Bolt, Marley team up for 2012
Usain Bolt will be competing at the 2012 London Olympics in uniforms designed by the daughter of reggae great Bob Marley.
The world-record holder in the 100 and 200 metres and the rest of his Jamaican track and field teammates will be wearing uniforms designed by Cedella Marley.
"We both break records," Marley said yesterday in a telephone interview. "Marleys. Bolt. Legendary."
Marley, the firstborn daughter of Bob and Rita Marley, is a singer, author and fashion designer. She was picked by athletic apparel company Puma, the Jamaican team's sponsor, to create the clothes that the athletes will wear on the track, on the podium and in the ceremonies.
legendary Jamaican
"I can't think of a better person to design our Olympic outfits than Cedella," Bolt said in a statement. "Puma got that right ... hooking up with a legendary Jamaican. It's going to be inspirational to run in London with that energy surrounding me."
Bolt broke the records in the 100 and 200 at the 2008 Beijing Games, and then did the same at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. With the possible exception of Bob Marley, Bolt is among the most famous Jamaicans.
"Being a Jamaica No. 1, being a Marley No. 2, and then being able to outfit not only Usain but the entire team, it's a proud moment for all of us, everyone in my family," Marley said.
Marley said she took her inspiration for the uniforms from music, various cultures and Jamaica from the 1970s and '80s.
"I want to bring the old and the new Jamaica together," she said. "It should be Grace Jones meets Bob Marley on the track, and we're going to have fire on the field."
When it comes to the uniform Bolt will be wearing next year in London, fans can count on something a little bit different from his teammates.
"We're going to have something special for him. Only for him," said Marley, who has yet to meet Bolt but is expecting to work with him in March in Jamaica.
It took a chance phone meeting between Marley and Puma chairman and CEO Jochen Zeitz to get the collaboration up and running.
"I said, 'Yo Mr Puma, how come you've not done anything with the Marleys? Come on, you know, Puma, Marley, Jamaica. It makes sense'," Marley said.
"And he just said, 'Well, you know, Cedella, everything takes time'. And like two weeks later. I got a phone call. I guess it was time."
Puma will work to make sure the fashion end of the deal doesn't interfere with the performance specifications.
As for Bob Marley's legacy, Cedella said, "This is a nice birthday present for him."
Source:AP
Grenada move past T&T
Grenada are now the third-best side in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) region, following a shake-up in the world rankings for the month of February.
The Grenadians have now finally benefited from the brunt of a strong performance in last year's Digicel Caribbean Cup, when the latest rankings were published yesterday by the sport's world governing body, FIFA.
The Spice Boyz finished fourth in last year's DigiCup, when Cuba prevailed 1-0 over them in the consolation final.
As a result, Grenada have moved up two places to 92nd, and have overtaken eight-time Caribbean champions Trinidad & Tobago.
The Soca Warriors' drop in the world rankings by seven places - the most significant move in the CFU - leaves them as the region's fourth-best team, with a world ranking of 94th.
DigiCup champions Jamaica continue to lead the way in the CFU, with a world ranking of 59th.
The rankings have offered the Reggae Boyz some breathing space at the top, with CFU No. 2 Cuba six places behind on 65th.
Haiti clung on to fifth place in the CFU, following a six-position drop - the second-highest behind T&T - that place them 96th in the world.
no significant changes
There are no significant changes in the rest of the CFU top-10, with Antigua & Barbuda, Guyana and Suriname occupying positions six through eight, although their positions in the world rankings have slightly weakened by either one or two places.
St Kitts & Nevis, one of five CFU countries that have trended upwards, remain at ninth with a world ranking of 118th (up three) and Dominica are 10th in the CFU with a world ranking of 128th (up one).
Outside of the CFU top-10, Bermuda and St Vincent & the Grenadines are the biggest movers in the world rankings.
The same five teams that contended for positions 11 to 15 in the CFU for January continue to fight for recognition, with the Vincen-tians dropping four places in the world to 148th to hold on to 13th in the CFU.
Puerto Rico have moved up one place in the world to 130th to become CFU No. 11, and oust Barbados, whose two-position drop to 132nd leave them as the CFU No. 12.
The Netherlands Antilles and the Cayman Islands remain stationary and hold on to CFU positions 14 and 15, respectively.
