Chinese Gymnastics Controversy

With all the debate regarding the ages of the Chinese gymnasts, I thought that I should bring up this argument to those who believe they are underage: the gymnasts might just look younger than they actually are. I know that this has been said many times already, but, unlike others, I have evidence to support this claim. Have a look at this photo of Chinese gymnast Cheng Fei, taken just this past week at a medal ceremony. When I first saw her, I thought that she might have been 13 years old. Not true; she's actually a ripe 20 years of age, born May 28, 1988, only 2 years after Usain Bolt and a whole 4 years before Shawn Johnson. In addition, there have never been any disputes about her birthdate or any suggestions that the government modified her birth records, so we can be pretty sure that she was actually born in 1988. Anyway, if Cheng Fei, a 20 year old, can look 13, why can't He Kexin or Yang Yilin be 16 years old? Maybe they just look younger than they are. Yes, this observation doesn't dispel any of those uncovered archived documents, but it does present an interesting alternative explanation to this whole dilemma.

photo credits: http://images.china.cn/images1/200607/349041.jpg

USA Olympics Baseball Advances

Ok, so even with shaky pool play, USA's baseball team will get to play in the semifinals on Wednesday against Japan. USA's win over China, however, proved to be more than just advancing to the medal rounds. The matchup featured the Chinese pitchers hitting a combined five U.S. batters. In return, as the U.S. would never let China's deeds go unpunished, Nate Schierholtz absolutely decked the Chinese catcher, sending his mask and helmet flying. I'm glad of course that our home-country team, and somewhat of a favorite, was able to advance. After all, the four best teams (Japan, Korea, Cuba, and U.S.A.) all advanced to the semis. U.S.A. has not faced Japan yet during this Olympics, but Japan has lost to both Cuba and Korea in pool play. The same can be said about U.S.A. So whoever does win in the Japan vs. USA matchup will face a team that they have already lost to. As much as I hate to say it, I think USA will be lucky to salvage a bronze medal. My predictions for the baseball tournament:

Gold: Cuba

Silver: Korea

Bronze: U.S.A.

Fourth: Japan

Go USA!

Sports Commercials

Today I was just pondering about random thoughts. I realized how integral commercials are in sports. During the Olympics there have been some really amazing commercials especially the Visa one with Derek Redmond. Nike has had a string of several inspiring videos that I want to show you guys. Check it out in the following 3 videos.

New Nike Courage Video



Visa Derek Redmond Commercial with Godly commentating by Morgan Freeman



Derek Redmond - Full Story

Live from Beijing (Part 3)

Finally, here's a list of interesting things/insights/happenings in the games and around the city.

