These Pan Am Games are following the same pattern of all the others....nobody is watching. If I recall anything in any game is perhaps the incident at the Mexico games where the "Black Power" sign by U.S. black track and field athletes raised their hands in a rebellious manner. Other than that, can anyone remember anything about any Pan Am game?
The 2003 version of the opening ceremonies in Santo Domingo was a lavish version of "how to spend money on a losing business". With almost 10,000 performers overwhelming the small attendance of 18,000(most of them freebies and government employees) this will go into history as the biggest bang for an unknown event. The world press was just as unimpressed. CNN Sports had news about the games in their hidden version called "other sports". This event did not even qualify for a one-liner in their opening page. Tyson*s bankruptcy was bigger news. In Miami, for example, the news about Hippo vs. the Devil was bigger news. So was the "Alternative Games" by Father Rogelio which had an opening ceremony with tear gas and gun-shooting. Our own TV networks ignored the games. Only official channels carried the opening and if it were not for the Baninter scandal, which gave the government access to channel 27 and 13, this would have been the worst covered games of all time. Channel 13 and 27 only carried the visual and music without commentaries. They had no paid staff to help.
The cost of this waste of taxpayer money will exceed US$300 million and thanks to Hippo I will get paid $50,000 pesos a month in interest payments for the next six months for the money he borrowed from about 1000 people like me to invest in these games. I am not kidding. The games will end on August 17 and only a week later, Hippo will have to pay an average of 32% interest to Banco Central certificate owners who lent him the money. As happy as we may be for reaping big benefits from this waste of money, I personally would have preferred making money some other way. But I am no fool. If Hippo is helping our regular banks disappear with his megalomania, we have no choice but to go Central Bank. Now Banco Mercantil has joined Baninter and Bancredito as the best banks to help bank presidents buy their own yacht and airplane fleet(throw in a Ferrari or two)
At the opening, Puello and Vasquez Ra?a ordered nearly 2000 ticket holders to move from their cheaper seats to a concentrated area to show a packed attendance. But our TV cameramen did not get the message and they constantly showed the entire empty section of the arena. Hippo was booed despite an appeal by Puello not to boo anybody. Hippo had to cut his speech short to avoid a resounding boo. Security was inefficient to say the least, because it relied on massive numbers of military forces with repressive attitude, not on technology or finesse.
Even the choreography was a disaster, considering the amount of money and people thrown. The flag choreography ended up in a disorderly rendition of our flag. The colors were all over the place. The dancers were lost. The white fabric showing the flag was totally unprofessional. The red and blue players could not line up straight anywhere and created some weird patterns that could hardly be understood. The Virgin Mary was no winner either. Singers Sergio Vargas, Millie and Eddy Herrera wore mismatched clothes that look terribly awkward with those embroidered giant umbrellas. The merengue dancers were not the best. They should have reduced the number of dancers and concentrate on professional groups.
About the best part was the lighting of the flame with that home run swing by a youth and Pedro Martinez saving the opening with his flag bearing at the end. It was scary seeing our world champion runner Felix Sanchez running and jumping around with the flag risking injury and ending the games for us right there. He is our greatest hope for an individual gold medal.
Except for the Cubans, the rest of the countries can go home. This is a Cuban show all the way. The Americans will win with sheer numbers. But their quality people stayed home. The men basketball team is a bunch of nobodies. Brasil and Argentina rely mostly on teams sports that Americans have neglected these games. All in all, there is only one charismatic figure, other than a Cuban or Cubans in these games...Felix Sanchez. If he loses by sheer misfortune, the games are over. At the basketball opening there were hardly 10% of the seats taken. Thanks to their packing all the games into one ticket and leaving the game with the Dominicans for last, they showed a higher attendance at the end. If they had ticketed games individually no one, but the cameramen would have witnessed the game between the USA and Argentina, the two basketball powers, besides Cuba. Freebies were the order of the day and more holidays and government employee furloughs will be necessary to fill seats.
