Cruisin' Cuddy a big hit on board

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

'Hey what a gwaan?" a familiar voice pierced the cool Thursday afternoon as chatter with a rich Jamaican accent followed closely by hard laughter grabbed my attention.

Lumbering along, greeting everyone in sight and posing for a few photos in-between, was the vibrant Jamaican and West Indies cricketing great, Courtney Walsh.

"Hey what's up, everything cool?" Cuddy looked anything but a nervous first-time cruiser, as the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas vessel prepared to leave dock at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades en route to Cozumel, Mexico for ESPN's four-night Super Bowl at Sea cruise.

Walsh was not one of the personalities listed on ESPN's talent kit, neither could anyone understand his role in a NFL football-themed cruise, but it was clear from his first few giant strides along the ship's pool deck, where the Sail Away party was just getting ready to kick up a storm, that he was most certainly a popular figure among the vacationers.

the 'real' football

"I was never a cruise person and I was kinda nervous," Walsh admitted. "But when I saw that the ship was this big I kinda felt better."

A day later, Cuddy was in his element; teaming up with regular cruisers to tackling giant NFL players and former football stars such as Shaka Hislop and Jamaica's own Robbie Earle, in ESPN's NFL football vs football challenge - a string of activities pitting NFL players against football players, geared at determining which is, let's say, the 'real' football.

"Can I shake your hand sir?" asked one guest as he walked up to the lanky Jamaican, arm outstretched.

"Courtney, you are great, anybody that can demolish England like you have is my friend," quipped another cruiser with a thick Irish accent.

"It's all about having some fun and so far, it has been a tremendous experience. This whole football vs football thing is a lot of fun and so far the whole atmosphere has been a tremendous one," Walsh said.

Ok Cuddy, but still, what is a cricket guy doing on a NFL-centric cruise?

"As a sports head I had to be a part of it, but anyway, I was actually invited over by ESPN to experience the whole thing and of course, I do a bit of stuff with them with their cricket coverage so they invited me to come aboard and see what's happening," Walsh explained, while rocking slightly to a cool Reggae beat that was being played in the Royal Promenade.

Walsh went on to express his amazement with the massive, state-of-the-art vessel and joked that he had already been lost several times.

"The vessel is too big, it's easy to get lost," he laughed. "It's the first I have been on one (ship) and I really didn't expect it to be so massive. I thought it was a small ship but this is just huge."

"There is everything you can think of on this ship and the crew has been tremendous. For a first-time cruiser, I couldn't have asked for more. I'm just trying to lap it all up and I'm sure it will get even better," Walsh added, still rocking to the music.

Nonetheless, since he is here, we might as well ask him the question that has been making the rounds on board and that is, which version of football he prefers.

You would think a Jamaican would quickly offer their support for the regular football that we play on our island, but ever the diplomat, Walsh, instead reasoned.

"It's hard to compare them both because of the different skill sets but I personally enjoy watching them both," easy for him to say. Towering at six feet-plenty, he would probably fit right in on the gridiron anyway.