On a day when a lot of damn foolishness is tolerated – and indeed encouraged – all over the world, maybe it's appropriate to try and be a little serious about the state of football in this upside-down country.
I'm sure Shane Shillingford and Sunil Narine combined couldn't impart the degree of spin that accompanies every development in our most popular sport, especially when it comes to the senior men's national team. Yet whether it's just plain old Trini arrogance that convinces us that we are better than we really are, a deep sense of insecurity that means we should only accentuate the positive and ignore the negative, or simply the determined pursuit of a selfish agenda, it is really difficult to make head or tail of the state of the side.
Heading into this new year, there was a justifiable sense of optimism given that a squad without the vast majority of foreign-based talent fought and scraped their way into the final of the Caribbean Cup last December, also qualifying for the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time in more than six years. Yet in speaking to media colleagues in Antigua during the T20 Internationals at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium a month ago, and listening to them describe the standard of play in the Caribbean Cup as among the worst they had ever seen, those hopes became increasingly guarded.
And now, on the heels of a goalless draw in swampy conditions in Belize followed by a 3-0 whipping administered by Peru in Lima, it appears reasonable to suggest that no significant progress has been made at all under the joint stewardship of Jamaal Shabazz and Hutson Charles...so far. Okay, so maybe there are probably some encouraging signs in relation to camaraderie, the work ethic and a desire to give all for the cause of the country, but when it comes down to actual performances on the pitch, not just the final scorelines, where is the improvement?
Some may have been too caught up in the Carnival wildness to notice, but a stronger Peruvian side defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 at the Ato Boldon Stadium on the Wednesday before the madness really took over. And if, as is being suggested, these games are a proving ground ahead of the Gold Cup in the United States in July, what could possibly have been revealed in the course of those fixtures that we didn't know already?
I'm reading and hearing commendations about how the defenders performed so well under pressure against the Peruvians last week, except for the costly lapses in concentration that resulted in the three goals being scored. That's like saying you're generally a disciplined driver, it's just that you have a tendency to break the red light every once in a while, which occasionally results in an accident.
When a striker can score with an unmarked and unchallenged header inside the penalty area with the two central defenders completely out of position, when a through pass results in a breakaway with the defence scattered to the winds, and when a goalkeeper can be caught unawares by a throw-in, it speaks to deficiencies in discipline and levels of concentration for the duration of the game. Maybe it's just part of our culture – turning up for work late and ducking out early, or skylarking on the job because the union will always be there to save your tail – that makes these lapses almost inevitable and which are invariably capitalised upon by the better teams out there.
Then you've got the challenge at the other end: strikers and midfielders who dream of being the local equivalent of a Messi or a Ronaldo but who lack the killer instinct to put away the half-chance, whose work-rate is so sub-standard that they are incapable of creating more than the odd opportunity or who are unable to exercise such sustained pressure on opposing defenders that they can force an error through sheer determination and perseverance.
No reasonable person should be expecting a miraculous turnaround, certainly not after the administration of the game deteriorated to the extent that Trinidad and Tobago had just one friendly international in all of 2011 under the German coach Otto Pfister before they were beaten by Bermuda and Guyana at the end of that year and knocked out of the qualification campaign for next year's World Cup finals in Brazil in just the second round.
But, if nothing else, we should be seeing improvement in defensive discipline, smoother transition into attack and, overall, greater sense of cohesion from first whistle to last. Opinions from the many experts seem so wide and varied that sometimes you wonder if they were all watching the same game, their assessments often mimicking the skewed perspectives of parliamentarians on either side of the primary political divide.
Mercifully, we have been given a comparatively easy draw at the Gold Cup, not that any of El Salvador, Haiti or Honduras can be considered pushovers in our present state. However it could have been much, much worse, even if the Mexicans and Americans are finding it tougher than usual at the moment in the final phase of World Cup qualification. To have avoided those two along with Costa Rica in the midst of such obvious vulnerability is extremely fortunate indeed.
If nothing else, that bit of luck is something to build upon. First though, we must dispense with the mamaguile and honestly assess where we stand right now. No fooling.