Just watched about 3 hours of the Opening Ceremonies. I won't comment too much on it other than to say I hope it was much better live than on my poor quality streaming video.

Some observations. Very dissapointing Canadian showing. I think Austrailia may have been bigger!

Chicago! Wow! 2500 athletes. Way to support your city.

As for the stadium, it looked pretty empty. I wish more had come to support the games.

Andy Bell was great, Megan Mullaly gave a great intro to the Chicago mayor - he was kick ass! A little heavy on the radical yelling angry lesbian though. Boy is she angry!

Overall a commendable effort!

Pictures up and notes. We got a pic of longtime poster Philly Runner; find him if you can.

Heya Jim! Hope you guys are having fun.

It looks like the pictures from today aren't available to anyone without an administrator password. I tried to login with my Outsports name and login but it said they were invalid.

[QUOTH]Originally posted by Maddog:
Heya Jim!

It looks like the pictures from today aren't available to anyone without an administrator password. I tried to login with my Outsports name and login but it said they were invalid. [/QUOTE]
Yep, same here, user login and password not accepted.

I think I've read in an article that 70% of the athletes at the Gay Games are American--and some sports like flag football or softball (I think the schedule was posted on Outsports somewhere) look more like a U.S. championships than an international competition.

Still, this Chicago Tribune article Pride, support, protest mark opening mentions the enthusiastic response to even the smallest foreign "team" (the one-man Team Uganda).

Other articles:

Chicago Tribune: Why a Gay Games? To the tens of thousands of participants and visitors to Chicago, it's more than just politics and athletics, it's a celebration

Chicago Tribune: Of gay love, athletes and Greek warriors

CBS Chicago report from this morning, shows a live clip of the triathalon.

I wonder if the Gay Games and Outgames people over-priced the Opening Ceremonies tickets (and hence the low turnout). I mean, if "inclusion" is one of the objectives, charging up to $150/ticket excludes a lot of people.

Am looking forward to seeing the Outsports pics (I can't log in, either). Great work on the reports, Outsports! I don't think there is any other source on the web providing better info. I've google searched, looked at gay.com, planetout.com, logoonline.com (official sponsor), NBC5 (official sponsor)... even the Gay Games website (the home page of which fails to mention that the opening ceremonies were last night and that the games have begun... and where are the pics and video?) You rock, Outsports!

Good Point!

The ticket prices are probably what's keeping people away. Think about it, if your curious and want to check out these ceremonies are you really going to put out $150. Maybe Montreal will learn this and drop their prices in time beofore they end up with half a stadium.

I wasn't in Amsterdam but my partner said the stadium there was full 60,000+ I wonder what they charged?

Pics from Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times:

[quote]swiminbuff:
[QUOTH]Originally posted by Maddog:
Heya Jim!

It looks like the pictures from today aren't available to anyone without an administrator password. I tried to login with my Outsports name and login but it said they were invalid. [/quote]Yep, same here, user login and password not accepted. [/QUOTE]

Same here. Tried every ID I've ever had (and possible had with Outsports) but none work. I e-mailed the general e-mail hoping either Jim or Cyd might pick it up but I'm sure both are busy as heck since both are competing this year.

I'm sure they'll get it fixed when they get some downtime (if that actually exists at an event as big as this).

Good galleries of photos on Yahoo News

Below, Team Toronto. Streaker. Greg Louganis presenting award. Triathalon.

[img]http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060716/capt.675caa5939c74a9382142ceca7bb4bab.gay_games_opening_iljr114.jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=HPSUCDxmfa8mHF0V3ATMVQ--[/img] [img]http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060716/capt.84a851a12d8c4e30a26e4dc0a32851e0.gay_games_opening_ilmg122.jpg?x=272&y=345&sig=rltdeNYjrzIeYFVxRHA51Q--[/img] [img]http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20060716/i/r2561491940.jpg?x=218&y=345&sig=70pHeq6g6XW_KRcpazGFKA--[/img]

[quote]RBear78240:
[quote]swiminbuff:
[QUOTH]Originally posted by Maddog:
Heya Jim!

