adidas Nations basketball camp in Beijing

This happened two months ago, but it was only recently, borrowing the speedy wi-fi of the Fuchengmen Starbucks, that I was able to get the following video uploaded.



Here's the story I wrote for ESPN The Magazine's website about the camp. The opening:

Amid a gym of squeaking sneakers and the incessant tat-tat-tat of dribblers, a sharp command: "Hold up."

The Chinese players on Court 1 halt, hardly knowing why. Eric Musselman, former Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings coach, signals for the ball and walks towards the baseline.

"Get it out of the net," he snaps. To these kids, none older than 18, his words are foreign, baffling. But even without a translator, the intensity of the American's instruction—suggestive of aggressiveness, focus, energy; all those insisted-upon differences between the NBA and the rest of the world's basketball leagues— forces its way through.

"Get both feet out," he instructs a player inbounding a ball. "Clear the backboard, then go. Got it? Details. Little details."

Five seconds later, the fast break drill is stopped again. It's a familiar directive: "Hold up." This time there is something akin to disgust in Musselman's voice—yet it's measured, practiced, and coming from a coach who's used this tone a thousand times before.

"Listen: run hard. Don't jog. Run! RUN!"

Closing shop on ESPN's Beijing Bureau

The Olympics came, bringing color, joy, sound, culture. People arrived with drums, face paint, flags, chants. For two and a half weeks, they helped transform the city into a place befitting the center of the world, giving us something to smile about and take pictures of (or with) every step of the way.

And now it's gone, all gone. Only a few reminders of the big party are left, regular tourists who have stayed to watch the city's post-Olympic depression manifest itself in the empty streets, the folded-up volunteer kiosks, the subway tunnels where once again the only faces are those of the Chinese. The clamor has been turned down. Life returned to normal. I can't bear to even turn on the TV because all I'd see are reruns -- reminders of what was.

Sigh.

Final entry here.

Bureau archive here.





Look for a couple posts about the Bird's Nest in the coming days, and also some tying up of odds and ends. But seriously... the post-Olympic depression has hit.

More on the Closing Ceremony (ESPN)

Post here.

Remember this girl?

In an earlier post I embedded a video showing a poor girl get besieged by picture-takers. I gave her my card and asked her to get in touch with me, and she did last week. An interview later, and the thing turned into an ESPN The Blog post.

YouTube's since taken the video down ...

Another picture for you from the same day, because who doesn't love kids?

Women's volleyball at Capital Gymnasium

Today was hot by any standards but felt even more so because we just had two nights of rain and uncannily cool weather for August. This, of all days, was the day I chose to wear jeans and boots, partly because I wore shorts and flip-flops through rain yesterday and was not very comfortable. To make things worse: I was at Bird's Nest through the morning going on two hours of sleep. Let's just say I'm glad I'm in the comfort of an air-conditioned home right now.

I want to sleep. I want to read. I want to write about the Bird's Nest and women's volleyball. I want to find out what exactly happened with the U.S. track relay teams. I want to catch replays for U.S.-Japan softball and U.S.-Brazil women's soccer, which I missed, or U.S.-Cuba in baseball later this evening, and definitely the basketball games. I want these Olympics to not be ending this Sunday.

Anyway, I was at Capital Gymnasium yesterday -- as I mentioned before -- watching China take on Brazil, the world's No. 1 women's volleyball team. Afterwards I wrote a piece for ESPN The Magazine's website.




Game photos:





And two videos...

Cheerleaders (can you imagine they actually practiced this?):


Fans cheer the team even in defeat:

When it comes to bad, misinformed, baseless, lazy-in-its-purest-form writing about China...

This one takes the cake.

Rick Reilly, you are officially a tool.

And if anyone needs me to explain why, you do so at the risk of making me mad.

The most exciting news I've gotten all week...

Comes courtesy of China's women's volleyball team, which defeated Russia last night in the quarterfinals -- the Russia squad that nearly beat China in the final match in Athens, the fifth set of which happens to be one of the most exciting things I've seen in sports -- and will now be playing in Thursday evening's semifinal to which I have tickets for!

!!!

