Dennie Quill, Contributor"ONE ALL is not the end of the world." This statement by the disc jockey at the National Stadium Wednesday night is indicative of how many of us try to console ourselves in the face of disappointments. Life must go on and although Jamaica didn't give the USA the thrashing many had hoped for, we walked away from the encounter with a creditable performance.
Football is a wildly popular sport and many fans cannot resist the hype surrounding an international game as we had on Wednesday evening. From the roars of approval, the murmurs of anticipation, the exchanges of harmless banter to the black green and gold worn with fervent pride the carnival-ike atmosphere cannot be truly appreciated from a cozy living room. So it was on Wednesday evening. Old men clutching their cushions, young children linking arms with their parents, fashions of all stripes, it was all happening.
As the bus with the players passed giving viewers a rather stoic profile of them, one woman remarked; "Lawd, mi sari fe dem 'cause de whole weight ah de country de pan dem shoulda". In all of this there were some pockets of ugliness which threatened to kill the party for a number of persons. Seating was a major problem. Not that there were not enough seats. All the seats in the stadium are numbered and it is easy to find one's seat, but in any event there were numerous ushers there to assist. There were some people who ignored their assigned seats and arbitrarily took up position wherever they wished.
ALL PINK
So here is this clean-shaven fellow with his dark glasses perched atop his head. He is wearing a pink shirt, the same hue associated with baby girls and which little boys scorn so heavily. His watchband is also a brighter shade of pink. This man was seated for more than an hour before match time only thing he was sitting in someone else's seat. Three other persons who were sitting beside him were also not in their assigned seats. Four persons who are assigned to these seats arrived shortly before kick-off time. Pinkie, is kicking up a storm and refuses to move. Patiently, the four including a woman, are standing in the corridor at the same time as the announcer is appealing to everyone to find a seat.
One woman who was seated beside Pinkie got a conscience attack and moved to an unoccupied chair nearby. However, the others were emboldened by Pinkie's stance. The usher goes away to get help and arrives with a policeman, Pinkie convinces him that he has a right to sit there and displace the legitimate owner of the seat and the policeman walks away - defeated. Then a policewoman comes along, she is grinning like a Cheshire cat and after Pinkie gives her a spiel, she too walks away - things are at a stalemate.
Members of the displaced group watched the first half of the match on their feet in the aisle. By this time many people are incensed at this behaviour. I am mildly irritated. Meantime someone calls out to Pinkie and scolds him about his behaviour and as he turns around one notices the Digicel logo emblazoned on his shirt. No wonder he was behaving like that, he has taken to heart the slogan about displacing "de owna fe di yard." Someone said to Pinkie, "Your behaviour is awful and as an Ambassador for Digicel you have let down the company." Another person said; "Call Harry Smith (Digicel's slick marketing executive) and mek him tek up de bway." Pinkie in continued defiance said, "Call him nuh, mek me see what him can do, him up de so."
SHOULD BE BANNED
Pinkie could get no endorsement from the group made up largely of professionals one of whom suggested that he should be evicted from the stadium and banned from future matches. Pity he is not a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Shamefacedly, Pinkie walks away and the seat becomes free. As the second half began Pinkie plonked on the side of one of his cronies' chair, and after that apparently became uncomfortable he stood in the aisle.
The Jamaica Football Federation has a responsibility to see that fans get a total entertainment experience and there should be provisions to deal with unruly fans. The JFF dropped the ball on Wednesday, for fans were perched atop the bleachers in clear violation of the rules and the aisles were clogged with people who didn't want to find their seats or who had no seats to begin with. And the announcer who has an "aitch" problem was hopefully filling in for someone - he was a disaster.
The comments I heard after the match were classic, many far outstripping anything that our brilliant scriptwriters could conceive. Here are some: "de whole mid-field kallapse" "De defence tired, everybady tired." "Macaroni waan some cheese" "Me can't understand the change de man mek, look how Fabian Davis have de likkle bway Beasly de run rings round him, why him neva tek him off." And this one which summed it up, "sometimes me feel fe give up pan dem."
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who can be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.
