On this page the following entries were made in the “August, 2008” time-frame.
Archive for “August, 2008”
Where’s the Beef (or Any Food)?
I’ve been to three events now, and have had lots of fun at all of them, even though I was hugely disappointed by the US soccer team and flyweight boxer I was cheering for. The crowds are fun, the beer is dirt cheap and the Chinese fans are super friendly. One huge complaint that I’ve [...]
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Chinese Crowd Turns on Argentina
The first game of the soccer doubleheader last night was very disappointing, as the US got a red card 90 seconds in and lost 2-1 down a man the whole game. Nigeria’s band–75 dancing cheering and music-playing African imports–was a lot of fun, so hopefully I’ll get to seem them again at the quarters on [...]
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Understanding Sport and Religion
Through the lanes of Fitzroy to the beaches of Manly, along the ridges of the Glasshouse mountains, on the level tarmac of the Gunbarrel Highway the length of the Nullarbor plain to the turtle inhabited beaches of the Kimberly coast… once every four years a dull sound becomes a murmur and then a hum… [...]
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Phelps Better than Most Countries
With Michael Phelps’ fourth gold medal this morning, he now has four gold medals. Only three countries have more than that…and one is the USA. Excluding his medals from the American count, only China and Korea have more gold medals than he does by himself.
That’s right John, he’s better than all of Australia. Per capita.
Odds [...]
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Yao Ming and the Upsets
It’s nearly halftime and the Chinese basketball team is up 9 against Spain. The Spaniards aren’t phenomenal, but they are pretty darn good. This could be a major upset.
My abbreviated post is homage to Andrew Sullivan.
Update: China lost in overtime. Oh well.
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Those Pesky Medal Counts
Did you know South Korea has more gold medals than the U.S.? It’s true, as of this morning (4-3). Korea has two in archery, one in judo and the last in swimming. Awfully quick, huh? That’s because most of those competitions only take a day. Meanwhile, the U.S. basketball team has played one game, and [...]
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The Odd State of US-China Basketball
You would think that Chinese fans may have been a bit testy after the US basketball team demolished Yao Ming’s squad by 31 points. However, the relationship between the Chinese and American basketball is not normal. The NBA is worshipped here, and players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are gods. In other words, losing [...]
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My First Olympic Event and Other Observations
This morning marked my first Olympic event event ever, beach volleyball. Other than a a bit of rain, which China seems to think is a huge embarrassment (but none of the people in attendance seemed to believe), things went extremely well. We took a cab to Chaoyang Park East Gate #4, and were dropped off [...]
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American Tourist Killed at Gulou
An American tourist was killed by the Drum and Bell Towers, a major Beijing tourist attraction, today. The details coming in are very vague, but something sounds suspicious about this story (which may be a result of the fact that not everything has been sorted out yet). Here is part of the CNN report:
The attacker, [...]
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Air is Fine, So Shut Your Pie Hole
The IOC Don President, Jacques Rogge, and the Chinese press have said that there is no air pollution problem. Apparently the French are extremely credible at convenient moments. Here is a picture from my window August 8, 2008 at 8:30:
Don’t trust me…or your lying eyes.
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