Pan Am Notebook

U.S. fencers forced to improvise, sing anthem themselves

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- There's a lot of improvising going on at the Pan American Games. Just ask the United States fencing team.

The Americans won gold in women's saber and men's foil Saturday night, but when officials were ready to present the medals they realized there was a hitch: The venue couldn't play the U.S. national anthem.

No problem.

U.S. fencing captain Jeff Bukantz jumped into action. He called the American athletes, support staff, parents and fans from the stands to the floor to sing while the flags were raised for Sada Jacobson (women's saber) and Dan Kellner. Bukantz informed the delegation they weren't going to make this into an international incident.

A Pan Ams volunteer said the CD with the Star Spangled Banner had been burned and the equipment at the venue could not read the CD.

Reunion time

Ricardo Azevedo was a popular man after the United States men's water polo team beat the Dominican Republic 24-0 in its opener, and he didn't even play.

Players and coaches from other countries lined up to greet Azevedo, an assistant coach for the Americans and former star in Brazil.

But Azevedo was really set for a reunion Sunday night when the United States played Brazil. He was on the Brazilian national team from 1972-1980 before coming to the United States to coach and compete.

His 21-year-old son, Tony, was born in Brazil and is a star for the American team. Tony was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team in 2000 at age 18.

Survival game

Defending women's field hockey world champion Argentina opened the Pan Am Games competition with a dominating 9-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago.

But Argentina coach Sergio Vigil said his team's biggest accomplishment couldn't be seen on the scoreboard.

"The most important thing was we survived the heat," Vigil said. "That was our biggest worry."

The heavily favored Argentines have been holding early-morning training sessions to get used to the 90-degree temperatures and humidity as they work to clinch the gold and add to their fast-growing title collection.

Despite the lopsided margin, Alejandra Gulla insisted the match was a bigger challenge than the final result showed.

"We're very happy," she said. "Getting over the heat and playing well despite an early start time meant a great start for us."

Mystery man

Jeff Morrison, a member of the U.S. men's tennis team, is not the first person who comes to mind when talking about American tennis. Yet he has had his moments in the spotlight, and he hopes this will be another in a men's field that includes former world No. 1 Marcelo Rios of Chile and a talented group of Americans.

The 24-year-old Morrison, of Huntington, W. Va., advanced farther than any other American at Wimbledon in 2002. He reached the third round, lasting longer than Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick or James Blake.

Morrison only made it into that Wimbledon main draw as a lucky loser when Germany's Tommy Haas withdrew. He has an outside shot at making the Olympic team for the 2004 Athens Games.

On a mission

Brad Torsone could be back home preparing for a beach volleyball event in California. Instead, he's competing in the Pan Am Games with teammate David Fischer. The tandem opens play Monday.

"If it was about the money, we would have remained in the United States and played next weekend in a domestic event in Manhattan Beach," Torsone said. "Right now, we are looking forward to representing our country and proving that there are a lot of quality beach volleyball players in the United States. Winning some money would be nice, but earning the respect from this international field is the most important thing for us."

This is Torsone's second Pan Am Games after finishing seventh with Pete Goers in 1999 in Winnipeg.

Rivals

Lisa Eagen and Edina Batar have a competition of their own going in women's team handball. The two U.S. athletes try to top each other in total goals. While the Americans dropped their second match Sunday, 25-19 to Argentina, Batar barely came out on top -- she scored six goals to Eagen's five.

"Edina and I have been it a little offensive competition since we played in Puerto Rico last July," said Eagen, the U.S. captain and a former Iowa State softball standout. "We'd trade off taking the penalty shots each game, but since then Edina has been taking them all."

 

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