, Cynara Munroe, Colyn Kristopher, Bernadette Turnquest, and.

Antonio Thompson of Cargos will be hosting.

“This year, I decided to showcase a new era of gospel artists that has emerged to take on the mantle of singing and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through music. Some of them you have seen before and others will be new and will experience their ministry for the first time. This is the reason the theme for this year is called ‘The New Class’,” said Mr Edgecombe.

“We have partnered with the Caribbean gospel app Cargos to stream the event live. Cargos highlights all things gospel, from music to the preaching of the gospel throughout the region and the local division of Tempo (Bahamas). We are delighted that its CEO and international recording gospel artist Sherwin Gardner has decided to host this year’s event. Most of the artists being featured will be singing their new singles live for the first time on Sunday. Others haven’t released their music as yet, but decided to give

HADASSAH THOMPSON

STERMON ROLLE attendees an exclusive experience of their music.”

Mr Edgecombe said he doesn’t want the event to be just something everyone just tunes in to watch. It is his goal to touch viewers’ lives, to see them transformed by the ministry of each artist that ministers in song. The ultimate audience member, he said, is Jesus himself.

“The overall goal is to highlight and bring awareness of local gospel artists here in the Bahamas.

I noticed we didn’t have much of a gospel industry.

There wasn't any structure in place. I pray this event will be a catalyst for more opportunities and international exposure for our local gospel community. Looking forward to hearts being changed, spirits moved and for the event to bring them closer to God, which is most important,” he said.

Meanwhile, Edgy Management is also preparing for the Bahamas Gospel Music Awards which will be held on Sunday, June 12.

“And we are looking to take A Celebration of Gospel to Grand Bahama in the near future,” Mr Edgecombe added.

POPE GIVES FATHERS WORKING AT VATICAN 3-DAY PATERNITY LEAVE

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has urged couples to have more children, rather than pets, and called for family-friendly government policies. So he raised eyebrows Tuesday when he revamped the Vatican’s family leave policy with a new benefit giving

new dads a mere three days of paid paternity leave.

The Vatican’s policy sets out the benefits for Vatican employees who have children or must care for disabled family members.

Under the policy, mothers already were entitled to six months’ maternity leave at full pay, which they can extend by another six

SEE PAGE 12

DAVIAN CHASE

EMAN

LEANDRIA SMITH

SHERWIN GARDNER

PAGE 12, Thursday, March 3, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

POPE GIVES FATHERS WORKING AT VATICAN 3-DAY PATERNITY LEAVE SEE PAGE 11 months at half-pay. Parents who adopt a child are entitled to a similar benefit.

The new law sets out a three-day leave for new fathers at full pay. In contrast in Italy, fathers can take 10 days paid leave while mothers get five months.

The comparatively paltry Vatican policy for dads drew criticism on social media, with one person saying that three days was about the

time needed to learn how to properly install a car seat.

While the Vatican employs priests and nuns who don’t have children due to the nature of their religious vows, the citystate in the center of Rome also employs hundreds of lay people who work in the Holy See bureaucracy, at the Vatican Museums and tend to the city state.

Francis has frequently lamented the “demographic

POPE Francis takes the pacifier of a baby during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.

Photo:Gregorio Borgia/AP winter” in Italy, where birthrates are among the lowest in the world. He has urged couples to have more children and lamented that many opt instead to have pets.

“Cats and dogs take the place of kids,” he lamented during a recent general

audience. “This denial of paternity and maternity diminishes us, it takes away humanity. And this way the civilization becomes older and lacking humanity because you lose the richness of paternity and maternity. And the country suffers.

SPORTS PAGE 13

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022

The Beard, Page 17

Jonquel Jones leaves Russia

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

T

he Russian-Ukranian conflict has affected Bahamian sport as Jonquel Jones left Russia yesterday.

Jones, who traditionally spends her WNBA offseason in Russia with her UMMC Ekaterinburg Foxes basketball club of the Russian Premier League, recently stated that she left the country yesterday as fighting between the two sides continued to escalate.

“Just landed in Turkey and all I want to do is

cry. That situation was way more stressful than I realised,” Jones tweeted yesterday.

“Thank you God for always watching over and protecting me.”

As the conflict began with the large scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Jones previously issued statements assuring the public of her safety, but eventually made the decision to leave.

“To everybody that messaged me, checked on me, asked a friend about me while I was in Russia I really want to say thank you. I felt that love,” she continued in

Ayton scores 18, Suns beat Blazers by 30

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Cam Johnson scored 20 points, Deandre Ayton added 18 and the Phoenix Suns became the first NBA team to 50 wins this season by easily beating the Portland Trail Blazers 120-90 last night.

Phoenix won without its All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker.

Paul’s been out since February 16 because of a broken thumb and could miss the rest of the regular season. Booker was placed in the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols yesterday.

Johnson was 6 of 8 from the field, and Ayton 9 of 12 to help Phoenix end a two-game losing streak and break a tie with Golden State for the NBA’s best home record at 27-6. Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder each added 15 points, with Bridges shooting 6 of 9.

Brandon Williams had a career-high 14 points for Portland. The depleted Trail Blazers have lost three straight and fell to 25-37. They shot just 38.5% from the field and was hurt by 19 turnovers.

The Suns led the entire second half and pulled

away late in the third quarter, taking a 92-69 advantage into the fourth.

Phoenix trailed early in the second quarter but rallied for a 63-48 advantage by halftime. Bridges and Crowder both scored 13 points for the Suns while Johnson added 11.

Anfernee Simons led the Trail Blazers with 11 points before the break, but didn’t score in the second half.

HONOURING MCCOY The Suns honoured veteran radio announcer Al McCoy, who is in the midst of his 50th season with the franchise. His first broadcast was on September 27, 1972, in a preseason game and he’s been a fixture on the sideline since.

The 88-year-old has called three NBA Finals in 1976, 1993 and 2021. The Suns played a tribute on the video board, complete with tributes from former stars like Steve Nash, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Johnson and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

TIP-INS Trail Blazers: Portland had a long inactive list that included All-Star Damian Lillard, Eric Bledsoe, Joe Ingles, Nassir Little, Didi Louzada, Jusuf Nurkic and

JONQUEL Jones (AP) the series of tweets, “God is undefeated.”

The conflict has also affected Jones and the Foxes on the court as FIBA officially announced its

decision to ban all Russian teams from all FIBA international basketball competitions.

UMMC was among the group of Russian clubs disqualified from the FIBA EuroLeague Women 20212022 season.

Jones led the Foxes to an undefeated regular season and the top overall seed in the league at 4-0.

In 11 EuroLeague games, she averaged a teamleading 17.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.

The Foxes were favoured to repeat as EuroLeague champions for the seventh

consecutive year with a roster that also includes Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm), Allie Quigley (Chicago Sky) and Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky).

“We accepted this decision with true sorrow and regret because we believe that it has nothing in common with neither basketball nor sport or Olympic movement values in general,” the club issued in an official statement.

“For all times our hearts and our minds stayed opened to the whole world and we were always ready

to share our resources and skills with partners from all nations in order to create and produce the top-quality product in the modern women’s basketball.”

Jones also has ties to eastern Europe as a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team programme. She recently led BIH to a FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 qualification.

She led BIH to a 1-1 record and was named TISSOT MVP and a member of the All-Tournament team at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Osaka, Japan.

BAHAMIANS SET SCHOOL RECORDS AT NEC SWIM AND DIVE

HIELD SCORES 17, PACERS TOP MAGIC IN OVERTIME

INDIANA Pacers guard Chavano “Buddy” Hield had 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals as the Indiana Pacers overcame a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter and beat the Orlando Magic in overtime 122-114 last night. Hield - recently traded to the Pacers - made 4 of 12 threepointers and committed 5 turnovers in 44 minutes on the hardwood.

