Two officials from the Oceania Basketball Confederation, which headquarters is based on Australia, visited Saipan for a four-day ocular inspection of the CNMI's sports facilities especially the public gymnasium in Susupe.
The Oceania Basketball organization is looking at holding the Oceania Basketball Games in 2009 here on Saipan. The Australians said that this event would gather professional basketball players and teams from Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, and many other Pacific Nations. The visit is to look at what improvements are needed to make this happen and how much the local government should be spending for these improvements.
However, sources said the officials were disappointed with what they'd seen so far especially the locker rooms and the restrooms.
Have you been to the public gym lately? As the CNMI is financially challenged right now, is it ready to host another international competition and spend to improve its sports facilities?
14 comments:
We can turn the power off in the middle of a game and steal their equiptment like the Irish World Cup team that visited several years back.
Maybe we could let them play on one of our new planned little league fields.
The only thing we manage well is a case of Budweiser. We are experts in the field.
Bitch, bitch, bitch.
We stepped in and hosted the Micronesian Games on short notice in 2006 when no one else could or would do it. So why can't we hold a basketball tournament? Of course we can.
Hear, hear!
you guys obviously have not been to the public gym lately. take a leak and you'll see for yourselves. a lot work in there and that entails "moolah"
where it is great for tourism but are we really up to it?
Let Rex handle the money
I'm disappointed that anyone would write a blog like this without getting the facts right.
First, there is no such thing as the Oceania Basketball Confederation. There is FIBA Oceania, which is the Oceania Zone of the International Basketball Federation. I sit on its Board of Directors. I also serve as Secretary to the Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (BANMI).
Second, FIBA Oceania is not "looking at" holding the "Oceania Basketball Games" here next year. The name of the competition is the Oceania Tournament, and it has already been awarded to BANMI. It WILL be held here.
Third, while professional players are eligible to compete, no one connected with FIBA Oceania or BANMI has ever said that there would be professional players here. It is highly unlikely that there will be.
Nor did anyone ever say that there would be teams here from Korea or Japan. They aren't part of the Oceania Zone, and they are not eligible to compete in our tournaments. Teams which are likely to participate are Australia, New Zealand, the CNMI, Guam, Palau, Tahiti, Fiji, and New Caledonia.
One thing is true: the Ada Gym needs some work. Fortunately, however, the main competition venue will be the MHS Gym, which passed inspection with flying colors -- a fact which you sadly failed to mention.
I recognize and appreciate your pessimism, and that of a lot of other posters, which in many instances is well-deserved. No place is the world is without its warts, least of all the CNMI.
But please remember this: this tournament is going to be run by BANMI, not the Government. (Were you here for the Oceania Athletics Championships a few months ago? Sports people across the Pacific are still raving about how well-run it was. It was, by the way, run by CNMI Athletics.) We're not going to settle for substandard, and neither are we going to settle for "just good enough".
It's going to be a terrific tournament, which will bring in several hundred free-spending visitors and a whole lot of great publicity for our island. If you want to make a positive contribution, instead of tearing us down, that would be most welcome. Why don't you help us run a successful tournament that we can be proud of?
And oh yes, one more thing you can be sure of: Rex is going to have nothing to do with this.
Thank God for that. Why isn't Rex in jail anyway Mr. White?
MHS gym and NMC gym have better facilities. Great alternatives.
We stand corrected on the FIBA Oceania. Thanks for the correction.
We are excited for this tournament as it will boost tourism.
As we believe that everything is interrelated, we wish BANMI goodluck on this.
Pessimism or not, not on this blog. Thanks for visiting this blog Mr. White.
Sports & Rec director Joe Lizama should be fired for incompetence. Hasn't done a good job at all to improve and maintain the gym. He is just highly connected because of the wife but never supported the administration. He is a diehard BB like Rex.
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