-I was impressed with the level of play in the women's basketball games. Entering the first basketball game, Russia vs. South Korea, I mistakenly thought that women's basketball was a joke. However, all the players were very good ball handlers, played good defense, and had range from the field.
-The exception to the aforementioned good play was the Belarus point guard, #4. I'm sorry if I'm being a little harsh, but she was by far the worst player on the court in both Belarus games that we saw. I have no idea why she was starting, since her stat line for both games was something like 1-5 from the field, with 6 turnovers and maybe 2 assists. Against South Korea, she almost singlehandedly allowed South Korea back into the game; in the second half, she bounced the ball off her foot out of bounds when she was taking it up the court and repeatedly dribbled into corners, either losing the ball or stepping out of bounds. She also had a strange, out-of-control style of dribbling and did not contribute anything to Belarus (her passes were all hand-offs or throws around the perimeter) except for one breakaway, two-handed layup that she threw off the backboard and somehow got to go in.
-Diana Taurasi, an American guard, and Isabel Sanchez, a Spanish player, were mixing it up during the U.S. vs. Spain game. They had already been exchanging pushes and shoves early in the 2nd quarter, and after Sanchez was called for carrying, the two got in each other's faces, but no technicals were called. The head referee did bring the two over in a huddle to speak to them, during which Taurasi strangely placed her hand on the ref's hindside for about 15 seconds.
-An Italian volleyball player, #11, was very insistent on having the floor around him clean. After almost every point, he called in the blue-shirted volunteers to wipe the court with their towels, which took about 15 seconds and became rather annoying by the 3rd and 4th sets.
-The Brazilian libero, Sergio, appeared to be high on Red Bull for the entire match. He carried out huge Tiger fist pumps after every point that Brazil won, and generally pranced around the court when he was in and around the bench when Brazil was serving. I do admit, though, that he was very entertaining to watch.
-The American weightlifter, Chad Vaughn, had a very long pre-lift routine, in which he performed a quirky head shake that actually made the crowd laugh at him. Right before he lifted the barbell, he tilted his head to the side and sort of wagged it a couple of times. The crowd was surprised the first time, but chuckled at him every other time.
-Erkand Qerimaj, the Hungarian lifter, looked to both sides with a smirk on his face and nodded while holding his finish in the clean & jerk. The crowd absolutely loved it, and he went on to take a couple of bows and wave.
-Ever since it rained for the entire day on the 11th, the skies in Beijing have been blue, with few clouds and no smog. It also poured again on the 14th.
-We were fortunate enough to be able to play a round of golf at Pine Valley Golf Club, on the morning of the 14th before the rain. The private golf clubs in China are apparently just as nice as the clubs in America; in the clubhouse, there was a board with tacks that implored the members to vote on the color design for the club's private plane (the initiation fee at Pine Valley is $500,000)
-Some gas stations in China don't allow people to fill up during thunderstorms. For some reason, the employees at the station that we were at said that it was dangerous.
-The organizers liked playing music and showing animations on the video screens during every break in play. We heard everything from Linkin Park to Juanes to Chinese pop. In several events, we also saw an interesting message on the screen, urging the crowd: "Let's do the Mexican wave" (see the picture).














-The toilets in a lot of public places in Beijing are just holes in the ground. It's rather strange.
-The "Water Cube" swimming arena isn't even a cube. I'm not even sure if it's a square in length and width, and it's definitely not as tall as it is lengthwise on either side.
-We witnessed more interesting driving around the city. On a one-way, three lane road out of a train station, we saw a taxi driving slowly down the right hand lane...in the other direction. We also drove past another car on a one-way road going in the opposite direction (I'm pretty sure we were going the legal way).
-We visited a large shopping center called Silk Street/Pearl Market in the center of the city that sold basically everything imaginable for 1/10 of the normal price. I think most of it was fake, but we did manage to buy a Swiss army knife for 4 dollars, a Breitling/Bentley watch for 25 dollars, and a lot of clothing at extremely low prices. We also saw members of several Olympic teams there, including some Russian, Italian, and Jamaican athletes.
-Finally, I have to reiterate that the locals are all very kind and friendly. At the U.S. vs. Spain basketball game, a woman in the row in front of us heard us speaking English and turned around and offered us an American flag. In general, everyone we have talked to has greeted us with a smile and treated us kindly.

Sorry about the time difference between posts. I had some problems with the internet connection.

Only a week of games left...enjoy the Olympics while they last!

Live from Beijing (Part 2)

It is now the evening of Day 9 at the Beijing Olympics. I know I promised to post earlier, but we have been very busy for the last week or so. Here's a quick recap of the events that we have seen.

8/10: Swimming

Since all the swims were prelims, they weren't that exciting, but we did get to experience the Water Cube. It lived up to all our expectations; the scales on the outside changed color every several minutes, and there was even water running down all the interior walls into a large continuous pond. We also saw Michael Phelps in the 200 meter freestyle heats and Natalie Coughlin in the 100 meter backstroke heats. Throughout the heats, a lot of Olympic records were broken and a couple of world records were set as well, but the most exciting moment was when the 4 x 100 freestyle U.S. relay team set a world record (yes, it was smashed the day after, but it was still impressive considering it was the U.S.'s B team).

8/11: Women's Basketball

We watched two preliminary games: Russia vs. South Korea and Belarus vs. Latvia. Russia won over South Korea 77-72, but I thought that they had been outplayed for the entire game. South Korea was called for traveling 3 times in the final 4 minutes, which killed their chances of pulling off an upset. Even though Russia was much taller, South Korea played really good defense (I think Russia had 25 turnovers). However, Russia shot something like 72% from the field, so I guess they kind of deserved to win. Belarus won the other game 79-57. It was close in the first half, but Belarus blew it open in the third quarter. The game got pretty ugly in the fourth quarter with the substitutes in.