(AP Photo/Phelan M Ebenhack) Justise Winslow. ... Had 12 20 minutes. ... G Landry Six players were in turnovers in the first half.

Shamet made his eight double figures.

Suns: G Cameron Payne start of the year, replacing UP NEXT returned to the court after Booker. He had 12 points.

Trail Blazers: At Minmissing the past 16 games ... Hosted a sellout crowd nesota on Saturday and with a sprained right for a 19th straight game. Monday nights. wrist. He finished with five ... Everyone on the Suns’ Suns: Host New York on points and eight assists in active roster scored.

Friday night.

BAHAMIAN student athletes figured prominently in Howard University’s record-setting performances at the Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.

The men’s teams accumulated 638.50 points in the five-day span and finished as runner-up while the women finished in seventh place with 248 points at the meet last week in Geneva, Ohio.

Junior Luke-Kennedy Thompson was one of the Bison’s top performers and set several new Howard records. He set new Bison records in the 1,650 Free (15:50.28 seconds), the 500 Free (4:29.00) and the 400 Individual Medley (4:02.06).

In the 800 Free Relay, he teamed with MarkAnthony Beckles, Reese Samuel and Miles Simon to set another record of 6:42.35 in the event.

Freshman Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson set a new school record in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:22.52.

In the 100 Breast, she recorded the third fastest time in school history at

SEE PAGE 17

Utah to scrap body Baseball prospect Laheim measurements from Bell gets off to hot start transgender sports bill

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Transgender kids wouldn’t be required to report certain body measurements to play sports in Utah, but their participation would still be up to a government-appointed panel of experts under a proposal moving through the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Rep. Kera Birkeland, a Republican who coaches junior varsity basketball, said yesterday that she was in the process of removing a list of physical attributes from her proposed “School Activity Eligibility Commission,” which would have used criteria such as bone density, hip-to-knee ratio, and oxygen saturation to determine eligibility.

The list of physical attributes provoked an outcry from parents

REP. KERA BIRKELAND, R-Morgan, speaks during an interview at the Utah State Capitol yesterday in Salt Lake City.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) of transgender kids and Birkeland said, adding that LGBTQ advocates, who she expected the changes fear student-athletes would to be introduced in the next feel body-checked and tar- day or two. geted by the commission.

The most recent version “We are still working on of the bill would leave elia couple of details. We just gibility criteria up to the want to make sure that it’s commission. Birkeland said legally tightened up and it could still consider the we address as many of the concerns that we can,” SEE PAGE 14

ALREADY an early signee for the Jackson State baseball programme next spring, Laheim Bell has set the tone for a dominant senior season at Vero Beach High School.

Bell has helped lead the Vero Beach, Florida programme to a 4-0 start this season hitting .429 with a .500 OBP, six hits, two home runs, six hits, six runs scored and nine RBI.He opened the season with an RBI triple and a run scored in an 11-2 win over Satellite and followed with a a three run home-run and scored two runs in an 11-1 over Heritage.

In a 19-2 win over Sebastian River, Bell went 2-3 with a home-run,

LAHEIM BELL a triple, four RBI and two runs scored and in a 10-0 win over Bayside, he went 2-5 with a double, a run and an RBI. The 6’1” 225 pound catcher and utility player was announced as a member of the 2022 early signing class for Jackson State Tigers baseball programme in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Bell and the other signees will join the Tigers in

the Spring 2023 season.

The group includes three pitchers, one outfielder, one catcher and one infielder, including a twoway player.

“I’m super excited about our early signing class,” Tigers head coach Omar Johnson said, “We look forward to seeing our fans out at Thee ‘Bob’ this spring.”

Bell, a product of International Elite Baseball Academy, played 23 games for Vero Beach as a junior last season.

Bell hit .419 with a 1.100 OPS, 26 hits, 18 RBI, a team-leading two runs and scored 16 runs.

The Indians were eliminated in the Regional Quarterfinal with a 3-0 loss to Palm Beach Central. Bell finished 2-3 in the season finale.

Vero Beach won the Florida High School

SEE PAGE 14

PAGE 14, Thursday, March 3, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

SHOWN, from left to right, Moses Johnson (BBF executive), Paul Auriol (Moet/Hennessy managing director of Central America and the Caribbean, Eugene Horton (BBF president), Laurent Boillot (Hennessy President and CEO), Mia Marshall, Commonwealth Brewery Hennessy Brand Manager), JR Cadot (senior men’s national team player), Boris de Vroomen (Hennessy international director), Thomas Mulliez (Moet/Hennessy managing director for Latin America and the Caribbean), John-Marc Nutt (BBF executive).

Bahamas Basketball Federation to enter partnership with Hennessy Bahamas THE Bahamas Basketball Federation will enter a partnership with Hennessy Bahamas and Commonwealth Brewery Limited (CBL).

Hennessy, the official spirit of the NBA, will become a “Gold” sponsor of the BBF to assist the organisation’s longterm goals, growth and sustainability.

BELL

FROM PAGE 13

Athletic Association Class 7A District 9 title to earn their spot in the regionals. Bell was 0-2 in the semifinal win over Centennial but finished 1-2 with one run and one RBI in the District title game win over Treasure Coast.

Bell had an immediate impact on the programme and began April with homeruns in back-to-back games as a part of the Indians’ 18-game winning streak.

He finished 2-4 with one home run, two RBI, and a run scored against Centennial (April 2) and had identical numbers the following game against South Fork (April 6).

Bell was recently named to the All-Tournament team of the World Wood

BILL

FROM PAGE 13

attributes initially included as part of the bill, but would have more flexibility to tailor decisionmaking to individual sports, for example, using different criteria for golf versus basketball.

“They’ll still consider anything that can give them

“The Bahamas Basketball Federation is excited about the donation from Hennessy Bahamas,” said BBF president Eugene Horton.

“The core values our athletes bring to the basketball community are teamwork, respect and commitment to excellence. These are some of the values we share with Hennessy Bahamas. It is

with the continued support of the Bahamian business community that we are able to offer the best basketball experience for our players, coaches, officials and fans.”

Hennessy brand manager, Mia Marshall, said her organisation’s sensibilities align with the country’s interest in basketball both at the local and international levels.

“This year we hope to really continue to grow our relationship and connection with Bahamians by using both the new NBA platform as well as to hopefully re-create the Hennessy artistry experience that Bahamians have come to anticipate and enjoy,” she said.

“While doing this we aim to continue fostering our

relationships and impact in the community.”

In March 2021, Hennessy became the first official spirit of the NBA and now looks to focus on the development of the game and its brand in The Bahamas.

“I came to the Bahamas to celebrate how important of a country (the Bahamas) it is to our brand and the long history of us being in

the Bahamas,” said Laurent Boillot, president and CEO of Hennessy.

“We share the values of the NBA but also the game of basketball. It’s about the competition, hard work and having fun with the game.

The culture of NBA and basketball is important and we like to be connected not only on the court but off it as well.”

challenged with lawsuits like bans in other states such as Idaho.

Out of the 85,000 students who play high school sports in the state, four have gone through the Utah High School Activities Association’s transgender participation eligibility review process, the association said Tuesday.

Birkeland said she has heard of or observed at least eight more competing.

Though the number of athletes affected is central to the question at hand, she declined to substantiate that number, out of concern for student-athletes who may not want their gender identity to be widely publicised.

The Associated Press last year reached out to two dozen lawmakers in the more than 20 states considering similar measures and found that they could cite few instances where transgender athletes playing high school sports were causing problems.