Bermuda have risen five places in the world to 167th, to displace the Dominican Republic (168th, down one) as the 16th-best side in the CFU.
Source: CMC
Quarterbacks take centre stage on Super Bowl Sunday
The greatest show on earth is about to get even bigger as the Green Bay Packers take on the Pittsburgh Steelers live on BBC One in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday night.
One of the biggest crowds in Super Bowl history will be on hand as more than 100,000 fans pack into Dallas Cowboys Stadium in chilly North Texas to witness what promises to be an exciting showdown between two quarterbacks keen to write their name in the record books.
While the likes of the Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera, Maroon 5 and Keith Urban provide the entertainment that will make for breathtaking viewing on the world's largest HD screen, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers will take centre stage when it really matters.
Roethlisberger has led the Steelers to the Super Bowl for the third time in six seasons and he has the opportunity to join an elite group of quarterbacks who have won three Super Bowls.
If he were to lead Pittsburgh to victory over the Packers on Sunday, Big Ben would have earned the right to join the exhalted company of Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and Tom Brady. Special kudos should go to Bradshaw and Montana, who won the big game four times each.
Roethlisberger has his detractors following some distasteful off-field behaviour this off-season. He was linked to a couple of sexual misconduct cases and while no criminal charges were filed, he was suspended for the first four games of 2010 by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Rodgers is gunning for his first Super Bowl ring but wants it just as badly as Roethlisberger, if not more. This is a guy who has finally emerged from Brett Favre's shadow in Green Bay and has emphatically proven the Packers were right to go with the younger passer in 2008.
In terms of offering the complete package, I would argue that Rodgers is among the top two or three quarterbacks in the game right now. I would put him right up there with the likes of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. I put him ahead of both guys last week in compiling my team of the year and did catch a bit of flak for that, but it is safe to say I am a big Rodgers fan.
Someone like Philadelphia's Michael Vick may be more exciting to watch in terms of pure athletic ability, but he's not half the quarterback that Rodgers is. I saw both of them go head-to-head in the wildcard round of the playoffs in January and while Vick took my breath away at times with his physical talent, it was Rodgers who looked more assured and more accomplished.
Blessed with a strong arm, accuracy, poise and enough athletic ability to be one of the most productive running quarterbacks in the NFL this season, Rodgers is pretty special.
The knock on him prior to this season - and it was a harsh one given he is still in the early stages of being an NFL starter - was that he had never won a playoff game and he also dropped a couple of big games in 2009 when his Packers took on the Favre-led Minnesota Vikings in emotional encounters.
But this is not a player who is going to melt under the intense spotlight of a Super Bowl. Rodgers has always held up his end of the deal for the Packers and I am struggling to recall a game Green Bay lost because of a poor performance by their quarterback.
In 47 career starts, Rodgers has posted a passer rating of 100 or above on 25 occasions and he is currently the highest-rated quarterback in NFL history (98.4). The statistics also show how effective he is in pressure situations. He led the NFL on third-down passing in 2010 and was the league's top-ranked quarterback when other teams blitzed him.
Add in the fact that Rodgers is scarily efficient inside the opponent's 20-yard line - where it is supposed to be harder to complete passes due to there being less space to operate - and I cannot foresee a situation that will make him freeze on Sunday.
Roethlisberger is not as pretty to watch as Rodgers and he will make mistakes along the way, but what is most impressive is that he steps up in a big way for the Steelers when they need him the most. And he doesn't let mistakes that have occurred previously affect him in any way.
In the AFC Championship Game against the New York Jets, Roethlisberger was out of sorts in the second half - there is no disputing that fact as he only completed three passes in 30 minutes of play. But it is telling that two of those completions went for first downs on the final drive of the game, allowing the Steelers to run out the clock and advance to this Super Bowl.
Roethlisberger also happens to be very tough to bring down - which is pretty handy given that Pittsburgh's offensive line can be very shaky indeed at times - and he extends plays like no other quarterback in the game.
Big Ben is at his best when he is playing what he likes to describe as "playground football" and that often allows his receivers as much as 10 seconds to get open downfield. Covering a receiver for that long on any given play is a tough shift for even the best defensive backs in the NFL.
