The Heat Is on 3,500 Athletes at Sports Festival

The city of bayous, bisque and beignets opened a sweltering front door to some 3,500 athletes and a crowd estimated at nearly 55,000 as National Sports Festival VI officially got under way Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

The stadium, on the campus of Louisiana State University, is better known as Death Valley to the many college football teams who have dared to journey into Bengal Tiger country.

But Friday night, America’s finest amateur athletes were treated to a warm and generous display of Southern hospitality. The accent was definitely on the warm, since the temperatures were in the 90s and the humidity was oppressive.

It was like a steambath, but the effect of the heat and humidity on performances may not be realized until the festival completes 12 days of competition on Aug. 5.

The Festival, originated in 1978, is an off-year competition designed to bring together and showcase the best young athletes in the United States, hopefully preparing them for the Olympics.

The formula proved successful for the United States at Los Angeles in 1984, since many of the graduates, including sprinter Valerie Brisco-Hooks and diver Greg Louganis, took home Olympic gold medals.

Brisco-Hooks, the former Locke High School star, and Louganis, of Mission Viejo, were torch bearers in Friday’s ceremonies, a three-hour salute to Cajun country, the birth of jazz, and America.

Hurdler Edwin Moses of Laguna Hills, carrying the flag of the United States, led the parade of athletes into the Stadium, accompanied by a rousing rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever. The crowd enthusiastically cheered the athletes from each section of the country, but understandably saved the real ‘hootin’ and ‘hollerin’ for the boys and girls of the Confederacy.

The evening culminated with the lighting of the perpetual flame, which will burn throughout the Festival and then be passed on to Houston, the site of next year’s competition.

Two Baton Rouge natives, Olympic weightlifter Tommy Calandro and swimmer Melanie Hebert, carried a lighted torch into and around the stadium floor. After wading through a sea of athletes, they met swimmer Steve Lundquist, a double gold medalist in Los Angeles, who held two unlit torches.

The torches were joined, and then Brisco-Hooks and Louganis appeared, each taking a torch and then walking slowly up the steps to the apex. As the lights dimmed, the two athletes precipitated a lazer show which eventually ignited the perpetual flame.

The ceremony will quickly retreat into memory as 19 of the 34 sports are on the agenda today, ranging from archery to yachting. And for the first time in the six-year history of the event, there will be competition for the disabled.

Moses thoroughly enjoyed his moment in the spotlight.

“The reaction from the kids in the auditorium and the reaction of the crowd made being here well worth my while,” he said. “It was quite an honor to carry the flag.”

Moses downplayed the heat factor for this weekend’s track and field competition.

“I’ve run in 105 degrees before,” he said. “So a lot will depend on the athletes. I noticed they were passing out water down there (on the field), so if they keep enough fluids in their bodies, they’ll be all right.

“But it’s summertime, and you can’t do much about it. However, I think you’re going to see some good performances. There are some very good people here.”

Desite Moses’ optimism, The Athletics Congress officials decided Friday night to cut down the distances of the men’s and women’s marathons Sunday to a half-marathons because of the heat. Today’s walking races for both men and women were also substantially reduced.

Festival Notes One of the West basketball assistants is Crenshaw’s Willie West, who was doing a mean two-step in the infield to the music of the USO’s first All-Star band, which performed after the ceremonies. The group included members of Cheap Trick, Kansas, Santana and Toto. . . . Greg Louganis pulled double duty, lighting the torch and then commenting about his performance for his employer, ESPN. . . . The only other California athlete ever to carry the torch for the Festival’s opening ceremonies was Cal State Long Beach basketball star LaTaunya Pollard, who shared the honors with Colorado native Ted Castaneda in 1979 at Colorado Springs.