It looks like the pictures from today aren't available to anyone without an administrator password. I tried to login with my Outsports name and login but it said they were invalid. [/quote]Yep, same here, user login and password not accepted. [/quote]Same here. Tried every ID I've ever had (and possible had with Outsports) but none work. I e-mailed the general e-mail hoping either Jim or Cyd might pick it up but I'm sure both are busy as heck since both are competing this year.

I'm sure they'll get it fixed when they get some downtime (if that actually exists at an event as big as this). [/QUOTE]

Same here guys. No luck using my sign-in info on the pics, though it works - for better or worse wink - on the board and everywhere else.

Hope you're having a good time back there in Chicagoland!

Stay :cool: !

[ July 16, 2006, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: gmginsfo ]

Sorry about that - it was a glitch. You should be able to access it now:

Gay Games Opening Ceremonies photo gallery

Yeah, not the greatest way to win friends and influence people. Save it for the arguments in court. Wait, no, it doesn't work there either. Better to just stuff a sock in it!

It's working now. Great pics, guys!

But where was Team Outsports? Didn't you take pictures of yourselves? Don't you want to be subject to our scrutiny? wink

The team uniforms were uniformly uninteresting, alas. Teams, my solution: hire a graphic designer and ditch the rainbow stripes from your logo. So many of the logos on display (Team Toronto, Boston, Dallas) were ick.

I did like Team Indiana logo, however. No rainbows. The "I" looked like a torch (as in the Statue of Liberty torch). But blue on a white ringer t-shirt was dull. Reversing it (white logo on blue shirt) would have been better, methinks.

Also liked the orange Dutch shirts and red South African shirts.

That's all. wink

Caught bits and pieces of the first hour of the opening ceremonies online. Here is my - the good, bad and ugly synopsis.

First a very good to the glow stick rainbow flag. That worked very well.

Good to the way the athletes marched in taking up the entire width of the field to expedite their entry. Compared to the debacle for the closing at Yankee Stadium - where we entered two or three wide because we had to stay on the warning track and hence took well over 2 hours to get in, I thought that method worked well. Also great voice whoever the public address announcer was.

Bad - the quality of the picture but still credit to NBC5 for streaming it live. Also we completely missed a lot of countries entering as the cameras were showing other things. I did manage to catch a glimpse of friends on Team Toronto, but many countries or Canadian provinces were completely missed.

The Ugly - No ugly - instead a 'boy could it have been ugly' - had the home city in particular and home country as well not turned out in such great numbers. Those big American numbers I think it is safe to say saved the event, in view of the dismal international participation level. I haven't seen any numbers but to my eyes it looked like the incredible number from Chicago alone - 2500 according to the PA announcer - may very well have outnumbered all the other countries other than the USA combined. So credit to the Chicago organizers for getting that level of local and national support to save the event. And also the great job they did getting sponsors to make the event financially viable as well, unlike most previous Gay Games. So in view of the competition they were facing, I think overall they must be pleased. I'm sure the international numbers will bounce back in Cologne without a head to head Outgames.

I Thought Texas had great uniforms, cowboy hats and the shirts with the star & stripe on the shoulder.

Unfortunately, I attended the opening of the Gay Games in person. After about two and half hours (just after the angry woman finished screaming) my friends and I joined the crowds of people streaming out of the stadium early.

All of us agreed the highlights were the human lighted rainbow flag, Megan Mullally and the mayor. All of that lasted about 10 to 15 minutes, to put things in perspective.

I guess we made the mistake of assuming the opening would be entertaining and uplifting. Well, we couldn't take anymore after the barrage of random thoughts and cuss words from the angry woman, and then the theme of "oppression” took to the field.

We weren’t the only ones, judging from the hundreds of other people looking for taxis well before the ceremony’s end.

Is this how opening ceremonies normally go? If so, we probably won’t go again.

Actually that torch is from the Indiana State Flag:

Then I give them extra props for incorporating that in their design.


