06.22.10

Why I still believe in the Games and Why you should to!

Posted in My Thoughts, Position Statements at 12:24 am by Thomas

There has been some news lately that tends to suggest that the Games will not be all that we were sold and the truth is there is some truth to that both to the negative and to the positive.  On the negative, ticket sales and hotel occupancy continue to lag indicating that the likelihood of having 400,000 visitors to the Games, the number that I believed to be a realistic ballpark figure after the Aachen Games, in serious doubt.  That of course puts the financial numbers in doubt as well which of course is going to be the final determination on whether the Games are successful or not.

I for one don’t believe that, but today was a tough day because I began to doubt myself on why I believe in these Games because of that possibility that the Games will be perceived as failure if we don’t hit some magic number of visitors.  The problem with self-doubt is that it tends to feed on itself and by the end of the day I had to wonder if I was crazy (and not in a good way) and had wasted the last 4 1/2 years trying to promote these Games and I should just cut my losses and walk away.

Truth be told, there is still a part of me that feels that way, its part of believing in something so much that you have to sometimes ask yourself that question, what if that belief is wrong and if that belief is wrong then is what I believe in myself wrong.  I have asked myself that question today and the answer is NO, I am not wrong for believing in myself in believing that the importance of these Games to Kentucky and to the people who attend these Games is something that nobody will understand until the Games have come and past.  The importance of these Games can not be measured in the dollars spent but in the human interactions that occur because of them.  The total number of people that come to the Games is not as important as how many of those people return home and tell their friends and family about the experiences they came away with and for those of us still here afterwards we will feel it to.

I am very thankful for Dr. Lyons having committed the financial resources of Alltech and his personal belief to see these Games be successful and in that I am happy to call these Games, The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and as a Kentuckian I am Proud to call them The Kentucky World Equestrian Games because they are our Games and on October 11th and for a long time afterwards the spirit that is Kentucky will spread around the world and much good will come from it.

One final note, my self-doubt went away when I realized that no matter what happens, when I wake up on October 11th I am still going to be a Kentuckian and there is so much to be thankful for in being a Kentuckian and so much to be thankful for in my family and friends who have been supportive in my efforts.

Kentucky Colonel
Thomas Demond
KyWEGO

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