There are no public accusations of a transgender players having competitive advantages in Utah.

LGBTQ advocates and parents of transgender student athletes recoiled at the idea that a panel would

“body check” transgender student-athletes’ measurements — an idea that Birkeland said her proposal wouldn’t require.

Birkeland said transgender student-athletes could submit whatever information they wanted to the proposed commission.

But if they decided not to submit relevant data points, they may be asked supplemental questions about the criteria as members determine whether they can fairly compete.

Williams, the executive director of Equality Utah, said he didn’t know whether LGBTQ advocates would support the bill after changes are made public.

Removing the list physical attributes from the bill, he said, would make the backgrounds of commission members more consequential.

The commission would include a coach, an athletic association representative and an athletic trainer, in addition to physicians, statisticians and mental health professionals.

Williams believes it will be skewed against transgender youth because at least half of its members wouldn’t be experts in transgender health, he said.

“It doesn’t strive to strike a meaningful balance between the values of competition and the values of participation and is weighted more toward athletic experts, as opposed to people who have expertise in transgender health care,” Williams said.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem this month signed into law a ban on transgender girls from playing in women’s sports at the youth and college level and Indiana lawmakers passed a ban bill Tuesday, sending it to Governor Eric Holcomb for approval.

States that passed bans haven’t faced boycotts like North Carolina did when the NCAA and NBA relocated events in response to the passage of a 2016 state law limiting which public restrooms transgender people could use.

But Birkeland’s ban proposal stalled last year amid concerns from Republican Governor Spencer Cox, who worried passing a ban could jeopardise efforts to bring the big events to Utah.

Birkeland’s proposal must be finalised this week because the Utah Legislature is scheduled to adjourn Friday.

ALREADY an early signee for the Jackson State baseball programme next spring, Laheim Bell has set the tone for a dominant senior season at Vero Beach High School.

Bell has helped lead the Vero Beach, Florida programme to a 4-0 start this season hitting .429 with a .500 OBP, six hits, two home runs, six hits, six runs scored and nine RBI. Bat Association World Championships in Jupiter, Florida. He also participated in the WWBA 2022 Grads/17U National Championship Prep Baseball Report Senior State Games.

Bell continues the tradition of Bahamians on the Jackson State Tigers roster.

The programme has previously recruited Desmond Russell, Stephen Curtis, Aneko Knowles, Sebron Mackey and Jashanno Sweeting. athletic advantage. They can go back and look at those things and consider hip-to-knee ratio. They can consider that the muscle mass or height ...

“We don’t want to pincushion them in and tell them, ‘Just consider these things,’” she said.

Troy Williams, the executive director of Equality Utah, said LGBTQ advocates expected changes to

be introduced, but didn’t know the extent of them.

The revision came as GOP-majority legislatures throughout the US debate banning transgender student-athletes from youth sports.

At least 10 astates have passed bans on transgender student-athletes in school sports.

Birkeland is proposing creating a first-of-its-kind commission for Utah that transgender kids would be required to go before if they want to compete in leagues that correspond with their gender identity, rather than the sex listed on their birth certificates.

Birkeland, who led last year’s failed push to ban transgender student-athletes from girls’ sports in Utah, said the commission balanced two legitimate competing priorities: ensuring transgender kids don’t feel ostracized and protecting fairness in girls’ sports.

She has framed her proposal as a compromise that would allow transgender athletes to play, while still answering conservatives’ concerns that those players could have a competitive advantage in girls’ sports.

She hopes, if passed, the commission won’t be

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 15

Woods beats out Mickelson for $8 million impact bonus

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer ORLANDO, Florida (AP) — Tiger Woods still moves the needle in golf even when he barely plays.

The PGA Tour informed players yesterday that Woods was the winner of the new $40 million “Player Impact Programme” that rewards those who generate the most positive interest in golf measured by five metrics.

Woods won the $8 million prize over Phil Mickelson, who claimed on Twitter in December that he was the winner.

The tour had said the programme would be measured through the end of the year. Woods captivated golf in December when he returned from a shattered right leg in a February car accident to play the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie. They finished second.

Mickelson took to Twitter in December to “thank all the crazies (and real supporters) for helping him win the PIP. He ended his message with words that didn’t age well: “P.S. I’ll try and find another hot controversial topic soon??”

Woods responded with one word above Mickelson’s tweet — “Whoops.”

Mickelson’s public image has been badly damaged in recent weeks for revealing in an interview with Alan Shipnuck, who is writing an unauthorised biography on him, that he was willing

to support a Saudi-funded rival golf league as leverage — while acknowledging the human rights atrocities in Saudi Arabia — to get changes he wants on the PGA Tour.

In another interview, he accused the tour of “obnoxious greed.”

Mickelson is taking time away from the game and has not played since the Saudi International a month ago.

Mickelson finished second in the Player Impact Programme and earned $6 million. He was followed by Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, who each earned $3.5 million.

The rest of the top 10, who each made $3 million from the bonus programme, were Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Bubba Watson.

The PIP programme was among those influenced by the threat of a rival league that Greg Norman is trying to put together with Saudi Arabian money.

Prize money and bonus programmes likes the FedEx Cup already were increasing based on new media contracts that began this year.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had said in an interview with The Associated Press in January that threats from a rival league allowed the tour to consider “sacred cows, or some areas that

TIGER Woods is seen during the trophy ceremony on the 18th green after the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.

(AP Photo/Ryan Kang) people said you can never do that.”

The PIP programme, along with the “Play 15” that pays every player $50k for entering the minimum 15 tournaments a year, are not based on performance.

The five metrics used for the PIP are internet searches (Google Search); unique news articles that include the player’s name (Meltwater Mentions); TV sponsor exposure (Nielsen ratings); awareness (Q-score) and social media engagement (MVP Index).

Woods rated first in Google Search, Meltwater and Q-score. He was No. 8 in the MVP Index and 43rd in the Nielsen rating.

Woods had a Sunday appearance in the CBS booth at Riviera last year for his Genesis Invitational. Two days later, he drove his SUV across a median at a high rate of speed and it tumbled down a hill on a suburban road in Los Angeles.

Woods had multiple fractures in his leg and foot, and later he revealed

that doctors contemplated amputation. He was out of the public eye except for an interview with Golf Digest (with whom he has an endorsement) and wasn’t available in a public setting until the Hero World Challenge that he hosts in the Bahamas in late December.

A few weeks earlier, he posted a three-second video of him swinging that dominated golf conversations. And in the Bahamas, he was seen hitting balls on the back of the range.

DeChambeau rated first in the Nielsen rating, while Watson won the MVP Index metric.

Mickelson, who last May won the PGA Championship at age 50 to become golf’s oldest major champion, was the only player to finish in the top 10 of every category — second in Google Search, sixth in Meltwater, 10th in Nielsen, second in Q-score and fifth in MVP Index.

The PIP programme goes to $50 million this year.

The player gets half of the bonus up front, and the second installment is paid when a player completes a PGA Tour service day and plays in one designated tournament agreed upon by the player and tour or an “equivalent activity.”

Woods has not played a PGA Tour event since the Masters in November 2020 and has not indicated when he would be able to play again. He rode a cart in the PNC Championship.

Russians face more sports sanctions, but not at Paralympics

By JAMES ELLINGWORTH AP Sports Writer DÜSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — With the exception of the upcoming Paralympics, Russian athletes were restricted from competing in more sporting events around the world yesterday as owner Roman Abramovich put English Premier League club Chelsea up for sale.

Sports including biathlon and table tennis were among those to join more than a dozen other Olympic sports in excluding competitors from Russia and Belarus because of the invasion of Ukraine.

