Tym Glaser

SO WHERE do we go from here? This was supposed to be the region's grandest showcase, the Caribbean's chance to reveal to the world it could not only host one of sport's greatest events but also hold it with such a calypso beat that tourists would dance to these shores in their droves and fill our needy coffers.

Heck, this was supposed the best ever Cricket World Cup. Yet, in a literal heartbeat, it has been robbed with the ease of taking candy from a tot.

It makes you want to stamp your feet and shout.

It makes you want to scream, "Why we? It's not fair."

It makes you want to cry, "We didn't deserve this."

And it's not, and we didn't.

Still, what we have to do now is go back and reflect that an apparently good and gentle man called Bob Woolmer was murdered in one of our hotels.

He leaves behind him a wife, two sons and other family members and friends who have to grieve in the public's glare.

They will be asked questions they simply can't answer and they will never see this man they loved again. We can say a prayer for them.

We can also look back and ask how such a thing could ever happen and try to make sure it never does again. The Jamaica Pegasus hotel is being hung out to dry for its security arrangements but this horrific incident was unprecedented.

Maybe we can learn lessons that will help other hosts in the future without making major events seem like a glorified concentration camp to its participants.

Woe be to us

We can also find the murderer(s) swiftly and bring him/them to justice and if he/they turn out to be locals, woe be to us.

We can also bat on and finish this tarnished Cup with fortitude and pride in Bob's memory.

Nobody ever asks a person: "If you die, would you like the event to continue?"

However, the universally accepted answer is "yes" and it's pretty certain that a to-the-bone cricket man like Woolmer would not want the Cup to dry up.

It's unreasonable to compare his murder with the horror of Munich in 1972 when terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes and ruined those Olympics for eternity.

However, in our neck of the woods, it cuts just as deep and painfully.

So, finally, we have to heal. The Caribbean has to somehow shake off this abomination and move on and learn that bad things happen to good people too.

We tried to put our best foot forward but it got stomped on this time.

Sure, we didn't fix every potholed road and broken-down fence, but too much blood, sweat and now tears went into this to have it swept away so quickly, ruthlessly and utterly.

Let's go for it again and battle for something else that shows the Caribbean truly is more than just sun and sand. Let's show that it's full of resilient people who just don't quit and will fight on through, no matter what.

At the end of it all though, Cricket World Cup 2007 won't be the remembered as the best ever.

And right now I just want to shout that that's "not fair ... we didn't deserve this."