Before these Olympics, the two gold medals the Chinese most wanted was for Liu Xiang and women's volleyball, and I'll actually be there, inside the venue, as the volleyball team tries to make the finals. This is incredible.

For my money, I don't think Brazil -- granted, very good -- has any idea what's about to hit them. I imagine the Capital Gymnasium will be absolutely rocking, as it has been for every Chinese match (too much fuel...), and that China will win a tough-fought match three games to zero.

I'm looking forward to this.

~

I posted on both this blog and ESPN's about boxer Zou Shiming's incredible victory over a Frenchman in his pre-quarterfinal bout on Saturday, and now an update: he's advanced to the semis. Yesterday the 48-kg sparrer defeated Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan 9-4 -- scoring seven of his nine points in the middle two rounds -- and will now face Paddy Barnes (take a guess what country he's from) in Friday's semis. I'll be watching (hopefully).

POSTSCRIPT: I'd like to refer folks to this from Awful Announcing, titled "MSNBC's 'Olympic Update' Continues to Disrespect the Beijing Games," which points out that Tiki Barber called his co-anchor -- albeit accidentally -- a "c*nt." It's actually pretty funny.

A few words on China's fallen hero

The track where Liu Xiang will not compete.

My Monday ESPN Beijing Bureau post dealt with Liu Xiang. At this point not much more needs to be said, but if I can add just one thing...

Concluding paragraph from the ESPN post:

Later that night, at the conclusion of the day's track and field events, the Bird's Nest's giant screens showed a highlight package that included Liu Xiang's face. First it was from the morning, his expression contorted with pain and the initial stirrings of unspeakable disappointment. A little later he appeared again, this time as part of a montage set to the Olympic song "Forever Friends." It was an image everyone here is familiar with: the moment the hurdler crossed the finish line in Athens, his eyes lighting up as it dawned on him that he'd just pulled the biggest shocker in his country's sporting history, exertion giving way to pure jubilation. It was a poignant moment, and one people here will want to remember. Who knows when we'll see it again?

Liu Xiang's problematic heel has been bothering him for years, and it may not get better. Anyone who runs knows how painful a bum heel can be. Now imagine trying to run at world-class speed while hopping over a set of ten hurdles, landing on your heels each time. When people say Liu Xiang was in "excruciating" pain, I believe it.

The question no one here is asking but everyone should be is, Will Liu Xiang ever be the same? Will he ever contend again at world championships? Will he be a medal contender in London? I'm not so sure. At 25, his career may be over. He gave China one incredible, unforgettable moment -- that instant he crossed the finish line in Athens -- and now he may have to take his leave. It's too early. I understand why people here want more: Liu Xiang is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete, the sort who has a combination of charm, intelligence, dedication, patriotism, good looks and natural ability. When will China get another Liu Xiang? For that matter, when will China get another male athlete able to compete with the big boys in the glamorous track and field events?

It's a question no one's asking, and for good reason: we may not want to know the answer.

UPDATE, 8/20: Liu Xiang, for his part, isn't quitting. As he put it, "There will be other opportunities. I will not quit easily."

Boxing at Workers' Gymnasium

I attended Olympic boxing Saturday night with Jiujiu and wrote a story for ESPN The Blog that was published today. I've reproduced excerpts of an unedited version below.




Let's just say the bouts didn't get good until the Chinese took on the French, in the fourth bout of our evening. Then hell broke loose in the arena.

"The Sweet Science." It could mean many things yet nothing at all, and so it is that boxing is likewise hard to pinpoint. Is it a science for its technicality or art for the humanistic exhilaration of mano a mano battle? Is it sport or brutality? Is it competition or assault? Throw the phrase "boxing is called the sweet science because" into Google and you won't come any closer to an answer ("Boxing is called the sweet science because thats what it really is when you watch the best fight" [sic]). The best you can hope for is to take a seat and soak it in.

That's why we were at Workers' Gymnasium Saturday night, taking in eight pre-quarters bouts in the light fly (48 kg) division. Amateur boxing may be under fire for its scoring system, which awards points for punches deemed successful ("They way it is now, you might as well do fencing if they are going to judge like that," Britain's Billy Joe Saunders said after he lost his welterweight fight last Thursday), but that doesn't detract from the excitement of being in the venue. One bout in particular comes to mind.