The International Paralympic Committee, however, said Russians and Belarusians would be able to compete in Beijing as “neutral athletes” without national symbols.

Blanket bans have been imposed in soccer, track, basketball and hockey, among other sports, following an appeal from the International Olympic Committee to exclude Russians and Belarusians from international events.

The IOC, however, left open the possibility of allowing them to compete as neutral athletes if expulsion was not possible because of short notice.

The Winter Paralympics open Friday and numerous Russian athletes are already in the Chinese capital. The IPC has said it is working to get the Ukrainian team there, too.

Other sports bodies which have The restrictions on athletes so far let Russians and Belaru- and teams have been strongly sians keep competing as neutral criticised by Russian politicians athletes include FINA, which gov- and yesterday by striker Artem erns swimming and other aquatic Dzyuba, the top scorer for the sports, and the federations for Russian national soccer team. boxing, gymnastics, The Zenit St Petersfencing and judo. burg player wrote on The International Instagram that he is Judo Federation, “against any war. War which listed Russian is terrible.” But he president and former added he found sportjudoka Vladimir Putin ing sanctions a form as its “honorary presiof discrimination. dent” until last week, “I am against disargued Wednesday crimination based on that the IOC’s push nationality,” Dzyuba to exclude Russia wrote.

“I’m not and Belarus “is not ashamed to be Rusconsidered to be justisian. I am proud to be fied” because it would Russian. And I don’t lead to resentment. understand why ath“Any radical deciletes have to suffer sion to obstruct the now.” participation of athThe governing letes in sporting HAAS driver Nikita Maz- body for British motcompetitions would epin of Russia. (AP) orsports banned only continue the Russians from comescalation of violence and nurture peting at events in the country, the feeling of injustice for those throwing into doubt Formula One athletes who did not participate driver Nikita Mazepin’s ability to in any decision regarding the con- race in the British Grand Prix in flict,” the IJF said.

July.

Abramovich, the Russian bilThe sport’s international govlionaire businessman, put Chelsea erning body, known as FIA, had up for sale in a statement on the said Tuesday that Russian drivers club website yesterday (see story like Mazepin can still compete but on page 19), vowing to invest a block on having cars in national profits from the sale in a fund for colors would stop his team, Haas, victims of the war in Ukraine. from bringing back the RusThe British government had sian flag-stripe livery it removed faced calls to place sanctions on during last week’s testing.

Abramovich along with other Motorsport UK went further, wealthy Russians. with sanctions barring drivers and

teams from Russia and Belarus from competing anywhere in Britain. The FIA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on what it would do when its rules conflict with those of national governing bodies.

The invasion of Ukraine has also led to a reshaping of sports’ corporate ties to Russia. English soccer club Everton ended its sponsorship with companies belonging to Alisher Usmanov, a Russian billionaire who was placed under European Union sanctions last week.

Premier League games this weekend will be preceded by a show of solidarity toward Ukraine, with captains also wearing armbands in the blue and yellow of the country’s flag.

Video game publisher EA Sports announced it would remove Russian clubs and the national team from its hugely popular FIFA series, and would remove the Russia and Belarus hockey teams from its NHL series.

There has also been an exodus of foreign players and coaches at Russian sports teams. Former Norwich manager Daniel Farke quit as coach of Russian soccer club FC Krasnodar yesterday, a day after Markus Gisdol left as coach of Lokomotiv Moscow.

Defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy, who played for Ukraine at two European Championships, cancelled his contract with Zenit yesterday for what the club said were family reasons.

PAKISTAN, AUSTRALIA TO PLAY FOR BENAUDQADIR TROPHY RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Australia will play for the Benaud-Qadir Trophy to mark its first cricket test series in Pakistan in 24 years.

The Pakistan Cricket Board yesterday confirmed the new trophy would be named to honour two legendary leg-spinners: Richie Benaud of Australia and Pakistan’s Abdul Qadir.

Benaud led Australia to a 2-0 victory in its inaugural series in Pakistan in 1959 and, after retiring from test cricket, become a widelyknown TV commentator.

Qadir had a rich haul of 45 wickets in 11 test matches against Australia.

“I am delighted to give my approval for Richie’s name to be on this trophy alongside that of Abdul Qadir,” Benaud’s wife, Daphne, said in a statement issued by the PCB. “Richie had a very high regard for Abdul and the fact that both were leg-spinners has a nice ring to it.”

EPL CLUB EVERTON HALTS THE SPONSORSHIP

BY SANCTIONED RUSSIAN LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Everton decided yesterday to halt its major sponsorship with companies belonging to Alisher Usmanov, the Russian metals tycoon who has been sanctioned by the European Union.

The move came in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The club can confirm that it has suspended with immediate effect all commercial sponsorship arrangements with the Russian companies USM, Megafon and Yota,” Everton said in a short statement.

They are Usmanov’s companies, with USM having sponsored Everton’s training facility since 2017.

Usmanov, who is a longtime business partner of the club’s majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, paid Everton 30 million pounds ($40 million) in January 2020 to secure an exclusive option on naming rights for its proposed new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock that is scheduled to be completed by 2023.

Everton manager Frank Lampard, who joined the club last month, said the decision to suspend its sponsorship deals with Usmanov’s companies was “a show of us, as a club, doing the right thing.”

“If it feels right for the club, then it’s the right thing to do,” Lampard said. “At the moment, we are seeing it done very regularly across the world.”

Everton has a Ukrainian player, Vitalii Mykolenko, in its squad and Lampard said the left back will play a part in the team’s match against fifth-tier Boreham Wood in the fifth round of the FA Cup today.

PAGE 16, Thursday, March 3, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Sad, not shocked: MLB fans take gut-punch of cancelled games

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Nathan Rueckert’s personal finances are loosely tied to Major League Baseball, thanks to the 20 years or so he has spent building his company that produces hand-crafted artwork catered to fans.

That’s not why Tuesday was a very bad day.

At heart, Rueckert simply loves baseball. And like most baseball fans, he reacted with a mix of resignation, dismay, sadness and anger when MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that opening day on March 31 was cancelled because the players’ union and management couldn’t strike a labor deal in time to end a 90-day lockout.

“I just think of all the father-son moments that are going to be missed,” said Rueckert, who operates Baseball Seams Co. from his home in South Dakota. “All those opportunities that are robbed by a season that might not even exist. Especially with the state of the country and the world, baseball is such a great distraction.

“People want to go to the ballpark, have a hot dog and get rid of stress.”

For fans, MLB’s decision to cancel games only adds to their stress. And anger.

Or, maybe most concerning — apathy.

It’s the latest setback for a sport that’s had arguably the worst luck of the biggest US sports leagues — which include the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB — when it comes to COVID-19. The pandemic started in mid-March of

2020, immediately shutting down spring training less than three weeks before opening day and causing the season to be shortened by more than 100 games.

No other league lost a bigger chunk of its schedule.

There wasn’t much that could be done about a pandemic. Labour squabbles over how to allocate money in a $10 billion industry are a different story. Now, for the second time in three seasons, at least some regular-season games won’t be played.

There are no heroes in this lockout tale, but much of the social media vitriol has been directed at Manfred, who has been commissioner since 2015.

He was spotted practicing his golf swing between bargaining sessions by an Associated Press photographer on Tuesday. Others were upset that Manfred was laughing and jovial with reporters at his news conference announcing the cancellation.

It’s safe to say baseball fans are not amused.

“The people need the games after getting through COVID-19 to lift our spirits and get back to normal,” said Toronto Blue Jays fan Bill Farina, who lives in Palm Harbor, Florida, and was watching a Senators-Lightning NHL game. “I am disappointed in baseball. They don’t care about the fans, and fans are going to leave them behind.