Article/review of the Opening Ceremonies from the Chicago Sun-Times: To start, more speeches than celebration



Chicago Sun-Times: Competitors contend with heat

NBC5: gallery of images from Opening Ceremonies

[ July 17, 2006, 03:27 AM: Message edited by: canmark ]

Thanks for the S-T excerpts, Canmark:

"The end result at Soldier Field Saturday night was a program short on celebration and entertainment, but long on preaching and speechifying."

Judging from the majority of comments, it's safe to say the worst is behind us, so now it's time to focus on the competition. Why are we forced to endure this crap at EVERY gay-themed event? I don't know what's worse, the actual "oppresion," or our collective reaction to it.

My fellow Hoosiers made me proud with their logo; very nicely and intelligently done! If anyone in Chicago has the time for a nice day trip to some really fine beaches, hop on the South Shore Line from Randolph, Van Buren, 12th or 63rd Street stations and ride out to Beverly Shores or Michigan City and spend the day in the Indiana Dunes across the lake. Great sandy beaches and it's usually cooler than in Chicago because of the lake effect. Trip takes about 1.5 hours each way and will introduce those who haven't seen them to the pleasures of fresh water beaches unlike anywhere else on earth. I sure missed them while I was swimming in the salty, seaweedy crud of the Pacific off Coronado yesterday! frown

The Opening Ceremonies was a disaster. The organizers had participants wait 3 1/2 hours in 96 degree heat before entering the stadium. Why? (2 of my guys got sick from the heat). The stadium had about 20-30k empty seats-how disappointing. There were not enough seats for the athletes. It took us 20 minutes of walking around the bowl to find seats! We missed the National Anthem! The ceremonies were pathetic, too many people speaking about the same things- yet none was able to deliver the message effectively. Beer vendors were "hocking" beer in the aisles while there was a poignant message being delivered about Tom Wadell and AIDS. People using their cells phones making it difficult to hear- although the sound system where we sat was terrible. The entertaiment was awful (except for Margaret Cho). It is so disappointing to me that gays have supported and spent millions, and have lined the coffers for such entertainers as Cher, Elton John, Madonna, Ellen and Rosie and others, yet none could come to support us. Of all the talent, creators and producers in LA and NY, yet all the GG organizing committee could come up with was this crap? There were lots of volunteers (yet they were not trained well and they really couldn't answer the questions we had). Everything was really really bad! I felt bad for my team, who so looked forward to this (and spent a lot of money to participate). The accredidation process was also a mess. There was no one at the softball table to answers my questions that I had. No map to the fields or the specific location of the fields. Directions were via car or bus. Nothing for those of us traveling using the El. I am very disappointed in the competition organization. And on the positive side-the people in Chicago are great. Their spirit is unbelievable and what will probably save the games. If I were to judge the games by what has taken place so far, I would say that Kevin Boyer and his crew have pulled a borderline scam on the participants and attendees of the Opening Ceremonies (who spent $160). There were never 60k people in the stadium as advertised. We still have 7 more days of events. Hopefully they can pull it together and redeem themselves this week. Hopefully it will not be the last Gay Games. It is now imperative that Outgames and Gay Games somehow merge and cooperate with each other. Cologne in 2008 and then Copenhagen in 2010. Then every 4 years after that. The Federation members here in Chicago need to look long and hard at this, because in my mind, after seeing the (lack of)attendance at the Opening Ceremonies and the lack of participation of many athletes from all over the world, there needs to be a change in the future.

I watched most of the ceremonies on streaming video and they did seem to drag quite a bit and lacked entertainment value. As for that song "beotia (?)" it sure sounded like a biotch to sing and certainly didn't lighten the mood of the evening. I don't think the ceremonies ever recovered from the "angry black woman" and felt that a lot of the speeches sounded like a re-election campaign pitch for Mayor Daly. Oh well, the games are really about the competition and I do hope that all of the athletes enjoy themselves and perform at their personal bests and that they don't suffer too much from the incredible heat/humidity we are experiencing at the moment.

