Women's gymnastics and Phelps

If it's early, it's got to be beach volleyball, and it's Misty May-Treanor and Karrie Walsh against two unknown Belgians, who at the moment are up late in the first set. They haven't even lost a set in a month; Belgians are three points away from doing that.

It's very back and forth, nobody's really been able to get much on their serve as of late. Break for the U.S., Belgians push an easy shot wide. Now 2 points away for Belgians. Set point, Belgians won the point in spectacular fashion. U.S. saves two set points, then a timeout; and then they save the third set point, tied at 20 now.

Now tied at 21, this is pretty exciting. Tied at 22, it's just back and forth. Finally, U.S. up 23-22, they're gonna finish it off here I think. Yeah, Belgians miss an easy point at net, U.S. saves 5 set points and wins.

Cool, so now back to normal. U.S. in the second set is literally pounding the Belgian, Walsh spiking it powerfully several times. They win easily, a tough test for them early but they just powered through.

Mary Carillo, who introduces us to a Chinese artist who came up with the Olympic mascots and logo. Just a few seconds of watching him draw convinces me he's very talented; he even says being imprisoned during the cultural revolution was good, for a man. His calligraphy is beautiful. Carillo is really good, she listens, doesn't try to be the star. Walks us through how he came up with the logo, and what it represents. It's beautiful, she says after they spent 5 hours with him. She's visibly emotional talking to Costas after, he says no matter the differences, so much to admire here, so much to learn. Two great journalists; in this Internet age, needed more than ever.

On a side note, an interesting article about a study that found basketball players essentially feel in their own body what their opponents are doing, which allows them to predict whether shots will go in or not. The players did a lot better than coaches and journalists when they watched someone just about to shoot a free throw; brain scans showed they were 'feeling' the shot along with the shooter.

They're showing 50M freestyle semis, two Americans in the second heat, Ben Wilman-Tobriner qualifies last for the final.

Next, women's 200M breastroke, Rebecca Soni. Outside of Phelps-involved events, the U.S. swim team has totally underwhelmed here. Rowdy doesn't think Soni will win, Aussie Jones is his pick. Hmm, they're the two leaders early, Soni seems to be swimming well but Jones leads after the first turn. The two of them are going to be 1-2. Soni looks really good, I think.

Jones a bit up after 2nd turn. Rowdy thinks Soni may be going too fast, but I think she looks really good, both are way in front of WR pace; Soni is making a run here, and she's got the lead at the last turn. I think she's going to do it, Rowdy says it could be the upset of the Games in the pool, Soni is just getting stronger. I'm telling you, she looked really good early; she's going to win gold, and has the new WR too! Yeah, this is awesome! Mabye get the other U.S. swimmers going too; Jones is gasping, exhausted; Soni looks to be in great shape.

On replay, Soni just looks so eager; I could see it at the very start. Her U.S. teammates are all up in the stands going nuts; it's awesome. Nice moment for the U.S. She's so cute in the interview afterwards, totally sincere and seems like a really nice person.

Now, Men's 200M backstroke, chance for the U.S. to finish 1-2 with Aaron Peirsol and Ryan Lochte. Gaines says he's now shy of making predictions, but thinks the Americans. Hmm, everyone's bunched up, Americans trailing at the first turn. Now moving out front a bit, the Russian is leading still though after the second turn. Wow, the Russian guy is extending his lead a bit, starting to fall a bit, but still leading after the third turn. Here they come down the stretch, Americans passing WR line now, they're going to be 1-2, Lochte wins, gets WR, Peirsol takes silver. Now Lochte is facing Phelps in the 200 IM final. Rowdy says Lochte won this on the walls, first gold for him; Russian gets bronze. 26 minutes until Lochte has to swim again.

Women's 200M backstroke semifinal with Elizabeth Beisel of the U.S., these races are just coming bam bam. She's trailing a bit going into the first turn, Japanese swimmer out front. Better second half swimmer says Rowdy, which is good cause she's like 4th now; inching up a bit, but still trailing. Beisel is now up in second, two Japanese a bit ahead; and now it looks like Beisel is moving up, and she winds up edging out the Japanese swimmer. She's just motoring at the end, nice to watch.

She talks about her experiences after Sydney, and moving to Auburn to train for Athens; funny accent, from Zimbabwe. Kirsty Coventry, seems like she's reading from a script as she narrates. They show people cheering her in the streets, says babies were being named after her. Margaret Hoelzer also in this semis, they used to room together at Auburn. Wow, Hoelzer is out strong, rest of the field catches her though. Coventry leading after the first turn, Hoelzer in the pack; not the best of friends says Dan, pretty competitive. Pack is catching up a bit with Coventry; Hoelzer is like 3rd or 4th coming down the end; now she's up in second coming out of it. She's caught Coventry, finishes in third after they slow up a bit at the end, Coventry wins. Best backstrokers not really on their back says Rowdy, constantly rolling side to side. I wish they'd run little swimming tips during these things.

They're previewing tonight's gymnastics competition, are pretending the two Americans will be fighting it out between them for gold, breaking them down head-to-head. Uh, okay.... This ain't swimming, both the men's and women's team has seemed in over their heads at times; I think some of the other gymnasts are going to be heard from, let's not pretend the U.S. is in some tier by themselves.

Okay, the men's 200M IM. Phelps holds both the WR and OR here, gold medal #6 hopefully on the way. Oh no, they're not going to profile him again--my god, yes they are; some wacky thing about if you were going to build the perfect swimmer, you'd wind up with Phelps. They keep talking about how he's double-jointed; there's no such thing.... Interesting, his legs are short for his height, the rest of his torso is tall for his height. He burns 4,000 calories in a workout; heart pumps twice as much blood, 8 gallons/minute, as the typical man. Okay, this is actually pretty interesting. And unlike Lance Armstrong, he does it all without cheating.

Hasn't lost this race in seven years. Lochte seems to be his main threat. They're introducing everyone, I'm wondering if any of them will be remembered as the man that took down Phelps. Ah, Laszlo Cseh; maybe he'll be the one, having the meet of his life Dan says--except Phelps is having the meet of everyone's life.

Man, Phelps gets a nice jump into the pool, already out in front in the butterfly. Cseh is right next to Phelps, though--wow, Cseh looks like he's catching up, actually. Phelps still in front at breaststroke. Phelps is extending his lead here though; he's ahead of WR tim, pulling away; just motoring home on the freestyle, he's just blowing everyone else away, swimming like a machine--my god, so smooth, another gold, another WR. Lochte gets bronze, Cseh silver; Phelps actually looks tired here, winces a bit in pain. Sixth gold of the games. 26 minutes or so from the 100M fly semifinals; wow, won this by more than 2 seconds, Cseh 2nd to him for the 3rd time.

Medal ceremony for Rebecca Soni; one of the best parts is watching the flags rise up so smoothly. Hmm, are the medals made out of jade?! Yeah, they are; cool. Wonder if it were in South Africa if it'd be diamond.... Back from break, Lochte getting his medal. Never gets old, hearing the star spangled banner at these things. Peirsol throws his flowers to someone in the stand, Lochte gives his to his parents, cool seeing his dad. They show massage staffers working on Phelps.

Women's 100M freestyle final, Aussie Trickett who holds the WR was the one who got in because of the Chinese swimmer's false start. Natalie Coughlin, who has nine Olympic medals. Wow, and people barely know her. Some interesting goggle designs here, the Danish swimmer's has no rims and is very flat; China has 5 swimming medals, hopefully they get no more. Hmm, Coughlin is trying to win 6 medals here.

Coughlin gets out really well, Rowdy says the turn is key for her. Trickett's in front at the turn, Coughlin third; wow, Trickett is just way out in front. Couglin coming up fast, though--Couglin gets third, Trickett second, and the German Britta Steffen gets gold; Rowdy says Coughlin swam the race of a lifetime, did what she needed to do. Six medals for the U.S. in the pool tonight; 3 golds, a silver, 2 bronzes.

Now it's gymnastics, just back for Phelps' freestyle semis I think. Wow, they're really going to paint this as between the two U.S. gymnasts, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. Chinese gymnasts in the same grouping. Hmm, Johnson running a bit non-smoothly on the warmup.

Yang Yilin up first; lowish start value, 5.8. Not bad, hop on the landing but clean. 15.175. Liukin, in hot pink; born in Russia, raised in U.S. Man, she totally nails it, perfect landing! Her dad won a gold medal; nice form, she's tall and thin so it looks really good; 15.025. A large step for Shawn, but tougher vault, so she'll score well. Oooh, really twisted on the replay; Mary Lou Retton in the stands.

They're taking a long time on the replay. They're peeking at the judges' screens, it's funny, they essentially are able to predict what the judges are going to give her. She gets a 15.875, slightly disappointing says Tim. Jiang Yuyuan, who wasn't used in the team final--bizarre that she's in the all-around. Oh, she totally falls; Elfi had said that's why they didn't use her in the team, she wasn't reliable on this. Not even close to hitting it.

Back to Phelps, 100M butterfly semi, Phelps not the WR holder here, fellow American Ian Crocker is. 15th of 17 swims for him. Needs a good start says Rowdy. He's with the pack early, trails at the wall; still bunched with everyone else coming down the stretch; beginning to surge a bit, and wins. But not effortless, and it's a short race so no margin for error....

Crocker in the other semis, trails after the first turn but leading coming down the end, and Milorad Cavic of Serbia--who swam the second-fastest time ever in the prelims--wins, Crocker comes in second. Hmmm... Cavic's time was faster than Phelps, too.

Finishing up the first of four rotations, such a different type of tension and pressure than the swimmers face. Romanian on the uneven bars, seems a bit rushed, not totally deliberate; but a good landing. Funny how the gymnasts carry their own big backpacks to the next event.

Liukin's in 10th, Johnson in second after the first rotation. Wow, a commercial for GE with a Chinese mini love story and song, how great is that. That awful Karolyi guy is back in the studio with Bob, they need to drop him.

Liukin up first on uneven bars, this is apparenlty her speciality. She looks really good, so long-limbed, neat that her dad's there to catch her. Big step on the landing, but nicely done, Tim says it's gonna be a huge number. Whoah, 16.650, wow. Shawn looks so determined, Nastia more tense. Not nearly as smooth, she's more powering through this thing; oh man, she nails her dismount though, awesome--big smile, I think that routine really has got her going. She's in red; Tim says they're roommates here.

Instead of watching the scores, Shawn always goes straight to her back and takes her wristbands off and stuff. 15.275, Tim thinks it's low, but she probably lost half a point on one part. Jiang Yuyuan, the one who fell; man, the background stuff for the floor exercises is totally distracting. As Tim says everything looks light, like a kid playing in the playground; nicely done.

Romanian on the balance beam, Elfi says this has been their defining event over time, gymnast is really attacking it, no fear; Tim says it's like part of their culture. Hmm, a bobble, then another. 15.55 for Steliana Nistor. Shawn's practicing her balance beam routine on the white line on the floor, while Nastia standing there, then moves. Shawn's definitely the type of person who's always got a project, always has something to occupy herself physically; Nastia broods, thinks; I guess she is Russian, after all--current world champ on this event, up by a point over Shawn. Yang Yinlin gets a monster 16.725 on the bars, wow.

Watching the Natasja Saad video for Calabria, it's hypnotic; especially the whoop whoop part, and her little hip waggle. Wonder if someday some future archaeologist will come across the puzzling lyrics. Horrible that she died in a car accident, she seems really interesting.



Back to the pool, Andrea Kramer and Phelps, brief interview. Yinlin in first after 2 events, Liukin about .2 back in 2nd, Shawn in 5th. Karolyi complaining about the scoring tonight.

