The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) through the Poverty Reduction Programme invites applications for Tertiary Scholarships for the Academic year of 2016/2017.
Check eligibility of persons you may know shown in the flyer below or please share the information with the youth in the eligible communities.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have done it! They are the 2016 NBA Champions with a 93-89 win over the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs have made history winning the 1st NBA Championship for Cleveland and a season full of history ends in misery for Golden State.
I won’t talk about the lead up to Game 7 and the momentum change in favour of the Cavs that were down 3-1 with the suspension of Draymond Green for Game 5 where there was a 41-a piece game by Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, but I will talk about Game 7, where it was ALL on the line.
The two teams went into the Game 7 NBA Final for the first time ever with the same aggregate score through the 7 game series. I haven’t watched such a great Finals game with everything on the line like that in a long time. The game had everyone on the edge of their seats and with that said, the better team that night won and earned it with great respect.
So what was the decisive play for the win with the game tied at 89-89 with a minute left to go in the game? NO, not the block by LeBron over Iguodala. No team scored for about 2 minutes. Balls were going in and out of that net and the ball may have been unlikely to go in for Iguodala anyway, whether he was blocked or not. It was Kyrie Irving’s huge clutch-winning 3-point shot over Steph Curry that did it and stayed there for the win AND the likely decision by Tyronn Lue in the time-out leading up to it to make Kyrie take the shot and not LeBron who went cold as usual in the 4th. Steve Kerr then failed by having Curry make repeated shot attempts with no buckets and no answers to the 3-pointer that Kyrie drilled. Curry had been cold for practically 3 quarters, 2-time back to back MVP or not, what made Kerr think that he was all of a sudden going to be the hero and close the deficit? They may have been better off with the visually competitive and lead scorer Draymond. Go break another clipboard Steve.
Kerr struggled to rotate his small line up without Bogut and did well, but should have given Barbosa more minutes. He has been stepping up and scoring consistently and someone from the bench needed to give that help and the Splash Brothers needed to help Draymond. At least Barnes was not a complete failure last night, but Livingston missed some of his ‘All Day, Everyday’ perimeter shots. He stayed in his lane though and did what he was supposed to do and could do for the night, including making his free throws. Festus Ezeli though, was in the starting lineup for the first time last night to aid in the ‘Go Big’ match up versus the Cavs but failed to drive crucial shots to the rim. He needed to be way more aggressive and has certainly been a disappointment as the 30th pick selected by Golden State in the draft over Draymond Green who we all know was the 35th pick.
So now, all LeBron James fans breathed a huge sigh of relief and probably cried with him for the Championship win. Firstly, Suga would like to congratulate LeBron on winning his well deserved MVP and for winning his 3rd ring, which probably carried as much weight as his first. It would have been a disaster for him to lose a 3rd straight final. He has cruised to the finals on the East side for 6 straight years. I said cruised, debatable or not, but in my opinion even though there are talented players on the East side, I can’t say any of them are a star player trade away from being a Championship team. The East side teams are losers and were hardly even worth watching until the semifinals of their Conference. ‘Dem need fi build’. Simple.
The pressure has been on LeBron since he graduated from High School and he has also suffered from the hype people and the media have put on him. He somehow got and accepted the name King James years before even his first ring (Kings wear rings) and said he didn’t have any worries because he is the best player in the world, then he lost his next final. So of course he is always up for criticism and had no choice but to save his name and totally take over this series. He scored a triple-double last night with 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds and he was voted unanimous MVP. He is the 1st player in NBA history to lead all players in all 5 categories, that is, Points, Rebounds, Assists, Blocks and Steals for an ENTIRE Playoff series. He also joined the historic company of Michael Jordan, Bill Russell amd Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, being 1 of 4 players with 3 titles and 4 MVPs.