8/12: Men's Volleyball

We saw two games again (one ticket buys you two games): the U.S. vs. Italy and Brazil vs. Serbia. The U.S. won in four sets over Italy; they lost the first set but won the next three. An American player, Reid Priddy, was very impressive. He was probably 2 or 3 inches shorter than the other hitters on the team, but he had the most kills and might have had the most blocks. Brazil also won in four sets over Serbia, and also lost the first set but won the rest. Neither team was great at blocking, but Brazil played better defense and also had some powerful outside hitters.

8/13: Weightlifting

We watched the men's 69-77 kg event. I'm not exactly sure how it worked, since we thought it was a preliminary, but then when we looked at the results in the evening, all of the scores that we saw were in the results for the final. Anyhow, we apparently saw the worser of the two groups, since Erkand Qerimaj, the winner of the group, was 13th in the final results. There was an American, Chad Vaughn, but he had a DNF after he couldn't lift 182 kg in the clean & jerk on any of his 3 tries. In addition, Janos Baranyai, a Hungarian lifter, unfortunately dislocated his elbow in the clean & jerk. Thankfully, the injury did not jeopardize his career.

8/15: Women's Basketball

We saw another 2 women's prelim games: the U.S. vs. Spain and Belarus vs. South Korea. The U.S. won handily over Spain, 93-55. It was actually only 39-34 at halftime; the U.S. coach put in the subs after Spain was down 17-4, but Spain fought and climbed back. The second half was a blowout, though, with the U.S. hitting their jumpers and playing tough defense. In the second game, Belarus defeated South Korea 63-53. It wasn't a pretty game. I think Belarus shot around 32% from the field and South Korea might have shot under 30%. South Korea also had trouble defending the much taller Belarus forwards and centers.

8/16: Men's Baseball

Yesterday, we watched Cuba defeat Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) 1-0. It was a pitcher's duel; the lone run of the game was a solo home run in the 7th inning, after which the Taiwan starter was taken out. Taiwan only managed 4 hits, one of them being a 2-out single in the top of the 9th. Cuba wasn't much better offensively, only getting 5 hits themselves. The only extra-base hit of the game was the home run.

We didn't watch anything on the 14th or today; instead, we visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, respectively. I didn't think the Forbidden City was that interesting, since all we saw were antique buildings with thrones in the middle. However, the Great Wall was much more exciting. We visited the Badaling section of the Wall, about 50 km north of Beijing. The wall was open to access in both directions from the entrance, and we arbitrarily picked the one with less people. We ended up walking a very hilly 2 miles to the end of where visitors are allowed (there was one set of stairs that probably went up about 18 feet vertically in 10 feet of horizontal distance, with steps right in front of your face all the way up). The views, though, of the surrounding mountains were exhilarating.

I decided to split this up into two posts, so see the above post for tidbits on the games and on life around the city.

Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson go 1-2 in Women's All Around Gymnastics

For Gymnasts the All-around event is like claiming your MVP of gymnastics..and thats exactly what Nastia Liukin is. She started off slowly with the Vault (lower start value) although she stuck the landing. In fact, Nastia stuck every single one of her landings in the all around event. However in the remaining three events including floor and uneven bars she was unmatched in her form and artistic creativity. Being the gymnastic prodigy of two world champion gymnasts (her father won 2 gold medal, but fell short of the All around gold medal in 1988), Nastia and her father embraced after every event. In a way he was reliving his dream through her.

Nastia's parents never wanted her to become a gymnast like them - they knew how grueling and painful it would be. However, they ended up taking her to the gym while they worked out. She started watching the other gymnasts, mimicking their moves, and starting her future. She has intense workout regiments (about 6 - 7 hours a day), but she also has school and homework.

Shawn Johnson had a solid performance as well...but had a recurring problem that cost her first place - her landing. She was never able to stick a perfect landing and had this one crossover step that cost her greatly in the vault (her best event). Otherwise, she had a solid performance and just fell short of Nastia. Great job to both of them for making history..it was fun to watch. I can't wait till London to see them compete again. Shawn will be 20 and Nastia will be 22.