There are lots of other factors that will determine who will win Super Bowl XLV on Sunday night and there are stars across the field. Greg Jennings and Donald Driver are playmaking wide receivers for the Packers, Rashard Mendenhall is an emerging power runner for the Steelers, and the top two defenders in the NFL in 2010 - Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu and Green Bay's Clay Matthews - are sure to have an impact.
But I truly believe the NFL is more of a passing league than ever before and that makes the quarterback the most important man on the field.
Most of the recent Super Bowl winners - New Orleans, Pittsburgh, New York Giants, New England, Indianapolis - have been led by elite quarterbacks or guys who were in red-hot form (that's you, Eli Manning).
So I think that makes the battles between Rodgers, Roethlisberger and their respective opposing defences the most crucial aspect of this Super Bowl.
The quarterback who has the best game on Sunday evening will be the winner. And as I backed him and his team from the preseason, I'm going to say Aaron Rodgers and his Packers team-mates will be celebrating at the end of what should be an exciting game.
Enjoy the Super Bowl.
Prediction: Green Bay Packers 28 Pittsburgh Steelers 24
What do you think TCI? Send your predictions in below and they will be read on Sports Watch.
No Carifta for TCI
Turks and Caicos Islands is now out of the race against time to be a host for this year's CARIFTA Games.
Turks and Caicos was one of the last frontiers for officials of the North American, Central American & Caribbean (NACAC) Track and Field Association, under whose auspices the Games are staged, to find a host for the region's marquee junior meet, which is scheduled for April 22 to 24.
But some officials in Providenciales have also joined the list of those turning down the chance to stage the Games, placing it in further jeopardy of being cancelled for the first time in its 40-year history.
"We were actively pursued by NACAC President Teddy McCook to host the CARIFTA Games 2011," Rita Gardiner, President of the Common Wealth Games Committee, told RTC Sports Watch on Wednesday.
"This was just two weeks ago, and since then we have held a few meetings to see if it was possible."
She added: "But we have not had a response from the Government and (Tuesday) was the final day to give NACAC a positive response.
"So I reluctantly called and informed them that we did not think it would be possible. Right now, we will not be able to host the CARIFTA Games." Mrs. Gardiner also eluded to the fact that after constant attempts to reach those individuals who are in charge of the country for a confirmation, they did not dignify her with a response. Mrs. Gardiner spoke candidly and passionately on the sports program on RTC and even stated that sponsors were actively pursuing the games.
The staging of the Games had been thrown into a state of chaos when St Kitts withdrew from their commitment to host the event, because of financial and logistical reasons.
NACAC have been frantically trying to find a replacement over the last three months, and indications are they may now turn to the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, in a desperate bid to save the Games.
"We couldn't hold out anymore," said Gardiner about the Turks and Caicos' decision. "It's two months away from CARIFTA. Whichever country is going to host the Games, they must be prepared to do some work.
Economic state
"I do not think that the TCI can do it right now, seeing our economic state and the state of the national stadium."
She said: "We would have needed to put some work into the stadium and the track. I believe all of the stakeholders would have been willing to come together and do it, but I do not think we need that pressure, since it would be too much pressure right now and there are some other pressing issues."
RTC News spoke with Mr. Neroy Kennedy, President of the Turks & Caicos Amateur Athletic Association (TCAA) who also chimed in today stating, "That due to the downturn in the economy, it would have been a bit tight to have staged the games in the allotted time." Mr. Kennedy referred in reflection to the staging of the 2007 games, "Funding was more readily available then,than they are today despite a couple of corporate sponsors stepping up to assist in the staging of the 2011 games." Mr. Kennedy reasoned that manpower would be another huge factor for the games to be stated professionally and that manpower would also attract additional cost; Mr.Kennedy stated that he was saddened that the games could not be hosted by the TCI and hopes that another sister country maybe able to host the games.
Jamaica turned down the request to stage the event because of its proximity to its International Invitational meet, which officials in Kingston stated would have stretched its human and financial resources.
The Bahamas was also a strong contender, but they side-stepped the Games because of the failure to get a financial guarantee from NACAC.
Trinidad and Tobago was also being considered, but Ephraim Serrette, president of the track and field body in the twin-island republic, indicated they would have needed more notice to successfully stage the Games.