Johnson up first on the beam, I really like her demeanor; steady, strong, Elfi says her best event here. Man, she starts out perfectly. A bit of a big wobble on a full twist; Tim says her first balance check here. Man, she's really solid though. Stupid floor exercises music. A step on the landing, but small; nice routine. Tim says for some reason the judges haven't liked Shawn's look. 16.050; not bad. A wobble right away for Jiang, an easy mount too says Tim. She's in 6th, 8/10ths out of medal contention which is quite a bit; lots of wobbles, she's not going to do anything out of this. And step out of the dismount. Nistor, who was in bronze medal position, screws up on the floor exercises says Al, 14.25 only, then they show it to us. So odd.

If it were up to me, I think I'd rather end on vault--it's high-scoring, and is over in a flash, no time for nerves and the moment to jumble you. Jiang YuYuan gets a pretty high score, Tim and Al and Elfi are all not sure what's going on. Hmm, Shawn is last on floor, Tim says she'll know exactly what she needs to win. Shawn is now just sitting there calmly with her coach, the one who's Chinese, Liang Chow. Hmm, he's head coach of the whole team, didn't know that. Shawn calls him her second dad; says she wants to help him show the Chinese how much of a success he's been in the U.S.

Gotta root for her now. Russian up next on beam, as Pirates of the Caribbean theme plays for some idiot's floor exercise (or, maybe just a young girl). Loooooong wait here, for another Russian's score, Tim says the immediate judges are being overruled; 15.975, her score went up. Her teammate starts, she's very fast; a bit cavalier almost, but she's small, the beam looks huge for her. This is like old-style balance beam, nails the landing too; nice routine, she skips on her way over to hug her coach. Good for her; Kseanie Semenova gets 15.925.

Yang Yilin next on balance beam, with Liukins the last. Yang looks good so far, very precise. Oooh, a big wobble on an easy element. Then another bobble; plus a weak jump; ugh, and screws up her landing. She doesn't deserve to win gold, in no way gives off the vibe of a champion.

Shawn is now jogging to warm up for the final event. 15.75, that's totally unfair! Wow, that's messed up. Tim says there aren't more Chinese judges just cause we're in China. Liukin up; beautiful lines. She's clean so far, oh man, she totally nails her dismount too. Elif says stunning, the best; Tim says if that does not get it, then there's something wrong. That was really nice. Elfi's getting a bit emotional, says come on, that's the best in the world. Tim thinks it'll be a big score, Al is gushing, calls it like ballet; 16.125, nice, she's now in first.

Shawn Johnson .45 behind Yilin, who in turn is .15 behind Liukin. I think the judges may just not be responding to Johnson's workmanlike effort, she's stocky and it just doesn't look as good as the willow thin girls. She's also just .05 in front of the Russian.

Liukin falls down during floor exercises warmups. Karolyi says Johnson's going to put back in a tough element; go for it, you can do it, pumps his fist. Well, this part of his enthusiasm is infectious; the crowd is into it. Tim says she's put the tumbling run back in.

This is really exciting. Jiang up first, big ovation from the crowd; strikes a big, fake pose, Tim says it's a fun routine, goes from Russianish strings to some sort of pipey pop. Her gestures are all exaggerated, and they don't really fit either the music or her personality; then she screws up a simple dance turn. 14.775, about what she deserved.

Anna Pavlona, the other Russian, in 7th. Wow, huge height, nice opening run. Looks very confident, moves are all determined, not half-hearted; she's not going for cute, just pure execution. It's pretty flawless; Elfi says a beautiful, classic Russian style. Tim says at their peak the Soviets churned out routine after routine that were filled with passion, hadn't seen it for a while but we saw it now.

Tim says Liukin will be tough to beat, has a good lead, does a harder routine, and floor exercises have been scored low. 15.05 for Pavolova. Semenova, whoach, she totally nails her opening, is fast and powerful; music is bizarre, syncopated weirdly, like some experimental euro thing from the 70s or something, riffing off putting on the ritz, which now comes out. She's really good, though--I didn't see any mistakes, she's totally happy afterwards. Finally, Russia doing something in gymnastics says Tim.

Last three at the top three. Yilin's scored a 15.0, both Americans have scored better. Very dramatic music, nice opening; auditorium is dead quiet, then roars after her landings. Music picks up, ooh, she screws up a run, lands cross-legged; not as good as the Russians in terms of tempo and feel; she looks nervous; nice height though, and lines are good, crowd roars as she's done. Al says how about wow, Tim and Elfi are praising her; guess I wouldn't make a great judge here, I liked the Russians better. Tim points out some flaws. 15.0, so the Americans just need to do what they've already done. Liukin needs just a 14.85, Tim says land on your feet and stay inbounds.

Oh boy, here we go. Nice violin music; nice opening, the crowd applauds her. Nails her next; man I think she's going to be allright here. Maybe just one pass left, so far so good; announcers haven't said a thing; she's actually really nice to watch. Slight step on her last run, but I think she wins gold. Al says that could be a routine that we're watching for generations; Tim says at least a silver, no question about that; she's done everything she could do to win gold. I think she does it. Tim says if she move ahead of Yinlin, he'll fall down dead, because she was much better. I wish they'd show the scoreboard live--15.525, wow! So she's got gold, no way Shawn can catch her--but Shawn flashes a big smile, needs a 16.125. Not possible, says Tim.

Yeah! Gold for the U.S. Maybe silver too?! 15.45 to take silver. Man, she NAILS her opening; I think she's gonna do it, no pressure in a way. Big smile. Man, throws in the extra run, nails it; the music is a bit discordant, but I'm totally into her routine, even more so than Liukin. Go Shawn! Just nailing her landings, I think she'll get silver--the crowd even gives her a huge hand. Tim says a phenomenal routine, Mary Lou Rettin is smiling; and Johnson and Liukin hug as the crowd starts chanting U.S.A.

The third American to win all-around gold; America, meet Nastia Liukin. Al points out the international connections of the U.S. team. And... 15.525! U.S. finishes 1-2, how great is that?! Big smile for the champions; too bad we lost team gold, but this maybe makes up for it. I guess NBC had it right from the start by focusing on these two.

This is great--what a great night for the U.S., Johnson wins by .075 over Yinlin. Nastia's on the phone, likely with her mom they say; we're staying here live through the medal ceremony. What a great moment! Man, this should really give the rest of the U.S. team a big boost. And hopefully more medals from these two in the individual events.

Air's clean here, says Costas; and first time ever two U.S. women above the podium. Karolyi is so excited in the studio afterwards, they show him reacting to the routine, he's like bouncing up and down, then when she finishes he's so excited, goes over and grabs Bob, claps his hands; it's actually funny and awesome.

They're both in tears waiting for the medal ceremony, this is the greatest moment of these games so far in my opinion, tops the relay even. Hope it encourages a ton of girls to sign up for gymnastics; and the diversity angle is great too.

They're really showing this medal ceremony from the beginning, they're walking onto the floor now, up to the podiums. Tim says Sventlana Khorkina came up to him beforehand, and said today is USA's day. Wow, Nastia's mom was a world rhythmic gymnastics champ; great genes.

Silver medalist, Shawn Johnson, she has a huge smile, goes over to shake Yinlin's hand first, nice touch, then steps on the podium. I really like her, she's the best of what America's all about. Do your best, and be gracious. And now, gold medalist and Olympic champion, the United States of America, Nastia Liukin. She also congratulates everyone else, then mounts the podium, she looks soooo happy, and composed.

And now they get set to play a new song, says Al. Definitely the most emotional of the anthem ceremonies. Some spotty camerwork on Nastia. She's mouthing the words, big smile as it ends; her dad's choking back tears too. Nastia gets them all together for photos too, she's very composed.

Born in Moscow, of all places, so Al; but when you watch her, as American as it gets. Ha, Russia, eat your heart out! Medal count: 14 golds for U.S. to 22 for China, 43 for U.S. to 36 for China overall.

Wow, 12 medals in 1 day for the U.S.! And we saw 8 of them.

Gymnastics in the spotlight, swimmers fall off

Michael Phelps isn't swimming for gold tonight, so all eyes will be on men's gymnastics individual titles. They're filling time with volleyball again, Misty May-Treanor vs. Carrie Walsh, they're hammering their toughest of the four initial opponents, the Norwegians.

The U.S. pounding Norway like the North Sea, says the non-Karch announcer. Ace on match point, 21-12, 21-15. Hmm, scary, they're dominating everyone even without a great serving game Karch says. Their 104th straight win in a row. Walsh says afterwards they just have to keep "outscrapping and outhearting these girls."

Ha, Bob Costas just admitted they have some extra time to fill since the volleyball match ended so quickly, so now they're going to replay the 200M individual medley heat from last night, featuring Phelps. Generally I'd rather they show a sport they usually don't, but in this case I didn't see this before, so it's new to me. He's leading after the butterfly/backstroke legs, Rowdy says he thinks it'd be a miracle if he won 8. Dan says he reminds him of Tiger Woods, he's the most talented, works harder, and is mentally strongest. It's a good comparison; meanwhile, last leg freestyle, finishes first in this heat.

It's cool, on the replay you can see the mobile camera they have on the floor of the pool, following Phelps. The camerawork in the pools have been stellar, makes it so much easier to appreciate the skill level.

Wow, so they're showing clips of all 11 of his gold medal swims. It's a little anti-climatic, not a great job of editing. Anyway, back to live swimming, they look at who could beat him in his final three events. Thursday, Friday, Saturday... should be great fun to watch.

Men's 200M breaststroke final. American Scott Spann; traditionally I think the Japanese do well in this event. And Kosuke Kitajima indeed wins, Spann well out of the medals.

Next, semis of women's 200M free, Natalie Coughlin swimming. She's got the lead at the turn, well out in front; but now coming back to the pack a bit, it's only a semi--she still wins. Second semis, another Chinese swimmer doing well, one finished in the top three in the first semis. The whole group is bunched together, Chinese swimmer wins. Rowdy says in the biggest shock, the defending champ in this event Libby Trickett doesn't qualify for the finals--then, they disqualify the Chinese swimmer! On the replay it's clear, she flinches on the start; and it means Trickett qualifies, last, for the finals.

Nice drama on a night filled with swimming semis. Aaron Piersol in 200M backstroke first semis, the favorite. Not in first after the first turn, just crusing along. In first halfway through, it's kindof a leisurely race. Cruises home, wins easily.

Next, Ryan Lochte, who will have tough back-to-back races against Piersol and Phelps tomorrow night. Just swimming his race, takes the lead after the second turn. Looks very relaxed. A growing lead, cruises to the finish.

Chris Collinsworth chats with Jason Lezak, it's a good interview interspersed with highlights from the race. Interesting watching Costas and Collinsworth hash over Lezak's words afterwards--this is journalism at its best, bringing out truth from evidence; they talk about how Lezak definitely was a little like, hey, it's not just Phelps, we're pretty good here too.

Women's 200M butterfly, finally a race for medals. They highlight an Aussia and a Pole, so apparently no Americans in the final. Best chance for the Chinese to win swimming gold Dan says, butchering their names in the process. Ohh, actually two Americans--wow, they barely mentioned them.

One American keeping up, the other behind. Odd, one of them comes off the second turn a bit weirdly. One of the Chinese swimmers, Liu, in front now--the other right behind her, Jiao. They're going to finish 1-2 I think, that would be horrible for the U.S., swimming is supposed to be our medal hotspot. Sure enough, the Chinese win; Americans finish last and next-to-last. What a great moment for China, says Rowdy; Liu wins gold. Hmm, somebody throws something into the water as they were coming down the stretch, it's a little drum. God, what an idiot, who would do something like that?!

Now, Lezak in the 100M free, rematch with Bernard; everyone's huge in this race. Lezak is trailng, won't be in it--wins bronze in a tie with a Brazilian, Bernard wins gold and has a huge smile on his face. Lezak's first individual medal, has 6 other relay medals. Rowdy's good, points out the huge wall of water as pretty much everyone comes into the first turn, Bernard did a better job of turning under the swell. And Bernard looked at Sullivan, the silver medalist, at the final wall, just like he looked at Lezak.

