In the past, it has been difficult to get many results from races, matches and games at the Gay Games. With over 12,000 participants in over 30 sports, it's easy to understand why.

This thread is open to everyone in hopes that people, especially Outsports members, will post results from their events and any other results they see. And let the Games begin!

I guess a bigger question is why wouldn't the Chicago organizers post results on their site. I did check the site and I don't see a good spot to find them. I would have hoped they would have modeled after the Olympics or Commonwealth Games websites on how to manage it during the Games.

Anyway, I can't wait to see results to see how the teams and individuals are fairing during competition, if anything to see how the rivals are doing. I understand there seems to be a big rival match between Team Chicago and Team Outsports in flag football. Love the trash talk between the two.

In this year's Gay Games, one of our local gay softball teams from Pittsburgh is competing. The team name is the "Peacocks". If anyone has an update on that team, please let me know. Thanks.

Falconpride...

Our team plays 3 games today also, I will keep an eye on the Peacocks score and post here as soon as possible.

From basketball, the Freeze (a derivative of the Heat, which won the gold in Sydney) are 1-1 and not looking good. The New York Warriors and SF Rock Dogs both look good.

which team is bballrob playing on?

bballrob is playing in the women's senior division, just kidding.

I'm not certain he is even playing since he's a Gay Games staff member, perhaps he's still on somebody's roster however.

Is anybody knowledgable about the springboard and platform diving events?

T

Posting results by the organizers is a necessity if we want to gain respect for our sports. I disagree that the number of competitors is an excuse. For example during senior competitions in track and field officials deal with a much greater number of events and age groups. There is plenty of software available assisting with this issue. I was hoping that the web site would recognize the performances.

Our own Bridgeport Jake is kicking butt in both Singles and Doubles Tennis. He's made the sweet 16 in Singles and the Quarterinals in Doubles!

Follow the action here.

[ July 18, 2006, 10:16 AM: Message edited by: Maddog ]

Here's the link for all the Tennis Results...I'm sure they will update as time allows...Guess its harder than hell to play there, it's soooo hot and humid...GO TEAM SD!!

http://www.tennisinformation.com/tourny/5/...5/0/default.asp

I agree. There are JUNIOR golf tournaments that have real-time scoring, as in hole by hole.

Junior golf tournaments need basically one computer connected to the Internet to do live scoring. It would be a pretty massive undertaking to do the same with Gay Games. I mean, tennis alone had seven different locations the first day alone, all of which are manned by volunteers with various levels of experience, doing their damnedest to keep up.

We're talking about an event with more participants than the Olympics, but without the international TV money. I think they're doing great so far, at least with tennis. Live scoring isn't an impossibility but I'm far more concerned with the basic logistical concerns of making sure the events are well-run at the sites themselves.

I don't know about the other sports, but I've been pretty darn impressed by tennis so far, all things considered. Nightly updating of draws is all I really need, honestly. And they've done that. So yay for tennis!

Even though I hate the sport and will never play again (in singles)!!!!!!!!!

When I wrestled in Sydney there were results on the Gay Games site before I got back to my hotel from the match. It's really bothering me that I have to contact every one of my wrestling pals to find out how they did. I did come to find out that the arena they held wrestling in had no air conditioning. Kind of funny that all the hype I heard from Wrestling Without Borders was about how "state of the art" the facility is. Now I'm glad that I'm boycotting Chicago and Montreal but do hope the Canadians have their cooling systems working for the sake of my grappling family.

Looks like they are starting to post results on the Gay Games Chicago site. It may not be as timely as Sydney was but they are starting to come through. It's not a organized as I would have hoped. On Tuesday one of the links had a title of Dancesport C/W but pointed to the Tennis results website.

Hopefully this is something that can be addressed in future Gay Games. As stated before, we've come a long ways and the software for results management is all over the place.

I read somewhere that the Gay Games had asked some of the staff involved in posting results to help ensure that water and stuff was delivered to the venues (given the heatwave), and I think it's fair that health and safety take priority over scoring. Hopefully, they will get back up to speed as the week progresses.