That’s great LeBron. Those were really great accomplishments, but I would just love for him to shut everyone up completely including myself and show up more in crucial 4th quarters. MJ didn’t go cold in final 4th quarters and have Pippin win the Championships for him. So the potential is there to be the greatest but it’s just always like he needs the NFL version of a Hail Mary such as a Ray Allen or Kyrie Irving to make that clutch 3-pointer winning shot for him. LeBron showed he wanted it more with that block, but it didn’t win the game. It always comes down to points and Kyrie scored them. Not 2 to even the score if Iguodala scored, but 3. Warriors also had the advantage in terms of possessions for the last few seconds of the game but kept missing.
According to Bleacher Report, LeBron scored the most points but Kyrie scored the critical 26 points of the game.
Let us not also forget that that Kyrie guarded Curry for the majority of the game and locked him down! Curry was forced to make passes, take hard shots and created turnovers.
Draymond Green carried the team last night. He scored 32 points with 15 rebounds and 9 assists but where were the Splash Brothers? Curry was not only locked down by Kyrie but when he got free he scored 17 points and was 6/19 from the field and 4/14 from the 3-point range, while Klay scored 14 points, was only 2/10 from 3-point range and 6/17 from the field. So it is clear they had opportunities but just weren’t scoring. It was the Warriors home court, they led the majority of the game, though by small margins and it was their game to lose.
A win for the Warriors would have made them debatably the greatest team, but the win for Cavs with the MVP performance of James didn’t make LeBron the greatest ever but definitely killed the controversy of him being one of the greatest ever. He elevated his teammates such as JR Smith and Tristan Thompson. I can’t say the same for Kevin Love who was a complete disaster. He was a huge disappointment for the Cavs but also placed in the wrong position on the court many times. Kyrie didn’t need to be elevated. He was already elevated after getting the opportunity to return and help his team reach the Finals after being put out last year’s finals after Game 1 with a knee injury.
Steph struggled to play both ends of the floor and whenever he had to play the role of a scoring point guard.
After the LeBron-Draymond incident and the fact that Klay said players talk trash all the time and it’s a Man’s League, that’s also what he needs to tell his teammate, Curry. Man up. His body language needs to improve as well. LeBron and the Cavs made him look like a rookie this series. Curry will have to go back to the drawing board to be considered as great and I think he has the determination to return after witnessing a tough 2nd round 4-2 loss to the San Antonia Spurs in 2013, a 4-3 1st round loss to the Clippers in 2014 and then his return in 2015 to become an NBA Champion.
LeBron may just be there again for his 7th straight final though. It’s very possible given the state of the East side at the moment. I think he still needs to win another ring and actually score the Championship winning shots, as his NBA Finals record is still a lopsided 3-4. 2 rings would be ideal in order to back up his stats and hype. Many great players with great stats have ended their careers without a ring because of other great teams and or players in their way but none of them called themself King.
With all that has been said and done, it was a well earned Championship for Cleveland and it was a team effort. Congrats Cavs!
Last Saturday, my husband and I made it all the way to Blue Ridge. A 40 minute drive from Papine that was worth it.
We made reservations for 5pm and we were on time. Upon arrival, I loved the colourful landscape driving in. We were greeted nicely and offered fresh market lettuce with lovely foliage to purchase.
We were seated and given enough time to become acquainted with the picturesque view and fresh air that surrounded us. We admired the rustic decor, use of colours and cute centerpieces with fresh rosemary.
After we thought the decor was nice, they just kept stepping it up a notch with uniqueness and creativity. The main menu came in a picture frame that stood on the table so you didn’t have to hold up anything. We ordered the Soup of the day ($650JMD), Corn Chowder that came out in a reasonable amount of time and was decent.
Then came our exciting entrees with a twist. I had the Blue Ridge Pork Chops in Guava Glaze with a side of mashed potatoes ($2700JMD) and my husband had the Homemade Chicken Pot Pie with a side of macaroni and cheese ($1800JMD). The Chicken Pot Pie came in a tray with a globe and my Pork Chops came with a huge elephant head sculpture.
There was a burst of flavour upon tasting the Chicken Pot Pie. The macaroni and cheese was ok but the mashed potatoes that accompanied my Pork chop was herby and tasty. The Pork chop was tender and succulent. I enjoyed every piece of it.