Now, gymnastics; they open by profiling Yang Wei, China's top gymnast, and his quest for overall gold. Then they briefly mentioned Jonathan Horton; then they compare the best overall gymnast to a panda. Tim says it'd be shocking if Wei doesn't win gold, has a huge advantage in terms of difficulty start value.

Alexander Artemev up first, six events, best score at the end wins. It's already 11 EST, this is going to be a long night. Rings first for Artemev, Tim says probably his weakest. Nice routine, actually, pretty clean. Japanese gymnast in floor exercises, Al reminds us gymnastics is all about deductions, you don't get points for doing things well. Tim thinks Jonathan could very well make it to the podium.

Back to the pool, Phelps in men's 200M IM first semi. 12th of 17 swims for him. They show the margins of victory in all his events, he's had 2 close races (one when his goggles filled up), rest have been pretty dominant. Shot of the camera bay, it's filled with photogs. Phelps hasn't lost this race in 7 years; loves swimming it. Ah, Lazlo Cseh, who's his main threat and apparently has been swimming well. Hmm, an Israeli swimmer in the field.

Phelps is already near the lead after the start, about third after the fly; now backstroke, in like second. Breastroke, Cseh is right on him, Phelps is in first coming down the freestyle leg. Easily out in front, just cruises to first. Hmm, some water in his goggles again. Interesting watching something that you know people will be revisiting for years.

Lochte back in the pool, 46 minutes later; very red. He has 3 of the 10 fastest times ever, Phelps owns all the rest. Some camera issues, Lochte's out of focus. Hicks says Lochte says he's changed Phelps, made him more laid-back. He's just off the lead halfway through; now in front during the breaststroke, extending his lead. Pulling out on the free leg, wins is in controlled fashion.

Back to gymnastics, Yang Wei on his weakest event, floor exercises. Horton's on pommel horse, it's also his weakest event. Hmm, he looks pretty awkward, making what Tim calls a very big mistake, but says he'll still be in it. 13.675, sheesh.

Women's 4x200M freestyle relay. U.S. the clear favorite coming into the Olympics, but France swam really well in prelims, with 2 new swimmers so they'll be even faster. Wow, four swimming medals for China tonight already; vs. just 1, a bronze, for the U.S. U.S. has won every gold medal in this race. U.S. in first at the first turn, ahead of WR time. It's pretty tight at the 2nd turn, still in first, slightly. Now she's being caught, everyone's bunched up. Pace is slowing down for everyone, Australia out front, U.S. is really falling back, quite a lot, like fourth now; France in first.

Coughlin now in the water. Tim says too slow for the U.S., not what U.S. wanted. Hmm, Aussies in first halfway through the 2nd leg; Coughlin catching up a bit, Aussies way out in front. Coughlin in 3rd now, coming to the 3rd leg; Tim says the last racer is best for U.S., so we'll see what happens here; Australia is way out front, China's in second, U.S. has fallen back.

Aussies slowing a bit, U.S. catching up to China, passing her, Aussies still way out front; Tim says the lead might be too big. U.S. still stuck in third, coming up to the last leg. U.S. and China fighting for silver, but Hoff is fast.... Wow, China is beating her though; we're gonna be lucky to get silver.

Man, first time in history, we've lost this race... hmm, Aussies now falling back, U.S. and China coming up. Hoff is now a bit behind Chinese, Aussies are gonna win this thing, Hoff may not catch China; and she won't. Wow, Australia screaming like crazy, new WR. U.S. fades to bronze, a rough night in the pool for the U.S.

Back to gymnastics, they're telling us the Japanese gymnast who was in the leader falls; and then they show his routine; kindof dumb, Tim calls it a choke; then Elfi tells us he falls again, and then sure enough, he does. Very odd announcing strategy. They follow the American tradition of calling South Korea 'Korea', and also tell us that their gymnast falls; sure enough, he does.

Horton on still rings, he looks good, but not as other-worldly as the Chinese do; a number of small bobbles, 15.575. Yang Wei on pommel horse, just attacks it and does well. 15.275; essentially in front after two events since he hasn't done the high-scoring events.

Hmm, they show us China's medal ceremony from the 200M butterfly. I'm telling you, having NBC owned by GE is good for fair coverage. They're both very obviously singing along. Funny, Costas says no commercial breaks from now on will be longer than 1:20.

The essential second-place gymnast was put on the Japanese team even though he didn't qualify, ahead of another gymnast due to 'injury'. Tim says he'd feel shame beyond belief if he doesn't do well here.

Of all the nights so far, this has been the least interesting; Yang is going to win gold, U.S. got destroyed in the pool, only thing left is seeing if Horton can get a medal. South Korean on the rings, silver four years ago, fell on the pommel horse though; Tim says they always look competitive in training, just fall apart. So they need to hire a Chinese coach. 15.4.

Horton on the vault now, chance for big points. Looks a bit tense, other night didn't really. Not bad, didn't quite stick the landing. Hmm, a great score, 16.1. Smiles for the first time tonight. Yang on the rings, where he's great. Almost sticks the landing, rest of the event was good, not quite as great as the other night for some reason.

Al talks about how the disaster in Athens almost made him give up the sport; that it really was devastating to the Chinese team. Wow, 16.725 for Yang. In first, hasn't even hit the vault.

Disappointing Russians have had mistake after mistake on both men and women's side, one of them on rings--a lot of noise, not much precision. Another non-stuck landing, Tim says everyone's been missing them today, you have to be patient in believe, otherwise you're going to slide.

Tim says he thinks on the Japanese team, the guy who qualified likely went to the team and said he didn't have a great of a shot, let's let our leader go in my place; he cites his experience being coached by a Japanese coach for many years. He looks good here, very precise. Tim says he may have just made a mistake, not sure what happened. Oh man, he falls off on his landing, the announcers gasp; Tim says they've been complaining about the rings, one of his hands slipped, he let go with the other, falls ugly to the mat. Wow, really scary, trainer gets him ice.

Artemev's had low scores, on the parallel bars. Looks really good, as Elfi mentioned he has good lines; a bit messed-up on the dismount, but not bad. Next up the Korean who due to judging error wasn't awarded the all-around gold in Athens, it going to Paul Hamm instead. Parallel bars high potential scoring for him, Elfi says. He looks silky smoother here. Sticks the landing, great routine; Tim says when he's good he's oh so good, when bad he's really bad.

Yang waving to the crowd as he goes on to the vault. Wow, Japanese guy falling on his vault warm-up. It's all pretty close, Artemev in 12th, Horton in 14th. He's talking to the camera, announcers laugh and talk over him. German guy up first, totally biffs the landing, 15.975 despite that. Yang also has trouble on his landing, but it's a good vault otherwise. Then a Russian totally falls off the mat on his landing, it's crazy.

Jonathan on the parallel bars, an early bobble. Not quite vertical on his holds; big step on his landing, too. Not bad, not great. Tamida, the Japanese guy, on the vault is okay, big step on the landing. Korean up next, totally does poorly, Tim wonders if he hit his head, back technique, ludicrous landing.

Artemev up on the high bar, nice so far--wow, and sticks the landing! Nice; he has an outside shot at a medal I think. South Korean up next, Tim says he's been falling like crazy, first time he's succesfully completed a move.

Back to Costas in the studio, for some idiot reason they're going to show Bernard's medal ceremony. They're really just filling time tonight. Horton on the high bar now, Tim cuts short the happy talk by saying although he's been great on this event in China, previously he's really struggled. So far, so good; nice and easy, actually. Wow; nice dismount, two hop but good. Yang was on parallel bars, Al tells us that's why the crowd was yelling jia yo, add fuel; his accent isn't bad! Big step on dismount, but otherwise really strong. Up by 1.6 anyway, other competitors congratulate him too.

15.35 for Horton, Al says he was hoping for better, not really moving up. They do a replay of his routine from above, it's cool; and then the video with frame grabs to show you his form; and now super-slo-mo. More scoring delays, it's really been ridiculous. Less delays today, less micro-managing says Tim. Artemev on tumbling, big mistake already says Tim. Nice form on some of his routines, though. Rest of it a bit ragged; oh well.

South Korean next, looks grim, bad body language. Good start though. Ooh, a crazy mistake, comes out of tumbling sequence and just skitters across the floor. Frenchman on the high bar, clean routine, Al says it'd be a shock if a Frenchman got a medal here, he's currently in 3rd and has a 1/2 point cushion over 4th. Gosh, where the heck are the Russians?! Maybe instead of invading Georgia they should focus on things like this.

Yang cheering on the German guy, Fabian; Tim says everyone spends so much time together, no defense so everyone relies on themselves, not versus someone else. Taking a lot of time before starting his routine, on the grip. He's nervous, slips, Tim says a very big mistake, looking very ragged.

Russian now in 3rd, South Korean in second, Yang in first; it's likely to stay that way, except for a Japanese gymnast trying to sneak into bronze. Horton's in 11th; it's 1:07 EST, Al says commercial free now through the end. Russian screws up on high bar, it could be three Asians on the medal podium.

Artemev back on pommel horse, just like the other night he nails it, looks really good; big applause from the crowd actually, Tim says he can actually win a medal in this in the individual finals. S. Korean Yang on the pommel horse, almost falls but stays on; odd, I'd think gymnasts would like this, it's almost Zen and rythmic; sits down on the easiest skill though, Tim says incredible, complete lack of concentration, he could probably have done that skill when he was 8 years old. Ouch!

Uchimuro, who's moved up from 2nd to last at one point, on high bar, man he gets big height; Tim though says he's got bent arms, which is bad. Oh, and he nails the landing, hangs on; Tim thinks he'll move up to silver. The Russian guy is doing a really sloppy floor exercises, just going through the motions at this point, like he doesn't care. Tim says he doesn't know what these guys are thinking, Russian fails to hold something for two seconds. They show the Japanese guy's routine again on slo-mo, it's great; 15.4, 13.7 for the S. Korean.

Horton on floor exercises, which they pick up halfway through. He's doing a good job, not just going through the motions. Now Fabian the German, who's world champ on the high bar, has a chance to get into the medals again. Oh man, he slips, and totally falls! Wow, it happens again, he apparently fell the first day too. It's a disaster says Tim. He gets back on, is doing really well now, now another mistake but sticks the landing.

Now Yang Wei, on the high bar, crowd is going nuts in anticipation. Slips a bit; messes up on a move, his coach can be heard giving him instructions, the crowd is hushed; messes up the landing a bit, but more than good enough for gold. Big applause, and the Frenchman is celebrating bronze, totally crying and in disbelief. Yang gets a big flag, displays it for the cameras and crowd, looks totally emotional; salutes the crowd, smiles, great moment.

Yang gives a cackle for the cameras; Uchimura silver, Caranobe bronze. Medal count: wow, 20 gold for China, 10 for U.S.; 32 total for China, 31 for U.S. Sheesh.

Oddly enough, they finish with a serious piece by Jimmy Roberts, looking at politics intersecting with the Olympics, tied in to Russia/Georgia facing each other yesterday.

Costas, as usual the consumamte pro, tells us that Horton finishes 9th, Artemev 12th.

Phelps goes for 11 gold medals, U.S. women fight China

Tuning in in time for another NBC audio problem, you can hear a producer talking for a few seconds as they go to the swimming arena before Dan Hicks comes on. Rowdy Gaines with him per usual, it's all Michael Phelps tonight--he's at 9 gold medals, likely to become the winningest Olympian of all time within the next 20 minutes.

First up are the men's 100M freestyle semis, Jason Lezak vs. Alain Bernard (who has his name printed on his swim cap) rematch; Bernard in front by a lot coming down the last 50M, here comes Lezak--finishes third though, as Bernard sets a new world record.

Second semis has Garrett Weber-Gale, who won the U.S. trials in this and the 50M event; Dutch veteran Van den Hoggenban as well. Speedy first 50, Aussies just destroying everyone, Sullivan grabs his own WR back, American well out of it.