SOURCE: CMC/RTC
Dwayne Bravo set to return for West Indies on Thursday
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo is available for the 2nd ERI One-Day International against Sri Lanka on Thursday, after being rested for the series-opener. The 27-year-old, who has made 107 ODI appearances for the West Indies, missed Monday’s opening match due to a slight knee niggle.
The match was a no-result after rain washed out the second half after the West Indies made 245-5 off their 50 overs.
Bravo trained on Tuesday at the Sinhalese Sports Club and Wednesday at the Nondescripts Cricket Club with the rest of the squad without any discomfort.
“We were a little cautious before the first match and the physio C.J. Clark said we should give him a little bit more time,” said West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson.
“He has taken part in the training session fully and he has done everything that has been asked of him. He comes into the reckoning for Thursday’s match. From the nets everybody is looking really good and we had some good batting in the first match so we are pleased with the way it’s going,” Gibson said.
Egypt PM apologises for violence
Egypt's prime minister has apologised for the fighting between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which killed five people and wounded several hundred.
Ahmed Shafiq pledged to investigate the violence, calling it a "fatal error".
The protesters are demanding that President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled for 30 years, step down immediately.
After further pre-dawn violence, the army has been using its vehicles to separate the feuding factions.
One tank turned its turret towards pro-Mubarak demonstrators who were throwing stones at protesters from a road above Tahrir Square on Thursday afternoon, before advancing towards them along with footsoldiers to help clear the overpass.
'Change now'
Egypt's Health Minister Ahmed Samih Farid said earlier that five people had died in the fighting, which began on Wednesday, and 836 were injured - mostly as the result of stone-throwing and attacks with metal rods and sticks. Petrol bombs have also been thrown.
This is a fatal error," Mr Shafiq told the privately-owned al-Hayat television. 
"When investigations reveal who is behind this crime and who allowed it to happen, I promise they will be held accountable and will be punished for what they did."
"There is no excuse whatsoever to attack peaceful protesters, and that is why I am apologising," he said, urging the protesters "to go home to help end this crisis".
Mr Mubarak has said that he will serve out his current presidential term, which ends in September, but will not run for re-election.
Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei and the Muslim Brotherhood have rejected government calls for negotiations, saying Mr Mubarak must leave office first.
Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain have issued a joint statement condemning the violence and calling for a political transition that "must start now".
Tahrir Square focus
On Wednesday, opposing groups fought pitched battles in Cairo, in the worst violence in 10 days of protests.
The unrest has left about 300 people dead across the country over the past 10 days, according to UN estimates.
Cairo's Tahrir Square has been the main focus of the protests, and a group of anti-Mubarak protesters remains hemmed in there by barricades. During a recent exchange of stone-throwing, there was heavy gunfire and the crowd were chanting and banging drums.
Anti-government protesters said earlier they had detained 120 people with ID cards linking them with police or the ruling party, most of whom had been caught attacking demonstrators on Tahrir Square.
The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo cites a retired general who has been speaking to tank crews on the square as saying the army is losing patience, and if firing continues from pro-government supporters, it is willing to fire on them.
Those attacking them appear to be either police who have taken off their uniforms or plain-clothes "thugs", our correspondent says.
The military leadership seems deeply uncomfortable with what is happening, adds our correspondent; they do not want to turn on protesters but they are not willing to defy the president either.
The US has urged all Americans in Egypt to leave "immediately".
'Very tense'
Earlier, Mona Seif, an anti-government protester in Tahrir Square, described the atmosphere as "very tense".
"Every couple of minutes we hear a sequence of gunshots, and it's only on one side of the square, which is the one close to Cairo Museum," she told the BBC.
Wednesday's violence began when thousands of supporters of President Mubarak surged into the square.
"They started throwing stones at us," said an anti-government protester named as Zaccaria. "Then some of us started throwing stones at them and then we chased them out of the square. They returned once again with the horses and the whips and the thugs."
Opposition supporters say many in the pro-government camp were paid by the authorities to demonstrate, and allowed into the square by the troops surrounding it.
The two sides pelted each other with stones in running battles lasting for hours.
Egyptian troops refused to intervene, but fired into the air to try to disperse people. On Wednesday, they called for demonstrators to return to their homes, a call which was reiterated by Vice-President Omar Suleiman.
