1:12 PM: So after a loooooooooooooong day, it's good night from Beijing. Lots to talk about on tonight's show at 6:30 PM and then it's athletics-set to start at the Bird's Nest in prime time!
1:10 PM: Game, set, match Nadal!!! 6-0, 6-4, he goes on to the semis-Novak Djokovic is his next opponent.
12:55 PM: Nadal and Melzer tied 3-3 in the second set. It's about 1 AM in Beijing but you wouldn't know it by the way these guys are going at it and the roaring crowd.
12:36 PM: Rafa's still battling on the tennis courts. He's facing Austrian Jurgen Melzer in the second set, up 1 set and 1 game.
12:28 PM: The Americans defeat the Bulgarians in volleyball in 4 sets. It's 30 minutes after midnight in Beijing and the day is still not done...
12:22 PM: Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb defeat the Japanese in beach volleyball after a washout earlier in the day. The Americans continue their dominance on the sand.
11:54 PM: This is an interesting turn on events earlier today. Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian, in protest of what he thought was an unjustified call in his semi-final loss, walks out during the medal ceremony and leaves his bronze medal in the middle of the mat. This is turning out to be a news-filled Olympics.
11:51 AM: Li Na, the top ranked female tennis star from China, pulls off a victory over Venus Williams! I said it all along...Li Na will win gold!!! She's that close, now in the semifinals. Icing on the cake, she's from my hometown!!
11:36 AM: A lot of parity between the USA and Bulgaria in men's volleyball. We're tied 1-1 (setwise) and 5-5 in the third set.
11:17 AM: I gave up on NBC and CBC. So, thank goodness for live streaming, it's time to watch some good ol' indoor volleyball.
10:57 AM: Can the NBC/CBC coverage get any more boring?? I don't want to see meaningless heats that happened 2 hours ago. I wanna see some tennis or indoor volleyball action LIVE!!!!
10:34 AM: Scott Thorman strikes out and Canada loses 7-6. That's another disappointment, but Cuba is after all, reigning Olympic champions. Pushing Cuba to their limits is a pretty darn good game by Canadian standards. Five more games to go in the prelims for Canada's baseball team.
10:25 AM: Cuba has some passionate baseball fans! China's one of the (if not the only) country to which Cubans can travel without a visa.
10:17 AM: Earlier today, Chinese Zhang JuanJuan shocked the Koreans by winning the Women's Individual Fencing event. The Koreans, poised to take all 4 gold, were so good in everything else, but today was China's day on the podium. They won 3 wimming medals for the first time in their Olympic history.
9:55 AM: Why do the CBC commentators always want Canada to hit home runs?? The crucial thing right now is to build a rally. We're in the top of the 8th, down 7-5 to Cuba. Can you believe the commentators mistaked Canada for the Blue Jays??!! *Shake head*
9:42 AM: Wow, what a story for Eric Shanteau, the American swimmer who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in June. He's just so positive and it's one of those very Olympic stories. Eric postponed surgery to come to Beijing and will go under the knife in a few weeks. He did not qualify for the final of his event, but that's not important. It's amazing he's had the optimism to be there.
9:32 AM: Cuba hits another home run, overtaking the lead 7-5. Wow, Cubans are showoffs...
9:29 AM: Breaking news from Beijing. James Blake has just defeated Roger Federer in the Quarterfinals of this tournament. Another tough and heartbreaker for Federer! And even Bill Gates didn't want to miss out on this one. So, that Federer-Nadal final now out of the question.
9:28 AM: Cuba strikes back. In the bottom of the 6th, it's a 5-5 tie. This is one heck of a game!!
9:19 AM: Can this commentary on the Canada-Cuba baseball game get any worse?? Well, at least we're winning!!
____________(Sleep)____________
12:26 AM: Enjoy the gymnastics competition folks!! I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning! Go China! Go Canada!
12:06 AM: Hiroyuti Tomita, Japanese hopeful, suffers a bad fall from the rings on his dismount. HIs right hand just slipped off the ring and let gravity do the damage.
11:50 PM: Thank you NBC! Kudos for especially putting on the medal ceremony where the Chinese received their silver and gold in the Women's 200 Butterfly. Man, listening to our anthem, I couldn't help it but getting a lump in my throat. What a great moment.
11:45 PM: Haha, a confident slow fist pump from Yang Wei after he dismounts from the pommel horse. That's huge 'cause the horse has been a party pooper today. The Japanese fell twice and the Korean collapsed on it as well. But look out for Fabian Hambuechen!
11:41 PM: Yes!! What a great relay in the 4 by 200 for the women. The Aussies, in lane 7 capturing a world record shattering gold. The silver going to China (5th swimming medal) and the Americans settling for bronze with some weak legs. And we go back to gymnastics...
11:35 PM: Hmm...this is interesting race. The Aussies leading in lane 7 with the Chinese, Americans, Italians and French all in contention.
11:32 PM: Here we go...French and United States side by side in lanes 4 and 5 in the Women's 200 M Freestyle Relay. We'll see how this one turns out...