Now, 200M freestyle final, with Katie Hoff going for gold. Hoff trailing early, not a great start. Catches up with the leader a bit after the first turn, in 3rd; Italian chick turning it on, Hoff looks to be in like 4th now. It's a blistering fast pace, Italian still out front; Hoff fighting the Chinese swimmer for bronze, looks like she'll lose to her--and she does, Pellegrini wins gold in a new WR. Disappointing; Rowdy is amazed, says the medalists all broke the WR.

Now--the men's 200M butterfly, Phelps a huge favorite, they're expecting him to not only win but also set a WR. Shocker if he doesn't get it done, Dan says. Phelps' coach is laughing in the stands. Hmmmm. All it takes is for someone else to have the race of their life and for Phelps to be off....

And they're off, Rowdy says it'll look like a race for a while, but then Phelps will just blow past everyone. He's in 2nd after the first 50M; he seems to leap out in front, behind the WR pace though, in 1st after 100M. Rowdy says watch and enjoy the last turn; now a bit ahead of WR pace. The NZ guy he trains with is keeping up, and now he's behind WR pace; now he's accelerating--and looks like he barely sets another WR. This one was a tougher one though than people thought; Rowdy says he thinks the race hurt him a lot more than he thought it would, wanted to go 151.

Wow, now the winningest Olympian of all time with his fourth gold of this Olympics, tenth overall. And he's only halfway through!

And now to the women's gymnastics team final. Tim says China has a higher start value on every event--which means the U.S. has to be more perfect. Hmmm. To commercial, VISA immediately congratulates Phelps.

China up first on the vault, kindof a big hop but not bad. An okay score. Second one is much better, a huge landing that she has a little hop on. U.S. team is right there on the sidelines, they're paired together; Al says it's interesting that they're interacting with each other. 16 for her, Tim thinks it should've been higher. Third gymnast, who was a late sub, just nails her jump, she's really small and has little international experience but a huge jump. Al brings up the are you 16 thing, invites us to judge for ourselves--yeah, cause Americans are so good at judging the ages of Asian women!

Sheesh. Now, the U.S. team, 15.45 average for the Chinese which is higher than what they had in the prelims, where they finished first. Russians on the uneven bars, let's not forget about them.... This has got to be NBC's biggest night of the Olympics in terms of A-list events.

A little bit like waiting for Godot, Al says. I wonder what percentage of the audience has any idea what that means; what percentage of his partners? U.S. should have a cushion after this, says Tim. They're very bouncy, look grim more than anything else. Wow, Shawn Johnson is bringing her stare of death; her coach is Chinese. They all look pretty good in warmup, hope it carries over. If they do really well here, I think they'll win gold--the good feelings will carry over. If they're shaky, could be big trouble.

Nice first jump from Bridget Sloan, about as good as she can do it says Tim. She looks more relieved then everything, gets workmanlike hugs from her teammates. Just a 15.2 though. Shawn Johnson, screws up the landing a bit, crosses her legs; looks worse, as Tim says. Hmm, a 16.0, nice score for her. Alicia Sacramone, who I think will do well, goes last. Oh yeah, she nails it; nicely done, just a small hop on the end. Team couldn't have asked for more, says Tim.

Yeah, they're okay now; off to the next event. 15.675, U.S. in front of China, but Russia had a good score on the higher-scoring uneven bars so they're in first. They show Romania, for a sec; Al wants to know why they're not competitive anymore. Tim says their coach said the kids are westernized now, have to be treated differently.

U.S. over on uneven bars, up first; no mistakes like in prelims, says Tim. Chellsie Memmel up first. She looks good, very brisk. Yeah! Nails it, including the landing. Weird, unlike the exhuberant guys last night, the women are definitely all tight; guess the difference between being the favorites, and just happy to be there. Hmm, Johnson's legs are shaky. 15.725 for Memmel. Wow, Johnson looks great early; she's just in a different league, a great routine.

Nastia Liukin, her dad's an Olympic champ. 15.35 for Johnson, surprisingly low; Tim calls it a little harsh. Wow, she looks great, is so tall; nails her trickiest release, analysts loving it; yeah, she nails it! That was great, she's so effortlessly happy, and her teammates for the first time are showing real emotion. Tim says this should be close to a 17, which we haven't seen yet. Better the routine, longer it's been taking says Tim. Whoah--a 16.9, the highest so far in Beijing! That's awesome, Tim wanted something higher though.

Crazy Bela Karolyi in the studio with Bob Costas....

Back watching, Phelps easily won gold medal #11 as the U.S. destroyed everyone else in the 4x200M relay with a WR that was like 3 seconds faster than the old one. Gymnastics seems to have become bizarre, first a Chinese gymnast, than an American fell off the balance beam. Everyone's routine seems to be ragged, lots of close calls. China's in first by more than a point, not sure what it'll be like when this third event is done. Wonder how the Russians are doing....

Coach Marta Karolyi pumping up the team, Johnson batting clean-up here. A big score is in here, I think. Liukin gest as 15.975, a good score. Johnson just nails her opening, is very precise and confident. Wow; just looks a lot better than everyone else. Oh yeah, nails her dismount; a great routine, U.S. team looks a bit shell-shocked but this will help a lot. Monster-tough says Tim. 16.175, U.S. is now 1 point behind China, going to the floor exercises; everyone else is waaaaay behind.

U.S. has to go first; big drawback, China can just play it safe if their lead grows. Let's not forget Japan wiped out more than a point lead yesterday against the U.S. Nice opening for Scaramone, and then a big fall--that may be it, says Tim, a disaster of epic proportions, huge cushion for China. Shake it off.... She goes out of bounds at the end, looks devastated.

Likuin next, starts off out of bounds; then goes really high on a jump. Rest of her routine seems really good, a step at the very end. Pretty ragged, I think mentally they've accepted silver. Wow, they're already crying over on the sidelines; and Johnson still to go. 15.2; Tim says China has to totally fall apart for the U.S. to have any shot. Not gonna happen.

Johnson up, and oh, she steps out of bounds; Tim shocked. They she attacks the rest with a vengeance. She's so good though, should win the overall title over the next few days.

China just needs to average 14.75 to win gold, just getting through the routines will be enough says Tim. Fueled by the crowd, I think they'll do better than that. They're just soaring through the air, so light. They've even got some personality and fun in the routines, vs. the U.S. which was so workmanlike. Crowd roars, first routine was clean. Efli notes the performances here by the Chinese are different from years past, they're really for the people, crowd-pleasers.

Next up, light and fun; music choice is so much better than the U.S. too. They're gonna blow us out; deserve to win, too. Huge roar from the crowd, a few stumbles but overall good, Elfi calls it fantastic. Final Chinese gymnast, just an amazing first run, crowd roars--this one's got traditional Chinese opera music.

Celebration has started for China, U.S. huddles up--two very different groups. China did a great job says Tim, that's all there is to it; they earned it. China wins by 2.375, a big win by gymnastics standards.

Back to the studio, and Phelps and his teammates talk about smashing everyone else in the relay--wow, first relay to ever go under 7 minutes. Phelps says he kept tearing up thinking about all the medals during his last medal ceremony. Also says his googles were messed up during the 200M butterfly, that's why he flipped them off afterwards.

Bela hammers on the underage allegation against China, says they deserved to win on the floor but team not eligible. Wow, China's got 14 golds to our 9; U.S. still out front in total medals, 26 to 22.

Swimming vs. gymnastics

Michael Phelps is going for his third gold tonight, which would tie him with a few others for most lifetime Olympic golds (9). And, the U.S. men's team is essentially hoping to do better than bronze in gymnastics, facing an almost-sure-to-win Chinese team and a tough Japanese team.

Until then, some women's beach volleyball--Misty May-Treanor/Carrie Walsh vs. the Cubans, it should be an easy win for the Americans; they've already won the first set.

It's amazing how much ground just two people can cover; NBC should show all the songs that are being played in between points, I think the players get to choose the music.

Second set is tighter, but it seems the Americans just keep getting easy points whereas the Cubans are having trouble stringing anything together. They talk about May sprinkling her mom's ashes on the volleyball sand after winning gold in Athens, planning to do the same here if she wins.

Hmm, NBC is not only missing points going to commercials, but also during the coverage as well. Too busy running replays--sloppy. And now some issues even with that. Wow--and they go to break with the Americans nearing game point--we come back, and they're just 2 away; no clue how they got there.

And the top team in the world wins its 103rd straight match; 21-15, 21-16; just 36 minutes.

Next up is Mary Carillo, one of my favorite sports journalists from her tennis work. Takes a look at some of China's biggest structures--Great Wall, Tibet railway, Three Gorges dam, Shanhai's mag-lev which hits 300 mph on its way to the airport, Chongqing's world's-largest-bathroom, Beijing's new Olympics structures. Carillo even gets to try out some Chinese on one of the world's tallest people. She has good chemistry with Bob Costas, they genuinely like each other and seem to have similarly earnest personalities--unlike her and John McEnroe, who have an at-times testy but generally invigorating relationship.

Al Trautwig says that the men's gymnastics competition is the biggest one in the Olympics for the Chinese; well, who knows, although I'd say winning more gold medals overall than the U.S. is more important an outcome.

China's up first, floor exercises. Hmm, guy screws up right on the last part of his routine. It's taking forever to post the score; and it's not bad, but his teammate has been waiting forever. Wow, his routine is excellent so far; fast and high with good landings--really great performance by their leader, Yang Wei. Third guy rocks it too; announcers not even mentioning the U.S. as a threat, painting it as China vs. Japan.

And now, the main event--Phelps swimming in the 200M freestyle, which he's owned. Another profile, I wonder how many they have for him--20? They list the other Olympians with nine golds--Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz, Paavo Nurmi and Larissa Latynina.

And they're off, he's already way out in front, got a great jump. Almost a length ahead after the first turn; he's on his own WR pace, now ahead of it--it's really crazy, actually, just blowing everyone away. Here he comes for the last 50M, he's going to win this easily and beat his own world record! American in third, as well.

Wow, that was almost anti-climatic, broke his record by almost a full second. No crazy celebration, very matter of fact--just a big smile.

Back quickly, more swimming; 100M backstroke, Natalie Coughlin, who's trying to become the first woman to defend gold in this event; and another American, Margaret Hoelzer. Wow, they really get right to it; Coughlin out front coming down the last 50M, Rowdy is saying she needs to swim straight. Rowdy says she's fading, but I think she'll win--and yes, wins, new WR too! Hoelzer takes the bronze, another 1-3 U.S. finish. Wow!

Man, next up--Men's 100M backstroke. This is just boom, boom, boom, one right after another. Aaron Peirsol trying to defend his gold here in his third Olympics. Thanks god for the swimmers, they're keeping our overal medals hope alive. Matt Grevers in the final as well. I think the huge relay win last night is carrying over, maybe giving the Americans an extra little boost tonight.

He's been having bad starts, says Rowdy, and again it's happened, he's kindof a ways behind. But Peirsol doing better now, in second coming down the last 50. And now he's pulling out, really turning it on. Reaching his own WR time, and--yeah baby, a new WR, with Grevers taking silver!

Oh man, that is awesome. Rowdy's laughing, says he always delivers when it counts in the finals. Peirsol says after he couldn't see anyone else, just did his own thing, thought Grevers had won, tried to swim through his little doubts. Grevers, who's huge and whose parents are Dutch, says he was pumped by the relay, if you want it bad enough it can happen.

Now Phelps' medal ceremony, Rusty saying he wants this to move quick since he needs to 'swim down' his lactic acid, less than an hour total between his last race and the semis for the 200 butterfly, his signature event. Silver went to a Korean, who won a gold in the 400M free.

It's amazing that with his next gold he'll have more than any other Olympian, ever. Anthem, now photos--let's go quickly!

Wow, turns out Ian Thorpe's in the stands, he's pooh-pahhed Phelps' quest. Women's 100M breastroke finals, an Aussie owns this even aparently--except in the last two Olympics.