Typical action to take for such a large event by the event staff. You have to think on your feet in a lot of cases with events this large. First priorty is the logistics (you don't have an event if the logistics fail), second is the athletes, third is the spectators and then everything else you manage as your plan allows. The last priority is always the one that suffers in critical unplanned situations. We always told our volunteers if the solution to a problem takes more than 3 hours then to come up with an alternative because the event will be over before the solution can be delivered.

Thanks for the update Canmark. Can't wait to the results when they are posted. What I've seen has been good. I even found the name of a long-lost friend from DC who apparently competed.

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.

Beautiful point.

Yes, some good points, News, but let's set a better example to the rest of the world by having better speeches, which was the point of most posters who took the "angry lesbian" to task. Her speech was about as bitter as bitter can be and those same volunteers who've showed what a good job they've done should have done better by limiting - if not eliminating - her airtime. Let her parade her unhappiness elsewhere; these games are supposed to be about competition, success and the joy they bring to our lives. There's enough bitterness in the world without trotting it out on every open stage.

Beautiful point.

Stacyann Chin's "speech" was actually a reading, a literary work, and a very powerful one. She offered one very powerful point of view that might not be shared by everybody but certainly was profound for many of us in the audience. Whether I agreed with everything she had to say, I applaud the GG organizers for providing a forum for her to say it. The Gay Games are about our lives, not just the happy parts. You might think it's nice to pretend for an evening that the gay community is without profound divisions along the lines of race, gender, and income, but in fact it would be a fantasy. Ignore those divisions if you want but they will still exist. The fact that Gay Games strives to be more than just another circuit party for the wealthy, beautifuly, white, and male is, I think, one of its greatest strengths. Because it could quite easily move in that direction. Unlike the Olympics, where most of the best athletes are pretty much able to compete, the Gay Games tends to attract the urban, the mobile, the Western, and the priveleged. That's just the facts.

One of Chin's most salient points was that gay men as a group have tended to privelege HIV/AIDS issues over health care reform in general, to the point where if it's not about HIV/AIDS, gays don't really seem to care about the state of health care in this country.

Dismissing her as an "angry lesbian" without addressing the substance of what she had to say is the height of arrogance, if you ask me.

I will add that her reading and George Takai's talk were among the ONLY really memorable "speeches" of the entire event. If you're going to cut speeches, cut the formulaic ones, the ones we could recite in our sleep. Reach higher, blah blah blah...

[ July 19, 2006, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: bridgeportjake ]

BPJ, As the most recent of the several posters who expressed disappointment with Ms. Chin's jawing, I don't mind taking the rap for the others who share my opinion of the now-named "angry lesbian" - but I am surprised to hear she was reading, not ranting. Is there a transcript of the work she was reading from available so I could respond to its specific points?

On the issue of health care, I agree with her, if she was saying that gay men tend to prioritize AIDS care to the exclusion of better and more efficient care for all, including self-care in the form of prevention and not abusing one's body. But if she's talking socialized medicine, then I disagree.

Now, what was that you were saying about formulaic speechifying?

"The Gay Games are about our lives, not just the happy parts. You might think it's nice to pretend for an evening that the gay community is without profound divisions along the lines of race, gender, and income, but in fact it would be a fantasy. Ignore those divisions if you want but they will still exist. The fact that Gay Games strives to be more than just another circuit party for the wealthy, beautifuly, white, and male is, I think, one of its greatest strengths." [emphasis added.]

Literary and political disagreements aside, good luck in your matches - and I wish I were there to see it all live (even if it would confirm your "mobile, urban, Western, privileged" stereotype). wink

WOW! The pic on the homepage of Gay Games Day 4 of the diver is awesome! What great timing on the shot and the diver has an incredible body.

I just got a call from Jim and Cyd and here's the results of some of the flag football played today (Wednesday)

Team Outsports (Jim: QB; Cyd: wideout/safety) beat San Diego 35-7 to make the final.

In the championship game, Team Outsports beat New York 26-13 to win the Gold.

Congratulations to Jim, Cyd, Esera and all the Team Outsports guys for their medal! Details to follow; Jim sounded totally out of gas when he called.

If it wasn't a work night tonight, I'd have a beer in their honor.

Congrats Team Outsports!

I'm definitely gonna have cocktail in your honor! Way to go!