Clashes were also reported in Egypt's second city, Alexandria.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Egyptian Vice-President Omar Suleiman in a phone call on Wednesday that the clashes were a "shocking development" after days of peaceful protests.
She also "underscored the important role that the Egyptian armed forces have played in exercising restraint in the face of peaceful demonstrations", the state department said in a statement.
If Mr Mubarak does not step down, demonstrators have planned to march on the presidential palace on Friday.
US ex-defence head Rumsfeld defends Iraq war handling
Former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld remains largely defiant about the Iraq war, saying in a new book that had Saddam Hussein remained in power, the Middle East would be "far more perilous than it is today".
Mr Rumsfeld, 78, has written an autobiography due out next week.
He concedes he could have sent more troops, and that internal US rivalries hampered post-war reconstruction.
Leaked excerpts have been published by the Washington Post and New York Times.
On the question of troops, he says in the 800-page Known and Unknown: "In retrospect, there may have been times when more troops could have helped."
But he says that if senior military officers had reservations about the size of the invading force, they did not inform him.
And as the conflict continued, US commanders, even when asked repeatedly for their views, did not ask him for more troops or disagree with the strategy, he adds.
Although he describes George W Bush as "a far more formidable president than his popular image", he also suggests the former president was at fault for not doing more to resolve disagreements among senior advisers.
Mr Bush "did not always receive, and may not have insisted on, a timely consideration of his options before he made a decision, nor did he always receive effective implementation of the decisions he made", Mr Rumsfeld writes.
"There were far too many hands on the steering wheel," he writes elsewhere; it was "a formula for running the truck into a ditch".
Regrets
He adds he regrets some of the quips he became famous for, such as "stuff happens" about the early looting in post-war Iraq, or his remark about "old Europe" - meaning Germany and France - not supporting the use of force in Iraq.
He also confirms the National Security Council was rife with tensions between the Pentagon and state department, which some critics had blamed on him.
Mr Rumsfeld says his greatest regret was not leaving office immediately after the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
His resignation was refused twice by Mr Bush.
Ford stock rally run out of gas?
Ford Motor has been very popular with both American car buyers and investors for the last two years. But over the past week, investors' love affair with the iconic automaker seems to have cooled.
Shares of Ford (F, Fortune 500), which rose 88% from the start of 2010 through last Thursday, plunged more than 17% since the company reported a fourth-quarter earnings miss early Friday.
Even strong U.S. sales reported for January couldn't help Ford stock regain its footing. Shares were flat in trading Tuesday after the report, and down again in Wednesday trading.
Rival automaker General Motors (GM) -- which only returned to the market with an initial public offering in November -- has already passed Ford in market value because of the recent slide.
After Ford reported earnings of $1.91 per share for 2010 on Friday, the consensus 2011 earnings forecast tumbled from $2.14 a share down to $1.93 a share. And earnings are forecasted to remain flat through 2012.
But even before the miss, some analysts had started to question whether Ford's share price was getting close to topping out.
Efraim Levy, auto equity analyst for Standard & Poor's, cut his recommendation from "buy" to "hold" in November, even though he raised his price target for shares to $18 and is still forecasting 2011 earnings of $2.13 a share.
"The stock has had a good run, but gains won't be as easy to come by," he said. "The big challenge is that increased competition is coming from all over the place."
Ford's solid product lineup was a factor that allowed it to capitalize on buyers' doubts about GM and Chrysler Group during their bankruptcies, and the recall problems at Toyota Motor (TM).
But those rivals are finally putting some of their woes behind them. And Hyundai Motor, which operates the Hyundai and Kia brands in the U.S. market, continues to make strong market share gains as well.
And Ford is still adjusting to some of its own issues, like pulling the plug on its Mercury brand last fall, and the trouble it's had moving Mercury buyers into the luxury Lincoln brand. In fact, Lincoln has suffered continued share losses since Mercury was shut down.
Analysts say Lincoln is now one of the weakest luxury brands on the market.
"With their luxury arm's lackluster performance it's all riding on the Ford brand," said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com.
Ford is also struggling to catch up with global competition in the Chinese auto market, which in 2009 became the largest market for auto sales and is expected to continue to grow at double-digit rates.
