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Ryan Flaherty documents his experience playing for Team USA
during the 2007 Pan American games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
SUNDAY, JULY 15TH
Hey Vandy Fans,
Today was our first of five games in the Pan-American Games. The tournament is setup so each team plays three games in pool play before playing two games in the medal rounds.
Today we played against the Dominican Republic and we beat them 6-1. The game could have been considered an upset because their team was filled with former major leaguers.
This was my first time playing outside of the country and it was a great experience. Putting on the USA Baseball jersey really means something when you are outside representing your country.
Life in the Olympic Village has been a great experience except for the fact that you have to eat the same meals everyday. However when you put things in perspective there are other twenty-year olds that are leaving the USA to go fight for our country so dealing with eating the same food for a week can’t be that bad.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to play against Nicaragua at 1 p.m. and if we win, we will automatically advance to the medal rounds on Wednesday.
Till next time,
Ryan