Megan Jendrick who won gold 8 years ago, missed the team in Athens, barely made it this year. Leisel Jones the Aussie, 6 of the 8 fastest times in history. Young Rebecca Soni the other American, this not considered her strength.

This will be a good test of how much of a roll the American swim team is on. Aussies are out front earlier, Jones by quite a bit already. Jones is gonna win, way out in front; fight is for second, here comes an American--and yeah, Soni wins silver!

Nice outcome; 7 medals for the U.S. swim team tonight, 3 gold, 2 silvers, and 2 bronzes.

Back to gymnastics, apparently China's had some problems--hmm, stuck in 5th, U.S. in 2nd, with France leading and Japan in 6th. They replay a U.S. vault, the guy nailed it. But announcers also say the teams on top have already vaulted, which is by far the highest-scoring event.

So maybe the U.S. will sneak into silver. Rings, China up; Yang Wei comes through again, announcers says he's the world's dominant gymnast, just not affected by pressure. Again with the judging delays, announcers really ripping the judging--they're apparently looking at stuff in slow motion, which seems contrary to the idea of judging. You either catch it, or you don't--wow, 16.3 for him! 17 being perfect, of course.

Chen Yebing, one of the analysts says the first time he saw him he thought it was impossible. My, he's lieterally stopping on a dime--it's astonishing to watch; man, and he nails his dismount! There's a huge roar from the crowd, this guy's going to even beat his teammate. 16.575, wow; their first score was 16, so they just blew everyone else away.

Swimming again, Phelps in his 200M butterfly semi. Hasn't lost in this race for a long time, 2 seconds ahead of everyone else this year. 50 minutes since he won the gold in the free. 8th of 17 swims. He jumps into the lead off the blocks, hmm, not actually first at the turn. Halfway through now, like in second--he's not trying to blow everyone away, which is good, cause he's not.

Last 50M, in the lead suddenly after the turn; just blowing everyone away, wins easily and happens to tie the Olympic record.

Weird, they keep missing the U.S. men in gymnastics, have shown more Chinese actually. An American on parallel bars, announcer says they've been doing great and others have screwed up, no mistakes. Nails the routine, announcers starting to say who knows, maybe the U.S. can make this a real competition even without the Hamm brothers.

Raj Bhavsar now, one of the many gymnasts out of Houston. Announcers praising his big game ability, say his personality is picking everyone else up. Hmm, a bobble on the parallel, and a little hop on the dismount, but a good score overall. It's cool the way they're talking about Raj, like they would about any other team leader. Hop on the dismount, but another good routine for the U.S.

Only team error-free says the announcers; that's awesome. And halfway through the 6 events, U.S. is in good shape.

It's really hard to top the tension that builds during a gymnastics competition--it's like baseball, just keeps mounting, until at the end of a close competition it's almost unbearable. First small error on the high bar, says the announcer, which is an event where the U.S. is doing the hardest routines.

Japanese look tired, says the announcers. Wow, and a big mistake, their leader falls off the padding on the vault. Reigning gold medalists are not going to defend here. Announcers just ripping the guy, he was laughing afterwards, beforehand they were apparently video taping each other.

U.S. back on high bars, it's a big, scary routine--announcers say don't go too fast. He's nailing it so far, and absolutely nails the dismount! Awesome. Fairy tale good, says the announcer, everyone on the team is pumped, the guy is like oh my goodness afterwards--huuuuuge grin on his face on the slo-mo replay as he stands up on the landing.

Oh man, last guy is nailing it too; crowd is oohing, and he's doing all these crazy one-handed things. Totally nails the landing too! The crowd is super-into it, the team is just celebrating like crazy.

"No regrets" is what the gymnasts chant while waiting for the scores, and China's about to get up on the vault.

China picks up a 16.6 in the vault, after their first guy stepped out of bounds (and still got a high score on the strength of his height/rest of the routine). Last guy gets a 16.775, and it's all enough to put them in the lead over the U.S.

Amazing, nobody on the U.S. team has been in the Olympics before! Two events left, they really have no pressure, have done way better than what everyone else thought they could do after their top two gymnasts, the Hamm brothers, got injured.

Back to swimming for a sec, some good questions from Andrea Kramer for Phelps about what don't people understand about how hard what he's trying to do is--the whole time management and lack of rest between races is the main thing.

Like a 1.75 lead for the Chinese; the U.S. is about 3 in front of the Japanese--they're doing their two best events next though. China's weakest event is their last one, on the high bar; next up for them though is parallel bars, where they're very good. U.S. doing floor exercise, then finish on their worst event, pommel horse.

Interesting, they show how the Chinese team is calibrating the bars, they have someone do a test routine, they use pieces of wood to make sure the bars are far enough apart. Ha, reminds me of in Sydney, when curvy Russian Svetlana Khorkina said the horse was a few centimeters too low, the officials didn't believe her, turned out after she was right, they had to let everyone who wanted to redo their routine.

Meanwhile, here China's first guy just rocked the parallel bars--16.475. Yang Wei next, the one who made the childish mistake in prelims on this. He has a few bobbles, but nothing major; 16.1. Last guy, whose routine looks so easy but is super hard; he totally floats as the announcers say, pretty good landing too, huge roar from the crowd. Hmmm, he's totally bleeding on the elbow--16.45.

U.S. in floor exercises now, the floor is less forgiving than the ones the U.S. is used to. Which begs the question, why are they practicing on a floor that's not like the one they'll be competing on?! He's fine so far, doubling his landings; doing really well now, doesn't stick his final landing but not bad.

Just looked it up, it's Elfi Schlegel and Tim Daggett again doing the announcing with Al. I liked them 4 years ago too. Elfi's the weakest member of the team, sometimes talks just to talk. Tim is really straightforward, and adds an appropriate amount of excitement. Second guy screws up on his first pass, looks like his feet touch out of bounds. This could cost them the silver, they're saying his a bit rattled--Elfi calls them silly errors, Tim says the first bad routine for the team--a bad score, 14.625, very uncharacteristic screwup they say.

Japan's over on the parallel bars, they're smoking here--oops, not a great landing though. Back to U.S., Jonathan Horton's last time up. Wow, he looks so determined. He's nailing it, really picking up the slack here. Oh man, a great event--awesome, big smile, Tim calls it MVP times ten.

Wow, three gymnasts on pommel horse for the U.S. are all non-white; hope these guys can pull it out! U.S. has 1.7 point lead over Japan--hmm, thought it'd be smaller. That's good, some cushion at least. Wow, China's lead is now more than 5 points.

Trautwig points out the ever-changing face of America leading the way here. Indian American guy, Chinese American guy, Russian American guy--or, three typical American guys. Kevin Tan up first--oh no, and he totally screws up, Tim calls it disasterous, stops his routine halfway through and messes up his dismount--wow, gets like a 12.

Now to the Japanese, it's essentially mano-a-mano. Guy does well, but a big step on the landing. The lead is pretty much gone. Raj Bhavsar now, Tim likes him a lot. But he makes a mistake right before his dismount, the nerves definitely beginning to take its toll. Japan moves up to second; their second guy just nails his high bar routine, the U.S. is gonna get bronze.

Oh well, I'm sure they'd have taken it at the beginning of the competition. Too bad they were so close. Alexander Artemev last; like Kevin, he only got in cause of injury to the Hamms. Tim says he thinks Raj's number is gonna be low, we're still waiting for it--oh man, it's a 13.75. Sheesh.

Alex starts off looking pretty good--wow, his routine was unbelievable! So darn exciting, out of nowhere. His teammates are totally happy. The alternate, in the stands, is crying with emotion, it's great. Team USA hugs; they're all waiting for the results. 15.35, a good score; looks like the Germans still have a shot at this still.

Germans apparently pretty good at this; first guy got through it. They need to average a 15.3 to take bronze--I don't think they're going to do it, Tim doesn't either.

China's just putting the icing on the cake, on the high bars. First guy nails it, crowd goes crazy. Second German guy, first guy got a low score; U.S. will take bronze for sure, Tim says the U.S. can start celebrating.

Second Chinese guy just going for it, not holding back at all--they wanna totally win this thing. Huge applause when he's done. Second German score not great, Tim says it's over, the U.S. has taken the bronze.

And now, the last Chinese gymnast goes up on high bar. The youngest member of the team, the 'little kid'. Oh wow, and he nails it--Al says there's a new China syndrome, it's called China gold. The crowd is just going nuts, the gymnasts are beginning to celebrate and cry; what a great moment for China.

And now the U.S. is going crazy, they've won the bronze.

Thrilling to swimming

Watching women's gymnastics, about 10:30 pm EST; not sure what's coming up next. More swimming, I'm assuming.

Sure enough, it's the men's 100M semifinals in backstroke. They go by quickly, two Americans qualify including Aaron Peirsol, the favorite. Not sure of all the results, but I don't think the Americans are having a great night in the pool. I think the Chinese have a bunch of golds today, so there's going to be a huge amount of pressure on Michael Phelps later tonight to win the swimming team's second gold.

They set up the women's 400M freestyle with a long piece, which has some weird love triangle between a Frenchwomen and an Italian, now swimming against each other. Hey, whoah--Katie Hoff's in this, I assumed based on the setup there was no American, they're totally downplaying her chances, apparently the Italian is the big favorite.

Go Hoff! It's a long race, World Record is just a tick over 4 minutes. Hmm, so far the Frenchwoman is in the lead, although she's not expected to do anything and even though she's the defending champ. Hoff's now second, nearing the halfway point. Now Hoff's moved out front, I believe; yup. Hmm, Rowdy's getting excited for Hoff's chances, me too. Apparently she's running a smart tactical race. Closing in on the last 100M, she's lengthening her lead!

Closing in on 50M left, it's so rare for the announcers to underhype an American. Lead is getting larger, last 50M, the crowd is going crazy, and I think she's going to win!

Oooh, lead is falling off,--and she's just outtouched, the non-Rowdy announcer thought she had it, but a Brit grabbed it, and another Brit took silver. Wow, so close, not even in her top event. Loses by 7/100ths!

Ah, the men's 4x100M freestyle relay is next, they set the world record in the prelim with the B team. Frenchies are the favorites though, apparently--told a paper they're going to smash the Americans. Uh, okay. Wow, so the Phelps dream could end tonight, and not via his hands. So weird that France would be the competition, not the Aussies.

Wow, Phelps first, but not a great start to my eye. The Aussies are way out front, here comes Phelps, catches him a bit but doesn't win his own leg. The pace is way faster than the WR, now the U.S. is in first coming down to the final two swimmers. Now the black swimmer for the U.S., he's being torched by the Frenchie a bit; here comes the next-to-last leg, U.S. is not going to win, Phelps' dream is pretty much over--French are just extending their lead.

Hmm, last guy is closing the gap--and oh my God, he catches him! Unbelievable! He was waaaay behind when he started, and even as they started the last 50M--but somehow he beat the fastest relay swimmer!

Rusty says that may be the most incredible relay swim he's ever seen in his life--they blow away the WR, the French are in shock. Rusty keeps saying he can't believe it, it's just not possible; it's just amazing on the replay how much time the U.S. made up on the last leg.

Wow, Phelps is going nuts on the replay, rooting for his teammate--I really think he's got to win 8 golds now, how can he not after that effort by his teammate! Jason Lezac, team captain--way to deliver. 3:08:24, wow!

Hey, it's that McCain celebrity ad, what an idiot thing to schedule during the Olympics--everyone's running on adrenaline, and this thing shows up!

Lezac coaches himself, this should be a great interview. Lezac swam the fastest relay split in history, it's fun listening to them--they're not trying to play it down, but not arrogant either. Phelps has the best look on his face on the replay as he looks up at the time and realizes they won; one of them refers to "the Frenchies talking stuff".

Wow, definitely the best moment of the Olympics so far for the U.S. Phelps is favored in the rest of his races, and the U.S. tems in the rest of the relays he swims in, so this really was the hardest one to get over for his quest.

