Ni Hao!

It’s another late night in Beijing but, with my days numbered, let me give you a quick synopsis of the past few days.

It has been all about Volleyball the past few days. I’ve been able to sneak out to Chaoyang Park for Beach Volleyball and cheer on our favorite American teams. I don’t know if you saw me at the Walsh/May final…I was wearing a blue poncho. (I hope you know that is a joke, as there was a sea of pastel ponchos there). Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, but it didn’t dampen our sprits. It was a thrill to be there. To top it off, we went to the USA house to celebrate their win (a big frat-type party for US Athletes).

Today was the Men’s turn….they took the Beach Volleyball gold, too. We also struck an agreement with the team. If they signed 75 volleyballs, we’d pick up all their room incidental charges. Everything is negotiable these days!

Tonight I went to cheer on my beloved Men’s Water Polo team – and let me tell you, they look even better with their striped Speedos on than they did around the baggage carousel three weeks ago! It was a small venue compared to most of the others around town. There was a huge American crowd there going crazy - and we soundly beat the Serbian team, who were favored to win. U.S. is now in the running – and they came in ranked #9. Nobody wanted to leave after the game, as everyone was singing and taking pictures. Such an electric night. I have a great feeling that they will win the gold.

There was a ton of buzz around our hotel two days ago, as Michael Phelps checked-in. We had a private reception with him for our group! Every staff member of the Hilton came out of the woodwork. You would have thought it was the “2nd coming.” Phelps is a great kid…very gracious. It was nice to see.

As thrilling as it was to meet Phelps, we were all heartbroken to see Wallace Spearman Jr. get DQ’d in the 200 Meter final. He is sponsored by our client, and has been staying at our hotel along with his family. It makes the loss tougher when you actually know the person, but he is a great guy and I think we will see him again in four years.

The Lopez family and friends are all in our lounge celebrating their kids medals in Taekwondo. There is such joy and excitement in the air.

So with all I did today, I did find time to run across the street for a massage, and then got my neck adjusted (and my wrist) by the traveling Volleyball team doctor. It’s nice to know people.

Okay, I know this wasn’t my most clever, witty writing, but my bed is calling… it is 2 a.m.

Good night from Beijing,

Jan

Ni Hao from Beijing,

I have been so remise in writing, but I have been so busy “living” these games that I don’t have much time to write about them.

I’ve been fortunate to attend quite a few Olympic events. You have to know, since I was a child, I dreamt of being in the Olympics, so to be part of this is such a thrill for me. There are no words. I was a swimmer in my former life – and these games have been on fire with swimming – and not just Michael Phelps.

We have current and former Olympians staying at our hotel. Last night, I had a great conversation with Lenny Krazelburg, who was a gold medal winner from the Athens games. Our hotel is also the hub for the men’s and women’s sand volleyballs teams. So, besides escorting my group to many of the events, I’ve made friends with the beach volleyball manager who keeps handing me tickets (and the venue is only 10 minutes from our hotel). Going to sand volleyball is a hoot… very intimate, great music playing between every point, bikini clad girls dancing in the sand during time outs, and lots of beer being consumed (it cost the equivalent of about $1.10 US). Needless to say, this venue is a favorite of the Americans and the Aussies!

Today I went to the National Stadium, better known as the Birds Nest. It was an absolutely stunning day in Beijing today with blue skies and a cool breeze. It was a freak- of-nature (kind of like Michael Phelps). Our group had access to a skybox suite, which was air-conditioned, catered, with free beer…pretty sweet.  However, for track and field events, we were way too far away from the field to enjoy it. So, I hate to admit it, but I spent most of my time in front of the TV. I first watched Misty May & Kerri Walsh play volleyball – then watched all the swimming medal events. It was great day for the Americans, so I would not walk away from that TV for all the tea in China.

Later, I did walk to the top of the Stadium to check out the view. It truly is an architectural wonder. It’s stunning from the inside and out.  It was hard to imagine the center of the track was where the amazing opening ceremonies had taken place. It now just looks like a big slab of turf.

I could go on and on, but once again I’m looking at only five hours of sleep.

I love hearing from all, so keep the fun replies a-comin’.

Hugs,
Jan

Have the Olympics passed the point of no return? Watching the opening ceremony resplendent with fireworks and a multi-million dollar production budget, I got to wondering about the point.

What exactly are the Olympics? The games are certainly are not the world wide celebration of amateur sport the Greeks envisioned when the Summer Games were reconstituted back in 1896 in Athens.

Do we really care about Kobe vs. Yao vs. Pau? Didn’t we just get a winter of that? Do we really need Sharapova playing for Russia when we’ve just had a summer of Wimbledon and look forward to Forrest Hills?

And now, the talk is about golf becoming an Olympic sport in eight years – as if we already don’t know who the best golfer in the world will be in 2016. And as for Olympic soccer, the teams consist of professional players younger than 23, except each team can have two players older than 23.

That’s how 36-year-old Brian McBride found his way on to the US Men’s Olympic Soccer Team. In women’s soccer, however, teams such as those from the US were allowed by rule to send its full professional women’s national team, not that you could tell in our 2-0 opening round loss vs. Norway.

Anyway, what’s the point? Why are we talking about tennis, soccer, golf, basketball or baseball? Things change, I get that, but I liked it better when the Olympics were more about nationalism than commercialism.

Are the Olympics past the point of no return? Probably. But I’ll watch.

Dear family, friends, and readers:

A very sad incident has happen really close to home for our program. The father-in-law of the head coach of the Men’s US Volleyball team was killed today in a “random act of violence.” His wife was also injured in the attack, and we do not know her condition. This happened at noon today. It was at the Bell Tower in Hutong, a tourist attraction that our group had just visited.

We knew about it, but there was nothing being released to the public until now. We are now beefing up security and in a state of high alert. This coach was due to check in to our hotel today. It is obviously very difficult for me to write about the Opening Ceremony when our hearts are so heavy right now. I hope you all watched, as it truly was spectacular, and I do not have enough superlatives to describe it.

I will write more soon. I plan to watch the Gymnastics competition tonight. It will be a nice deviation to what is going on.

Peace,
Jan