Hopefully there won't be any games!!
I know this sounds nasty but it is the truth...one on many that some people just won't listen to.
There are no athletes in the DR of PanAm stature-exceptions being Judo, boxing (2 or 3 max.), TaeKwanDo and weightlifting.
There are no rowers, fencers, gymnsists, one swimmer, no volleyball, basketball's a joke, baseball will be silly, cycling a farse, F?tball worse, amen to kayaking, mountainbikes, shooting, archery etcetcetc ad nausium.
Why then are the games going to go on? Because of the money involved for those who organize them. Sorry it is ugly but too true...
If, major IF, there were sports in the schools and universities, then in ten or twenty years we could certainly put on excellent games. If any of youwatched the end of Rythmic Gymnastics?? These are girls that have studied ballet 10 years, gymnastics 7 years and then out into the competitive world. I seriously doubt that there is a ball, or ribbon or a hoop in the country right now...
Back in '74, the dominican National Judo team sort of sponsored the girl's gymnastics team. We were their protectors so to speak. They worked their hearts out, but in the end the result was normal-lots of work and sweat but no medals, of course. In 1986, I watched the games from another viewpoint and the disaster was greater--oh we medaled a good deal--all individual, of course, but the debacle of the corruption was horrible to watch. Santiago was left with a skeleton and a white elephant, which is useful only for Expo Cibao, softball, and Tennis, to my knowledge.
I later helped out on Pan Am X in Indianapolis. Total success!
But what caliber of people ran that thing. Governmental support of course but not at a cost to the games themselves: Security, housing, transportation...
That, 'til this day, was my last public support of any sports related activities. This is my first public pronouncement on this subject, and I hope it is not my last one...
HB