They're going to show the tape of this one for a looooong time; what a great race. Costas, who's seemed a bit frantic the last couple of days, is in the studio with Chris Collinsworth. They exult about the race for a while, poke fun at the French, and now Chris is here to talk hoops. He is a great anaylst, but I've never seen him talk anything but football.

They talk about how gracious the Chinese fans have been, they show highlights from the U.S.-China basketball game, which I watched most of this morning. Bizarre that Yao hit a three to open the game, but other than that it was pretty predictable--U.S. wore down the Chinese, busted it open with good defense in the second quarter.

I didn't realize how popular Kobe is in China, he says it's like they're at home, the fans love the game and know the players. This is a good recap, with Kobe interview snippets woven in, he really seems sincere and not his usual careful self; given his dad's international background, I think he probably appreciates all this more than most.

Stuff like this does more to build good international relations than anything else; as Chris says, the team's been classy and dignified, to help change our basketball image abroad. He could've dropped 'basketball'.

Back to swimming, this should be a hell of a medal ceremony. U.S. hadn't lost this relay for 34 years, until 2000--Aussies; and 2004--South Africa. Oh, how sweet it is. Interesting, everyone stands in order of their racing order.

Australia's really fallen in swimming, they look happy just to get bronze. Now, the Frenchies.... Big smiles, now. The women handing out the medals to them is Muslim, wonder who she is. Ironically, her head covering wouldn't be allowed in French schools. Wonder when their swim team will have a black member like Cullen Jones.

And now--the U.S.! Man, they look so happy; 8 gold medals total for Phelps now, he goes over to shake hands with the Frenchies. And now, the Star Spangled Banner. Phelps' mom sings along, everyone is just beaming.

Back to Bob, he says people who really know swimming are calling this the best relay of all time, everyone through fifth place broke the world record!

So looking at the overall medals table, China has 6 golds to our 3; U.S. has 4 silvers to their 2, and 4 bronzes to their none.

U.S swimmers, fencers headline at the Olympics

First full day of competition at the Olympics, came in just in time to catch Michael Phelps' medal ceremony in the 400 IM. Now it's the women's turn, Katie Hoff of the U.S. the favorite, with another American, Beisel in the field too. And a 14-year-old Chinese competitor.

Interesting, Hoff has marks above her eyes from the goggles pressing in; announcer says she's got to do way better in the backstroke than she did in the prelims. Not looking good for the Americans after the butterfly and backstroke parts, they're both trailing a bit.

Now on the breaststroke, which she's apparently fast in, Hoff is 3 seconds behind. Hoff is really making up ground on second place in the second 50 in the breaststroke. Last leg, looks like U.S. may have to settle for bronze behind the Aussie and the Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry; and it's a new world record for the Aussie, Stephanie Rice, smashing Hoff's old one, with Coventry beating the WR too.

Wow, Hoff loses for the first time in four years in this event. Well, that's why they hold the races....

Costas has a bad echo in the studio, think they'd have worked out the mike problem by this point of the night--they're actually showing the swimming events live.

By my count, 1 gold, 0 silvers, 2 bronzes for the U.S. in the 3 swimming events I've caught all or part of. We'll definitely win more medals than the Chinese, I think, it's going to be a tight race for gold. But I think if Phelps wins 8, we'll beat them--a superhuman effort like that from one athlete, especially early, is really inspiring for the rest of the team.

Hey, the Barack Obama ad--it's very fast-paced, and upbeat; not a great ad, it was half through before I realized what it was about. I think the narrator talks too fast, actually; but it does have a crispness, professionalism to it. And it wasn't jarring, like McCain's last night.

Back, and there's no LIVE logo so it's taped men's gymnastics competition. China first here, on the rings; guy is good, sticks the apparently-difficult dismount, Yang Wei.

Hey, it's Al Trautwig, who I really like actually. Stupid new scoring system, 17 is perfect now I believe. Wow, another Chinese gymnast on the rings, Chen Yibing; the announcer is saying he's doing moves that are impossible--wow, and he stops his swing on a dime too. And he totally nails his landing, no wobble at all; announcer says when China does routines like that, they're unbeatable. Japan's the other team competing at the moment.

Back to the swimming events, in the 'water cube'. 100M breaststroke semifinals, they're building up to the women's 4x100 relays, Dara Torres. Here Japanese guy, Kitajima, the favorite; the U.S. guy in this semis barely qualified. Announcers speculating whether the American in the other semis, who has the world record and who had a slow prelims, was playing possum, he was so slow. Yeah, that's gotta be it.

Kitajima wins easily, American Mark Gangloff finishes third so makes the finals. Wow, they have great camera technology, can see everything underwater, and super-slo mo too.

This is like NBC's dream, it's a bit after 11, petrified to see what's on the other networks because I don't wanna have results spoiled--although I'm pretty sure the woman's relays are live.

Brendan Hansen's heat now, he failed to make the team in the 200M and apparently hasn't looked good lately, he seems to be a bit on edge or something. Hope the U.S. team isn't off, except for Phelps. Announcer says he just didn't have the 'snap' he usually does in the prelims. Hmm, got the lead at the turn, seems like he'll be fine. Falling back, announcer says he looks off; falls to 3rd, some Norwegian guy sets a new Olympic record. Kitajima watching Hansen, I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Back to gymnastics, U.S. competed earlier, Trautwig says it's looking good for them to get a number of gymnasts into the finals. Chen Yibing on the vault, huge height, a little hop on the landing. Yang Wei, doesn't stick his landing either but a good score on height/rotations. Huge vault for the third gymnast, which he invented, Li Xiaopeng; commentator again says they're going to crush everyone if they're on like this.

Yeah, and tonight an indication of the Chinese team's ability to perform up to expectations vs. the Americans, it may be a long Olympics for the U.S. Now they show a Japanese gymnast, who screws up on the pommel horse, gets off, remounts. Hmm, does a nice routine after that, but gets an automatic deduction. Ooh, the Russians up next here.

Now, Dara Torres. Wow, quite the coool roof on the swimming facility, which is this futuristic cube with translucent hexagon tiles. They're all in red, white and blue swimsuits; her coach is hospitalized back home, in bad shape. Aussies our main threat here I think. Canada, France, U.S.: Natlie Coughlin, Lacey Nymeyer, Carolyn Joyce, Dara Torres; China, which qualified first after not doing much historically; Germany; Dutch, which hold the current WR; and the Aussies, who qualified 6th, defending gold; with Great Britain at the end.

Rowdy Gaines is one of the announcers, I like him. Says China, U.S., Aussies. They're off, 100M each leg. Coughlin out fast, in the lead; now fading a bit, Germans way out; Germans still leading, then Dutch, U.S. in the middle, third as the third swimmer in. Rowdy says best Germans done already, Dutch the new favorite. And the Dutch are in front, looks like a big gap for the U.S. for Torres to try and make up; whoah, U.S. is behind, the Dutch are going to win I think.

Whoah, Torres made up ground, but too much I think; she's fighting for second now, here come the Aussies, but it'll be close for second--but U.S. gets silver for second Olympics, new OR for the Dutch. Torres may have swam the fastest split in relay history Rowdy says; U.S. pretty subdued, trying to figure out what happened; but Torres has a big smile, I really like her. Torres actually 2nd split to the Dutch in the race.

So 1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronzes. An okay haul for a heavy swimming night, not great. We'll finish the night with gymnastics, and a look back at the U.S. women fencers, who swept an event today I saw.

Back to gymnastics, Russians who are back strong with oil profits soaring. Big vault for the first Russian, doubles the landing. Second guy good too, slight stepback on the landing. Yang Wei, over on the parallel bars, they talk about the strong emotions and pressure on the Chinese team.

Announcer says they can really distance themselves on this event, like vaulting; perfect so far, then a bobble, huge mistake says the announcer, he won't qualify for the individual event finals here they say; easiest element says the announcer, just went blank. Announcer says he probably hasn't made that mistake his entire training cycle for the Olympics--a mistake you see from a little kid to be honest. Ouch. The Chinese team's leader, no less.

Huang Xu, who's apparently rock solid, tremendous in this event. Wow, he looks great; small hop on the dismount, otherwise perfect. Li Xiaopeng, whose muscles look puny by comparison with his teammates, but won gold 8 years ago, has had some major injury issues since then. Wow, nice jump near the start. Almost violent, small hop on the landing. They're all slapping hands afterwards, a very confident team. Announcer still thinks China and Japan will take gold and silver.

They show the women's sabre team, with George H.W. Bush in the audience. The 'punk rock' of fencing. Wow, two faced off for gold; defending champ won again, this is a sport we've never done great in, recently have become quite good at. Three U.S. flags on the podium, what a great sight. Mariel Zagunis the gold winner, whose parents were Olympic rowers. Sada Jacobson, the silver medalist, won bronze four years ago. Becca Ward, who's an incoming freshman at Duke.

So eight medals on opening day and early day two; pretty cool. In gymnastics, U.S. qualifies 6th into the finals. Bela Karolyi, more mike problems for Bob, has to hold it in his hands--Karolyi's not even miked, they should fire the audio people. Bob asks him what are the woman's team chances, he dances around and doesn't make much sense, but eventually says their chances are good. No mike for Bela says Bob, wants to know if they're done now, he doesn't seem to know that we could hear him, just not great.

Oddly enough, they end the night with the Aussie's anthemn in the 400IM--it's thankfully a short one. A quick peek at the medals tables, and the U.S. is on top with 2 golds, 2 silvers, 4 bronzes; China in second with 2 golds and a silver.

Summer Olympics kick off

NBC starts its 17 days of coverage with some truly beautiful images of China, the colors pop and the announcer's ponderous voice and slow music lends it a sense of history. It's my favorite sporting event; as a bunch of athletes say it's not the triumph, it's the struggle.

It's a pretty non-jingoistic opening, not all the sound bites are from American athletes. I'm pretty sure with GE as NBC's parent company, we're not going to see the overt and covert racism and China-bashing that's typified a lot of the U.S. media's coverage leading up to the games.

'Previously Recorded' flashes on the screen for a few seconds; and first words go to Jim Lampley, oddly enough, not Bob Costas. After commercials we'll start with Tom Brokaw to tell us how much it all means to the 1.3 billion Chinese.

It's too bad this is all pre-prime time, shortly after 7:30 EST; Brokaw is a pro, and his report really puts things in perspective, saying of the Tibet torch protests: "Their self-image was not shared by many others in the world."

Hmmm, that sounds familiar.

"There are so many Chinas", says Brokaw; "a country racing into the future, confident it can claims its place, on its own terms."

Odd, they've paired Matt Lauer with Bob at the venue--male/female teams almost always work better for these sporting/cultural melds, let's see how it goes.

Bob and Matt's show
His patented voice rings out, emeshing us in a tangle of metaphors as the camera scans the audience behind Costas, busily fanning themselves. Lauer chimes in, calls it a big show--15,000 performers, 11,000 athletes, $300 million production (10 times what Athens spent), all directed by China's famed Zhang Yimou.

Naive Matt wonders how Iran will be greeted as they walk in--well, given that we're in Beijing not Boston and America's foreign policy views are neither universal nor binding nor always right, I think the Chinese will clap for them just as they will for everyone else.

They start talking to athletes, giddy beach volleyball chicks and cool Kobe and LeBron. Wow, the Bird's Nest stadium looks great from above at night.

Hmm, Omega's commercials feature an Asian father and he daughter; that ultimately will be the legacy of these games, a chance for the world to see the Chinese as individuals and hear their stories.

Wow, President Bush is the first U.S. president to ever attend a non-American Olympics. Interesting, Costas says he's here to show respect for China and their accomplishments; maybe, but I think he also just likes to watch sports.

They show Hu Jintao sitting next to Jacque Rogge, and then the Bushes come in; they talk about his dad's close ties to China. Hmm, their seats are just normal ones, not up on the dais like Hu and Rogge. Bush has really lowered America's prestige, in small and large ways.