[ July 17, 2006, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: swiminbuff ]

Thanks for the great pictures and the stories. I feel like I'm there without the heat and dehydration (it peaked at 81 degrees yesterday in downtown SF.)

It's hard to say if you made a good call about the Memphis team. If I could have seen the game it would have been a little easier to make a call. But we all know that one or two key players can make a team and push it to the next level. I doubt it's possible to change levels if your stars can't make the game.

I guess the only way to have made the story more credible is to have had someone interview one of the players after the crushing loss to NY and ask if he thought they were misplaced. I think the letter from the Memphis team is completely justified and I'm glad they are still having a great time despite the 0-4.

But you should be proud at the impact Outsports has in the gay sports world and the sports world in general. It's a testament to the site that he and his team got so pissed. They respect you and Jim and the stories written here. Maybe take a bit more time to suss out the story before it goes to print.

I think the point about teams in the wrong division could have been made without singling out a specific team. I find teams dropping to lower levels to excel much more of a problem than the other way around, but OS didn't name volleyball teams that are in too low of a division. The article only called out a basketball team (by name!) that was arguably striving too high. So they lost to a strong team, big deal. Someone has to be in last place!

My email to Columnist Doug Powers at WorldNetDaily published July 17, 2006:

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?...RTICLE_ID=51086

Doug, a quote from your column:

"Before we start throwing around jokes about events such as the javelin throw-pillow, 'drag' races, hop, skip and more skipping and the ''Howie Long-jump'' fantasy camp, let's consider the size and scope of the event itself. The Gay Games consists of far more than five thin guys in their mid-30s with color coordinated jogging shorts pole-vaulting over a stack of Judy Garland albums, and two mullet-wielding women who can clean-and-jerk a fully loaded floor freezer."

I've participated in four of the seven Gay Games: SFO '86, Vancouver '90, NYC '94, and Sydney '02. For me, each was progressively more exciting and more fun. However, most of the events are mainstream, with international sanctioning. In the swimming events for example, if a competitor sets a world record in a race, the world record time is recognized by FINA, the world governing body of the sport. Many world records have been established over the years at the Gay Games.

For many of us, The Gay Games are simply a health oriented celebration. For others, it is a true test of their athletic skills and ability. And in some cases, in particular for my late friend Thom Gehring, his quest to participate in the Gay Games IV in NYC in 1994, was life sustaining. He kept his body going long after his AIDS diagnosis, to participate in the Games. For him, it was beating the disease for as long as he could. He died in December of 1994, five months after competing in the one and three meter diving events.

I can't be in Chicago for Gay Games VII this week. However, if you are a sportsman, I would like to extend to you in invitation to the next Gay Games VIII in Cologne, Germany, 2010. That might seem like a long way off. But for me, at the lofty age of 50, five years passing seems like one. So, start your preparation. You will have the opportunity to test your athletic ability against some of the worlds best.

And let's abandon the stereotyping as indicated in your quote above. It's just vulgar.

Thank you.

Tom, Team San Diego, Springboard and Platform Diving.

Doug responds!

"Tom,

Just for the record, I've written at length about my drunken Irish ancestors, whereas there isn't any proof that any of them were actually drunks... at least not until the start of the 20th century. And also about the Polish people on my wife's side of the family who laugh at the idea of, but never actually did build, submarines with screen doors.

Good luck to you!
Doug"

Inspiring article from the Chicago Tribune: Foreign competition

Column in the sports section of the local Northwest Herald about the "controversial" Gay Games rowing competition held Sunday (finally!) on Crystal Lake:

seajoc posted:

" If I were to judge the games by what has taken place so far, I would say that Kevin Boyer and his crew have pulled a borderline scam on the participants and attendees of the Opening Ceremonies (who spent $160). There were never 60k people in the stadium as advertised. "

Thank you for your kind remarks, seajock. I wonder what your other screen name is - with this being your "first" post and yet clearly is not.

