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A Grand Opening:
It’s 2 a.m., Sunday morning in hot, sweaty
Chicago. I just returned home from the Gay Games
VII Opening Ceremonies. And, if you missed this
– you missed something quite special.
I’m not just talking about the streaker who
graced us with his less than stellar naked body
as he dodged around the Lesbian and Gay Marching
Band of America. Although Margaret Cho did have
a fabulous comeback line: “I was so glad I got
to see the streaker up close. Sitting by the
field, balls whizzing by my head, oh yes, this
is the Gay Games.”
I’m talking about the amazing mood, the sense of
community that was created on this muggy Chicago
evening. From the entrance of the athletes at
the beginning of the evening to the lighting of
the flame at the end - this was a night to
remember.
The Gay Games VII Opening Ceremony took place at
Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. It was
strange to see such a normally hyper straight
place transformed into a queer
epicenter. “Hanging with Bears at Soldier Field
has a whole new meaning,” quipped Cho.
The event began with the athletes marching on
the field, grouped by country and state.
As a mountain biker on Team Chicago, I waited
outside while the other athletes marched in
first. Finally, we were given the signal and it
was our turn to enter the stadium.
I’m normally jaded, but I was amazed by the
experience. The lights were bright, flashbulbs
were popping, and it felt incredible running
onto the field with thousands of queer
athletes. We were all wearing different colored
shirts, holding up different colored glow
sticks. The lights dimmed as we waved our glow
sticks to form a kind of rainbow. Moments like
that can give you the chills…
The rather long evening was broken up into four
acts: Exclusion, Oppression, _Expression and
Ignition. Erasure’s Andy Bell, in fabulous
purple pants and gold shoes, got people up out
of their seats and dancing. Chicago Mayor
Richard Daley received thundering applause when
he proclaimed that, “gay men and women are
welcome in Chicago.” Megan Mullally charmed the
crowd and looked just as cute in person as on
TV.
There was a very moving video tribute to Gay
Games founder Tom Waddell, as we were reminded
to respect and celebrate our community’s
diversity. I was impressed at ex-NFL Esera
Tuaolo’s voice as he belted out “Take the
Flame”, the official anthem of the Gay Games. It
was such a brave thing for him to come out,
given the homophobic NFL.
James Hormel, a former U.S. ambassador, spoke
for too long, so I got up and roamed around the
hallways. Bought a pretzel. Bought some
nuts. Lost my friends, found my friends again.
Then settled down for the bizarre Avenue Q
puppet show
The evening ended with the AntiGravity troupe
and the Ubaka Hill Drumsong Institute. You had
all kinds of activity, from dancers doing
amazing acrobatic feats to more than 50 women in
body paint jamming out on hand drums. The
evening culminated with a sweet multicolored
fireworks proclaiming gayness all over Chicago.
And let the games begin. - Ronit Bezalel
 Hoop dreams:
The London Cruisers weren’t given too much of a
chance in a men’s basketball A bracket opener
against the LA Freeze. But there they were,
staying basket for basket to the Freeze, before
finally running out of steam in the second half
and losing by five. I happened to come across
the halftime speech by the Cruiser’s
player-coach (a Spanish guy whose name I did not
get) and it would have given Pat Riley or Phil
Jackson a run for their money. He was passionate
and praise-worthy, but also very
detailed-oriented. “They’re probably thinking,
‘Who the fuck are those guys?’ ” he said about
the Freeze. I’m always a sucker for a good
underdog story, even if they come up short. –
Jim Buzinski
From No Carbs to All Carbs:
Manny Urquiza, a bodybuilder from New York City,
lifted up his shirt to show his ripped six-pack.
That’s what not eating carbs for four months
will do for you. Asked what he will eat after
his competition Tuesday, Urquiza said, “One of
those Chicago-style pizzas … and I am going to
let the grease drip into my mouth.” And to
drink? A lot of beer. – JB
Teams in the wrong division.
In sports where there are more than one
division, placing a team in the right division
is key. If a team gets placed in too high of a
division, they'll get killed; if they are in too
low of a division, they can sweep through to the
gold.
The Memphis Express basketball team got a lesson
in that on Sunday. While they should have been
in the Recreational Division, they placed
themselves in the Competitive Division. Their
opening game was a 76-24 throttling at the hands
of the New York Warriors, one of the tournament
favorites. When you just looked at the two
teams, it was apparent that Memphis was in the
wrong division as they were dwarfed by the
Warriors, and will be in most of their games.