Okay I was gonna drink anyway but this way it'll look a little less pathetic.

gmg I think we've already met, so no worries about that, but I can always use more support...

As far as the quality of my writing goes, well, that's a big reason why I wasn't invited to read at the Games!

Congratulations Team Outsports on your flag football gold medal-winning performance!

Can't wait to see the pics of the onfield hugs and kisses, and the champagne-soaked locker room celebrations! wink

Anyone know of any men's hockey results?

Bah! Bogus, unless every team had a former NFL player on its roster.

Won't that be an amazing day?

BPJ, cool, bro! We did meet at the first Outsports Convention in LA and then talked Chicago bike paths and neighborhoods. Keep on keepin' on on the courts - and stay cool in all that heat! :cool:

What was the deal with golf? A 4-handicap shot 64 in the first round and there was a net 127.

edit, never mind -- just saw that it's only 5500 yards.

[ July 21, 2006, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: golfer 23 ]

Re: JB's comments on today's Gay Games Notebook.

I respectfully disagree with the "Medals devalued" comment. If you finish first in an event, you should win a gold medal even if you are the only competitor in your age category. It's not your fault that nobody else entered--why should you be punished? My question though, is if there are only a few competitors in an event (in an age category), do they at least let them compete against others (in other age categories)? It would seem pointless to run a race by yourself. (The story of the mothers-and-sons teams is cool. If the sons were 45+, how old were the mothers?)

And as for the number of games comment. Someone posted about single elimination in tennis, and it would seem unfair that somebody comes all the way to the gay games and gets eliminated after only 1 game. Since Team Outsports made it to the final they played the maximum number of games. Surely, there's a compromise between 1 and 6-7. Perhaps the round robins could be shorter games, with the finals being longer. Or with a rest day, as JB suggests. Given that this is the 7th Gay Games and there are countless local, regional and national gay sports tournaments, you'd think a reasonable formula would have been worked out for each sport. But, live and learn.

Re: basketball medalists. The medal winners at the Gay Games (SF, LA, NYC) don't seem to be participating at the Outgames (at least according to their stats page). So it looks like the competition will be wide open. American competitors are coming from places like Philly, Houston and D.C., but there are also players from Canada, Australia, Ukraine, Netherlands, France, Croatia... even Burundi and Zimbabwe. The American dominance will be threatened.

[ July 22, 2006, 07:09 AM: Message edited by: canmark ]

Congrats to ALL that participated in Chicago GG's and double congrats to those that won medals.

Our Chicago T-Bagger's softball team pulled it out in 'C' division softball. After winning our 1st two games in the double-elim bracket, we were sent to the loser's bracket by the San Francisco Knights (after beating them 6-3 in our very 1st game in pool-play). We met them again in the gold medal games(s). We had to beat them twice to win gold. It was no easy task, SF Knights had a great team and played some of the best defense in our division. They proudly took home the silver. Chicago CREW won the bronze.

It's been an amazing week, looking forward to Closing @ Wrigley Field today. :-)

As someone who ran 3 road races but passed on my track and field events due to conflict, I can see where medal devaluation could occur. In the past Gay games most T&F events were fairly well attended except for the uncommon ones like Steeplechase. This time for some reason, perhaps heat, location or the divided games, the field of athletes were thinner. I myself am guilty for not showing up.

The point is that there will always be sports where competition is high (ie. swimming, and road races),and those where too many desiginated ability levels (figure skating) in a sport waters down the competition.

One attempted solution during T&F in Amsterdam was to collapse age two groups into one if there were less than 5 in a group. This was met with resistance, so it was never put in place.

I am finished with my 3 running events (10k, 5k and the 1/2 marathon I did this morning). Although I didn't expect any medals with the tough competition, I was pretty happy with my performance. In the 1/2 marathon there were 34 people in my age group and I came in 7th so I can't complain.