China awes the world
Ceremonies start as the stadium dims, a dazzling display of light; 2,008 drummers, as lights flash through the drumskin, it's a mesmerizing sight. Absolutely amazing, the crowd roars, everyone's waving lights. Two big blocks of drums, spell out 60 60; then 50 50, etc. then 10 on down; and fireworks go off like crazy for a few seconds, wow. This is a level of spectacle never seen before.

Drummers start chanting and twisting; words of Confucius says Matt. It's really awe-inspiring; like from a movie. A little intimidating says Matt, but the drummers were told to smile more. Yeah, this is old school China; the original shock and awe. Lights go out; it's pretty magnificent as the drumsticks light up.

McDonalds has the first great commercials of the games, The More We Get Together under images of athletes competing and then eating (non-McDonalds food). It's catchy, simple and memorable.

Fireworks from across Beijing lead from Tiananamen to the stadium, making up a footstep a second, 29 in all for each Olympics. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are all part of tonight, crowd roars as the lit-up Olympic rings rise up from the floor of the stadium, it's magical. I mean, this is a show--technically-inspiring, yet with a cohesive feel to it so it's not just a series of cheap random wows like bad blockbusters.

And now, music; 56 kids, one for each ethnic group in China, a little girl in a red dress singing A Hymn to My Country; man, they are adorable (and all smiling), holding hands. Bush isn't watching, talking to Putin. Stop bombing Georgia, yo, they're our allies.

As Costas says, from the children to the soldiers, they take the flag and goose-step their way forward. Lauer says it's an overt reminder that it's the state that keeps us safe and insures the future.

Now everyone stands for the Chinese national anthem, this is great. Like Obama running for president forces the image of blacks to change, so the world standing for China's anthem and watching its Games marks a turning point in its face to the world.

China, Now and Then
Chinese history, and China today will be the two themes. They should just have a segment on China's inventions. Wow; a giant scroll on the stadium floor, 3 performers dance over it, painting with their feet and bodies as they move. Surrounding it and enhancing it is one of the world's largest LED screens, touch-sensitive.

Joshua Cooper Ramo is the third man in the booth, he's apparently the Chinese expert--former managing editor at Time, now a professor in China. Now the canvas part of the giant scroll floats up, as Costas says, the opening ceremony from Beijing, already seeming unlike any other.

810 'disciples of Confucius' come out, cermony reminds us China invented paper and printing. Wow, the printing block undulate, it's staggering how many cool individual elements there are. 'Massive scope, minute precision' says Bob. The blocks form Chinese words. 'Cinematic blockbuster in real-time' says either Matt or Joshua.

Wow, flowers pop out of the blocks that had been shaped into the Great Wall--and my God, the blocks were controlled by people, they pop out smiling at the end! I had thought it was because it was a tiny bit irregular, but dismissed it as not possible given all the complex shapes, done so quickly. Wow. Yet somehow so appropriate.

Imagine the discipline, to memorize exactly where and when and at what height you had to hold your block for every second of a 10-minute production.

Tang dynasty being celebrated, time when it was all about trade says Joshua as a performer is carried out by hundreds on a silk road. The one and the many, he says; I like him, it's cool to have an expert on hand for an Opening Ceremony that like all things Chinese is all about nuance, symbolism, and message.

My god, thousands come out, with big banners that collectively form boats, Zheng He's journeys. Hard to overstate the magnificence, mix of technology and people. The sea, projected on the membrane that circles the stadium. How is any Olympic opener ever going to top this, for sheer mass spectacle and astonishing visual moments?

Everything bigger here in China, says Joshua. 15,000 performers in all, none of whom repeat.... It's like the first time you visit Tokyo, and feel as if the U.S. is living in a parallel, slightly inferior, time.

Light show is amazing, music is epic, as the performers act out a massive sea voyage. Hmm, wonder if they'll show all the nations they encountered bearing gifts?


Hour Two: Back to the Future
9 of the past 10 centuries China's had the world's largest GDP says Joshua, quoting what Chinese people tell him. Not sure if that's accurate.... Matt says let's take a moment to just appreciate the costumes.

More crazy fireworks as we go to another break, that last segment was short. Hmm, apparently we're skipping some things too for commercials; now up to the 70s. Some Liberace-ish guy at the piano, one of China's biggest stars says Bob. Surrounded by people in green, now undulating like stalks of rice, lit from below by the LED screen.

Wow, just amazing, figures in lit-up suits running across the giant stadium floor, forming spirals, now a giant dove. They make it seem like the wings of the dove are flapping, then take on the shape of the stadium; a giant kite appears (the Chinese invented that too, says Bob), and a little girl flies across, lifted by the kite. The performers are standing on top of each other to make the shape of the stadium.

Somewhere, the North Koreans are bowing their head in defeat, they are no longer the master of mass spectacle. Wonder what Leni Riefenstahl would've made of this?

Another commercial with Chinese people, from GE. Back, tai chi on stage. Performers surrounded by others propping up giant glass screens, onto which images and colors are projected. Waterfalls come down on the giant membrane around the stadium.

Sound of kids, sitting in the middle surrounded by 2008 doing tai chi. Harmony between man and nature is our only hope says Joshua. Stadium rings with their shouts; counterpoised with the voices of the kids as the performers form giant rings around them. Movement in one direction often begins with a very subtle move in the other direction, says Joshua.

Crowd roars, it's pretty amazing as they go through their exercises, forming new and interlacing patterns as they run about at top speed. People working together can do great things; were this an American Olympics, it'd be filled with stars.

Kids are waving, the tai chi performers do too before running off.

Space Age
Three performers, one for each of China's astronauts; Matt talks about their plans to put a man on the moon by 2024. Let Zhang organize it, and they'll make it. Some sortof giant spherical space stationish/beehive thing comes out, wow, it's got people walking along its sides! It turns into a globe; 8 months of training, says Joshua. Now doing cartwheels.

Two singers at the top, Chinese pop star Liu Huan and, oddly, Sarah Brightman, who the Chinese apparently like. The guy's singing in Chinese, You and Me; I assume she'll do English. A blue whale is swimming along in the background along the membrane, as scenes of Olympic competition flow along the globe.

Brightman gets a roar as she starts singing--in Chinese! Wow... how the world has turned, first Hong Kong and now this. Eat your heart out, England.

Performers hold faces of children from all around the world up on cards, they flash on the screen as well. One World, One Dream is the slogan of the games says Bob. Crazy batch of fireworks. Nobody can dispute the quality of this opening ceremony, he says, calling it "stunning, stunning."

Yeah, they were; I think people take away from this that China's world-class, they have a lot of disciplined people, and they know how to put on a show.

Parade of Nations
Out come the Greeks, Athens was a good Olympics but seems a long-lost memory. Left with a lot of debt, says Bob; they're waving Greek and Chinese flags, wearing white suits.

Guinea, it's by the number of strokes in the Chinese character for their name! Interesting. Turkey in white suits; they should get an Olympics at some point. Turkmenistan, who apparently approved the drab olive uniforms--ha, Bush is watching via binoculars.

Yemen, in dark suits. Maldives, in flowing gowns--Bob says a teen boy prevented an assasin from stabbing its president. Malta, in tannish suits. Madagascar, in striped outfits. Malaysia, who called NBC and asked them to explain where it is, in yellow. Mali, in white gowns, their flag bearer has a hug smile, world champ in--taekwondo! Wow.

Malawi, in red tops/black bottoms. Macedonia, in white collarless suits. The athletes walk in along lines of Chinese women in miniskirts who are constantly clapping and jumping up and down. Marshall Islands, with feathery boas; Cayman Islands, who told NBC they didn't want to be cut out.

Bhutan next, they're not skipping any countries during commercials; Ecuador, in yellow tops. Eritrea, in dark black suits. Jamacia, in yellow of course. Hmm, a lot of female flag bearers this time around. Belgium, in military-looking whiteish suits with black accents, red shirts. Vanuatu, in yellow and black. Israel, in bluish striped tops. Costas says Shimon Peres is walking back to his hotel afterwards, so as not to break the Sabbath. Japan... and the crowd's reaction is muted. At least they didn't boo. In dark blue tops/white pants. One of their Olympians also competed in 1964; big delegation.

Next is Chinese Taipei; big, big roar from the crowd--welcome home, comrades! No flag, a special Olympic flag. Central African Republic; then, Hong Kong China, another big welcome, in white tops. Gambia, in awesome blue robes, the smallest country in Africa still has 1.7 million people. Benin, in brown/reddish robes; then Mauritius, all black, polka dot red shirts. Very interesting.

Mauritania, in blue robes, there was a military coup there says earnest Matt. Denmark, in red, and blue shorts. Uganda, in cream robes with black tops. Ukraine, in their blue and yellow outfits, flagbearer is apparently a great swimmer, she looks very happy. Ah, and Sergei Bubka too, an administrator now.

Hour Three
Uruguay, then Ecuador (?), then Brunei was a scratch with no explanation, then Barbados, and Papua New Guinea. Brazil in green, cool uniforms. Hmm, they've never won gold in soccer, as the samba in.

Wow, everyone's walking across the giant painting, stepping on different colors--it's a really nice and thoughful touch. Paraguay, only country with a flag that's different on the front and back, uniforms are the same--light blue tops, tan shorts. Bahrain, with women in full red cover, guys in red vests/white robes. Bahamas, in aquamarinish tops and white shorts, naturally. Panama, white panama shirts. Pakistan, dark sportcoats. Matt chimes in with the serious latest political development report.

Ah, Palestine, a small delegation, in white/black shirts and black pants. 204 nations in all, says bob. Cuba, in uniform tannish/greenish outfits, nice applause from the crowd; a big delegation.

Ah, the first political ad, McCain hitting Obama as the biggest celebrity in the world--odd, the announcer's voice is a scary female. Very jarring, in the midst of all this pagentry, to suddenly have an attack ad--all the commercials are upbeat, the ceremony too; this is a bad move by McCain, the Obama ads are all positive, theirs reads like bad manners at best, scare-mongering at worst. Olympics are all about finding the breakout celebrities, just a weird decision by McCain.

Burkina Faso, Burundi, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Qatar, Rwanda. Luxembourg, Chad. Now Belarus, in red. Joshua explains the order again, says it's a bit nonsensical to some of you at home--well, actually no, it's China's Olympics, they're not going to follow the English alphabet!

India; 286 medals for China to 3 for India, who bring just 55 athletes, in white. Bush looks board, checking out his watch aka his father, all sprawled out in his chair. Indonesia, in black with shiny gold bottoms, largest population of overseas Chinese.

Lithuania in green tops, white shorts. Niger, with 1 athlete, who's carrying the flag. Nigeria, in white, dance into the stadium; hopefully they'll get an Olympics at some point in time. Nicaragua, in black and blue. Nepal, in red and white as Matt and Bob talk about a Nicaraguan boxer. Ghana, in kente cloth robes. Next, the Canadians, Vancouver's got the next games; all in white and red. They're now paying athletes for medals, for the first time; Bob points out the U.S. does that too.

Yeah, the tone's been very good so far; Costas is a pro, and although Matt's a bit unpredictable and sometimes seems to say things that he thinks he's expected to, he's been good too.

Gabon, 41st year for their president-for-life. San Marion, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Soa Tome and Principe, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan. And now, Laos; hmm, pronounced Lao actually, in white; Armenia, and now--Spain! Red and yellow of course, they seem really happy; Eurocup, French and Wimbledon, and Tour de France winners. Hey, Nadal's marching with everyone, that's awesome; they're waving their hats, really seem especially happy.

Bermuda, in shorts; Liechtenstein, which apparently changed their flag after they discovered it looked just like Haiti; then Congo in dark suits, followed by the Democratic Republica of Congo (i.e. Zaire), in light blue suits. Costas is perfect for this, so much interesting trivia in his brain.

And now, Iraq--in green and white, big hand. Bush claps for them too, all sprawled out in his seat. So weird to see him as just another fan, no entourage. Iran, in lighter green; flag-bearer one of their three female athletes.