And while Ford managed to avoid bankruptcy during the worst of the crisis, the company is left with far more debt than its leaner rivals.
Adding to its obligations, the United Auto Workers union is likely to press Ford for significant contract improvements this fall to make up for concessions granted in the 2007 contract.
Pacers send Cavs to 22nd straight loss
That's about as good as the Cleveland Cavaliers can hope for these days.
Their long losing streak is almost history.
Cleveland's slide reached 22 straight - one shy of the NBA's single-season record - as Danny Granger scored 23 points and Darren Collison added 22 to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 117-112 win over the Cavs, still winless in 2011 and losers of 32 of 33.
"We're disappointed. It's frustrating," forward Anthony Parker said. "We had opportunities to win and we came up short. We've got to find a way to get it done."
Unless they can prevail on Friday in Memphis, the Cavs (8-41) will match the league's all-time mark for consecutive futility, a record shared by the 1995-96 expansion Vancouver Grizzlies and 1997-98 Denver Nuggets , who each dropped 23 in a row.
Cavs coach Byron Scott played on that dreadful Vancouver team. He's now coaching one that could soon be equally as pathetic.
"It hurts," Scott said. "When you lose games it hurts, especially when you give yourself an opportunity to win, it hurts that much more. We had an opportunity."
Actually, several of them.
The Cavs had chances to pull out their first win since beating the New York Knicks in overtime on Dec. 18, but Parker missed a runner in the lane with 18.8 seconds left, J.J. Hickson fumbled away a pass underneath and Granger iced it by making four free throws in the final 17 seconds.
Ramon Sessions scored 25 points and Antawn Jamison had 21 for Cleveland, falling further than it ever imagined in its first season without superstar LeBron James.
The Cavs fought until the end, something they rarely did while going 0-for-January. This was better, much better, but still not good enough for a team missing several key players because of injuries.
Just like comic Bill Murray's character in the movie, "Groundhog Day," it was more of the same on Groundhog Day for the Cavs.
"That one took a lot out of us," said Sessions, who added nine assists and went 13 of 14 from the line. "We felt like we played well. We weren't able to close them out."
With the score tied 110-all, Collison drained a key 3-pointer from the left side with 1:08 to play, forcing the Cavs to call a timeout. Christian Eyenga then hit a tough jumper to pull Cleveland within one, and when Parker grabbed a miss by Granger, the Cavs seemed to be in business.
But Parker's short shot - he thought there was contact - in the lane rimmed out, and Granger was fouled. He made both free throws to give the Pacers a 115-112 lead. On Cleveland's next possession, Sessions drove in the paint and drew two defenders before dumping the ball underneath to Hickson, who fumbled it and the Cavs' chance slipped away.
"Tough pass," Hickson said. "Should've caught it."
When the horn sounded, Scott dropped his head and a small but boisterous Cleveland crowd headed toward the exits and another cold ride home.
The Pacers improved to 4-0 this season over the Cavs, and Indiana won its second straight under interim coach Frank Vogel, who replaced the fired Jim O'Brien last week.
Before the game, Vogel joked about not being well known outside the Pacers' locker room. He went to lunch on Wednesday with center Roy Hibbert and wasn't recognized.
"People don't know who I am," Vogel cracked. "I'm not surprised. A number of folks came up and asked for Roy's autograph. I may as well have been the ballboy. That's fine with me."
Vogel complimented the Cavs for hanging tough despite missing starters Anderson Varejao, Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson.
"Give all the credit in the world to that team," Vogel said. "They're in a tough situation with everything, with LeBron and what they're going through. You feel for their guys. They deserve to get back on the winning track. I'm very glad it wasn't tonight."
Cleveland has been beyond bad of late. Before taking the lead in the third quarter on Sessions' three-point play with 1:15 left, the Cavs had gone more than 217 playing minutes without holding a lead.
The Cavs' struggles and the remnants of the powerful Midwest blizzard combined to keep people away from Quicken Loans Arena in droves.
The 20,000-seat building was only about one-third filled and it didn't take long for those in attendance to lose interest. The Cavs missed their first 10 shots and fell behind 14-2 before finally making their first field goal. But even when Cleveland does something right these days, it seems to backfire.
