Asafa, Frater better role models than Bolt

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

This was Yele's first Olympics - the summer version - although the only record he seems interested in is loudest bawler after 'Mama!' (he's gotta be a contender for a podium finish, 'cause when we pull out in the morning the yells echo over the hills). He is a multi-event athlete, though, as he is also going for the lifts. Like when he came into the kitchen carrying my laptop. Yikes!

He is growing up faaaaaast and I know (or, at least, I hope) that for a while I will be the biggest, strongest man in his little-boy world where big and strong are everything - you know, 'My daddy can beat up your daddy'. Then he will grow up and start looking around at male athletes, deejays, politicians, and such the like. It is natural that he will be looking at track and field, especially the shortest event in this sprint-mad nation.

(By the way, it is a national focus that is woefully misguided, I believe. Lasting accomplishment requires more of a 400m athlete's combination of strength, speed, stamina and mental toughness than does the explosion of the 100m.)

Although in 2016 when he will be five years old, Asafa Powell and Michael Frater may not be running at the Olympics level for Jamaica, those two are far better role models for him than the fastest man who ever lived, Usain Bolt. And I will present them as such.

I can almost hear the pooh poohs, sneers and 'loser!', because there is no better role model to present to your child than the best ever, right? The person who makes the most cash, right? The person with the most flash, right? (Of course, by the time we get to talking abut these things, Yohan Blake may be the fastest of all time.) For me, the best male role model for my son is a combination of the most consistent and safest.

Despite his injuries and what some would call mental weakness, with his multitude of sub-10 second clockings that is what Asafa is certainly consistent at. So is Frater (who W lovingly calls 'tuk tuk' because of his height, compared to many other sprinters), plugging away almost under the radar sometimes - and who can forget his back-stretch runs for Jamaica in the 4x100m relays? Frater is also a good leader, as evidenced by his selection as Olympic team captain.

The groin-injury-prone Safa also plays it safe, a very rare exception being his run in the most recent national trials when he pushed on through the recurring strain and had to be helped off the track. I do not know much about Frater's level of caution, but I suspect that as team captain he has to make balanced decisions.

playing it safe

On the other hand, with the two Bimmer accidents (one leaving him with his foot cut and hobbling) Bolt could have tossed his track and field career to the wind more than once. Youthful exuberance, one may say, but there are other exuberant youths who were not driving as finely engineered a car as Bolt who ended up very dead. I always tell our children that it only takes one slip in judgement to turn a situation from happiness to sorrow, to destroy everything that you have worked for over a prolonged period.

I will be teaching Yele that, so far, Bolt is much more likely to make those errors than 'Safa and what seems to be a very level-headed Frater. The consistency and playing it safe are crucial to being around for the best interests of your family, which is the ultimate for a man.

I will be presenting him other Jamaican male role models from public life as well. Among them is Mutabaruka, who is a superb example of the courage required to live contrary to the expected norms in a post-colonial society.

Then there is Professor Mervyn Morris, OM, who is such a great example (not the only one, I am sure, but one that I have observed over time) of how to wear extraordinary accomplishment with grace and dignity, willing to help without being overbearing or condescending.

I will also be giving Yele male role models of what not to be like, which is very important. Prime among these is the crudest, cruellest, most cowardly, asinine person I have ever worked with, who covered his own managerial incompetence by publicly humiliating junior staff all day, every day. No names; the first initial C will suffice.

Heck, he once sent out a general email saying something like 'you all have to work smart - but I forgot, you have to be smart to work smart'.

I will be telling Yele that if he behaves in any way like that cretin I will not only disown him but, chances are, also slap him, no matter how old he is.

These are my thoughts as I look around for role models for a decent man I hope to be proud to be the father of in two decades from now. And yeah, as a sprinter I much prefer Asafa to Bolt myself. Why? Going for the perennial 'nearly-could-have-if-only'? I dunno. Mi jus' rate di man same way.

melvillecooke@yahoo.ca