2015 Pan Am Games did us proud
The Pan Am Games are over as everything from billboards to port-a-johns are being removed. I, however, am one of the adoring fans so the memories linger; my impressions come tumbling out as stories to anyone who asks.
Your volunteers were exceptional. More than volunteers, they were true ambassadors. Surely they had been well trained, but no one can teach such genuine affability and innate caring, nor an upbeat spirit of inquiry. As a family, we experienced all of these things in our individual interactions with them.
Despite the heat, the long hours and the repetitive nature of their jobs, I can only say: What lovely and engaging people the Canadians are. Residing in America, I am humbled by their example and grateful to be your neighbour. Mary Ellen Cardenas, Cary, N.C. I am appalled by the way the Star chose to cover these Games — or should I say not to cover them. What a better example of bias (or cheap nationalism) than the July 27 Sports section? More than 40 countries participated in these Games, but judging by your reporting, Canadians were the only ones to do so.
The first page, on the closing ceremony, had a large image of a group of Canadian athletes. No flags or athletes from other countries were shown. Right below, we are shown the number of medals that Canada won, with no mention of the number other countries earned.
Pages two through five had pictures and notes related to Canadian athletes, Canadian performances and opinions of our athletes about the event. Not one article written about any of the other countries. And a report about the men’s volleyball bronze medal that Canada earned carried no reference to the countries that received gold and silver.
Finally, on page nine, with a little help of a magnifying glass, I found the final ranking of countries by gold medals won. It was disrespectful to the rest of the participants and to your readers. Gustavo Grynszpan, Thornhill Canada has a long history of success in field hockey. In these Games, the men won silver and qualified for the 2016 Olympics and the women won bronze. But there was very little coverage in the Star. On July 26, the report on the men’s final was only 89 words yet there was a full column on our table tennis bronze. Ken O’Connor, Scarborough In spite of my objections to elite athletics on principle, I have to admit that these Games were well organized and gave Toronto a very good reputation in the world of high-enterprise spectacle. But please don’t inflict the Olympics on us. Noel Cooper, Brechin, Ont. Pan Am organizers stuck it to the First Nations Festival. The location they were given is embarrassing. Couldn’t they have held it closer to the Games action instead of locating it in the middle of a train yard? It’s nice that the Games did so well, for all but the original Canadians. Pan Am shame. Richard Kadziewicz, Scarborough Re Take a Bow, Toronto, July 27
John Honderich’s article about the Pan Am Games experience was well said. However, his phrase “blitzkrieg of fireworks” was an unfortunate choice of words. It is not appropriate to describe fireworks as a blitzkrieg, the Second World War military tactic of the German military that resulted in the crushing defeat of the French and British armies. Sam Bryks, Toronto