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Outsports Clubhouse: Membership For Gay Sports Fans And Athletes
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The Day of Arrival Has Arrived
by Chuck Martin
Arrival: Day 1, as expected, was tiring, and it'll get no better as the week progresses. It didn't help that I took a bit of a roundabout route to Sydney, via Bangkok.
But the Sydney arrival early Friday morning went smoothly. Immigrations and Customs was efficient, and having the train station right in the airport left me two blocks from my hotel. 10:00 is too early for check-in, so I left my luggage there and walked the two blocks to accreditation.
It was too early for the lines to be overwhelming, so I had my badge in about a half hour. One volunteer said his day had started at 7am, after going until midnight on Thursday. That's dedication.
Clueless media liaisons: This has to be one of the most unfriendly-to-media events I have ever seen. But the most outrageous is the attempt to charge media for access, what Games officials term a "media access fee," but what they say pays for the rail pass and administrative expenses.
But working media pay their own way; any that accept gifts from the event they cover raise ethical questions.
Any "administrative expenses" are more than offset by the amount of publicity that various media provide to the Games--all for free. After all, it's their job. Our job.
I have covered all sort of sports events, from professional sports (both on the field and in the press box), gay events, and past Games, plus news events, political events, and arts events. I have had to get security clearance and an official government pass to cover a presidential candidate. But never, ever, have I seen an event asking for money from the media sent to cover it.
When I pointed this out to one of the volunteers providing media credentials, the response essentially was "OK, well that's the way it is, and if you don't like it, write about it."
So here we go.
Getting around: It's sure hard to pass judgment after one day, but the rail system to get people around is one of the best I've seen. Three are large signs and loud-enough station announcements with information about just exactly where the next train goes, along with how soon the next 3 trains will be at the station.
And just stand a moment and lopok unsure. Someone helpful will approach within seconds to ask if you need help. Fantastic.
The double-decker trains seem to go everywhere--except to Opening Ceremonies. The success or failure of getting tens of thousands of athletes by bus to the Opening Ceremonies will probably set the tone for the Games as a whole.
Food: My boyfriend told me that I should go find a good place to eat Australian beef. So what was my first meal of the day?
KFC.
Of course, it was right across from accreditation, I was hungry, and my room wasn't ready yet.
Volunteers: It's hard to say enough about these people. So far, they are everywhere, at least around the accr |
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