Actually, the games were over before they started. What is not over is how we are going to pay for them.
TW
The 2003 version of the opening ceremonies in Santo Domingo was a lavish version of "how to spend money on a losing business". With almost 10,000 performers overwhelming the small attendance of 18,000(most of them freebies and government employees) this will go into history as the biggest bang for an unknown event. The world press was just as unimpressed. CNN Sports had news about the games in their hidden version called "other sports". This event did not even qualify for a one-liner in their opening page. Tyson*s bankruptcy was bigger news. In Miami, for example, the news about Hippo vs. the Devil was bigger news. So was the "Alternative Games" by Father Rogelio which had an opening ceremony with tear gas and gun-shooting. Our own TV networks ignored the games. Only official channels carried the opening and if it were not for the Baninter scandal, which gave the government access to channel 27 and 13, this would have been the worst covered games of all time. Channel 13 and 27 only carried the visual and music without commentaries. They had no paid staff to help.
The cost of this waste of taxpayer money will exceed US$300 million and thanks to Hippo I will get paid $50,000 pesos a month in interest payments for the next six months for the money he borrowed from about 1000 people like me to invest in these games. I am not kidding. The games will end on August 17 and only a week later, Hippo will have to pay an average of 32% interest to Banco Central certificate owners who lent him the money. As happy as we may be for reaping big benefits from this waste of money, I personally would have preferred making money some other way. But I am no fool. If Hippo is helping our regular banks disappear with his megalomania, we have no choice but to go Central Bank. Now Banco Mercantil has joined Baninter and Bancredito as the best banks to help bank presidents buy their own yacht and airplane fleet(throw in a Ferrari or two)
At the opening, Puello and Vasquez Ra?a ordered nearly 2000 ticket holders to move from their cheaper seats to a concentrated area to show a packed attendance. But our TV cameramen did not get the message and they constantly showed the entire empty section of the arena. Hippo was booed despite an appeal by Puello not to boo anybody. Hippo had to cut his speech short to avoid a resounding boo. Security was inefficient to say the least, because it relied on massive numbers of military forces with repressive attitude, not on technology or finesse.
Even the choreography was a disaster, considering the amount of money and people thrown. The flag choreography ended up in a disorderly rendition of our flag. The colors were all over the place. The dancers were lost. The white fabric showing the flag was totally unprofessional. The red and blue players could not line up straight anywhere and created some weird patterns that could hardly be understood. The Virgin Mary was no winner either. Singers Sergio Vargas, Millie and Eddy Herrera wore mismatched clothes that look terribly awkward with those embroidered giant umbrellas. The merengue dancers were not the best. They should have reduced the number of dancers and concentrate on professional groups.
About the best part was the lighting of the flame with that home run swing by a youth and Pedro Martinez saving the opening with his flag bearing at the end. It was scary seeing our world champion runner Felix Sanchez running and jumping around with the flag risking injury and ending the games for us right there. He is our greatest hope for an individual gold medal.
Except for the Cubans, the rest of the countries can go home. This is a Cuban show all the way. The Americans will win with sheer numbers. But their quality people stayed home. The men basketball team is a bunch of nobodies. Brasil and Argentina rely mostly on teams sports that Americans have neglected these games. All in all, there is only one charismatic figure, other than a Cuban or Cubans in these games...Felix Sanchez. If he loses by sheer misfortune, the games are over. At the basketball opening there were hardly 10% of the seats taken. Thanks to their packing all the games into one ticket and leaving the game with the Dominicans for last, they showed a higher attendance at the end. If they had ticketed games individually no one, but the cameramen would have witnessed the game between the USA and Argentina, the two basketball powers, besides Cuba. Freebies were the order of the day and more holidays and government employee furloughs will be necessary to fill seats.
Actually, the games were over before they started. What is not over is how we are going to pay for them.
TW