“Why would they stay and support these guys just to get burned?”

St Louis Cardinals fan Hunter Kniffin is among many who wonder if the game can survive a lengthy

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer

BASEBALL fans watch as Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference after negotiations with the players’ association toward a labor deal, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. Manfred said he is canceling the first two series of the season that was set to begin March 31, dropping the schedule from 162 games to likely 156 games at most. Manfred said the league and union have not made plans for future negotiations. Players won’t be paid for missed games.

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) work stoppage. He was a baseball can afford to lose fans seemed resigned teenager during the 1994- any more exposure to the to baseball’s popularity 95 strike that wiped out a other major sports.” fade. Joe Hart was wearWorld Series and about 70 Pittsburgh Pirates fan ing a Detroit Tigers hat on regular-season games for Anthony Margiotta has Tuesday night but watcheach team. two sons who play youth ing another sport, taking He remembers the fan baseball. He’s a diehard in a Pistons-Wizards NBA apathy that followed and who said the lockout won’t game in Washington. the way the sport was even- affect his plans to attend He said the decision to tually energised by the games when and if they’re cancel baseball’s opening Mark McGwire-Sammy played, especially if there’s day is “not a surprise” and Sosa home run race that good weather on a summer blames the owners slightly captivated the country in night. more than the players for 1998. He’s not sure baseBut he also knows many the current fiasco. ball will be as fortunate fans aren’t like him. If baseBut more than the desire this time. It’s a different ball’s out of sight, it’s out of to place blame, there’s world than the mid-to-late mind, and it’s certainly not simply disgust. Being a 1990s and there are more attracting any younger fans baseball fan isn’t easy these options for entertainment when games are cancelled. days. than ever.

“I’m sure this isn’t help“People struggling and “It could be a lot harder ing things, let’s just say having a hard time, and to bounce back this time,” that,” the 45-year-old Mar- they’re trying to figure out said Kniffin, who goes giotta said. how to divide billions of to about 10 games each The scariest part for dollars,” Hart said. “It is year. “I just don’t see how MLB could be that many what it is.”

MATCHDAY: Non-league team aims for FA Cup quarterfinals A LOOK at what’s happening in European soccer today: ENGLAND Boreham Wood, a fifthtier club and comfortably the lowest-ranked team left in the FA Cup, looks to cause a major shock when it visits Everton in the fifth round.

The non-league club from a London commuter town has already won four matches to reach to this stage — the furthest in its history — but faces its toughest test yet, even if Everton is struggling in the Premier League and recently changed managers

to bring in Frank Lampard.

Everton has lost three of its four league games since Lampard’s arrival and is in a relegation fight.

Boreham Wood is fourth in its league as the club looks to get promoted into the English Football League for the first time.

Seventy-nine places separate the teams heading into the match at Goodison Park.

SPAIN Real Betis hosts Rayo Vallecano looking to return to the Copa del Rey final for the first time since 2005, when it won its last major trophy. Betis came

FANS CHANT ‘WE WANT BASEBALL!’ BUT WON’T GET IT ANYTIME SOON

EVERTON’s head coach Frank Lampard reacts during the English Premier League soccer match against Manchester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, on Saturday.

(AP Photo/Jon Super) from behind to win the first Rayo had a good start to of veteran Chilean coach leg 2-1 in Madrid. Rayo is its season but has lost five Manuel Pellegrini in 2020. playing in the Copa semifi- straight games in all com- It sits third in the Spanish nals for the first time since petitions going into today’s league and is enjoying one 1982 and is trying to reach match. Betis has been of its best seasons in sevthe final for the first time. revamped since the arrival eral years.

JUPITER, Florida (AP) — As Rob Manfred stood behind a podium in the left-field corner of Roger Dean Stadium and announced that opening day was cancelled, a cluster of fans gathered outside the spring training home of the Miami Marlins and St Louis Cardinals.

They had something to say, too.

“We want baseball!” the group chanted at the MLB commissioner.

They won’t get it anytime soon.

With owners and players unable to agree on a labor contract to replace the collective bargaining agreement that expired Dec. 1, Manfred followed through with his threat and canceled the first two series for each of the 30 major league teams. The announcement Tuesday cut each club’s schedule from 162 games to likely 156 at most. A total of 91 games were erased.

“We’ve seen this coming in a sense,” free agent reliever Andrew Miller said.

“It’s unfortunate. But this isn’t new to us. This is not shocking.”

More than pure numbers are a cause of the contention. Players are seething over their allegations of service-time manipulation and Major League Baseball’s increased number of rebuilding clubs, which the union calls tanking.

Issues such as the size and format of the postseason have become divisive.

“A core of this negotiation’s to increase competition and there’s no way we’re leaving the table without something that does that,” Miller said. “We’re not going to do anything to sacrifice this competition of the season. Anything that points towards mediocrity, that’s the antithesis of our game and what we’re about as players.”

The luxury tax may be the single most difficult issue.

MLB proposed raising the tax threshold from $210 million to $220 million in each of the next three seasons, $224 million in 2025 and $230 million in 2026.

A higher threshold likely would lead to more spending by large-market teams such as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.

“We have a payroll disparity problem,” Manfred said, “and to weaken the only mechanism in the agreement that’s designed to promote some semblance of competitive balance is just something that I don’t think the club group is prepared to do right now.”

Players are unhappy over how the tax system worked during the last labor contract, which included surtaxes to discourage high spending.

GEORGIA VOTERS COULD DECIDE ON LEGALISING HORSE RACE BETTING

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters could get a chance to legalise gambling on horse racing after a Senate committee yesterday passed a constitutional amendment, but the fate of the legislation remains uncertain.

The Senate Regulated Industries Committee voted to approve Senate Resolution 131, but did not act on the accompanying Senate Bill 212 that would allow up to five horse racing tracks with gambling anywhere in the state. Committee Chairman Bill Cowsert, an Athens Republican, pledged a vote on the accompanying bill in coming days. Some Georgia lawmakers typically

attempt to expand gambling every year in the General Assembly, but none have been successful since voters approved a state lottery in 1992. The House has been less friendly to expansion efforts in recent years, but House Speaker David Ralston gave proponents new hope in January when he said “there is an appetite this session that I hadn’t seen before to do something,” suggesting proponents should focus on a constitutional amendment and leave until later the details of whether the state will legalize casinos, sports betting or horse-race betting.

No proposal has yet emerged in the House, although proponents are hoping for action before the March 15 crossover

day, when legislation must make it out of its originating chamber. The House could also still act on Senate Bill 142, which authorizes sports betting regulated by the Georgia Lottery Corp.

Senators are taking a different approach, pushing forward a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow betting on live racing at Georgia tracks or betting on simulcast racing from other tracks. But the amendment advanced yesterday would not allow other forms of gambling such as slot machines or casino table games at racetracks.

Cowsert said that was at the insistence of Senate Republican leadership. But that also led him to question whether horse racing would be financially viable without

the additional support, which has become common at racetracks in other states as lotteries and casinos have expanded.

“That’s part of what worries me here, if it’s not possible for it to succeed without additional gaming revenue,” Cowsert said.

Proponents, for their part, have been concentrating on the potential economic benefits of horse racing, pointing to a Georgia Southern University study that shows horse racing could boost the state’s economy by $1.28 billion a year and create 15,800 jobs over a decade. That includes projected spinoffs from thoroughbred breeding.

