08-08-08 The OFFICIAL Beijing Olympics Thread

Latvia actually looked really good the entire time. USA needed to adjust, like Inty said, but they didn't.

 

Holy carps! Anyone catch Michael Phelps swimming? OMG!

 

Phelps is amazing. Simply amazing. I'm really pulling for him to go eight-for-eight.

 

One down, and well on his way. It's been said that was one of his tougher events, too. Eight-for-eight is definitely possible. I was just amazed watching him swim a while ago. Just wow.

 

My DVR is a bit behind live, so I just finished watching that race when I posted that.

 

Well, it seems like they got a bit tired of "The Star-Spangled Banner" while Phelps was on the podium. Someone fire the tech guy!

 

WOW. The women's 400 IM was amazing, too. Second place broke the freaking world record. Or at least, the one that was set coming into that race. Amazing.

 

Wait, what happened? I didn't get to watch since I only got home 1/2 hour ago.

 

"The Star-Spangled Banner" just bit it near the end. Phelps is standing there on the podium and the anthem just cuts out. Everyone immediately starts laughing, and the athletes just starting taking pictures or whatever.

 

Darn, that would have been fun to see.

 

Well, not only was it stopped abruptly, it was also some whacked out playing of it. Things seemed to be in the wrong order, among other problems.

 

Dara Torres is about to swim in one of the women's relays. Pretty neat story... she's forty-one years old!

 

I think I remember Natalie Coughlin(sp?) from Athens. Dara makes for better stories, though.

 

She's awesome, too, but we're winding down on the relay now... come on, Dara!

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And USA grabs silver. The Dutch take the gold. Dara swam wonderfully, though!

 

Lol, I was sitting here watching it, bouncing in my seat muttering. . . something. I don't remember what. Whatever it was, it didn't work, but hey, silver's good too. Better then bronze or no medal at all.

And of course, silver is such an amazingly awesome color.

 

You should have an Olympic sock called "silvermedal."

 

Don't get me ideas like that. I already have 3 to keep track of.

 

I'm so majorly impressed with Phelps, and yes I was a bit irked when they cut off the SSB.

 

I'm picking 7. I can't see him beating Van Dan Hoogenband in the 100m Free.

In any case, mixed start for Australia. Stephanie Rice () was superb in the 400 IM, but Hackett was disappointing and the 4x100m relay girls bronze was less than what we were expecting.

 

I am most looking forward to seeing how well team Canada competes in the Baseball tournament. We've done really well internationally going back to the Winnipeg Pan Am games. Might be a last chance for Stubby Clapp

Several big league vetrans and prospects are on the team including Chris Reitsma, Rheal Cormier, Adam Stern, Pete Orr and Stubby. Maybe they'll sneak up on some of the favorites.

And I finally have some time off work to watch some of the games.

 

Dutch equalise at the death

 

I'm so majorly impressed with Phelps, and yes I was a bit irked when they cut off the SSB.

That was truly a spectacular race, the kind that I'd get up to shout at the screen, just because it got me so excited. But that little mix-up with the national anthem... to some it may seem funny. I'm not angry about it or anything, but I can see how some of the more trigger happy viewers might find it incredibly offensive. At the very least it seems like a little bit of an embarrassment for the Chinese in terms of presentation, even if it boils down to an error made by a member of the IOC. It still looks like China's fault. And there aren't too many things that can insult like the screwing up of a national anthem, particularly in the presence of the President of that nation. Bummer.

 

I just watched USA basketball take down China in their first game. Overall, Coach K's team is looking good. I can still go for less circus-act playing, but not bad so far.

 

I can still go for less circus-act playing, but not bad so far.

Agreed, though a 31-point thumping of China is a pretty good start. Still plenty of games left to play, though.

EDIT: also, I'm remembering why I like to watch Olympic swimming. Dang, they're impressive.

 

Wow, those weightlifter people are nuts. I was just watching China's 17 year old winning his weight group. Heh, I can barely lift maybe 100 pounds off the ground, much less over my head.