We topped off our meal by sharing a delicious Coffee Rum Ice cream.
Since persons travel all the way up there, I love that they make special efforts to be unique. I enjoyed their creativity and the fact that the majority of their food was fresh and homemade. They also found a way to incorporate our famous Blue Mountain Coffee into their menu with the Coffee Rum Ice cream, Blue Hot Chocolate and Blue Ridge Coffee.
A bit pricey but when you have good service, good food, excellent presentation with a spectacular view and fresh air, then your bill comes in a gift box, that’s value for money and a lovely experience that was worth the long drive.
Blue Ridge Restaurant and Cottages
Location: Salt Hill Lot 9 East Rural, St. Andrew, Blue Mountain
Ph: 562-7580
***Reservations recommended
Whether Basketball fans like to admit it or not, the decision to give Draymond Green a Flagrant Foul 1 for his words used to trash talk LeBron James (not for grabbing his balls as memes would suggest) leading to a suspension from the fouls he piled up before, was unnecessary. But all worked in favour of prolonging the series to a likely Game 7.
How could you have the great, LeBron James reach his 6th straight finals and have him face the strong possibility of losing his 3rd straight finals, 4-1? That would be disastrous in NBA history. It would look horrible on paper for LeBron and would smear his legacy, be a huge distraction from and basically override all the great stats he racked up over the years.
Who really thought the Warriors would win without Draymond and with LeBron and Irving fighting to stay in the Finals? What was he going to do, pop Champagne in his suite without the team after he helped get them there? Draymond is the leader of the Warriors team and they all know it. The team feeds off of his energy.
With such a bad temper it was inevitable that Draymond would be suspended at some point in the Finals series. But why did the player who calls himself the ‘Best Player in the World’ have to force the issue for him to take the bait? He shouldn’t feel threatened. Doesn’t he say he ‘ain’t got no worries?’ Has he never been called names in his life because he is a big guy? He said Draymond took it too far. Smart, but Poor Baby.
So with Game 5 in California and the Cavs down 3-1, there would be an opportunity for the Warriors to close out but even though their fans came with their best faces and cheers out, they knew they wouldn’t win that game without Draymond. LeBron James was booed from shoot around practice to everytime he had possession of the ball during the game.
Iguodala started for Draymond and had a spectacular 1st quarter. It was a tight 1st and 2nd quarter that had both teams playing well. The teams went to Halftime at 61-61.
Klay Thompson came up big with 26 points. But it was the real LeBron James who finally showed up with 25 points and 0 assists in the entire 1st half. Klay the leading scorer at that point, had no assists either. Irving’s jump shots were on point too.
But let’s get back to LeBron. He was mentally prepared, serious and focused on what he had to do, blocking out all the boos, baby bottles and ‘Cry Baby LeBron’ signs. He is the type of player that listens to what people and the media have to say and he hardly ever uses it to fuel him to victory. This wasn’t so Monday night. He was in full attack mode, making consistent jump shots and 3-pointers! He was shooting! He was mixing it up, getting into the paint area and finishing it up. He scored the most points he has ever scored in any 1st half in any finals game of his career. There is no denying he may have been unstoppable in the 1st half but without Draymond out there, he was left to do whatever he wanted to do. Draymond has the ability to see plays before they are in motion and stop them. Not every player has that gift and that major part of defense was missing for the Warriors.
Things then started to fall apart for the Warriors when center, Andrew Bogut landed awkwardly on a play, hyper-extending his left leg. He will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of a left knee injury he suffered to see if he can play in Game 6.
The Warriors then had no choice but to go small with their line-up and well, if you don’t go big you go home.
The Cavs stretched to an 8 point lead, their biggest of the night. It was cut to 6 when Kyrie was accused of going out of bounds but actually didn’t and lost possession. Klay (37 points) did some work to cut the lead to 3 when fouled on a 3-point play with about 6:44mins left in the 3rd.
Curry showed up, but not enough. He scored 25 points for the night and with Irving not missing, the lead stretched to 8 and even 10.
