The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT IS not how you start, nor how you get there. Most importantly, it’s how you finish.

• The Finish Line, a weekly column, seeks to comment on the state of affairs in local sports, highlighting the highs and the lows, the thrills and the spills and the successes and failures.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

FORGIVE me for taking this time to stray away a little from the norm. This is not an ordinary time.

It’s that time of the year when we take a retrospect of what transpired during the course of the past 12 months and take a journey into the expectations for the next 12 months as we get ready to pull the curtain down on 2016 and raise it for 2017.

With Christmas just a few days away, I would like to wrap my presents under the Christmas tree for all those sporting enthusiasts who were naughty and nice this past year.

Naughty

I could still hear the sentiments ringing in my ears of those who criticised head coach George Cleare for not allowing quarter-miler Shaunae Miller to go for the double at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Nice

Despite all the noise in the market, Miller left the games with a gold medal after she dove, tripped, fell or slide - how ever you saw it - to hold off American Allyson Felix in an historic final of the women’s 400 metres.

Naughty

Why can’t all of the powers that be in local baseball come together in a closed room once and for all and settle all the bickering and arguing over who should be in charge of the sport and the international sanctioning.

Nice

We saw what happened when the players noted to the authorities that they’re not interested in the dispute at all. Behind the efforts of veteran professional players Antoan Richardson and Albert Cartwright, the Bahamas had seven players suit up in the starting line-up for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic.

Naughty

Nobody likes to encounter it, but the injury bug struck, forcing former national record holder Devynne Charlton to shut down what was a promising season and her first trip to the Olympics.

Nice

The Bahamas still had more than enough to cheer for as Pedrya Seymour rose to the occasion, making the transition from the 400m hurdles to the 100m hurdles and qualifying for both the IAAF World Indoor Championships and the Olympics, in what has been the most impressive showing for a newcomer.

Naughty

It just wasn’t meant to be for Jonquel Jones. Although she ended four sensational seasons at George Washington, Jones fell short of joining Oklahoma Sooners’ Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield as a finalist for the Naismith award, presented to top collegiate basketball players.

Nice

They both made history for Grand Bahama, becoming first round picks in the Women’s National Basketball Association with Jones going to the Connecticut Sun and the NBA with Hield selected by the New Orleans Pelicans where they struggled to get their pro rookie careers off the ground.

There were some other disappointments and successes that occurred in 2016, but space won’t allow me the opportunity to continue to rant and rave about those epic moments. It’s time to enjoy the festive season. So let me just wish each and every one of you reading this column a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.