We've gotten wind from a volleyball player that
that sport is having to deal with teams putting
themselves in lower divisions in hopes of
winning a gold medal instead of competing with
teams at their own level. This practice is a
disgrace, and it's not special to volleyball or
the Gay Games: It happens in many sports and
tournaments with more than one division. We're
being told by a participant that volleyball
organizers are looking into moving misplaced
teams into higher divisions, though we have not
gotten confirmation of that from organizers.
– Cyd Zeigler jr.
Roughing it in basketball.
While it's hot outside, it's even hotter inside;
and the basketball players can attest to that.
The air conditioning there seemed to be shut
off, as all of the doors to the gym (all eight
of them or so) were opening and giant fans were
brought in. Even with the fans, the air was
pretty stagnant and sticky. - CZ
Cuter boiz in b'ball.
One basketball player who's a regular at
basketball tournaments, and whose team medalled
in Sydney, said "the basketball boys here are 10
times cuter than in Sydney." - CZ
Single-elimination ought to go.
It was a downer to talk with a friend of mine,
Mike Sipin, who is participating in tennis. Or,
should I say, participated in tennis. After
spending God knows how many hundreds or
thousands of dollars to compete in the Gay
Games, he lost his first tennis match and is
done for the week. In the future, organizers
really ought to guarantee at least three tennis
matches. Having some kind of round-robin play
that leads into the quarter- or semi-finals
really is the way to go. With the incredible
expense so many incur to get here, they should
get a little more competition out of their trip
than a 90-minute match. - CZ
Typical media coverage?
CLTV, the Chicago Tribune's local TV station,
did a three-part segment Sunday night about the
first full day of competition. They highlighted
three stories in the three-minute segment:
Religious protestors and cheerleading took up
about 2:50 of those three minutes, and they
discussed bowling for about 10 seconds. I'm
curious to see how the media covers this event.
CLTV decided today that, despite serious
competition taking place in basketball, track &
field, swimming, powerlifting, tennis, ice
hockey and others, they should focus on
protestors, cheerleading and 10 seconds of
bowling. I'm afraid the mainstream media will
cover this event like they cover gay pride,
focusing on the fringe, "gayer" aspects of it.
We'll see. - CZ
Seeing old friends.
New York's Al Torres has been playing in gay
basketball tournaments since 1993. He came to
these Gay Games as a spectator, nursing a knee
injury. For him, and other spectators like him,
these Games are about seeing old faces and
celebrating the athletes who are participating.
"It's great to see old friends from around the
country and the world, who I get to see once
every four years," Al said. – CZ
Injury rears its ugly head.
Unfortunately, injury is a very real issue for
the athletes here. With the heat and strain of
top-level competition, everyone puts themselves
at risk for injury. One of our teammates pulled
his groin in practice Sunday and is done for the
tournament before the competition has even
begun. And that was just 15 minutes after his
personal trainer had stretched him. To all of
those athletes dealing with injuries, our hearts
go out to you! - CZ
Rowing Comes Off.
Chicago media reported there were small antigay
protests at Crytal Lake, about 50 miles outside
the city, which held the rowing competition. The
town was embroiled in controversy when it first
denied a permit for the rowing competition, then
reversed itself. I also saw only about
half-a-dozen protesters outside the Opening
Ceremonies staging area on Saturday night,
spouting the usual lame objections to our
"sinful lifestyle." Athletes had been standing
around for a few hours in the heat and many
seemed to find the protesters more of a
diversion than a real annoyance. At one point, a
crowd made up a sing-song chant they hurled back
at the protesters: "It's OK to be gay, it's OK
to be a homo." -JB
Lingering thoughts and comments about the
Opening Ceremonies.
In the last 24 hours, I've only spoken to one
person who enjoyed the opening ceremonies on
Saturday. Here is a smattering of some of the
comments I was given today or found on our
discussion board:
"I've been persecuted as a gay man since I came
out. I just didn't want to hear about it yet
again," one athlete said about the tone of the
ceremonies that sometimes seemed negative.
"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," One spectator posted on Outsports.
"Did they get the Academy Awards producers to do
that show?" One athlete asked. Athletes were
told to get to the holding area by 5 p.m.; the
ceremonies did not end until midnight. - CZ |
