WHAT is it with sport in Bermuda?

Why, whenever an attempt is made to move forward, common sense flies out of the window?

The nonsense that has prevailed in recent weeks almost beggars belief.

We open a Hall of Fame. Rather than celebrate the occasion and salute the inductees, those who think they know best whinge and whine over the omission of a former thug, self-confessed drug addict and convicted criminal.

We embark on a new cricket season, one of the most eventful in 20 years or more, and immediately tell one of our most talented players that because of an administrative error, not of his making, he has to sit on the sidelines.

And in football, less than two weeks before one of the most significant matches in the Island?s international history, authorities divert their attention to a row over training facilities.

If it all weren?t so sad, it would be almost comical.

To his enormous credit, Clarence Hill has made a Herculean effort to turn his life around in the last year and there?s no doubt that in his hey-day he was one of Bermuda?s sporting heroes. He remains our only Olympic medallist.

But does that make him any more deserving of a place in the Hall than those who were inducted? It could easily be argued that Troy Darrell, like Hill one of the 25 nominees who didn?t make it into the final ten, enjoyed a far more illustrious fight career, and pound for pound was a better boxer.

After all Darrell was trained by the legendary Angelo Dundee. Muhammad Ali?s corner man simply didn?t take any fighter under his wing.

Hill?s career needs to be put in perspective. As a professional, he was little more than a journeyman, who won some good fights but never quite made the top tier. He was certainly never ranked in the world?s top five heavyweights as some radio talk show clowns would have us believe.

As an amateur, he was far more impressive. Yet his crowning glory at the 1976 Montreal Olympics needs to be qualified. An African boycott considerably diluted those Games. Teofilo Stevenson apart, the heavyweight boxing division was devoid of numbers and any great talent.

Clarence Hill won his bronze medal after fighting just TWO bouts, one of which he lost.

An Olympic medal isn?t to be sneezed at but Hill certainly fought and beat better men than he did at those Games.

Yes, he was an accomplished sportsman. But the life he lived in the aftermath of that Olympic success hardly makes a good fit with the Hall of Fame?s criteria ?integrity and good character?.

No doubt, Clarence?s turn will come. But in this writer?s opinion he was no more deserving of a place this year than any one of the other nominees who were also overlooked.

Cricket next.

Why the senseless nitpicking that has forced Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock out of the game in a season when he should be playing a key role in Bermuda?s bid to reestablish itself as an international force?

It was just last year that the Cricket Board helped Sluggo attend the prestigious Lance Gibbs clinic in the West Indies. As one of the Island?s leading, if not premier, spin bowlers, the Western Stars player got the chance to take his game to another level.

Yet, come the start of the season, he?s booted out of the game.

Why? Because following a transfer request which would take him from Stars to Southampton Rangers, someone forgot, or simply failed, to pay the $100 fee.

So what! As Warner Wolf would have screamed, ?Give us a break!?

Does it really matter? In a season when international commitments are of paramount importance to the game?s future, are we really prepared to sacrifice one of our leading bowlers simply because of a $100 oversight.

Rules are rules. But please, somebody get rid of the red tape.

Let Sluggo do what he does best and stop playing petty politics.

Finally, football.

And the same argument might also apply.

Why are the BFA going to war with the National Sports Centre trustees? Aren?t there more pressing matters at hand?

Wouldn?t coach Kenny Thompson?s time be better used immersed in his preparation for next week?s crucial World Cup qualifier against El Salvador rather than arguing with the trustees over field availability.

The issue of lack of training facilities for our respective youth squads is important. And Kenny and the BFA may have some valid points.

But the only thing that matters at this stage of the game is that Bermuda?s senior national team are ready to play the match of their lives.

Everything else can wait.