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6095. wabbit - 8/9/2008 2:49:45 PM I saw bits and pieces of the opening ceremony. I'm watching the eventing horses do the dressage portion of their competition right now. The horse events are in Hong Kong because of the pollution in Beijing. 6096. jexster - 8/9/2008 2:55:21 PM THat was an incredible show last night. Do you know they sent young university students here to study US public administration so that they could return and build this new part of Beijing, more than just Olympic facilities. I had a kid in a seminar who lives about a mile away from the Bird's Nest.
This was 3 years ago! Incredible
Still not sure what the PDT TV schedule is..they're re-running the OC now 6097. wabbit - 8/9/2008 3:28:03 PM I didn't know that. The Bird's Nest is a beautiful structure, just stunning. I have to believe that China will get more use out of these Olympics than did Greece, or Montreal for that matter. 6098. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 8/9/2008 4:44:07 PM it's = its
[Topic shift, politely ignoring my jeremiad]
I do despair and rave, don't I?
6099. wabbit - 8/9/2008 6:59:01 PM There are many things about China as a government that I may not like, but I try to cut the Chinese the same break that I hope they will give us.
Moving on before I work myself into a frenzy...
Todd and Barbara Bachman of Lakeville, Minn. -- parents of 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman and in-laws of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon -- were attacked by a Chinese man while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower.
The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed [Todd] Bachman died from knife wounds and that Barbara Bachman suffered life-threatening injuries. She and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured in the attack, were being treated in a Beijing hospital.
Elisabeth Bachman was with them at the time of the attack, but uninjured...
In happier news, the US women swept the sabre! After the morning dressage portion, US riders are in second place for team eventing. The women's soccer team has moved on and the men's gymnastics are doing well. And Michael Phelps is off to a good start; his time of 4 minutes, 7.82 seconds in the preliminaries of the 400-meter individual medley set a new Olympic record and would have been good enough for gold at the Athens Games.6100. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 8/9/2008 9:02:10 PM You are much more accurate with words than I am wabb. I was being tedious, so I'll exit from here to the John-The-Baptist Thread. 6101. jexster - 8/9/2008 10:56:25 PM WHAT A RELIEF!
Not every swimmer wears the new body suit.
I'm for the guy in the Speedos. To hell with Phelps, Ryan Lochte wears speedos
And he's not the only one! 6102. arkymalarky - 8/9/2008 10:56:38 PM Nursing a headache last night, I was glad for DVR because I taped the ceremonies when they reran and watched them today. I love them no matter where they're at, but I can't ever remember enough to compare them. China's got so much history, combined with Eastern philosophy/perspective, that I really enjoyed their presentation. The two Opening Olympic events that stand out most to me, though, are the archer in Barcelona, and Muhammed Ali's torch lighting. I don't know how much of this one I'll remember four years from now. 6103. jexster - 8/10/2008 2:01:53 AM Yao Ming
Lin Hao
Why did you go back into the rubble and save those kids?
Because I was the hall monitor 6104. jexster - 8/10/2008 3:21:25 AM Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm watching the Russia Iran BBall game on line and there's no commentary
Where did Russia get that colored forward? Georgia? 6105. wabbit - 8/10/2008 5:14:40 PM Not tedious at all WoW, I meant no offense.
Lin Hao, what a wonderful child.
Watching Sunday Morning show I found out that Shen Wei was a US citizen, I didn't know that. What I saw of the opening ceremony was pretty cool - I especially liked the character section, the precision was amazing.
Phelps has his first gold medal. btw Jexster, thank you for linking. I promise to post some swimsuit photos for you soon (but not several in a row).