James went cold in 4th, missing a lot of shots and was not passing the ball. So the Warriors had at least 2 or 3 possessions to cut down the lead, but failed to take advantage. Racking up the stats is one thing LeBron but finishing is another.
Kyrie got a handle of the ball again and remained consistent and with the score at Cavs 100 – 96 Warriors, thus Cavs having a 13 point lead with about 5 mins left, he scored another 3-pointer and buried them.
Good thing Kyrie was on point because James was still missing with up to 3 minutes left. He was still cold. Would not have made a difference anyway because the game Harrison Barnes had for the Warriors was embarrassing. You would think someone paid him to play so badly after the 2 previous big games he had. This is exactly what upsets Draymond Green about being the 35th pick and even his own teammates being drafted before him, such as Barnes. He says he has nothing against his teammates but Suga is showing you Exhibit A.
Anyhow, before the Finals, Suga knew if it was a long series for Cavs to be competitive, they would have a blow out game at home where LeBron, JR Smith and possibly Tristan Thompson would come up big and a game where Kyrie and/or James came up really big. It has happened. And no, State Farm Kevin Love was never a factor. Kyrie has a lot of fight and could have another big game in him. LeBron James cannot do it by himself.
So there you have it, with Kyrie and LeBron 41 a piece, for the first time, teammates have scored 40 plus in a Finals game. The game ended 112-97.
Now we have a Game 6 back in Cleveland. The Warriors were able to win it in 6 in Cleveland last year but I think this year will be different.
So much is on the line for both teams. What a dilemma! Did the NBA mess with the Warriors fate of possibly closing out in 5 at home? We won’t know but just have to wait and see how it plays out from here.
It would be heartbreaking for LeBron to lose his 3rd straight Final and 4 Finals overall. It would be Kyrie’s first ring and the Cavs 1st Championship! Now the Warriors are Defending Champs, looking to be a dynasty and after the long road of 73 wins, they only see winning it all as the acceptable outcome.
Game 6 is Thursday at 8pm.
I Love this Game!
FOOTBALL
Euro2016
Euro2016 started last Friday. Already, Russia has faced investigation after Russian fans rushed (no pun intended) England supporters at the end of the game, which was drawn 1-1. Russia had equalized in overtime.
Both Russia and England have been warned against possible elimination if violence continues.
COPA America
Brazil beat Haiti 7-1 last Wednesday.
On Thursday, Venezuela beat Uruguay 1-0! Suarez was extremely upset he couldn’t play and threw a tantrum on the sidelines. The same night, Mexico beat Jamaica 2-0. Poor defending cost Jamaica the first goal, a simple header by Chicharito at 18′. It was an exciting match, but Jamaica just failed to convert the many opportunities and chances on goal, especially Donaldson who was also denied a penalty. Peralto who substituted Chicharito sealed the deal for Mexico, scoring at 81′.
Mexico advanced with Venezuela to the Quarterfinal for Group C. USA and Colombia advanced from Group A. The outcome of Group B with Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Haiti is to be determined, as well as the Group with Argentina, Chile, Panama and Bolivia.
BOXING
Mohammad Ali died a week ago at age 74. His public memorial service was on Friday in Louisville, KY. Ali inspired the famous movie, Rocky. The Legend’s memory will live on.
TENNIS
5-time Major winner, Maria Sharapova has been suspended for 2 years by the ITF for breaking anti-doping rules. She will appeal.
ATHLETICS
Speaking of doping, Jamaica’s sprinter, Nesta Carter’s ‘B’ sample confirmed the presence of the substance, methylhexanamine, a banned stimulant after tests were carried out by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This could cost the 4×100m team from the 2008 Beijing Olympics their Gold medal. He will soon have his case heard by the IOC panel.
Sanya Richards-Ross of the USA looking to run her last Olympics seemed to have twisted her foot in a 100m race used for speed training in Atlanta. She fell to the ground screaming mid-race and had to be carried off the field. She hasn’t been running good times in the 400m and she came 7th in her last competitive race but this may harm her hopes of heading to RIO even more.