WOW Is All I Can Say

Was anybody else fortunate enough to see Michael Phelps in the 100 meter butterfly tonight? That has got to be the most exciting 50 seconds of sports I have ever seen. In 7th place after half of the race, Phelps somehow found a way to win, not passing the previous leader until the last moment before touching the wall. In the end, only one-hundredth of a second separated Phelps from his Serbian adversary. While Cavic (silver medalist) decided to coast in for the last meter or so, Phelps decided to slam into the wall by adding an additional stroke just before hitting the wall. The great part of watching the event was that I sympathized with Phelps. Just after I saw what appeared to be a tie, I waited for the results to be posted. And when I finally saw his winning time, I shouted for joy, although not as raucously as Phelps. So now Phelps has 7 gold medals, and might I add in only 7 events. So he's tied Mark Spitz for the all time record of medals won at a single Olympics. On August 17th, Phelps will be a part of the 4x100 meter medley relay team, and have a chance to win a record 8th gold medal. Phelps is by far the best athlete in the Olympics games (but if you disagree, please feel free to share). So I support him all the way and think USA has a great chance of winning the gold on Sunday.

Cuban Baseball Team Beats USA 5-4

Oh boy, the USA Olympic baseball team is now 1-2. As the game was decided in the 11th inning, the new extra-inning rule that I detailed in my last article was implemented. And an obviously biased group of US players after the game denounced the rule. Now I know that everybody has to play by the rules, but this rule is one for the hating. A Phillies AAA shortstop stated "I'm not a big fan of it, because in extra inning games you have to earn the victory." Obviously, the loss as a result never gave the rule a fair chance. But to some extent, I do agree with what Donald (the shortstop) said.
There is no way to deny, however, that the team is 1-2. And I understand that the baseball team is one of the only teams that USA fields which is not a "dream team." Unlike in basketball, the USA's baseball team is composed of minor league players combined with a few college players. This is due mostly in part to the large contracts that pros sign and the overlap of the season with the Olympics.
And USA's next game, which was against Canada, just ended with a US victory 5-4. So now the red, white and blue will take their 2-2 record to Wukesong stadium to battle China on Monday. That will sure be an intense matchup. I think that the US will beat China and advance to the semi finals at the end of group play.

Team USA Basketball Cruises by Greece

In the long awaited matchup, Team USA cruised by Greece with a 92-69 victory. Looks like the "redeem team" is playing up to par. Dwayne Wade claims the team played like they "wanted to win. We played together." Kobe finally found his shooting touch going 7-14 from the field with 18 points. Bosh had 18, Wade had 17, and James had 13. Greeks shot 41% from the field and 22% from beyond the arc - Team USA had some bonecrushing defense giving no breathing space for the struggling Greek team. I really want Team USA to utilize their Big Men some more they could really do some damage down in the paint. Their next matchup is Spain - the world champions.

After this fantastic display of basketball, Team USA looks in good shape to secure the gold medal. China is leading the overall medal count by 1 (they are at 35) US is at 34. Lets keep it up.

SportsTalk has had great success during the second week thanks to the readers. From the first week with 702 readers...in the second week we have 3,350 readers and growing! Hopefully you enjoy our blog..give me any feedback!

Olympic Baseball Update and Rule Explanation

Uh oh, everybody: USA lost to Korea in the Olympic Opener. Both sides fought hard to the end, when Korea's walk-off sac fly in the 9th secured an 8-7 victory. The inexperience of the US team was obvious, with botched pick offs as well as offline throws to the plate. The wacky extra inning rule was almost used. I will explain shortly what it is. I understand that in the Olympics, with teams having to play on many consecutive days, 16+ inning games can crush both the winning and losing teams. But the new-fangled rule that pretty much limits games to 11 or 12 innings seems a bit absurd. The procedure for games tied entering the 11th inning goes as follows: both managers can pick two consecutive players from the batting order to place on 1st and 2nd base. Then, the batter following those two leads off the inning. According to an article published by ESPN.com (http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2000/2000/1010/811158.html), in this situation, the batting team has historically averaged 1.63 runs/inning and scores at least one run 66% of the time. With such a high probability of scoring, the ties will be broken in only a couple of innings. I personally think this is a bad policy. I hate to say it but I'd rather see a tie than a game decided by the tie-breaking rule. Back to team USA. Don't worry: since 4 out of 8 teams advance from pool play, which consists of 7 games, USA still has a good chance of playing in a medal game. They play next today against the Netherlands at 10:30 pm.