1. These aren't my games. I am part of thousands of people putting these on. Something tells me that if you'd loved the Ceremony, I'd have not gotten the same "kudo" reference, eh?
2. We never said 60K would be at Opening. We said 40 to 60 K spectators would watch the Gay Games. The stadium only holds 60K people, the entire end zone was never opened and neither was the 300 level on the east side. The most that could have even gotten into the stadium if we'd sold every seat is 40K and Soldier Field says 31K to 32K were there. There were media reports that said there were 60K people there. We didn't make those statement nor ever make the claims.
3. Not liking the show doesn't make it a "scam" and, frankly, is a pretty shitty thing to say. I thought the show was awesome and there were a ton of great elements in it, even if you didn't like the political edge of the 2nd act. Frankly, I don't get all of the diatribes about the political elements - you'd have preferred it be a string of entertainers? Personally, I might agree with some of your assessment of the 2nd act. However, I'd not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
4. Comments like these are the reason volunteers like me don't stick around and work on events like this. There are some of us who have put in 7 years on this project from start to finish; thousands of hours. If you don't like this stuff, then volunteer and get your ass out there and make the next Gay Games better.

Kevin

Kevin, sorry you feel that way. With an event this large you can't please all the people all the time and someone feels like they could do it better. Yea, right. Staging a large event like this is huge undertaking and you never know where to really spend the money. Opening Ceremonies are a chance to honor the athletes participating. However, only the Olympics with its huge megamillion dollar budgets can really stage an Opening Ceremonies of the kind that seajoc apparently expects. It's unfortunate that people have to express their opinions in such a way and try to make it personal. From what I've been reading it sounds like the Chicago crew is doing a great job keeping things going and helping the athletes deal with this unusual heatwave that's hit the nation's midsection. I'm sure Pat Robertson had something to do with that. wink

Keep up the good work and looking forward to more reports from the Games.

Every report I have read has said very positive things about the people involved, and the organizers and volunteers and citizens of Chicago should be very proud. I'm sure that many thousands of people will have wonderful memories of the Gay Games, and when the dust settles some of these minor quibbles and setbacks will seem insignificant and irrelevant.

That said, there have been some Gay Games supporters (I'm not talking about you, KevinB) who have made mean-spirited posts about the Outgames, and you can't expect some of those same criticisms not to come back around. If you can dish it out, you have to be able to take it.

Also, some of the problems (poor attendance) may be directly attributed to the schism: had there been one event, there would have been more participants and more spectators.

Chicago Sun-Times: Poor attendance blamed on distance, visibility

Gay Games organizers and volunteers should be proud of their efforts, and don't need to get defensive. But there should be some learning taken from this year's (two) events to help in preparing for future Games.

All that said, I've enjoyed reading all the Gay Games reports on Outsports, in the media, and wish I was there.

[ July 19, 2006, 03:20 AM: Message edited by: canmark ]

Kevin,

You and the organziers have nothing to be ashamed of. Look at what you have done. You have pulled together an event of this size in three years, going head to head with a very popular alternative. Trying to get international athletes to come to a country led by a very disliked and homophobic administration. Overcome some anger at the FGG for their part in the monumental failures of 3 years ago.

The fact that these games even happened is a tribute to the volunteer's hard work. If the opening ceremonies sucked or were not sold out, who cares it's not about the ceremonies. Everything I have heard about these gay games (except the opening ceremony) has been very positive. Give yourself and your fellow organizers a big pat on the back.

Watching your games has re-affirmed my support for the gay games. Given that I blamed the FGG for the Montreal split and was pissed at Chicago for the dates you choose, the fact that you have brought me back to the GG is very important. I will go to the Outgames next week and sing your praises. Chicago may have saved the gay games!

You go Mr. Kevin Boyer!

From the sidelines in San Diego!

Tom

It is great that the Gay Games have gotten lots of media coverage in the USA and Outsports is doing a great job. Well done.

Unfortunately the same can not be said up here. Coverage is basically non-existent in Canada. There was one Canadian Press story about the fact there were two events that some newspapers picked up on July 14th. But not a word since then in any mainstream Canadian media outlet that I've checked out.