11:08 PM: Michael Phelps has not lost the 200 M IM race since 2001!!!! Can anybody stop this guy??!!
10:59 PM: Here come the guys!!! The Men's Gymnastics All-Around Final is starting right now!! Yang Wei so likely to win this event that the NBC commentators say he would have to totally blow it to lose that gold medal. They also say this is like Superman of gymnastics...very true. So who is the toughest man in gymnastics today??
10:52 PM: What a race THIS is! 100 M Freestyle for the men...such a deep field. Tight gold for Alain Bernard, silver to Eamon Sullivan and a tie from bronze for Jason Lezak and Cielo Filho of Brazil. So now that's over, I can't wait until the 100 M Sprint on the track...
10:47 PM: CHINA FINISHES 1-2!!! Liu ZiGe and Jiao LiuYang, age 17 and 19 respectively excites the crowd with Gold and Silver and a World Record!!!!!!!! Shocking to Aussie Jessicah Schipper. This is one hell of a race. 4 swimming medals for China! We are back!!!
10:38 PM: Frustration flare on the CBC website in response to an article that the COC is telling Canadians to calm down and relax about the fact that Canada hasn't won a medal yet. You know what, when countries like Uzbekistan and Georgia (which is in a state of war and turmoil no less!) can put athletes on the podium, you know there are problems with our Olympic program. We don't need the most number of medals, but we have to show that Canada is capable of producing winners. We are a developed nation, we are a member of the G8 people!
10:26 PM: Ryan Lochte, if he qualifies for both the 200 M Back and the 200 IM, he'll have 2 swims in 25 minutes. On top of that, he'll have to battle Aaron Peirsol and Michael Phelps...talk about obstacles...
10:17 PM: We have a disqualification!!! And it happens to a Chinese. Pang JiYing in the Women's 100 M Freestyle made a tiny movement before the beep went off. That's the first DQ of these Games and you gotta feel for Pang, who came in first in this semi.
10:14 PM: There is some kind of transmission problem with the aquatics stream...
10:08 PM: Mike Brown apologizes to the nation. Mike, you made millions believe in you and that's just as good as an Olympic medal. *Sigh* Still waiting...
10:06 PM: And..........it's a FOURTH. 9/100 of a second....wow, that is sooo close but he's not able to bring home Canada's first medal. Mike Brown with a powerful last 50, but not enough as Duboscq from France edges him out. Kosuke Kitajima claims gold with another World Record.
10:04 PM: Less than 50 meters to go...come on Mike!!!!!
10:02 PM: Here we go!!! My heart's beating like crazy!! This is it...
10:01 PM: There's Mike Brown!!!! Looking good and ready to go(ld)!!!!
9:57 PM: Having just watched a replay of Michael Phelps' 10th gold medal, I got goosebumps!! This is incredible. Mike Brown, in about 5 minutes time will be going for the swim of his life, in the 200 M Breaststroke Final!! I smell Canada's first medal...
7:02 PM: Another busy blogging day ahead of us. 17 events to hold finals and for once..Michael Phelps won't be on the podium tonight!!! Gasp..isn't that shocking??!! But the Baltimore Bullet will swim in the semis of the Men's 200 M IM. Hopefully, Canada's Mike Brown will be on the podium tonight. He qualified second for the final of the Men's 200 M Backstroke! Looking forward to men's gymnastics tonight-men's all around-should be a good show! Otherwise, wrestling, fencing, shooting, canoeing and archery will hand out some hardware in Day 6.
6:27 PM: Get ready to ramble!!!!!! You know the place: www.blogtalkradio.com/hdsports! Half an hour of pure Olympic sports talk!! Join me and have a blast!
-D
I have to admit, Mike Brown was excellent at the pool. 9/100ths of a second is just bad luck. He was our best medal hopeful so far.
ReplyDeleteAlso, his apology was not needed, but I'm still humbled by it. At least his attitude was better than other athletes, who had no competitive spirit, nor sportsmanship. Anna Rice, our female badminton singles, was defeated by China's Lu Lan, ranked 2nd in the world. And what does she comment on after? HUMAN RIGHTS! Where is your Olympic spirit, Anna? What's worse, we're paying a Human Rights advocate to go to the Games. Such a waste of tax dollars! I mean, I like her as an athlete, and I'm not against her being a rights advocate. But at the Olympics? PLEASE...such a disgrace.
Canadians aren't just choking; they're practically suffocating.
Nevertheless, I'm still rooting for Canada and China. GO GO GO!
Mike Brown's semifinal swim was better than his final swim. It was a small choke, but 4th nonetheless is not bad, though a bit frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI never knew Anna Rice said that. I had a positive impression of her when she said medals aren't important and was happy to show Canadian kids how popular badminton was in China. But if she said those things, then I don't think that impression is deserving.
Canada was supposed to come up big in the second week, but it's getting tougher and tougher to top our Athens total, which if we don't do would be a total disaster. But we'll see how that second week turns out.