Picture of Wukesong baseball stadium from http://dynalite-online.com/default_code.htm?http://dynalite-online.com/case_studies/Beijing%20Olympics/index.htm

Congrats to Team USA Basketball and Swimming

The two sports I have truly been following during the Olympics.

1) Basketball - Team USA just cruised on by crushing Angola in a 97-76 victory. LeBron James used his body to muscle his way through the defense of the African champions. Wade had 19 points, Dwight had 14, and James had 12. However, the US continues to have a tough time from beyond the arc. They face their toughest opponent next, the Greeks. Last time the two teams confronted each other the Greeks won 101-95 in one of the most depressing games I've seen. From that time, Team USA has strengthened both mentally and physically so I am relatively certain they can win. US will need to improve from the three point line in order to secure a victory against the possibly best European team. Good luck.

2) Swimming - Probably the most exciting Olympic sport to watch. Of course Phelps is 3/3 in his quest to beat Spitz's record of 7 golds. The 400 m relay was one of the most exciting swimming races I have seen. Jason Lezak showed you true spirit, determination, and willpower. As corny as this sounds, I was extremely proud to be American. Natalie Coughlin got the gold for the 100 meter backstroke as well. Aaron Peirsol, the laid back California native, won the men's 100 meter backstroke. Great job! Stay tuned for more news...

Check out this hilarious video from the Sydney Olympics 00'

Spanish Basketball Team Scandal

Take a look at this picture. These gold medal contenders seem to mock their Chinese counterparts. The Spanish team claims that they don't mean to poke fun at the host team, but there is no question that this picture will spark a great deal of controversy - perhaps in a diplomatic sense. Hopefully only the players took part in this childish display. This is a seemingly recurring problem. In 2004, some black soccer players were subject to a great deal of verbal abuse from the Spanish team. Moreover, after the game the Spanish coach (who was going to be fired) made this statement: "he called Thierry Henry a "black sh*t". The team includes quite a few NBA players including Pau Gasol, JC Navarro, and Jose Calderon.

AND: I did not mean to offend anyone by writing this article. If I did, I am wholeheartedly sorry.

Men's Volleyball Makes Statement with a W; Women's Volleyball Falls Short Despite Crowd Support

Despite the recent fatal stabbing of Coach Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law, Todd Bachman, the United States men's volleyball team were able to grab a win against Venezuela. Instead of the typical pre-game excitement, the players linked arms and bowed their heads in a moment of silence. Bachman's wife was also injured and is recovering at a hospital in Beijing. The couple have always been adamant supporters of both men's and women's volleyball, regulars at practices and games. Assistant coach Ron Larsen has taken the role of head coach until McCutcheon returns. The team got off to a strong start, taking the 1st and 2nd sets, but faltered in the 3rd and 4th. They were able to seal the victory with a score of 15-10 in the 5th set. The U.S. men's volleyball team is ranked 3rd in the world behind Brazil and Russia while Venezuela is 20th, but I'm still impressed that they were able to focus and pull off the victory considering the circumstances. McCutcheon's wife played on the 2004 women's volleyball Olympic team, and 8 of her teammates are on this year's team, so the players were very emotional as they stepped on the court for their game. The arena was packed with fans cheering for them, but they were swept by 3rd-ranked Cuba. Despite the loss, if the 4th-ranked U.S. squad can win against 29th-ranked Venezuela, they will likely get into the elimination round. Unforeseen circumstances like this demand a great deal of mental strength. Let's hope both teams have it in them.