Cavs swingman Alonzo Gee delivered a powerful, two-handed dunk that nearly sent some of his teammates on Cleveland's bench onto the floor. But Gee was slapped with a technical for hanging on the rim, and the Pacers responded by going on a 15-3 run to open a 17-point lead.
The Cavs didn't cave, though.
Manny Harris made a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in the quarter to cap an 18-6 run that pulled Cleveland within 59-54 at halftime. They were within two to start the fourth, and for a while, it seemed as if it would finally be the Cavaliers' night.
PDM Leader calls for no property tax and calls for £175M of UK financial assistance
The Peoples Democratic Movement is today calling for the early announcement from the Interim Administration of no property tax and renews its call for UK financial assistance while welcoming the public consultation on revenue review that is due to begin in the second week of February. We caution all stakeholders to remember that new revenue and expenditure measures were inevitable after a devastating period of financial chaos in governance by the Progressive National Party (PNP) where much of what the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands had worked so hard for over the years was squandered and compounded with the international economic downturn.
The current economic condition, inherited by the Interim Government, requires this serious level of capital injection to help stabilize Government payrolls, rents to landlords and other unpaid debts (currently estimated at USD$45Million). Additionally, we firmly request that the Interim Administration make provisions from this injection to help stimulate the construction industry and repair much needed infrastructure such as the Middle Caicos causeway and the Millennium Highway in Blue Hills. We have consistently called for greater financial assistance from the UK to help the TCI people cope with its dire financial circumstances, the latest call came in October when PDM Leader Douglas Parnell increased his earlier estimates from 122 million to 175 million saying, “We believe based upon recurrent budget deficits, past due rents, loans and long term TCIG obligations and unpaid bills that 175,000,000.00 is what is now needed.”
We will also dismiss any notion that these funds should be used to replace the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board with a private sector led tourism promotion board; and we will soon be providing alternatives to the public and to the Interim Administration, on how we can preserve and promote our Tourism Industry at a time when we are facing severe budgetary constraints. A committee has been put in place to undertake this task; and we will at the same time be stressing our belief that it is the responsibility of the government, through its Tourist Board, to promote the Turks and Caicos Islands as a tourist destination, while the Turks and Caicos Hotels and Tourism Association, TCHTA, spearheads the promotion of the individual tourism related facilities, such as the hotels and resorts..
We will` use our regular dialogue with the Interim Administration to raise this and other issues including, but not necessarily limited to:
- Revenue and expenditure discussions such as:
a) status of the request for financial stimulus and,
b) how we will achieve a balanced budget.
- Economic discussions, measures that are vital to the growth of the TCI economy to grow new jobs and new business opportunities including:
a) any consideration of property taxes,
b) new investment prospects,
c) airport expansion,
d) housing policy and,
e) Consultation with us on new development projects.
- Government management issues focusing on preserving Belonger employment and creating new private and public sector job opportunities including:
a) accurate and timely distribution of information,
b) transparency within the Interim Government,
c) the civil service,
d) cost of healthcare update,
e) alternatives to the Tourism Working Group’s proposals,
f) the new crown land policy,
g) status of healthcare and pensions, and
h) immigration policy.
- Matters of constitutional reform, including:
a) timing,
b) the negotiations process,
c) the next general elections,
d) effectiveness of the current governmental arrangement,
e) milestones and dates to be accomplished, and
f) assent on bills.
We further stress that a review of all statutory bodies is necessary, including the NHIP and the National Insurance Board, to ensure that the people understand and agree with any demands placed on them by the Government regarding these bodies. We, in fact, demand that no decisions become final until the Turks & Caicos public is fully engaged with the process and the resulting findings, and is allowed to respond on matters that would be affecting their lives.
We remind the Interim Administration that the view from most of those that supported the temporary suspension of the constitution did so because they felt there was need:
1) For a caretaker government to come into existence until a duly elected Government could be formed, taking into consideration the needed further investigations resulting from the findings of the Commission of Inquiry;
2) For the true picture of the financial condition of Government to be determined and made public; and
3) For the electoral reform process to be swiftly concluded, free from political interference.
We remind our people that we continue to call on the Interim Administration and the FCO in our regular dialogue with them, to act speedily towards these ends with a view to general elections no later than the first quarter of 2012.