<strong>by Rod Hughes</strong>

An early beginning to the rainy season was predicted this year, but did not materialize and the northern zone of the country around Los Chiles is suffering crop losses. The water and sewer service, A y A, is trucking potable water to the area and the Ministry of Agriculture inspection by 23 technicians say that 177 cattle have died.

Rains began in mid-April, a month early, then stopped. A survey of 132 farms in the area turned up the deaths of 177 bulls, cows and calves and a shortage of milk for veal animals. But unofficial estimates put the cattle death toll at closer to 250.

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents around Los Chiles lack water. A light rain fell for about 10 minutes at Ciudad Quesada, far to the south of Los Chiles, yesterday but not a drop in the critical areas farther to the north. The precipitation that fell on the Central Valley Sunday was heavier but hardly the torrential downpour that often opens the rainy season.

by Rod Hughes

In a country where bus transport is the main form of travel, commuters are aware that they are at the mercy of companies that do not always live up to expectations. In an unusual move, the Ministry of Transport has yanked the licenses of two bus lines and temporarily turned the concessions over to other companies.

Deputy Transport Minister Viviana Martin said a surprise inspection turned up three buses of the San Jose-Quesada Duran line that had not been presented for technical inspection. The company withdrew the units and interrupted service. The firm Cesmag from San Pedro took over the route.

A San Jose-San Vicente bus line was bumped from its route two months ago for the mechanical condition of its buses and for having flunked a quality test last year, but the owners appealed. The owner admitted that four of her units were “a little bad” but that she intended to substitute new ones, adding that she felt the line flunked last year’s inspection because of testing errors.

By and large, public mass-transit buses have improved dramatically in the past two decades, thanks to government efforts such as these. Today, commuter bus service in Costa Rica is safer, cleaner and more comfortable than in most countries of Latin America offers more complete coverage of the metropolitan area than the U.S. can boast.

by Rod Hughes

Sunday was a full day of auto racing at Costa Rica’s La Guacima circuit with Toyota Supra showing a clear dominance to an enthusiast crowd that braved afternoon rainshowers. This was the second date in the national championships and winners were Javier Quiros (Supra) in Gran Touring-1, Mariano Ramirez (Porsche 911) in GT-2, the Quiros brothers (Toyota Altezza) in GT3A and Javier Lopez (Toyota MR-2) in GT-3B categories.

Quiros pranged his car in the first heat but managed to repair the front enough to win the second go-around. In GT-3, Sirhan Wabe proved he was no racing driver wannbe by winning the first heat but in the second lost it and his Honda Civic crunched up against the retaining wall at the beginning of the main straightaway. He had fallen victim to that twin nightmare of racing drivers everywhere, oil spills followed by a light rain.

The circuit at La Guacima is tight and twisty, even in dry conditions a challenge. But it is a joy for spectators.

by Rod Hughes

Perez Zeledon, playing in its homes stadium in San Isdidro de El General, tied Alajuela 0-0 Sunday, making it an uphill climb to get into the finals for the national championship. They meet Alajuela in its home, Morera Soto Stadium next Wednesday. But neither side cheated the spectators Sunday, not letting up a bit, giving spectators their money’s worth—and that’s the name of the game, right?

As La Nacion sportswriter Arnoldo Rivera observed in his report today, Tico teams have a tendency to let up in the second half, but that wasn’t the case yesterday. Case in point: Diego Pais’s goal attempt that rebounded from the left post, nearly giving Alajuela fans heart failure. Or Alajuela’s Pablo Nasser getting sent off for his intentional foul of PZ’s Juan Gabriel Guzman as the latter positioned himself for a clear shot at the goal. That sacrifice was not in vain but left Alajuela with 10 on the pitch.

Massacre: Saprissa 5, Brujas 0

Remember our suspicion that Saprissa might have trouble with Brujas of Escazu, due to Saprissa’s monumental losing streak of the past matches? Well, forget we said anything! The big purple “S” broke out of its slump with an explosion Sunday at ST Center in Aserri. And, in part, Brujas head coach Mauircio Wright’s short game pressure tactics in the second half are at fault.

The match appeared even until minute 43 when Alejandro Alpizar, who had appeared clueless in the CONCACAF championship matches against Mexico’s Pachuca, returned to his goal-making form of early this year, scoring on a pass from Ronald Gomez. In the second half, Alpizar repeated on a penalty shot. Then did it again on a pass from Ever Alfaro. Jairo Arrieta decided Alpizar was having all the fun and contributed his goal to the rout, followed by Michael Barrantes’s tremendous long shot.

Well, soccer is a sport of surprises and why it isn’t more popular in the United States is a mystery to us. Is Brujas totally under water? It would seem so, even though they play their rival in Tibas, Saprissa home pitch, Wednesday, where Saprissa was tough even in the midst of its losing streak. But don’t bet on it. Stranger things have happened in soccer than a club’s overcoming a five-goal deficit. Unlikely, but momentum is for U.S. primary elections, not for soccer.