WESTERN BUREAU:
A NEW Jamaican sporting hero was born last Saturday night. Well, reintroduced to the Jamaican sporting public. However, before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night, not many people knew of Glen Johnson or had any interest in the fact that he was fighting American Roy Jones for the World Light Heavyweight title.
Most of us will know by now that Johnson destroyed Jones, who was long considered the best 'pound for pound' fighter in the world, with a crushing combination in the ninth round.
I caught the fight late and was a casual observer, rooting for the under-dog. However, when I heard he was 'Jamaica-born', I became fully interested.
GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS
While I did not see enough of the fight to rate Johnson's fighting skills, it was his communication skills that had me slack jawed and grinning stupidly, all at the same time.
For someone who has been living in the United States for the last 26 years, one would have understood if he spoke with some kind of American accent.
However, Mr. Johnson, who hails from Clarendon, spoke as if he never left the 144 square miles of Jamaica and had never even heard of the United States of America.
My heart swelled with pride as Johnson spoke in his native tongue yet spoke proper English and was able to present himself articulately and eloquently.
While listening to him I could not help but think of the many athletes, mostly the track and field ones, who having lived abroad for less than a year in some instances, return with accents so thick we can hardly understand them.
DOWNRIGHT DISGRACEFUL
How many times have we cringed while listening to some of our Olympic heroes of past and recent vintage while they try to 'impress' us with their newly-acquired American and European accents before they have even mastered the very basic nuances of the English language?
It used to be amusing but of late it has become down right disgraceful. It is as if these athletes are ashamed of their native accents and are so quick to 'adopt' the American one.
There are jokes that people start changing their accents as soon as they apply for a visa. I am not laughing, as I find nothing funny about that at all.
Few, if any of our sports commentators have gone further than former West Indies great fast bowler Michael Holding and despite his working for a British television network for years, has never found it necessary to adopt another accent. Yet no one can say they can't understand what he is saying.
A word to the mentors of the up and coming world beaters, help your charges master basic English before they start trying to cultivate foreign accents.