...

Yanez was gracious in defeat, congratulating his opponent and going over to shake hands with the Mongolian trainers. He exited with dignity, even as an unpopular decision -- yet another in a string of many -- left fans shaking their heads. Science? Hardly. If but only for the saving grace of sweetness.

Baseball

Pictures go here.

I was at Wukesong yesterday to watch China's men's baseball team lose 1-0 to South Korea in 10 innings, but unfortunately I have no pictures because I lost my camera.

And without pictures, I really have no desire to explain how the Chinese took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th on a sacrifice fly, only to see the run wiped out because the umpire ruled the runner left early, then watched as its pitcher loaded the bases and promptly gave up a game-ending single to left field.

I will say, however, that it was very fun, and I'd like to thank Sandy for the tickets. We arrived with the game in the 9th inning -- it started halfway through, as this was the resumption of a rain-postponed game -- but still had time to down two beers and eat lots of chips, all the while enjoying the heck out of some good baseball. Okay, "good" baseball.

Afterwards a Korean fan with stickers on his face waved two thunder sticks and cheered in English. Yes, I took a picture of that. Yes, I wish I still had my camera.

POSTSCRIPT: I don't think I've linked to this yet, but I wrote about China's first Olympic win in baseball for ESPN The Magazine's website, which can be read here. It was a crazy game, not least of all because China scored five runs in the bottom of the 12th to beat Chinese Taipei -- Taiwan, of all teams! -- 8-7.

Olympic links: the inspirational archer and shooter

Via CS Monitor, this story of Zhang Juanjuan got my attention:

Zhang came in ranked No. 27 in the world, less a machine than a mercenary. She might not always be the most consistent of performers (gasp!), but in knockout competitions – like the Olympics – she is deadly.

Just ask the Koreans. They had not lost this event since 1984.

Joo Hyun-Jung entered the competition ranked No. 3 in the world. Zhang dispatched her tidily in the quarterfinal.

Yun Ok-Hee entered the competition ranked No. 2 in the world. She also held the record for firing the best recorded round of archery of any woman in the history of the sport. In May of this year, she fired 12 arrows at a target at an event in Turkey. Eleven hit the bulls-eye – 119 of 120 possible points. Zhang dispatched her, too, tying the Olympic record of 115 in the process.

Park Sung-Hyun entered the competition ranked No. 1 in the world. She was the defending Olympic champion and had set the Olympic record of 115 earlier in the day.

...

With [Zhang's] nation watching, she was slowly turning the screw – no question of age or piling up medals in weak events. Just her nerve against the best in the world.

When her final arrow hit the target – a 9 – she had won by a single point.

The magnitude of this upset cannot be understated. Last month, the New York Times did an article on the South Korean archery dynasty, quoting one of the competitors as saying, "Our sensitive fingertips, descended from our ancestors, and our spiritual strength and willingness to fight until the very end -- they are the secrets." In other words, the success of South Korean archers is written in their DNA. How do you beat that?

Zhang, in taking the crown, took out South Korea -- and the world's -- No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 archers, in succession. Don't know your opinions, but to me that's mind-boggling.

Here's another article about this. I'm still in shock.

~

I mentioned Chinese shooter Du Li in my ESPN The Blog article this week, saying how she could barely express herself through her tears after placing fifth in the 10-meter air rifle, an event she was expected to win. Well, she was in tears again Thursday after the 50-meter three-position rifle event, but under different circumstances: as a winner. She defeated Katerina Emmons, who won gold in the 10-meter event.

"The five days between my loss and this event were harder and longer than the four years between the Olympics," Du said something to that effect in her post-event TV interview. "I didn't want to leave the house. Everyone was so supportive, every time I heard their words I wanted to cry."

She was in tears again. That was expression enough.

MORE LINKS

• Beach volleyball: cheerleaders! [Olympics or Bust]
• Opening Ceremonies images and links [TBJ]
  
• Liu Yan, injured opening ceremony dancer [Danwei]
• A poorly conceived Spanish ad [NY Times] ... and the follow-up
• An article that makes me happy because the comments section lambastes the French [NY Times]
• Olympic medal designs since 1896 [Shanghaiist]
  

The pressure on China's athletes (ESPN)

ESPN The Magazine's Beijing Bureau rolls along. Here's Monday's entry.