“We believe we’re going to create a new industry, the equine industry, that will bring $1.2

billion of economic impact to the state of Georgia, and it will particularly help rural Georgia with horse farms, hay farms,” said Sen. Brandon Beach, an Alpharetta Republican.

But Mike Griffin, who lobbies for the state’s Southern Baptist churches, said he believed that if legalized, horse racing advocates would push to allow other forms of betting. The churches oppose gambling as immoral and preying on poor people.

“It appears only rich people drinking wine and eating cheese is all this is about, but I tell you it’s going to go beyond that.”

If a majority of voters agreed to amend the state constitution, local governments would have to authorize horse tracks in

their city or county. Under the proposed bill, the industry would be regulated by a state racing commission, and potential operators would have to pay a nonrefundable $500,000 to apply for a license and then $250,000 a year to renew the license. The state would get a 3.5% cut from all the money bet to fund certain priorities including education, health care and rural internet access.

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Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 17

PELICANS: ZION WILLIAMSON’S FOOT IMPROVING, BUT NO TIMETABLE NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson’s recovery from a right foot injury has improved to the point where he can gradually resume basketball activities, the New Orleans Pelicans said yesterday.

However, there remains no timetable for when he might play in a game.

The announcement came after physicians examined recent imaging of Williamson’s foot and saw evidence of “improved bone healing.”

“We’re all pleased with the results, that he’s progressing. But it’s still a long road ahead of him,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said.

“He’s aware of it, but he’s taking necessary steps to continue

to improve. We’ll see how it goes.”

Williamson, who averaged a team-high 27 points and was an All-Star last season, was trying to return to practice in mid-December from an injury that occurred during the summer. But imaging of his foot at that time revealed a setback and the club said Williamson would stop practicing and focus on healing.

Williamson then received a “biologic injection” meant to improve bone healing. And with the Pelicans’ permission, Williamson left New Orleans in early January to continue his recovery on his own in Oregon.

Drafted first overall out of Duke in 2019, Williamson played

in just 24 games as a rookie because of a preseason right knee injury (lateral meniscus). In his second season, he played in 61 of 72 games.

He hurt his foot last summer while performing basketball drills with his stepfather, with whom he has entrusted his offseason training.

The Pelicans revealed the injury on the first day of training camp in September, saying they hoped he’d be ready to play by the regular-season opener on October 20. Williamson initially agreed with that timeline, which has since proved overly optimistic by at least five months.

Without Williamson, the Pelicans started 1-12 but have

steadily climbed into contention for a Western Conference playoff berth.

They also acquired high-scoring guard CJ McCollum from Portland two days before the NBA trade deadline with the aim of consolidating their recent gains in the standings.

After losing four of five games after the trade, the Pelicans returned from the All-Star break with consecutive lopsided road victories against Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Entering last night’s home game against Sacramento, the Pelicans (25-36) and Portland (25-36) were tied for the 10th and final play-in spot in the West with 21 regular season-games remaining.

The Beard: Harden stars in Philadelphia home debut, leads 76ers to win PHILADELPHIA (AP) — James Harden scored had 26 points, nine assists and nine rebounds in his Philadelphia home debut to help the 76ers beat the New York Knicks 123-108 last night.

Joel Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points.

But the night belonged to the Beard.

Philadelphia moved to 3-0 with Harden in the lineup and his dynamic duo hookup with Embiid has suddenly stamped the 76ers as legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference.

RJ Barrett had 30 points for the Knicks. They’ve lost 13 of 15.

BUCKS 120, HEAT 119 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jrue Holiday banked in a driving layup with 1.9 seconds left and Milwaukee overcame a 14-point deficit in the final six minutes to beat Miami.

The Bucks outscored Miami 21-6 down the stretch to snap the Heat’s four-game winning streak.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Antetokounmpo had 28 points, 17 rebounds and five assists for the Bucks.

Khris Middleton scored 26, and Holiday had 25.

Gabe Vincent had 21 points for the Heat.

PACERS 122, MAGIC 114, (Overtime) ORLANDO, Florida (AP) —Malcolm Brogdon had 31 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and Indiana overcame a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter and beat Orlando in overtime.

Tyrese Haliburton had 21 pints and six assists. He

BAHAMIANS SET SCHOOL RECORDS AT NEC SWIM AND DIVE FROM PAGE 13 1:05.42 and was 10th in the 200 IM - 2:06.37 secs.

Her 800 Free Relay team of Madison Freeland, Courtney Connolly and Alana Josey reset the school record to 7:46.29.

Sophomore MarkAnthony Thompson produced the 10th fastest 1,650 Free time in school history at 17:50.89.

In the 500 Free, he registered a time of 4:42.92, which ranks fourth all-time in school history.

In the 100 Breast he finished with the fifth (57.04) fastest mark in school history.

Freshman Erald Thompson III swam to a 1:55.19 mark in the 200 IM, placing him third all-time in school history.

In the 400 IM, he finished with the fifth-fastest time in school history - 4:17.03.

DURANT EXPECTED TO RETURN TONIGHT AGAINST HEAT

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant is set to rejoin the Brooklyn Nets, who have fallen apart since their superstar forward limped off the court 1 1/2 months ago.

Durant is expected to return from a left knee injury that has sidelined him since mid-January when the Nets host the Miami Heat tonight.

Durant wasn’t listed on the injury report yesterday by the Nets, who tweeted a picture of Durant with a caption “The return.”

It’s a desperately needed one for the Nets, who have tumbled all the way from NBA Finals favourite to eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Brooklyn is 5-16 since Durant sprained his left medial collateral ligament January 15. The Nets were 27-15 at the time, second in the East.

Durant is averaging 29.3 points. He was leading the league at the time but would now rank third behind Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo if he had played enough games to qualify.

NBA FINES PACERS’ JALEN SMITH, SPURS’ DEJOUNTE MURRAY $20K

76ERS’ James Harden talks with a broadcaster after a game against the New York Knicks last night in Philadelphia.

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum) scored five of Indiana’s 12 points in overtime. Franz Wagner led Orlando with 28 points.

PELICANS 125, KINGS 95 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored 33 points on 15-of-19 shooting and New Orleans beat Sacramento for its third straight victory.

Ingram scored 28 of his points before being briefly forced out of the game by an elbow to the face from Damian Jones.

But he returned in the fourth quarter to make a tough turnaround, a transition 3-pointer and a couple of heady assists that helped New Orleans snuff out

any hope the Kings had of coming back.

Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and CJ McCollum had 17 points and a season-high nine assists for the Pelicans.

De’Aaron Fox scored 25 points for the Kings.

JAZZ 122, ROCKETS 127, OT HOUSTON (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 37 points and Mike Conley scored nine points in overtime to help Utah outlast Houston.

Rudy Gobert added 27 points and 17 rebounds to help the Jazz win their third straight and ninth in 10 games. Jalen Green scored 27 points for

Houston. They have lost 11 in a row.

HORNETS 119, CAVALIERS 98 CLEVELAND (AP) — Terry Rozier scored 29 points and carried Charlotte’s backcourt with LaMelo Ball in foul trouble, leading the Hornets past Cleveland.

Cleveland got back AllStar Darius Garland from a bone bruise in his back, but lost for the fifth time in six games.

Garland had 33 points in 33 minutes.Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff was slapped with two technical fouls and ejected by referee Natalie Sago in the third quarter.

THUNDER 119, NUGGETS 107 DENVER (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points, Isaiah Roby added a career-high 26 and the injury-depleted Oklahoma City Thunder beat the heavily favoured Denver Nuggets 119-107 last night.

