The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net IT seems like more and more of our sporting personalities are venturing in the field of politics. This time, two key executives of the New Providence Basketball Association and another from Freedom Farm Baseball League will be juggling their time between the political campaign and the operation of their sporting disciplines. While it seemed as if Freedom Farm's founder, Greg Burrows, will have more leeway to spring forward as a Progressive Liberal Party candidate for Montagu, there's some doubts about whether or not it's a good mix for Keith 'Belzee' Smith and Alsworth 'Whitey' Pickstock, the Democratic National Movement respective candidates for Yamacraw and Golden Gates. Additionally, there's Tabernacle Baptist Academy and Falcons' senior boys basketball coach Norris Bain, who has thrown his name in the hat for the Free National Movement in Marco City in Grand Bahama. There's nothing wrong with that, I suppose, because over the years, we have had quite a number of persons, and even in the current Parliament, there are quite a few members who came from a sporting background. The problem or the question is: Should a sitting member of an organisation in sports, especially a president, take on the role of running for political office? There are many who would say there's nothing wrong, once they can carry out their function in a timely fashion. Then there are the naysayers, who are quick to point out there they should not because they have seen the effect of the sporting office being affected once the heat of the election swings into high gear. But we have to bear in mind: politics and sports are two different entities.