NOTEBOOK From the Pan Am Games

Power cuts: There's just not enough electricity at this year's Pan American Games. Dominican officials called for the country to celebrate its moment in the spotlight, but many citizens are stuck in the dark due to incessant power cuts -- some lasting as long as 15 hours. "You want to follow the games, but the power cuts just won't stop," said Belkys Rodriguez, a 30-year-old housewife. "Yesterday I caught an hour, but saw none of the more important sports." Among the highlights missed by large portions of the country were the Dominican basketball team reaching the gold medal match, and 400-meter hurdler Felix Sanchez strolling to victory in the heats -- celebrating before he'd even crossed the finish line in his first performance on his adopted home soil. During Friday's opening ceremony, half of the Dominican capital and almost all of Santiago, the country's second city, were powerless. It's nothing new, though. Fixing the country's power network has turned into a major headache for Dominican governments for the last 30 years. The country is one of the poorest in the Americas.
Shoeless Alex: Alex Bogomolov had a rough Wednesday morning. The U.S. tennis player woke up feeling tired and dehydrated after a grueling match against a Dominican opponent Tuesday. He received an IV from the USOC medical staff and thought he had plenty of time to get to the tennis facility because he was playing the second match of the day. He didn't. The first match ended 6-0, 6-1 and took less than an hour. After a frenzied call from his coach, Bogomolov pulled out the IV, ran for the bus, and barely made it to the court in time. But he forgot his tennis shoes. Then Bogomolov spotted press officer Randy Walker, who had on brand new sneakers. "What size are they?" Bogomolov asked. "101/2," Walker replied. "They'll do," Bogomolov answered as he left Walker barefooted on hot cement and wedged his size 11 feet into the new sneakers. Walker's shoes ended up helping win the match against Columbia's Pablo Gonzales 7-6 (5), 6-4. And how were Walker's sneakers after their tennis debut? "They're wet and they stink," Walker said.
Greene out: Infielder Tyler Greene, a freshman at Georgia Tech, is out for the remainder of the Pan American Games and the summer with a high ankle sprain. Greene was diagnosed by the USOC medical staff after hurting the ankle Tuesday. Greene was attempting to beat out a close play at first base. He finished the summer with a team-leading .431 batting average, and became only the second player since 2000, when Team USA began using wood bats, to finish the summer above .400.
Poor showing: Last September, Argentina looked like it was going to have a say in the future of men's basketball. But a year after losing to Yugoslavia in the final match of the world championships in Indianapolis, the Argentines have struggled at the Pan American Games. The South American team does not have the same powerful lineup it used at worlds, most notably missing NBA champion Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs. But a sixth-place finish in an eight-team competition still was unexpected. Argentina opened the games with a one-point loss to the United States. But it was an 84-81 loss to neighbor Uruguay that hurt the most. Uruguay eventually finished last. The Argentines did beat Puerto Rico, which reached the semifinals, in their final Group B match, but Argentina already was eliminated and Puerto Rico was assured of first place in the group and had nothing to gain from the game.
-- Associated Press