R.I.P. Todd Bachman

Michael Phelps: You Can't Touch This

Looks like the only one who can break Phelp's world records is Phelps himself. In the finals of 400-meter individual medley, supposedly one of his most difficult events, Michael Phelps not only crushed the competition but also smashed his own world record with a time of 4 minutes and 3.84 seconds, giving the United States its 2nd Olympic gold this summer. This will be his 9th Olympic career gold and his 1st of possibly 8 in Beijing. The competition was pretty close at times. Ryan Lochte of the U.S., as predicted, made a move during the breathstroke, his strongest and Phelp's weakest stroke, but it wasn't enough. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took silver while Lochte made it to the podium with a bronze. Phelp's nearly flawless race could spell trouble for the competition. How do you beat a guy with seemingly no weaknesses? You don't. Cseh said, "Maybe sometime we can catch [Phelps], but not now."

picture and quotation source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/sports/olympics/11vecsey.html?hp

U.S. Men's Basketball Off to a Good Start

In one of the most anticipated events of these Olympics, the United States took on China in their first game of the tournament. Both teams got off to a sloppy start, turning the ball over time and time again. It stayed close through most of the second quarter with the U.S. players using their strength to dunk over their opponents while the Chinese knocked down shots from beyond the 3-point arc. The fast pace of the game created a fastbreak offense for both teams rather than plays in a halfcourt set. The score was tied at 29 halfway through the 2nd, but the U.S. capped off the quarter with a big run, taking a 12-point lead with them to the locker room. They never looked back. Despite Yao Ming's solid efforts around the basket, the U.S. lead grew to 26 by the end of 3 in large part due to the quick ball movement and Michael Redd taking over the 3-point game. President Bush left midway through the 4th, confident that his country's team could hold their huge lead for the remaining minutes. Yao took a seat in the 4th quarter to a huge round of applause but stood up and cheered for his teammates until the buzzer sounded. Although the final score was 101-70, the U.S. is going to have to pull it together a lot earlier than the end of the first half to take the gold. Next up: Angola.

picture source: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/basketball/men/recap?gameId=765&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Kobe to Italy?

Why do people choose the United States to work, live, and play? Is it the freedom? The power? The American Dream? Regardless of the reason, USA has been the ideal destination for all professionals, especially for basketball, as the world did not need the 1992 Olympics to see who dominated the sport (although it did help). This is why the recent trend of professional basketball players preferring the European market over the American market strikes me as surprising. What completely knocks me off my wooden chair is the world's best basketball player announcing the possibility of playing in Italy. (This could possibly be worse than Chris Kaman playing for the German national team because his grandfather lived there for a few years) Yes, the MVP of the National Basketball Association, the winner of the Western Conference, and a USA Olympian, said he would leave his cozy home and million dollar automatic Lamborghini for fifty million dollars a year in Europe. Now I did the math and it occurred to me that he could buy fifty Lamborghinis (he wouldn't have to pay the shipping fee since he would be living in Italy), but I still can not imagine why someone who gets a seven foot Spaniard just because he throws a tantrum would take off to go to... well ... Italy. What can he buy for 50 million dollars that he can't for 20 million? I don't know about you, but hearing that Josh Childress prefers the Euro to the dollar is much less terrifying than Kobe Bryant contemplating spaghetti over cheese burgers.

Olympic Baseball

With baseball having been voted out of the 2012 Olympics in London, the sport must make a good showing in hope of being revived for the 2016 games. USA plays their first game on Wednesday the 13th against Korea, which will most likely be one of the strongest opposing teams the Americans will face. Starting with Wednesday's game, USA will play games on 5 consecutive days, a sure test for any team's pitching staff. Fortunately, the pitching staff is composed of top minor leaguers who's performance on the bump is as good as hard money. So if you are having debt problems, simply gamble on the Americans and their team stacked with top-rated prospects. A Giants fan myself, I watched Nate Schierholtz crush the ball for the professional ball club. Now that he gets to tee off against inferior pitching, there's no limit to the success that the red, white, and blue will have. Hopefully, this will not be the last Olympic games to feature baseball as a sport, but if it happens to be, at least we can end on a high note. If USA does not win the gold this year, then I will seriously have to congratulate whoever does happen to dethrone them. In my opinion, America will win it all.