Guatemala, in white with bluish trim. Hungary, in eye-blinding dalmation red spotted white outfits; they make fun of their outfits, gently. Dominican Republic, in black. Spectacular shot of the stadium with China's flag in the foreground as we go to break.

Dominica, Togo, Iceland, and Guam--with their 6 feet, 399 pounds flagbearer who competes in judo. Angola, Antigua, Barbuda, Andorra, Tonga. Jordan, in cool purple patterned outfits, very pretty. Equatorial Guinea, Finland in dark tops and blue shirts, with woman in dresses with water droplets on them. Croatia, red outfits. For some reason bagpipes have been really loud in the background.

Sudan, they talk about Joey Cheek being banned, outfits in white; Costas calls it outrageous that his visa was pulled, so contrary to the Olympic ideals. Interesting to see what he says when Russia comes up. Suriname, as we go to break, Bush is looking tired.

At last, NBC lays out their main storylines--too bad it's in a commercial. Sheesh. About halfway through; Libya, Liberia, Belize, Cape Verde, Cook Islands, Saudi Arabia--no women as always; Algeria, Albania, United Arab Emireates, with women for the first time--the two daughters of the prime minister. Hey, that's how change happens....

Argentina in white and blue, with Manu carrying the flag; Oman, then Aruba. Next, Afghanistan, with Hamid Karzai in the stands, Matt quick to say his name, stumbling over his country. Azerbaijan, in white; Namibia, in white/black checked tops, women in interesting black dresses. Tanzania, in yellow, Latvia in red/white outfits that match their flag.

Great Britain, a cheer for them; in white and blue shirts, some of their athletes look like kids (and are). Nicholas Sarkozy looking down as they march in, he looks sweaty, shirt is stained. British Virgin Islands, following the mother country in says Bob. Okay....

Kenya, in red with black, a ton of running medals. Romania, in interesting turquoise outfits, Matt points out the cheerleaders have been dancing for more than an hour; Palau, in tropical shirts; Tuvalu, in red and black, Olympic debut. Venezuela, in red/white/blue/yellow. Solomon Islands, in traditional dress.

Now the French, NBC has been saying they might get frosty reception due to Sarkozy's criticisms; in gray/bluish suits; no real reaction one way or the other, Sarkozy is animated again. Another under-performing nation.

Poland, in red--wow, they have some huge woman athlete or maybe delegate. Swimmers aren't here, says Bob, they're in competition right away tomorrow. Puerto Rico, dark blue tops, tan slacks.

Nice commercial from Coke, for the paraolympics. Their commercials tend to be classy. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Norway--hmm, odd one to miss. In gray suits, white. South Africa, in white. Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Cote D'Ivoire, Comoros, Bulgaria, standard dark top/white.

Russia, silly red/white outfits; Putin stands in the stands, Matt fills us in on the war--but oddly makes it seem like the break-away region is from Russia as he starts. Boy, what a whitewash; Russians invade a country and Matt makes it seem like an internal thing; Bob is better, calls them out for doing it in spite of the Olympic truce. Syria, in drab suits, one guy dancing like crazy.

And now, the U.S.--in Ralph Lauren-designed dark sportcoats, tan pants. Big hand for the U.S. as Bob talks about the flagbearer, once a Lost Boy from Sudan. Bush stands, sportcoat on and buttoned. Spiffy white caps. They should've had an Asian American design the outfits, as it is we just look like preppy kids. Kobe marching, looking happy; all the basketball players are together. Funny height disparities; hmm, U.S. vs. China Sunday night, Bush says he'll be there. U.S. high-fiving the cheerleaders, other nations may have too but NBC didn't show; very American.

Hour Four: Here comes China
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Honduras, Zimbabwe. It'd be cool if they aired some of the Chinese broadcast, and that of other nations. Matt says Mugabe tried to come, made it to Hong Kong, told to go home. Tunisia, in standard attire; Thailand, in silver outfits; Egypt, in seersucker suits says Bob; Ethiopia, in traditional garb; Lesotho, in total tribal garb, with conical hats; Mozambique, in checked outfits.

Netherlands, in gray; Matt's wife is apparently Dutch, towering nation. Netherland Antilles, Georgia, Somalia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru in white. Ireland, in tan--fastest growing population in Europe says Matt. Hmm, what about Turkey?

Estonia, in multicolors, yellow for some, orange or blue for others. Haiti, in white and tan. Czech Republic, looking like soldiers in blue and red with white straps. Kiribati, in red/white/blue. Philippines, in aquamarine; flagbearer isn't part of their team, just a famed boxer. Odd. El Salvador, flagbearer chosen by text messaging poll, 73% of the vote. Samoa--hmm, we've barely heard any female voices tonight, just one reporter. Micronesia, Tajikistan; China has 14 neighbors, only Russia has as many says Bob.

Ha, other athletes coming up to U.S. basketball players to get photos with them. Kobe seems really happy. Vietnam, in blue. Botswana, in light blue, another African nation with a white flagbearer. Sri Lanka, home of people with the longest names (along with the Thai). Swaziland, then Slovenia, with shiny grayish outfits. About 175 countries in says Bob, cheerleaders still going says Matt.

Slovakia, in red and then guys in drab. Portugal, as Matt and Bob talk about the Olympic ideal, and how it does matter that so many people from all around the world are mixing here. Ah, South Korea in white; stir in the crowd; not marking with North Korea this time around. Hu Jintao looking chipper. Fiji, followed by Cameroon. Montenegro, first time here, important moment for them. North Korea, in dark suits, gets a big hand from the crowd. Chile, in red and blue. Austria, dancing in, gray outfits. Hmm, they have several Asians on the team.

Myanmar, in odd sportcoat/t-shirt/skirt or pants combination. Switzerland, with Roger Federer bearing the flag. Sweden, in aquamarine outfits--women are wearing chinese-style versions, it's cool. Naru, one athlete. Mongolia, in yellow with cowboy hats. Singapore, red coats. 3/4ths ethnically Chinese Bob says. New Zealand, Kiwis in black, with Chinese accents. That's cool.

Italy as we come back from break, in gray, looking very happy, mugging for the cameras. Senegal, in white. Serbia, in dark blue with red accents, women in very stylish red. Seychelles, then Sierra Leone, bright light blue and green, very stylish. Cyprus, with blue and white faded. Mexico as Bob talks about this being the single most important moment in the history of modern China. Lebanon, as we get closer to China.

Germany, with Dirk Nowitzki carrying the flag; great-grandparents good enough to get Chris Kaman on the team too. Some of their women, in pink, being carried.

Moldova back from break, as the stupid bagpipes start up again. Monaco, all smiles; Costas is still talking about Grace Kelly--back to enjoy, back to party, back to not necessarily win a medal, says Bob. Yeah, he's getting more punchy; Morocco in their fez red; Australia comes in, all in blue--threat to the U.S. in swimming. Hmm, cool, their PM is fluent in Mandarin. Times must be changing, their last PM, Howard, was fluent in bigotry.

Zambia, next to last; so a big hand. Now, silence from the announcers for the Chinese....

Music changes to Chinese music, and there's a dramatic pause, nobody's coming out, and now.... Yao Ming! China! Crowd goes nuts, it's a sea of red in the stands, yellow and red on the athletes. Zhong-guo says the announcer, Yao waves the flag, with some little boy walking next to him. Everyone's on their feet; the boy is an earthquake survivor, many of his classmates died, freed himself, returned to help save two classmates, as a hall monitor says it was his responsibility, says Costas.

Wow. Crowd's going nuts, the kid is waving China's flag and the Olympics flag--whoops, just dropped it, picked it up again. Unlike in Italy when all the countries marched to American pop, here it's been non-commercial music for the most part. Great panning shot of the crowd.

Hmm, interesting, seems like the team is segregated, with all the women marching first, then the men. Some white faces in there, must be coaches. Yao looks very serious. 91,000 people on their feet, as China makes a complete loop; 639 members of the team, up from 400 in Athens.

Joshua is back, says it's totally electric in here. Little kid is super cute, and looks like he's having a grand time. Part of his head is still shaved. Someone takes the flag from Yao, he gets a hand from a volunteer as he leads the team into their area.

Hour Five: China Opens
Hmm, the giant painting everyone's walked on is now the stage for the festivities. Casual translation from Joshua trails far behind the actual speech from a Chinese official; odd that most of this is just being ignored by NBC, they're now talking about other things.

Joshua jumps back in; the visuals are great, podium seems to be slightly tilted, or else NBC's camera platform is. Jacque Rogge, speaks in English (stilted) of course. Big applause as he says congratulations, Beijing, repeats it in Chinese, an even bigger roar. He's getting applauded quite often; now, turns it over to Hu Jintao.

Huge roar as he declares the games open in Chinese; wow. Fireworks like crazy, Yao and the kid are celebrating. They must light the flame using fireworks in some way, I'm guessing.

Not sure who'll carry the torch the last leg; Yao would be the obvious choice, or else that hurdles guy since Yao was the flagbearer. My guess is it'll be someone with a nod toward the future, rather than an older athlete famous in China but maybe not overseas. But we'll see.

The Olympics flag is going up, next to the Chinese flag, as the Olympic anthem starts. Wow, what military precision surrounding the flag; anthem performed in Greek, by the kids who started all this off. Yao looks flushed.

It's really been an impressive opening; that of a proud nation doing things their way, with a nod to the rest of the world along for the ride. Really odd to me that NBC hasn't previewed all their coverage more, even via graphics or something.

The flame comes into the darkened stadium, Xu Haifung, China's first gold medalist in a pistol event in '84 when China returned to the Olympics. To Gao Min, who I remember, a Chinese divers in the 80s/90s. Lee Xiaoshuang, multiple-medal-winning gymnast. Third of eight. Zhan Xugang, who won in weightlifting. Only winners on this route. Stadium awash in swaying light, music is Chinese and pleasant.

Zhang Jun, badminton winner. Costas is talking about how the cauldron will surely be lit in a spectacular fashion based on everything else tonight. Chen Zhong, taekwondo winner. She's running up to stage, to person number seven, another woman--Sun Jinfang, member of a legendary volleyball team. Nicely balanced between men and women so far, and it goes to an older guy--Li Ning, ah, of course; 3 gold in 1984, 6 overall in gymnastics.

Wow, he's raised up by ropes, as the flame is guttering, flies through the air. Man, totally vertical like hundreds of feet--a slight slip it looks like, but then he 'races' through the air, fake running--what a TV image. Runs along the membrane as images from the torch relay trail behind him. He's been well-trained, it looks like he's actually running. Going completely around the stadium.

The concept must've come first, then they chose an athlete; Costas says when it comes to Olympic ceremonies, retire the trophy. The cauldron is unrolled from the membrane, he lights a long pipe, the flame runs up the sides of the cauldron, and it's lit.

Wow, says Costas. Stadium's awash in light; nicely designed cauldron, paper/scroll linkage to China's history. And now, the mother of all fireworks shows. The entire city seems to be lighting up, it's totally insane. Yao is holding the little boy so he can see.

Breathtaking says Bob, as we go to break. NBC previews tomorrow, via a commercial. They come back with Yao, they interview him, in English; he says he and everyone else has waited for this their entire life, it means a lot for their future.

Asks him about Lin Hao, and what he means. Hope for China's future, says Yao; even a kid knows how to help each other, a good example for what a citizen looks like, my feeling is I want to cry, this is the biggest, at the end the kid says thank you, shakes the reporter's hand. Wow.

Joshua says absolutely phenomenal, Matt says amazing, Bob says the ceremony exceeded all superlatives, now let the games begin.

They close with a musical montage of the ceremony. At the end, a card says dedicated to Jim McKay.

Totally looking forward to watching the games; hope the rest of it is as spectacular as tonight.

Great use of web video

This is actually a really sophisticated video, in addition to being hilarious and catchy.