Back in 2002 when the games were on the other side of the world in Sydney, many papers at least carried stories about the opening ceremonies and some had additional stories as well. Of course we had something like 800 participants then and at the time we all thought Montreal would be the next host - so naturally there was a bit higher interest at the time up here in Canada.

Logo is doing a great job with little 5-10 minute snippets in between shows. I watched about an hour yesterday and got to see two different updates and interviews.

They said that the basketball gyms have no A/C? What's up with that?

[ July 19, 2006, 11:01 AM: Message edited by: Maddog ]

As a GG volunteer working long hours over the last few days let me tell you all a few things:
1. The health and safety of the athletes and spectators has been the organizations first priority. - 90% of volunteers were reassigned to make sure athletes are hydrated and able to cope and compete in the excessive heat. So understandably, collecting the data (which takes time and is not instant) and getting the data posted, has taken a back seat in some cases. Planners were well prepared, and counted on the promises of many many volunteers, who failed to show up. Those who are volunteering and working incredible long hours, should be thanked and respected and not criticized.

And for those nitpicky people who whinned that opening ceremonies were filled with too many speeches - remember this, the GGames are for athletes from all over the world. Not every person competing lives in a country where they are free to say, think and live openly. The whold world is not bored by gay rights, or speeches about freedom. Opression exsists in the home countries of many athletes who are in this years Gay Games. To those athletes, the "speech" portion of the ceremonies meant something special.

So lets show some respect here folks. Many Many people have been working selflessly to bring Chicago and the rest of the world a memorable experience, lets not ruin it with bitter selfish concerns. Lets celebrate the event and each other.

I am perspiring profusely. Or, in other words, I am sweating more than a child molester during his first day at the "Big House." But, I am so proud of these wonderful athletes. They make me proud of not only them, but of myself as part of a loving group of fine men and women, united at last in pursuit of athletic movement and beauty.

No one is cutting the volunteers of the event. Heck, I'm glad people like you are putting in the commitment. It's something that Chicago should be proud of. I will say that if you are having a problem getting volunteers to show up that's not going to bode well for Chicago's Olympic bid as the USOC and IOC will look at that aspect when evaluating Chicago as a potential host city.

All that is being posted involves things to consider for future games. These things should go into an after-action report of the Games. If they don't then shame on Chicago because it means the next city will have to learn on their own. You can't ignore the issues and you can't deny the commitment of the hundreds who have worked to make the athletes and spectators have a good experience.

Like I said in a prior post, I can see Pat Robertson claiming the heatwave as an act of God on the homosexuals. wink Keep up the great work and keep helping those athletes out. We're just here on the sidelines wishing we were there.

[img]http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060721/capt.420f21537d204a3089454772781fed73.gay_games_iljr102.jpg?x=380&y=245&sig=if6RxfxgnbKCy20z.O4KwQ--[/img]

The spectators at the "Pink Flamingo" event. Other than Mr. Florida State, do gay men have something against shirts? wink

====================

According to various Christian news sites, some Christian protesters were actually arrested at the Gay Games (and are now suing). It seems that these people came from Philly-based Repent America. You might recall that was the same group that protested the Phillies Gay Day last year, disrupting peoples' enjoyment by holding up banners in the stadium.

More pics: soccer, softball, beach volleyball



[ July 20, 2006, 07:08 PM: Message edited by: canmark ]

I don't normally read Towelrod, but saw this photo taken at the Opening Ceremonies. Looks like a bigger crowd than I thought from the reports... there are people sitting all the way up in the upper rows of the upper deck.



(This photo also makes me think: people should take pictures of themeselves wearing Outsports t-shirts or caps (or boxer shorts wink ) in exotic locales and post it on the board.)

Closing Ceremonies are Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Given its proximity to Boystown, perhaps they'll have a big turnout.

The only change needed here is to keep bitter, critical, egotistical, egotistical individuals from spewing their uniformed, inncorrect and biased reviews of the hard working individuals who brought this amazing event to fruition.

KevinB and the whole Chicago Organization did an amazing job and deserve to be thanked by everyone who enjoyed any aspect of the Gay Games.