Jamaica National Racers Grand Prix
The JN Racers Meet that took place on Saturday at the National Stadium was packed with talented athletes, most of whom should be heading to RIO. It was a great day for sprinters with a +1.0 wind.
The highlights were as follows:
Shaunae Miller used her strength from the 400m to power through the stretch to win the Women’s 200m just short of sub 22s in 22.05s. USA’s Jenna Prandini had an excellent start and beat Miller on the curb but faded in the stretch finishing in 22 39s.
Trinidad’s Machel Cedonio won the Men’s 400m in 44.37s ahead of Grenada’s Bralon Taplin and Jamaica’s Javon Francis a.k.a. ‘Donkey Man’.
South Africa’s World Men’s 400m Champion, Wayde van Niekerk won the 300m just short of sub 31s in 31.03 ahead of USA’s LaShawn Merritt. He felt the energy of the crowd and enjoyed running here.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Miguel Francis who trains with Bolt and Blake destroyed is PB time in the Men’s 200m finishing in 19.88s, the 2nd fastest time in the world this year. Jamaica’s Julian Forte was 2nd in 20.18s and Warren Weir just returning from an injury was 3rd in 20.32s. Rasheed Dwyer is yet to break 20.5s this season.
Nadia Eke of Ghana won the Women’s Triple jump in 13.51m.
For the Women’s 100m hurdles, USA’s Sharika Nelvis won in 12.61s, her SB ahead of Jamaica’s World Champion, Danielle Williams who finished in 12.77s.
For the Men’s 110m hurdles, David Oliver of the USA won in 13.09s. Jamaica’s Deuce Carter came 2nd. He hit a hurdle mid-race so it could have been closer. Jarrett Eaton of the USA was 3rd.
Then to the races everyone was waiting for, the Women’s and Men’s 100m.
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce who has been having trouble from injury got her usual fast start and shook off Barbara Pierre of the USA who stayed with her throughout the entire race and even inched ahead of her at one point finishing with her SB of 11.09 and Pierre finished in 11.11s. Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad & Tobago was 3rd in 11.15s and Carmelita Jeter did not place.
Sidenote. Never count out VCB for the Senior trials. She ran 10.83s in Florida today!
Now to the Men! Bolt, Blake, Asafa, Nickel Ashmeade, Kemar Bailey-Cole and Frater ALL from Jamaica, Ramon Gittons from Barbados and South Africa’s Akane Simbine. Why not have a Jamaica race at the Olympics?
All I know is, Usain Bolt is looking good, really good. He ran 9.88s after he stumbled at the start of race after a good reaction time to the gun, was behind the entire field and then pulled away easily.
Nickel Ashmeade finished 2nd and Blake with his SB 3rd, both with 9.94s, Asafa 4th with 9.98 and Bailey-Cole 5th.
Watch “Usain Bolt wins 100m Men Racers Grand Prix 2016 in 9.88s” on YouTube here:
BASKETBALL – NBA Finals
After the Warriors took Game 1 of the series and Game 2 was a Blowout with a 110-76 win over the Cavs in California with LeBron James sitting out the entire 4th quarter, the Cavs especially LeBron James were attacked by the media, various memes and videos. Here is a reminder of just a few:
They had no choice but to totally dominate Game 3 on home court to save face on Wednesday night winning by 30 points, 120-90. James had 32 points and Thompson came up big defensively and also had 13 rebounds. The Cavs would then look to level the series in Game 4 at home before heading back to California for Game 5 but things did not go their way. Curry came alive with 38 points and we still haven’t seen the Splash Brothers in these NBA Finals.
Cavs coach, Tyronn Lue was fined 25k for criticizing the Referees after Game 4, saying ‘LeBron never gets calls’. LeBron fans would say he doesn’t make excuses for losing but once again, he was in agreement with this accusation made by Lue but didn’t go in on it because he said he would save his 25k. What he did do though, was provoke Draymond Green by stepping over him after Green fell to the floor on a play, knowing what was at stake for Draymond if he got 2 more technicals or any Flagrants called against him. Words were thrown and both made their case.
