A couple of weekends ago I was in Kingston, Jamaica for the Jamaica International Invitational. It was a very interesting and rewarding event to attend for me, not because athletes I coach did well, but because of the positive spirit and upbeat ambiance that permeated the whole country and culture. It is more than evident that the Usain Bolt phenomenon and phenomena have imbued the country with a new sense of pride and self-confidence. The people walk and talk with a special muted swagger. The tempo and temperament of the country is more brisk and boisterous. This is a far cry from the kind of atmosphere and ambiance I felt in prior visits to the island prior to Bolt.
Sport, when it really works, does more than entertain. It provides people with an identity and cause for celebration and coalescence around, and for, something positive and hopefully pure. Bolt, and the manner in which he connects with his people, brings a pure quality of unfiltered joy and pride to his country of two million people. He does this because it is obvious that he takes pride and great joy from what he is doing, and is willing to generously share this with his people. This is a very unusual phenomenon.
As we have discussed in earlier efforts, athletes who perform at the outer limits of human performance, have extreme needs and are rampantly self-centered and "me" focused. Sharing, real and honest, is the very last thing they seek to do. Willingly sharing is rare and a difficult thing for them to do. Self-indulgence and self-absorption is the order of the day and builds barriers to true and pure sharing. Bolt somehow seems to have escaped, at least for the time being, getting too caught up in "self" to the exclusion of other things, people, and values.
When he ran at the Penn Relays he did so because track and field agent (not Bolt's agent however), Cubie Seegobin, and his coach Glenn Mills, discussed with Usain about the merits of his giving something back,......for free, to his fans at the Penn Relays (keep in mind that everyone but Seegobin and Mills were given credit for getting Bolt to Philly for free). Usain needed no convincing or special urging to do this. Bear in mind that he has been offered upwards of $500,000.00 as an appearance fee, and it is generally understood that he gets $250,000.00 appearance fee on average. The obvious retort is, "Making that kind of money, he can afford to run for free."... That is the logic of a person trying to apply simple-minded logic and arithmetic to psychological mathematics they simply do not understand. The more these people are in demand and indulged, the more perks they get, the more they feel "entitled" to the dollars and rewards they get. Doing something for free for many in this circumstance is "going back" to the scary and scarce days when they were struggling and hoping for recognition, love and acceptance, so to do something "free" brings back all the heartache and hurt from those early days in their career.
Bottom line, for whatever reason, Bolt seems to have escaped this and it is felt by a very sophisticated fan base in Jamaica. The culture of Jamaica is one of intense competition. The people there are very aggressive and "pushy" at almost all levels. They are a people and country where most of the people there make their living by their wits, natural intelligence and innate wisdom. This being the case, they can smell a phony a mile away. They are not easily taken in because they approach each day with a certain paranoia and suspicion because they are also aware that Jamaica in so many ways is paradise lost. Given the weather, the productivity of the land, the location, and basic intelligence and creativity of the people, it is obvious that Jamaica and Jamaicans should enjoy a way of life far superior to what is currently the case. They know instinctively that something has been unfairly taken from them and they approach each other with some suspicion and qualms because the next person might be one of the reasons why they are being cheated of the elevated lifestyle and gifts that the natural resources of the country should easily provide.
So for Bolt to be able to impact his country in the manor he does, speaks volumes to what the people there see in him based upon their collective insight and wisdom, and reluctance to trust easily. They have experienced and dealt with all manner of phoniness and cheats, they know the real thing when they see it. In doing what he does, Bolt represents the good thing(s) that can come from sport that is working right. Taken from the"Spikes & Flat" Blog. Read the full story..
-- Coach Brooks Johnson (WHEN THE SPORT REALLY WORKS)
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