[ July 22, 2006, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

I am sure this was a wonderful experience for all participants but the assessment of success shouldn't stop there unless we consider it a local event held only for the participants and live spectators. If this is supposed to be a growing movement and help increase our visibility then we need to pay attention to the people who couldn't be there. In the absence of extended tv coverage the web site becomes the main entry point for most fans who want to follow the games. I was neither able to follow up to date results, which might give me motivation to plan my own participation, nor reports, stories, or pictures. Most links to the individual sports didn't change at all during this week - except the one that listed the parties. I believe this is a missed opportunity. I am not interested to find out on Friday what happened last Sunday. I like to see how some of the athletes from my town have faired. I want to follow along. This keeps fans engaged and interested, especially the ones far away and in other countries.Make the Games a live event for the rest of us. Although we have little control over the reporting of the accredited media, we have our own outlet to do that. I have heard the explanation that due to the heat efforts by the organizers had to shift, but when I checked Chicago's weather for this week last year it set 2 all time records, so nobody can be surprised by the weather and I have to call it lack of planning. I know that these games are run on the backs of many dedicated volunteers, but in my opinion that doesn't give immunity from being evaluated. When the organizers put in their bid for these games they knew and should have known their resources. This event has to be held to the highest standard or let somebody else do it. Again, for the person far way this was not in any way inspiring, a sense I get when I follow other "mainstream" sporting events.

Excellent points both, Jim und muerrischer Zwerg.* I agree that these games could have been MUCH better organized at all levels, especially in light of the several games that have preceded these. That's not a condemnation, just constructive criticism for something that I believe is important to us and want to present in the best light possible. And let's not forget that while these are games, that games are competitive events with winners and losers. So much else is devalued in our society today; let's not debase our own currency every time we march into future opening ceremonies.
_____
*Goetterdaemmerung, III, 2.

How much time does it take to enter a few scores on their website? Maybe hire a few temps from Manpower? But Outsports Flag Football rises above the pressure and criticism and elements to win. Very impressive, guys!!!! You guys are so handsome, too.

Gartenswerg, I completely agree with you and your assessment. It was well articulated and on point regarding how to bring the Games from a local experience to a truly world-wide following. I was very disappointed in how results were posted. It was almost as if the competition was just a diversion to the parties. Some of the links were broken and all went to PDF files that aren't that hard to manage. It's not like this is new territory. In fact, the Olympics and Commonwealth Games have provided excellent models for how to follow from afar. With the last two Olympics, Athens and Torino, you could feel engaged even though you were an ocean away. There was so much more information than NBC could ever provide.

I also thought there were supposed to be some TV deals to help broadcast the Games. Even a highlights program would have been better than none.

I know that all the Chicago volunteers will chastise us for criticism but hosting a world-class event means more than just a good Opening Ceremony. It means complete coverage and focus. From what I've been able to discern this was just a collection of small tournaments that happened to occur under a common moniker. I'm curious to see how Montreal fares with their version of the competition. I would hope they learn from Chicago. I will go out on a limb and say that if they pull off a more organized event then I say disband Gay Games and run under the Outgames organization. It's the best thing for gay and lesbian sports.

True, but it seems somewhat farcical to me that someone can get a gold medal essentially for showing up. The question is, were these situations caused by people who didn't show up or were there very few competitors registered in advance? Perhaps a deadline should be set for a minimum number of participants to be registered in advance -- say, 3 months or so before the games -- with the event being cancelled if they don't reach the minimum number of athletes. Inform all athletes in advance of this requirement so they know the risks if they register and make travel arrangements early only to see the event called off. One thing that this would do is free up some volunteers for other events.

If there were schedule conflicts that caused low participation in events, then scheduling needs to be looked at. Are things not being scheduled properly or are there too many events? They showed a clip of ballroom dancing on Logo. Inclusiveness is nice and all, and ballroom dancing may require a lot of physical ability in order to excel. But is it a sport? My vote is "no."

Since I was away for a few days I only can judge what I saw and heard from Wednesday on. But any time I've checked either Logo (TV) and Sirius OutQ (satellite radio) they have basically had their regular programming, with brief mentions of Gay Games only in their regular news breaks.

One thing to note about figure skating is that a skater competing in a category without anyone else is competing against "the book". The book is a perfect skater, and it's actualy harder to get the gold than if you are competing against real people who are unlikely to be perfect. I have won silver medals at other figure skating competitions despite being the only person in my category. Figure skating is very different from a sport where you are just judged on the time you complete an activity.