Also, I'd meant to post this picture with yesterday's soccer post but forgot. Cheerleaders!

From Fengtai Softball Field

Backdated 24 hours.


From a U.S.-Venezuela softball game on Tuesday. More on ESPN The Blog. (The early game was Taipei vs. Canada, in which the Canadian pitcher had a no-hitter through five.)

More pictures:


And... hey, look, it's Jennie Finch!


I'd just like to say that I can completely understand why Finch is popular. She doesn't always come off as the most articulate on TV -- thus knocking her down a couple notches in my book -- but she has an aura on the field that's hard to capture, even on magazine covers. You just always know where she is on the field, who she is. It's her long legs, the American blond hair, the way she struts on the field, claps her hand, winds up her hips -- it's all of that put together. I can imagine the first journalist to peer upon her and think, Hey, she would be great posing in a swimsuit. Then it happened, and that's how a personality got launched. Now she's the face of softball.

Is it better that she and not, say, Crystl Bustos, the Babe Ruth of softball, is the face of the sport? Well, it sure doesn't hurt that Finch is darn good: she struck out five in four innings and didn't allow a hit.

From Wukesong and the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium

Backdated; posted Aug. 14, 4:05 AM.


The shiny new basketball arena is a glittering achievement, more so when you step inside and realize they've imported everything you know about the West's basketball product -- including dancers and stunt teams -- to Beijing. I elaborate in ESPN The Blog.

I was there for two sets of doubleheaders: Spain-China and South Korea-Brazil in the afternoon with Wang Kexue (which means "science"), U.S.-Czech Republic and Russia-Latvia for the nightcap with Zhang Peng.

Two thoughts that weren't used in my ESPN entry:

1. Have you seen Brazil's uniform? Let's just say that when that team took on Australia a couple days later, it was a sight that could've made fashion designers blind.

2. For all the talk of this being a "sold out" Olympics, there were lots of empty seats for the opening of this basketball tournament. Granted, it's women's basketball, but still -- I was surprised to see so many seats, especially for the Spain-China game, which turned out to be a thriller. In fact, three of our games were close -- Brazil-South Korea went into overtime, and Latvia-Russia had several momentum shifts -- and the other game, U.S.-Czech, was great for the way the Americans dominated.

Here was our view in the evening from our box seats:

Stabbing

For reasons I'll explain later, I can't wrap my head around this stabbing just now. My head, in fact, is halfway in the land of Nod. But I will say this is a proud day for ESPN, which did sports news companies everywhere proud by thoroughly jumping ahead of its competition. Story here, Pat Forde column here.

Quick note: I think Forde overstated things when he said the Games have been tarnished. Poor word choice. This is an isolated, random incident -- certainly not targeted at either Americans in general of the Olympics in particular, since the victims wore nothing that would set them apart -- so it won't be remembered in the grand scheme of things. It is quite shocking though, and it looks quite bad, especially since it came on the opening day of games. This is exactly what everyone feared: a madman with no regard for anything taking the attention away from the competition. Then again -- what could anyone have done?

More later.

Reporting from Ditan Park

I'll have more thoughts on the Opening Ceremonies later, but first... my story for ESPN The Blog.

Confusion on the torch route

They were excited, but also... confused. My ESPN The Blog story.

Fireworks and roundtable: two ESPN stories

At the Bird's Nest Saturday night for the fireworks: ESPN The Blog story.


Also, ESPN.com ran a roundtable I hosted with a bunch of accomplished journalists. Check it out.

Beijing Bureau: ticket madness!

Here.


Yes, îLes Salomon, you too get a placard.

KC Currents again on Kansas City's 89.3 FM

A second interview! And, really, I felt better after this go-around than the first time.

POSTSCRIPT: Ask and thou shall receive. The good folks at ESPN The Mag have put my Beijing Bureau stories in one easy-to-find location, so you can read all my Olympics-related stories (well, most of them) in one place.