Watch “GameTime: LeBron’s Altercation With Draymond Green | June 11, 2016 | 2016 NBA Finals” on YouTube here:
Today, the League announced that LeBron James was assessed a technical and Draymond Green has been suspended for Game 5 of the Finals after getting a Flagrant Foul 1 from the incident with LeBron on Friday. Suga thinks this was unnecessary and the NBA are grabbing at straws to extend the series.
Warriors’ Klay Thompson expresses that he guesses LeBron James’ ‘feelings just got hurt’ by Draymond Green and players talk trash and call each other names in the league all the time but ‘It’s a Man’s League’.
Game 5 is tomorrow at 8pm!
Pelican Bar is a rustic bar that was built from wood by a fisherman, Floyd Forbes in 2001 on a sand bank in the middle of the sea. It is half way between Black River and Treasure Beach.
Of course it was named after the flocks of Pelicans that used to rest on the sand bank.
It is now an established attraction as the hotels quickly recognized what a nice get away it is. Local fishermen will ferry you over from Black River and Treasure Beach, that are about 20 minutes out.
Suga enjoyed the Catamaran Cruise about a month ago with Island Routes from an hour and a half away. The boat was anchored about 2 minutes away from the Bar and we were carried over the low waters by a small motor boat that would collect us in an hour.
Upon arrival we were greeted by the local fishermen that took orders for fish and drinks from the bar. They keep it simple as they are literally out in the middle of the sea so options are limited. For food, the only meal of the day was Brown Stew Fish and rice an peas. Rice and Peas? Yes. Asking for a side of Bammy was a special order. That’s it. As a tourist attraction and for the experience, I found $15US for the food to be quite reasonable. Tourists mostly enjoyed Rum, Red Stripe Beer and Heineken and the food was ready by the time you explored a little and had a drink.
A man walked around that would etch your names in the wooden floor of the bar, who I am sure collects a lot of tips.
Some tourists did a bit of swimming and snorkelling and collected sea eggs and sea urchins while I enjoyed chilling in the water, chatting and drinking beer. Before we knew it, it was time for those who came by Island Routes to head back to land.
It was not an oh so spectacular place but it was all about the experience and it was definitely an opportunity to get away, relax and enjoy the simplicity offered. One thing that could really amp up what they had to offer? It’s St. Elizabeth, so they could get some Shrimp aka ‘Peppa Swims’ at that bar!
Awesome, Picturesque Beach Day. Lovely spot to enjoy with family and friends. Explore Jamaica! Suga endorsed.
Pelican Bar
Location: ‘Di middle of di sea’ – St. Elizabeth
Ph: 876-354-4218
Novak Djokovic defeats Andy Murray in 4 sets 3-6,6-1,6-2,6-4 to win 12th Grand slam and 1st French Open Title!
This win also means he has won all 4 Grand Slam titles in 1 year. Amazing. This has not been done since 1969.
Djokovic now stands in the middle of the greats with Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras above him with 14 Grand Slams and of course the legendary Roger Federer with 17.
Suga expects to see more titles from Djokovic in the near future.
Congrats Novak!
This morning Garbine Muguruza played the best game of her life and beat Serena Williams in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. Her service games were strong as she also has a powerful serve, some were a consistent 174mph and she had excellent hits down the line. Her backhand certainly inproved since her last final versus Serena at Wimbledon 2015.
Serena has been denied yet again from reaching the historic 22 Grand Slams in the Open era and gave an emotional speech. Today was just not her day. Muguruza was the better player today.
Congrats to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza for winning her first Grand Slam title.
At 8am tune in to the Women’s French Open Finals at Roland Garros! Serena Williams will go up against no. 4 Garbine Muguruza of Spain. They met last year in the Wimbledon Final, which Serena had to fight hard to win.
Serena was denied in the last US Open Semifinals for chasing 22 to even Steffi Graf’s Open Era Gland Slam title record and again in the Australian Open Final this year. Muguruza has beaten Serena in the French Open before. Can Serena keep her cool and reach the 22 mark this time?