I watched the gold medal women's archery. The Koreans are the powerhouse and took the gold, again, but China stayed surprisingly close to take the silver. 6106. jexster - 8/10/2008 5:48:36 PM My God those Chinese gymnasts are incredible. Seemed like their biceps scarely touched the parallel bars 6107. jexster - 8/10/2008 5:50:13 PM I'm still confused on the swimsuits. All but one guy in the medley in bodysuits but just the opposite in breast stroke. 6108. wonkers2 - 8/10/2008 7:06:56 PM GPYC 6109. jexster - 8/11/2008 12:36:46 AM French Swimmers Ready to Turn Phelps into their Salope
USA! USA! 6110. iiibbb - 8/11/2008 4:40:29 AM Well the French just surrendered that one. 6111. marjoribanks - 8/11/2008 10:57:41 AM See, Wabbit (and Wiz), the thing is that Manny is actually Babe Ruth. And just like with that outsized, badly-behaved lug, Bawston just don't get it. In the end, Manny Ramirez will go down in history as one of the top handful of greatest hitters of all time. The Sux were lucky to have him - make no mistake, it was he much more than anyone else who delivered them the recent WS wins - and, just like with the Babe himself, they will stew in regret for a very long time now that he's gone.
--
Olympics note. To the relief of one billion people, India won a medal today, the first ever individual gold.
Only two days into these Games, and the country had already gone to bits with anguish, as it does every four years, Olympic-time, convulsed in an emotional national debate on the topic "why we suck so bad at every sport but cricket." 6112. marjoribanks - 8/11/2008 11:37:10 AM Wiz,
That long and dramatic opening ceremony tableaux had some of those odd, distinctively Red, highly sentimental moments.
And there was also undoubtedly a 'shock and awe' kind of motivation at work in some of those eye-popping choreographed pieces with thousands of dancers, or in fact in the setting itelf, that amazingly sculpted, one-of-a-kind, digital-age 'Birds Nest'.
But for the most part the ceremony was very beautiful and evocative, and, dare I say, actually quite moving.
The magnificent sweep of Chinese history was referenced from the beginning, from the Mesolithic to the Space Age, one of the peerless achievements of humankind. This put everything into perspective.
Furthermore, there was no going after cheap propaganda points, even as the whole point was to express very great aspirations, and ambitious purpose.
I found it to be extraordinary theatre, of the very highest order, and on the grandest possible scale, yet conducted with taste and restraint (yes, I mean it, even with 20,000 performers and a budget that had to be close to half a billion dollars!).
6113. jexster - 8/11/2008 2:41:49 PM Surrender monkeys again 6114. wabbit - 8/11/2008 3:01:28 PM Banks, clearly you have spent no time in Boston, or really paying attention to anything to do with the Red Sox other than Manny. Trading Babe Ruth was strictly a poor management decision, had nothing to do with the fans or their appreciation of him. And Manny is no Babe Ruth, unless he can pitch and actually run the bases for the team paying his salary.
No worries though, he's back to proclaiming his need to play for the Yankees, which is something the sympathetic LA fans probably appreciate, unlike the lugs here in Beantown. And since we all know what a gift the Yankees have for appreciating and picking up great talent (no, not at all sarcastic), no doubt he'll be on their roster next season.
Enough of Manny.
 ...Jason Lezak pulled up next to the lane rope and set out after hulking Alain Bernard, like a NASCAR driver drafting down the backstretch at Daytona.
Only 25 meters to go, half the length of the pool. Every stroke brought Lezak a little closer, a little closer, a little closer, his body seemingly carried along by the Frenchman's massive wake. The two lunged for the wall together. When the result flashed on the board, [Michael] Phelps was still on course for his record eight gold medals.
By a fingertip.
Lezak, the oldest man on the U.S. swimming team, pulled off one of the great comebacks in Olympic history Monday morning, hitting the wall just ahead of Bernard in the 400 freestyle relay, a race so fast it actually erased two world records.
Few sporting events live up to the hype -- this one exceeded it. The 32-year-old Lezak was nearly a body length behind Bernard as they made the final turn, but the American hugged the lane rope and stunningly overtook him on the very last stroke... What a race!
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