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By
Cyd Zeigler
Jr.
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Rain rain go away: The rain hit Montreal
today in the early afternoon and hadn't let up
as of midnight. Many of the sports, like soccer,
were still playable, given that it is a very
warm rain and was actually welcome relief from
the heat that has gripped much of Southeast
Canada. On Thursday, the temperatures are
supposed to be in the 70s, which is welcome; but
there is a good chance of rain. For those
competitors playing tennis and softball and
running track, their events very well may be
delayed or canceled on Thursday.
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An incredible late bloomer in track:
Trent Hagler of Dallas has been a fixture at
track and field at the Gay Games, and now the
Outgames, for eight years. He's attended the Gay
Games in 1998, 2002 and 2006, and he is here in
Montreal. He is the only runner from Team Dallas
competing in Montreal.
 Trent
(middle, accepting another gold medal) has a
long history in track and field, with a big gap.
He ran track in AAU as a kid and in his early
teen years decided to give it up to focus on
band and his grades. Plus, "it was the kind of
things where my dad was trying to butch me up,
so I'd come home from school to a new uniform
for a sport I didn’t want to play," Hagler
remembers.
He came back to track at the age of 34, and he
has been lighting it up since. He has won 13
medals in his three Gay Games and he has already
won four in Montreal with his sights set on two
more. He's now training 52 weeks a year with his
masters team he started, and he is ranked No. 10
in the world in his age group for the 100-meter
sprint.
All of that from someone who gave up track &
field when he was 14.
He now lives with his partner of 18 years, and
they have an adopted son from Vietnam, whom
they've raised since right before the Gay Games
in Sydney in 2002.
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Patricia Nell Warren completes The Front
Runner's race: Author Patricia Nell Warren
made the trek from Los Angeles, thanks to
Tourism Montreal, to symbolically complete the
final race that was left unfinished in the
Montreal Olympics in her 1974 best seller, "The
Front Runner." She also draped the medals around
the necks of the winners of the 5,000-meter run,
the race that took on epic proportions in her
novel. She'll be signing books on Thursday at 2
p.m. at the Outgames Boutique on St. Catherine
Street if anyone is interested in coming by.
She's a very interesting woman with a lot to
say.
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Drug testing at the Outgames: There is,
in fact, drug testing going on here in Montreal.
It's a surprise to some athletes, but not to
others. We'll have more information on this in
the next two days.
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Flip the switch: The lights were out in
the volleyball venue when B-division playoff
games were supposed to start on Wednesday. The
issue was resolved within an hour, which delayed
some of the games a bit.
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It's the high jump: I'm all for
people trying new things. But, when I went to
watch the high jump today, I was taken aback to
see one of the competitors starting at a height
of 1 meter. That's just over 3 feet. This guy
could have stepped over 3 feet. Maybe it was the
first time he had tried the event; but, I had
never even seen a high school competition start
that low. It made me think there should be some
kind of minimum someone could come in at; it was
just kind of embarrassing to see that.
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Mat B. in the medal rounds: My friend
Mat Bergman has somehow made it to the
semifinals of the B-division in tennis. He beat
the No. 5 seed this morning, 6-3, 6-3. His has
been an unlikely march through the tournament;
but he now faces a very tough player who, like
Mat, has lost only one set in four matches. Keep
your fingers crossed for him!
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Empty Seats: Much of the mainstream media
in Montreal seem obsessed with the lack of
spectators at the Outgames. This
sports gallery from the CBC French site
features empty seats in four of its six images.
Another paper headlined a story: "Outgames, the
games of the empty chair," with a subheadline
saying, "Too many events seem to have diluted
interest for sporting events." According to an
Outsports poster who translated the article, "At
the beach volleyball, they interviewed a
handball player from France watching the event.
He is there checking out the guys. He says he
came more to the games for the parties and
celebrations of the gay community."
Based on my past
experience at five Gay Games, this lack of
spectators is par for the course. Most
competitions at these events are of rec-league
quality and are held during the day; I am not
sure how many I would pay to see. And "checking
out the guys" (and girls) is an entirely valid
reason to watch many sports. After offering a
2-for-1 ticket sale for Opening Ceremonies,
organizers are doing the same for Closing
Ceremonies. I don't think this is that big of a
deal, unless organizers were counting on a
certain number of tickets sold to reach a
budgetary goal. –Jim Buzinski |
Diving
(27 photos)
Swimming
(52 photos)
Beach volleyball
(39 photos)
Powerlifting
(19 photos)
Rowing
(65 photos)
Water polo
(11 photos)
Wrestling
(24 photos)
Tennis
(18 photos)
Opening cermonies
(59 photos)
Soccer
(12 photos) |
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