News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan. 20, 2017: Here are the stories making headlines in sports from the Caribbean and its Diaspora.
CRICKET
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has a new name even though no formal announcement has been made.
Board President Dave Cameron told the Guardian newspaper on Saturday that the WICB will now be known as Cricket West Indies and that an entity named Windies had also been created to deal with the commercial aspect of the operation. Cameron has faced pressure over the last year to scrap the body known as the WICB and replace it with an entity.
ATHLETICS
With the Tokyo Olympics three years away, many athletes who performed well at the Rio Games are turning professional. Among them is Jamaican-born Japanese Olympian, Aska Cambridge, who has left Dome Corp. to become a professional sprinter. Cambridge as you will remember was a member of the Japan men’s silver medal-winning 4×100-meter relay team in Rio last summer.
I AM BOLT
Latest data from Box Office Mojo show the documentary, ‘I Am Bolt,’ focusing on the life of Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, has grossed over 100 million to date. NAN research show the movie created with a budget of US $150 million and released globally on Nov. 21, 2016 has grossed some $114 million so far.
SOCCER
CONCACAF general secretary Philippe Moggio has said that he favours a three-way 2026 World Cup bid with Mexico, the United States and Canada according to ESPN Deportes.
FIFA’s decision last week to expand the 2026 tournament – to 48 teams from 32, playing 80 games instead of 64 – increased the chances of co-hosting to share the load. The U.S. has said they will aggressively bid for hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup and CONCACAF officials believe that the chances of success with the three-way bid increase with the recently-approved changes.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced this week that the US’ Alex Morgan is the 2016 CONCACAF Female Player of the Year and Ashlyn Harris is the CONCACAF Female Goalkeeper of the Year. Winners in other categories were: Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year – Keylor Navas (Costa Rica and Real Madrid); Coaches of the Year – Óscar Ramírez (Costa Rica) and Amelia Valverde (Costa Rica); Referees of the Year – César Arturo Ramos (Mexico) and Carol Anne Chenard (Canada); Goal of the Year – Jesús Corona (Mexico), in the 80th minute of the Copa America Centenario match against Venezuela.
NFL
Haitian American Karl Joseph of the Oakland Raiders has bought his mother a “dream house.” The house is located in Central Florida, according to TMZ Sports, where Joseph grew up after his family left Haiti and came to the United States.
Joseph, 23, was the 14th-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The Raiders signed him to a four-year rookie contract worth just under $12 million. He turned out to be a solid pick, finding the starting lineup and racking up 60 tackles before going down with a toe injury late in the year.
On Tuesday, Joseph was named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team. Moving forward, he has the potential to establish himself as one of the NFL’s best safeties.