The Thunder were a 14-point underdog, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, but clamped down on all of Denver’s starters not named Nikola Jokic. The ploy allowed them to lead by double digits in the fourth quarter, weather a run and then pull away late to snap Denver’s six-game winning streak.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA yesterday fined Indiana Pacers forward Jalen Smith $20,000 for directing profane language toward an official after he was ejected during a game and fined San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray $20,000 for throwing the ball off the legs of a referee.

The incident involving Smith occurred Monday night following his ejection with 7:04 remaining in the third quarter of the Pacers’ 119-103 loss in Orlando to the Magic. Smith picked up two technical fouls after arguing calls and was ejected in the middle of a 14-2 run by the Magic. The Pacers never recovered.

Murray was given a technical foul and was ejected Monday night late in the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies after he threw the ball back to a referee who had just called a foul on his teammate, and the ball hit the ref in the lower leg.

PAGE 18, Thursday, March 3, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Analysis: After 60 years, Wilt’s 100 remains untouchable

GONZAGA’S CHET HOLMGREN’S STOCK CONTINUES TO RISE

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

CHET Holmgren has heard the chant a few times this season from opposing fans: “Over-rated!”

The lanky 7-foot freshman always has an answer, usually in the form of a thunderous dunk, 3-pointer or swatted shot into the stands.

“You hear it, but at the same time you’re pretty locked in,” Holmgren said after finishing with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots in a recent win over San Francisco.

A highly touted prospect when he arrived in Spokane, Washington, Holmgren didn’t dominate as expected early in his freshman season. Wanting to fit into Gonzaga’s teamoriented game, he often deferred to teammates, occasionally at the expense of passing up a good shot.

As the season has progressed, so has Holmgren’s assertiveness. He’s dominated at times, showing off the rare skill set that has him projected to be among the top three picks in the next NBA draft, possibly No. 1.

“He is just very, very skilled,” San Diego coach Sam Scholl said. “He has a tremendous feel. He is physical. He is not afraid to bang.”

Though just 195 pounds, Holmgren holds his own in the paint against heavier players and uses his long wing span to swat away and change shots at the rim. He finished the regular season with 3.59 blocked shots per game, fourth nationally.

But what sets Holmgren apart is his skill set, which is more like a guard’s than a 7-footer. He’s an excellent perimeter shooter — 44% from 3 — and has the ballhandling skills to create his own shot. Holmgren has great footwork in the post and his long frame allows him to dunk from unexpected places.

THERE’S irony in the fact that no video is known to exist of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game for the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962.

Nobody can watch it now.

Nobody has seen anything like it, either. And probably never will.

Yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the greatest scoring effort in NBA history — 36 field goals, 28 free throws, 100 points for Chamberlain, in the Warriors’ 169-147 win over the New York Knicks in a game played before about 4,000 people in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It might be the closest thing the NBA has to a single-game record that will never be broken.

Chamberlain, for the record, disagreed with that sentiment.

“I think it can be broken,” he said in 1987, around the 25th anniversary of the historic night.

Not yet. Not even close.

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points for the Los Angeles Lakers one night against Toronto, the closest anyone has ever come to Chamberlain’s mark.

David Thompson scored 73, Elgin Baylor and David Robinson each scored 71, and Devin Booker had a 70-point game.

That’s it. Think about it: No player has gotten closer than 19 points to 100, and only five have come within 30 points. Even in this era in which 3-pointers are all the rage — remember, they were about two decades from existence when Chamberlain set the record — hardly anyone has gotten within 30 points of history.

Booker got his 70-point game in 2017. Carmelo Anthony and Stephen Curry each had a 62-point effort in the last decade.

James Harden has hit the 60-point mark four times,

WILT CHAMBERLAIN, of the Philadelphia Warriors, holds a sign reading “100” in the dressing room in Hershey, Pa., March 2, 1962, after he scored 100 points, as the Warriors defeated the New York Knicks. Yesterday marks the 60th anniversary of the greatest scoring effort in NBA history — 36 field goals, 28 free throws, 100 points for Chamberlain, in the Warriors’ 169-147 win in a game played before about 4,000 people in Hershey. It might be the closest thing the NBA has to a single-game record that will never be broken.

(AP Photo/Paul Vathis) Damian Lillard three times, So, forget the 50-point likely, even for perhaps the Consider all that, and the while Klay Thompson and halves. Let’s try four greatest shooter the game record just looks safer and LeBron James each got 25-point quarters. Nobody has ever seen. safer. there once. has had more of those in There are so many more Besides, the record, as it A 60-piece, that’s obvi- the last 25 years than Curry, hints that another 100-point currently stands, is perfect. ously huge. who can get on a hot streak night just aren’t going to It’s 100, a perfectly round But it’s also nowhere near like few others can dream happen. number. Think 100 in the the record. about.

— Chamberlain took 63 NBA, you think of ChamBreak down the numbers, Curry’s career high for shots from the field that berlain. Fans don’t think of and it starts to make sense a first quarter is 25 points. night. Nobody has taken the highlights of that game, why nobody has come close. For a second quarter, 26 more than 50 in a game because they don’t exist.

To get to 100 points, that’s points. For a third quarter, since.

They think of him holding two 50-point halves. In the 28 points. And for a fourth — Chamberlain played up that white piece of paper last 25 years, nobody has quarter, 21 points. all 48 minutes of that game. with “100” scrawled on it had more first-half points That’s the best of his best, That hardly ever happens after the game, because in a game than Bryant, who the hottest of his hottest, anymore, either. Cham- someone was smart enough had 42 against Washing- the four best regular-season berlain was on the floor to snap a few pictures when ton in 2003. And the only quarter performances he’s all the way to the end in history was made.

50-point second halves in ever had. what would be considered “It’s a record I’d hate to the last 25 years belong They add up to exactly a blowout. Few coaches try to break myself,” someto Bryant (55 against 100 points. would dare do that now one said after that game.

Toronto in the 81-point Picturing him having with their best players, for That someone was Wilt game in 2006) and Booker those four insane quarters fear that a $40-million-a- Chamberlain.

(51 against Boston in his in one night is, well, let’s year guy turns an ankle or Even he wanted no part 70-point game in 2017). just say it doesn’t seem worse. of chasing this one.

Retirement looms, but Krzyzewski’s influence built to last

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer MIKE Krzyzewski’s unparalleled coaching career is down to a few basketball games, with no more than a month left before the retiring Duke Hall of Famer walks off the sideline for the last time.

His influence on the sport will remain long past that final farewell. The fingerprints of the man known simply as “Coach K” are all over the highest levels of the game as he winds down his nearly five-decade headcoaching career.

Nearly two dozen of his former players currently are on NBA rosters. Another dozen or so are coaching or working for NBA teams.

There are others who lead their own Division I college programmes. And some of the NBA’s biggest stars of the past two decades have won Olympic gold medals under his direction.

“He’s got a small army of people that are working in basketball that believe in his values and things that he felt were important,” said Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, the point guard on Krzyzewski’s first two NCAA championship teams in 1991 and 1992. “That’s regardless of whether you coached with him or if you were a player, because they’ll have such incredible experiences and memories of things that he did that you still use in your own situations.

“His legacy is going to continue to grow through others that he’s had an impact on in their lives, and I’m definitely one of those people.”

The 75-year-old Krzyzewski coaches his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, fittingly against rival North Carolina. At most, he has 10 games left in a career that began with five seasons at Army followed by 42 at Duke, assuming the Blue Devils reach both next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament final in New York and the NCAA championship game in New Orleans on April 4.

Regardless of when or how the end comes, Krzyzewski’s place is unquestioned among the greatest coaches in the history of American sports.

He has a 1,196 career victories, more than any coach in men’s or women’s college history. His five NCAA titles rank second to late UCLA great John Wooden on the men’s side, while his résumé includes a record-tying 12 Final Fours and a record 127 weeks with teams ranked at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.

