Editor,
I was shocked reading the op-ed written by Kevin Evans of Freeport on October 23rd, which suggested that a parade for Jonquel Jones and the Liberty Basketball Team was a bad idea, and that left me with a feeling akin to that of Puck’s; the mischievous fairy in A Midsummer Night Dream. “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
My eyes bled as I read the drivel and outright fearmongering Kevin tried to create by invoking the spirit of the batty boogeyman. What seemed apparent, however, is that no matter the accomplishment or the national pride associated with Jones’ feat, Kevin’s suggestion was that we should merely focus on her after-hours love interests and their symbolism to the world rather than a float parade in support of what she actually does with her daytime hours.
It baffles me that anyone needs to explain the magnitude of what it means to be a “world champion” and why that achievement should far outweigh any love interest the champion has. Kevin’s fascination with what Jones opts to do when she isn’t winning championships is awkward, to state it mildly, and I think his concern about the LGBTQIA+ community finding a parade in her honor as some transfiguration mountain experience is quite laughable and possibly the most asinine drippings of ink that someone has ever allowed to touch a piece of paper.
I see the Culture Minister suggesting a two-city float for the champ. Mario Bowleg should be commended because that is admirable. Now, it is time for I. Chester Cooper to go further. The Tourism and Aviation team has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here. Let’s bring the trio and all of their teammates here, courtesy of the Bahamas Government, and make it a real event.
If I were the Minister, here’s how I’d do it: A Bahamasair Jet for Jonquel and the NY Liberty, Jazz and the NY Yankees and Coach Yo and the Ole Miss Rebels, would be sent to collect them at JFK International in what can be seen as one of the largest inter sport networking exercises ever. This would naturally be accompanied by a two-night stay at the Lucaya or my favorite place, The Pelican Bay, and a massive motorcade to Jonquel’s town of Eight Mile Rock for a Saturday Community Mix and Mingle, which should undoubtedly include fish and pancakes since she is the big ticket.
On Sunday, the teams and our Bahamian athletes should get to go to the town in West End and enjoy the festivities and nightlife that is the Coffee on the Bay experience after enjoying whatever boating, scuba, hiking, or touring adventure they choose that day. Once that is done and we have sufficiently injected that West End hospitality into all of the members of three of the top competing teams this year, and they have flooded the internet with their pics and memories, Bahamasair should bring those teams to the jewel in the crown for two days of motorcade and grand celebration.
Night one should be against the backdrop of Atlantis’ marina village, and Baha Mar’s luxury brand should be considered for the final night’s extravaganza filled with junkanoo, food, fun, music, entertainment, and excitement. I anticipate the cost to the Bahamas government may hover somewhere around $250,000. Notwithstanding that, can you imagine the possibilities?
Imagine one hundred of the world’s greatest athletes, fifty of whom are women, flooding the internet with picturesque content at a time when the best thing in the world is to be a woman dominating in her craft. Yes, imagine the tourism reach and destination desire that will be generated if they, in exchange for luxury living in Paradise, were required to produce 100 hours of content over the next 10 weeks documenting their encounters during their travel to and motorcade in the Bahamas, all made possible courtesy of the Bahamas. This would serve as a symbol to all that our nation supports these teams, which have made the decision to create opportunities for our athletes to become not just all they were created to be by God because that is both relative and subjective, but instead for allowing them to become world champions; an undisputable, irrefutable and undeniable claim that they have proven they are capable of achieving.
Anyone, in my view, who sees a parade of Jones and the Liberty as an LGBQIA+ parade and not a parade of winners would, to me, only be considered a stranger to winning. We are seeking to celebrate winners, and I believe no winner anywhere in the world could ever oppose winners winning. To Mario Bowleg, good job mate but to I. Chester Cooper, it is time to maximize this easy tourism takedown. To Coach Yo and her Rebels as well as Jazz and his Yankees, I say keep pushing. To ber eminence, the luminary, the illustrious, the inimitable, madam Jonquel Jones and her pertinacious NY Liberty teammates, I wish to pause time and say publicly; way to go Champs!
Congratulations Jonquel on becoming Queen of this Hill, as Kevin suggested in his twaddle last week, I am not sure anyone cared about Woman’s Basketball until Jonquel Jones made it a BIG DEAL!
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