Live from Beijing

I am currently in Beijing for the Olympics; today is my third day in the city. I'll try to post about once every three days about the happenings here. Yesterday, we were able to watch two women's soccer preliminary games: Sweden vs. Argentina and China vs. Canada. These games were held in Tianjin, a large city about 100 miles southeast of Beijing. Chinese fans filled the venue, Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, although there were some scattered foreign spectators. The stadium, with a seating capacity of 65,000, had an announced crowd of 56,000 people for the China vs. Canada game. This large crowd was rather unusual for a preliminary game, but the Chinese fans poured in to watch their home team, zealously chanting and clapping for the Chinese squad and unreservedly booing the Canadians. The Sweden vs. Argentina game was first, at 5:00 pm, but we were only able to watch the second half, since all of the train tickets from Beijing to Tianjin were already sold out for the earlier trips. Sweden dominated the second half (they probably did the same in the first half also). They controlled the ball for literally 75% of the half and won 1-0. Sweden could have easily scored 3 or 4 times, but the Argentinian goalie had some nice saves, and the Swedes also hit the crossbar several times.

The game that the crowd was waiting for followed at 7:45 pm. Raucous Chinese fans cheered loudly when their national team was introduced and also gave the loudest rendition of the national anthem that I had ever heard. However, they were soon silenced by the Canadian team, which outplayed China for the entire game (China was lucky to salvage a 1-1 tie). The Canadians had three times as many shots on goal (12-4) and also had many more legitimate scoring chances. While the Chinese capitalized on probably their only real opportunity of the night, a striker breakaway, the Canadians hit the post and also barely missed a couple of other shots from inside the box. The Chinese fans knew that their team was outmatched and were not too dejected with the tie.

Some interesting tidbits about the games and about life around the city:

-the smog was pretty bad on the 8th, the day of the opening ceremonies, but the air was a little bit clearer yesterday, and some blue could even be spotted in the skies
-there were thunderstorms and showers this morning, but most of it has subsided by now (it's currently 10:46 am in China)
-the drivers in China are somewhat reckless; the lane markers in the roads are useless, since not that many people follow them
-there are also some strange traffic rules (U-turns are allowed on red lights)
-the locals are very friendly and most of the volunteers/workers for the Olympics speak good English
-there was an NBC cameraman filming at the ticket pick-up building
-the subways and trains in and around the city are very efficient; it only took 30 minutes for us to go 100 miles from Beijing to Tianjin (the train reached speeds of 350 km/h)
-the food choices in Beijing are becoming more westernized; we spotted a bunch of McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut joints

Okay, that's it for now, but check back in 2 or 3 days for another update from Beijing. Let's hope for better weather and some exciting games.

Will team USA lose the Medal Count?

Looks like the Chinese have really given it all this time. Into the first day of the Olympics, they have already secured 2 gold medals. The US has only 1, but it also has 1 silver and 1 bronze. Chinese women's swimming was quite a display. A couple of unheard Chinese swimmers swept the field, defeating several of the favorites. I believe the Chinese have been training hard with an attitude of - Go for the Gold or nothing. This extreme tenacity might give them the edge over the US in the overall medal count. We have seen the US's difference in medal count between China slowly decrease - as the Chinese creep upon first place. Chinese men's gymnastics easily conquered the field well ahead of the second and third place finishers (Spain and Italy). However, the US has made it to the finals even though they are missing a key component of the team - Paul Hamm - due to a severe injury(check out rosh's article) . USA is still strong - especially with Phelps leading the swim team. He has secured the number 1 seed which was his primary objective during the prelims. Hopefully, both mens and womens basketball can bring home the gold for the US. All we can do is watch and wait..so stay tuned.

Beijing Olympics Open with a Bang

As of 8:08 pm on 8/8/08 in China, the Olympic games are open. Reportedly the most expensive extravaganza in Olympic history, China went all out to give spectators nothing short of an absolutely amazing show depicting numerous aspects of its culture. The ceremony was capped off with 30,000 fireworks in a dazzling display. George Bush was there, the first U.S. president to ever attend an Olympics outside the country. I could tell you more about it, but I wouldn't really do it justice, so turn on NBC at 7:30 pm or go to http://www.nbcolympics.com/ to watch it yourself. Keep checking back here for updates on the 2008 Olympic games. 8 is a lucky number in China, but hopefully the U.S. will find some luck of its own. Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni. Beijing Welcomes You.