I competed in three events at these Games winning two golds, and I strongly disagree that too many medals is watering down their value. I don't speak for all athletes who compete as the only one in their category (as I often do), but I have trained ten hours a week for the past two years to figure skate in these Games. I take it very seriously. I earned my gold medals. I value them highly.

Buttercup

Congrats Butter! Your hardwork really paid off!

[ July 23, 2006, 10:57 AM: Message edited by: Maddog ]

Closing Ceremonies reports:

AP via SI.com: See you in 2010! Gay Games conclude with fabulous Closing Ceremonies

BBC: Flamboyant finale for Gay Games

CBS Chicago (with video): 2006 Gay Games close to controversy and celebrity

Chicago Sun-Times: Over and out: Gay Games end

Chicago Tribune: Gay Games wraps up with revelry at Wrigley Field

Chicago Tribune (Jim B. quoted): Weak start, strong finish

Photos: from Gay Games Chicago website

Girls just want to look like a rainbow-colored Statue of Liberty:

I agree that no event should be immune from criticism but these criticisms, in particular, seem to come from people who give nothing and expect everything. The Gay Games ARE for the participants and spectators. It's NOT a professional sporting event. You value them so much, come here to watch, and then go to the host hotel to find out the daily results. Volunteer your time to make them better.

People seem to forget that these Games were run on a two-year time deficit with a competing Games just a few hundred miles away starting in a week. That they came off at all is really darn impressive. Yes, there were glitches. Yes, a lot of things could have been done better all the way around. But when I talked to the participants yesterday from everywhere, they said overall it was definitely worth it. Some wish they'd performed better, some had complaints about one or two of the literally tens of thousands of details that went into making the Games happen. But nobody regretted it.

Yes, there was disorganization. But what I loved is that when tennis was forced to move from outdoors to indoors to outdoors in three different parts of the city on Thursday, people could have had hissy fits. But instead, we got together, stayed positive, and made it work. THAT was the best testament to the spirit of the Gay Games I've seen.

Sheesh, the level of entitlement here is out of control. I think you all are just jealous because we got to see Cindy Lauper sing live and y'all didn't.

Sorry, but I can't really agree. Not everyone has the time or money to travel to the Gay Games. However, they still have a stake in its success. Maybe it's because they hope to make it to a Games in the future, or maybe it's because a well-run Games is a reflection (fairly or not) of the gay "community," or maybe it's because they just like sports. That's supposedly why we're all here on this site (the reality is a different matter, but that's another story).

I find nothing wrong with pointing out, for example, that the coverage on Logo and Sirius OutQ was sorely lacking considering how much hype they received as "official" broadcasters. And keeping the official website up to date should have been one of the easiest things to accomplish, but apparently it wasn't.

This doesn't mean that the people in charge of the Gay Games shouldn't be congratulated for pulling it off on shorter than usual notice (considering what happened with the "schism") but it does mean that they should study things carefully and make necessary improvements so that the future Games are even better.

And I've already seen Cyndi Lauper sing live.

[ July 23, 2006, 11:23 AM: Message edited by: FireCharlieManuelNow ]

Thanks "bridgeportjake", I didn't expect any more.

Yes, it was a professional event with a multidollar budget that made a profit.
Yes, sponsors were told that they would get more than local exposure.
Yes, thinking of only the privileged who could afford making it there is selfish.
Yes, the admission that "glitches" happened just gives our opinions/assessments validity.
No, the "you should have been here or your opinion doesn't matter" arguement doesn't deserve a reply.

Oh, and the rabid "Christians" of Repent America were busted for \"sharing the gospel\", a little too hatefully, it appears. (They're the same loving folks who were ejected from Gay Day at the Phillies a couple of years ago.)

But not in THAT dress. wink

There certainly are people who "don't have the time or money," but usually it's because they don't prioritize the Gay Games. Few people don't have ANY vacation time, but they choose other weeks of the year. I would guess that most posters to Outsports have the ability to travel to other cities for a week, or hold fundraisers to raise money to volunteer in Chicago for a week, but again, choose not to. It's a matter of priorities. Which is fine. But it's like those people who choose not to vote because they're too busy, and then spend all their time criticizing the working of the government. I tend to listen to them that much less.