“He’s the best that’s ever done that in the modern basketball world,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “John Wooden won 10 championships, you can never say anything but that.

But it’s a different world today. There have been a

DUKE head coach Mike Krzyzewski kisses the net after cutting it down following Duke’s 61-59 win over Butler in the men’s NCAA Final Four college basketball championship game on April 5, 2010, in Indianapolis. Krzyzewski’s unparalleled coaching career is down to a few basketball games, with no more than a month left before the retiring Duke Hall of Famer walks off the sideline for the last time.

(AP Photo/Mark J Terrill) James and the late Kobe lot of great coaches – there’s nobody close to what Mike Bryant to thrice produce Olympic gold. has done.

Some former Krzyzewski “He has given everything to the game and players are now in NBA helped make the game leadership positions, such as what it is today without any Quin Snyder as head coach of the Utah Jazz, Brand as question.”

The numbers back up the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, Trajan Boeheim’s conviction.

Krzyzewski had 21 play- Langdon as GM of the New ers as of February on NBA Orleans Pelicans, and Grant rosters — including cur- Hill as co-owner of the rent or former All-Stars Atlanta Hawks.

The same is true in colJayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, Zion Williamson and lege, with Krzyzewski’s tree Brandon Ingram – and an spawning 10 former players ACC-record 27 players last or staffers as head coaches – a number that will grow next season.

Go back further, and season when Jon Scheyer NBA teams have drafted 68 moves over one seat on of Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils, Duke’s bench as Krzyzewswith 42 as first-round picks ki’s designated successor.

For all, Krzyzewski’s lesand three – Elton Brand in 1999, Irving in 2011 and Wil- sons linger.

Former Duke guard liamson in 2019 – going No. Grayson Allen, now with 1 overall.

Duke notes that Krzyze- the NBA champion Milwski has coached 113 NBA waukee Bucks, noted how players between the school Krzyzewski studied film and USA Basketball, where after games well into the Krzyzewski partnered with night, then beat players to former managing director meetings early the following Jerry Colangelo to restruc- morning.

“I always tell people that ture the men’s national team programme. The result: he I’ve never been around managed egos and meshed someone more dedicated star talent like LeBron to the game of basketball,”

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer

USA Basketball Men’s National Team guard Kobe Bryant, left, talks with head coach Mike Krzyzewski during a practice Saturday, July 14, 2012 in Washington. The basketball coach’s fingerprints are all over the highest levels of the game after a nearly five-decade head-coaching career.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

UNITED States coach Mike Krzyzewski talks with LeBron James during a men’s basketball game against Lithuania at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, August 4, 2012.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Allen said, adding: “He’s fully committed to every little detail.”

Longtime Notre Dame coach Mike Brey studied Krzyzewski’s competitiveness during eight years as his assistant.

“He still wakes up wanting to fight somebody and beat somebody,” Brey said.

As for Hurley, he has a greater appreciation for Krzyzewski’s decade-afterdecade run of sustained success after nine seasons as a head coach at Buffalo and Arizona State. He recalled a vivid memory: the end of the classic 1992 NCAA regional final against Kentucky, right before Duke

won on Hill’s fullcourt pass to Christian Laettner for a buzzer-beating turnaround.

“I’ve seen him be so poised at some of the darkest moments where people would lose hope,” Hurley said. “Like our Kentucky game and just how he handled that huddle. You just look back now that you’re a coach and you say, ‘Wow, could I have been that poised? Could I have convinced this group that we were going to win this game?’”

It was one of many memorable wins for Krzyzewski, though his impact on the game extends beyond victories.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 3, 2022, PAGE 19

Abramovich selling Chelsea in fallout from Russia’s invasion

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer LONDON (AP) — Faced with the threat of financial sanctions targeting Russians, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich announced yeseterday he is trying to sell the Premier League club that became a trophy-winning machine thanks to his lavish investment.

The decision by the billionaire oligarch to sell his most high-profile asset is one of the clearest signs yet that Russia’s business elite are feeling the repercussions of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. Owning Chelsea has made Abramovich a household name in Britain and politicians have been demanding that he be included on the list of wealthy and influential Russians hit with British sanctions because of the war.

“Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me to part with the club in this manner,” Abramovich said in a statement.

“However, I do believe this is in the best interest of the club.”

One potential buyer had already gone public to reveal Abramovich was trying to sell with a price tag of at least $2.5 billion floated. Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss claimed he “received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich” along with three other people.

However, Abramovich insisted that “the sale of the club will not be fasttracked but will follow due process.”

Abramovich said he will not be asking to be repaid 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in loans he has granted the club during 19 years of injecting cash to elevate the team into one of the most successful in Europe. The set of every major trophy was completed last month when Chelsea won the Club World Cup. “I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated,” he said. “The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.

Abramovich has faced calls to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which he so far has not done.

Parliamentary privilege had been used by Labour Party legislator Chris Bryant to claim in the House of Commons that Abramovich was already looking to sell London properties, speculating that “he’s terrified of being sanctioned.”

Abramovich has not commented on any attempts to seize his assets, which grew

from the fortune he made in oil and aluminium during the chaotic years that followed ABRAMOVICH the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The speed of Abramovich’s pending exit from Chelsea is striking as he was trying to instigate a plan this past weekend to relinquish some control in order to keep the club under his ownership, announcing plans to shift the “stewardship and care” of the club to its foundation trustees.

“I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person,” Abramovich said. “It has been a privilege of a lifetime to be part of Chelsea FC and I am proud of all our joint achievements.

Chelsea Football Club and its supporters will always be in my heart.”

Chelsea had won the league title only once — in 1955 — when Abramovich bought the club in 2003.

Helped by a number of expensive signings, the club won the Premier League title two years later and has added four more since then, most recently in 2017.

The haul of 18 trophies in 19 years also includes two Champions League titles and the Club World Cup success he was in Abu Dhabi to witness last month.

His last public visit to a match at Stamford Bridge was last year after also hosting Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the stadium in November.

Abramovich rarely speaks publicly but did give an interview to Forbes last year, in part explaining the purchase of Chelsea in 2003 for 140 million pounds including 75 million pounds of debt.

“In hindsight, especially with the public profile it would bring me, maybe I would have thought differently about owning a club,” Abramovich was quoted as telling Forbes. “But, at the time, I just saw this incredible game and that I wanted to be a part of that in one way or another.”

Abramovich was the first of the mega-rich owners to enter English football, starting a trend that has continued with Manchester City benefitting from Abu Dhabi investment since 2008 and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund buying Newcastle last year.

It is unclear how the sale will affect Chelsea’s finances. There is a longterm need to revamp Stamford Bridge to generate more income from fans and corporate backers.

Chelsea has the smallest and most dated stadium

of the Premier League’s most successful clubs, with plans for a rebuild of the 41,000-capacity venue put on hold by Abramovich in 2018 as British-Russian diplomatic tensions deepened.

Abramovich has not had a British visa since 2018 when a renewal application

was taking longer than usual to go through and was withdrawn. That came at a time when Britain pledged to review the long-term visas of rich Russians in the aftermath of the poisonings of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city

of Salisbury. Britain blamed Russia for the pair’s exposure to a nerve agent, an allegation Moscow denies.

Abramovich’s connections to Putin have been the subject of speculation for years. In 2012, a High Court judge in London highlighted Abramovich’s

connections to Putin in a ruling related to a legal battle.

Judge Elizabeth Gloster said Abramovich had “very good relations” and “privileged access” to Putin though adding he could not “pull the presidential strings.”