Posted by Yardie Luke on August 27, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | 
Tyson Gay has won the Diamond League trophy for the season’s top performer in the 100 meters, finishing in 9.79 seconds to beat Jamaican Nesta Carter by 0.06 seconds.
Gay was looking to beat his personal best of 9.69, the time he shares with Usain Bolt as the second fastest ever, but the weather at the King Baudouin was too damp and unseasonably cold for a top time.
Gay was slow out of the blocks and had to work hard most of the race to get ahead of Carter, whose 9.85 was a personal best.
Another Jamaican, Yohan Blake, was third in 9.91.
Gay’s time of 9.79 was just 0.01 seconds short of his world leading time of 9.78. SOURCE
Posted by Yardie Luke on August 26, 2010 under Jamaica Sports |
Usain Bolt, who is taking the remainder of this year off to rest because of tightness in his lower back, has renewed his contract with Puma until the end of 2013 in a deal said to be the biggest ever given to a track and field athlete.
“Usain Bolt has been a revelation,” said Jochen Zeitz, the chairman of Puma AG. “He has shined a global spotlight on the sport; his winning personality and phenomenal physical prowess are a unique combination. Usain has been a tremendous force for the Puma brand.”
Bolt said: “Puma’s been by my side since the beginning, before anyone knew what I was capable of achieving. They saw potential in me and they took a chance, supporting me all the way, especially when things weren’t easy for me due to injuries I suffered in my teens.
“We’ve been partners in the truest sense of the word since day one, and so it’s an easy decision to re-sign with them. They take the business of running seriously, but we also know how to have fun, to be spontaneous. We both bring a lot of personality to the sport.” SOURCE
Posted by Yardie Luke on August 24, 2010 under Famous Jamaicans |
Join me in congratulating the beautiful and dashing Yendi Phillipps who was last night’s first runner-up in the Miss Universe 2010 Pageant. Although many of us thought she was more than qualified to take the top spot we are proud of her accomplishments and we wish her continued success in all her endeavours.
The lovely Yendi Phillipps holds the titles Miss Jamaica World 2007 and Miss Jamaica Universe 2010.
Miss Phillipps has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the State University of New York at Brockport and a Master’s degree in Recreation and Leisure Management.
Miss Phillipps is a former host of Digicel Rising Stars.
Posted by Yardie Luke on August 13, 2010 under Jamaica Sports |
The way Tyson Gay is reacting to the recent win over Usain Bolt you’d think he just won the Olympic 100m sprint. He has been so elated that his comments have struck me as comical.
Gay did 9.84 seconds to beat Bolt by 0.13 sec and record his first ever win over the World and Olympic champion over 100m.
After the race Gay said, “It feels great to beat Usain but deep down inside I know he is not 100%. I look forward to beating him when he is 100%.”
In an interview with BBC Sports Gay made the comical statement that his beating Bolt was good for the sport and that he was delighted that his fans now have a reason to be happy. “I got to see other people happy. It was a good day for the sport.”
I wonder if there was no Usain Bolt and if Gay was winning ALL the 100m and 200m races if he would think that would be bad for the sport. I also wonder if he would consider slowing in one of his races to give a competitor a chance to win since one person dominating the race is bad for the sport.
Gay should realize that he spends most of his time worrying about beating Bolt. In that “I must beat Bolt” mode he put undue stress on his body and possibly suffered for it.
Usain Bolt did the fastest time in a 100m race when he clocked 9.58 sec at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics Berlin. Gay’s personal best time in the 100m is 9.69 sec in Shanghai. In winning the recent 100m race in a time of 9.84 sec he has proved nothing. Usain Bolt was obviously not near his best.
This is only a mild consolation for Gay. However it sets up a highly anticipated duel in 2011 when the two will compete again.
(Congratulations to Tyson Gay for winning the Diamond League meeting at London’s Crystal Palace in a time of 9.78 sec. Very soon Gay will also be worrying about the second place finisher Yohan Blake. Blake is only 20 years old. )
Posted by Yardie Luke on August 9, 2010 under Saving Money |
If you’ve ever felt powerless in a fight against a large corporation or been blind-sided by bank fees, you should know about James Noble.
The Charlottesville, Va., software engineer found himself on the short end of a credit card interest rate increase and facing $300 in overdraft fees levied by Bank of America earlier this year. In both cases, he felt the costs were unfair, but he couldn’t get anyone at the bank to listen.
“Customer service is so bad at most places now, it’s really starting to get to the point where you have to go to court to be treated fairly,” he said.
So he did. And he won – a judgment of almost $900 against Charlotte, N.C.,-based Bank of America.
Noble took advantage of an often overlooked option in U.S. judicial systems: small claims court. Because small claims courts are inexpensive and informal, plaintiffs can represent themselves. If Internet groups devoted to small claims cases are any indication, frustrated consumers with small-dollar beefs against corporations are increasingly turning to small claims as a way to get satisfaction — and refunds.
From the start, Noble felt he had a strong case, even though he said Bank of America initially responded to his pleas like a brick wall. The overdraft fees, he said, were triggered when the bank inexplicably delayed crediting his account with a deposit for an extra 24 hours. He was watching the account closely, he said, and managed to get screen captures detailing what he called unfair debiting procedures. During the next several days, some of his payments cleared, but were then retroactively assessed overdraft fees. Before the incident was over, he owed Bank of America nearly $280 in overdraft fees.
At about the same time, Noble was five days late with a credit card payment. He blamed a glitch in Bank of America’s payroll system, which failed to direct deposit his paycheck and instead mailed him a paper check.
He was then told that his rate would be increased from 10 percent to 28 percent, but his cardholder agreement gave him the option to opt-out of the increase.
Betty Reiss, a Bank of America spokeswoman, said the bank could not comment on the specifics of the case.
“We deny the allegations in the complaint, but we can’t comment on an individual customer’s account for privacy reasons,” she said.
Federal regulations require banks to give consumers notice when their interest rates will rise, and give them the opportunity to opt out of the increase. Consumers rarely take this option, though, because when they do banks generally close their accounts.
FDIC doesn’t protect your money from fees
In Noble’s case, when he called the bank to opt out, he said the Bank of America operators had no idea what he was talking about. One told him his rate hadn’t increased; others had no idea how to opt him out of the increase.
Suspicious, he kept careful phone records. His interest rate did in fact go up, eventually costing him roughly $600 in interest charges.
“When you deposit money with banks you are entrusting them, and perhaps your money is FDIC insured,” he said. “But you are not FDIC insured against people sitting in a boardroom thinking up ways they can take your money.”
Noble escalated his complaints to an operator in executive customer service, which offered to lower his rate to 14 percent. He balked, insisting on his original rate. When the bank wouldn’t budge, he decided to research his legal options and found a video produced by filmmaker Karney Hatch called “Overdrawn,” which includes instructions on filing a small claims case.
In June, Noble paid the $56 filing fee and took the bank to court. In his complaint, he claimed the maximum amount allowed in Virginia’s small claims courts — $5,000 — to cover both current and potential future excess interest costs.
A July 6 court date was set, but four days before the date arrived, Bank of America mailed him a letter with a settlement offer.
“They offered me $500,” he said. “But I said ‘That’s not enough.’” Instead, he pulled together his paperwork and headed to court. Continue