Canmark wrote: "I don't normally read Towelrod, but saw this photo taken at the Opening Ceremonies. Looks like a bigger crowd than I thought from the reports... there are people sitting all the way up in the upper rows of the upper deck."

You'll notice that the entire north end zone is empty. That was by design from the beginning (I now think that if we'd had money, we should have covered it with something fun for visual effect). We didn't anticipate streaming video and we were so lucky to get NBC 5 to do the streaming video literally the day before - they got the right to do streaming video live in return for providing pool feed access to all the television stations so they could plug into the stadium cameras.

Unfortunately, what this means is that all of those cameras trained on the stage as the athletes entered saw big empty spaces above the north end zone stage - thus some people's comments here about lack of attendance. In point of fact, other than the north end zone and the east upper level, most of the rest of the stadium had lots of people in it. Thus the 31K to 32K estimates.

View this photo - http://www.gaygameschicago.com/ThisWeeksTo..._John_Faier.jpg - the athletes are on the field in this pic and they moved into the empty seats you can see - behind the photographer is nearly full and you can see around the bowl at the nice crowds. What was important was a large enough crowd to make the athletes feel like they were welcomed, and I think we accomplished that.

Kevin

[ July 24, 2006, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: KevinB ]

Well the Closing Ceremonies were better than the Opening.
Unfortunately, the softball competition was a disaster. (all of the coaches I spoke with agreed!) I spent alot of time organizing my team, fundraising, practicing and planning for them to come to Chicago. I was angry that we were treated like shit. Brackets/times not being posted when promised. The lack of communication on tournament changes (due to rain delays), fields in a poor location, lack of officials/sports manager to answer questions. However there, were an ample amount of medical staff/massage therapists at the fields. That's all I have to say about that.
I DID take time out from my vacation and volunteer for the marathon on Saturday morning.

I will say this: I have participated in hundreds of tournaments, both gay and non-gay events, and I have never seen any individual put forth so much effort as I experienced with Kevin Boyer. He was all over the place. He was the only one at the Hilton when the "semi" softball brackets were posted at midnight on Tuesday night amongst an angry crew of coaches. And the only one who took the time to respond to my questions in the past year. I never thought that in my lifetime, that the "straight" media would ever cover a gay sporting event- and on TV no less! It was truely amazing how much coverage the Gay Games received. I never really had dealings with any of the other board members, but I would like to thank them for their efforts as well. The glitches will be a distant memory, but the warmth and hospitality of the people of Chicago will never be forgotten. Chicago showed the world that they are a GREAT city!

Thanks, seajoc. This makes up for your comment about the "sham" earlier :-)

Your comments about softball are basically about one thing - communication about bracket postings and the weather delays. The softball manager working on the weather delays was actually in the media center when it was pouring rain. I think he did a great job in changing the schedule to accommodate the weather and communicated that information out as quickly as possible. Remember that we were at the Hilton Chicago and that the weather was so severe that we didn't know if softball could take place at all on Thursday. When it became obvious it could, they had to ensure that the grass was suitable for the afternoon of play. He also decided to modify the schedule so that teams could hopefully avoid going to the site for just one late game. Once the time of play was established and the field conditions were assessed, the info got out quickly via email, text message and posted on the web. So I respectfully disagree with your assesement of the weather delay item from first hand experience.

I can't really answer what happened with the bracket postings. I agree with you that the delay was unacceptable. My softball team was experiencing the same thing as everyone else, and one of the media volunteers actually stayed in the media center at my request until 6:30 am hoping to get things posted for 11 am games.

But things did get posted and the games went on and I think that - on site - the tournament went smoothly. My team played 9 games (we won gold in "C" - I actually got to play one game and coach the final 2 against a great San Francisco Knights team). The team felt like they had ample information and support once they were on the field and places to go and ask for info. So, I think the overall assessment of the tournament might be a "B" or "B minus" but the downgrades were about the delays and not the on-site situation.

Thanks, all, for coming to Chicago.

Kevin