NOTEBOOK | From the Pan Am Games

Improvisation: 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.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 opened play today. "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 in 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."