2008 Oylmpics Opening Ceremony Schedule

Everyone is anticipating the opening schedule of the 2008 Oylmpics which is just a couple of days away. This will be an historic opening and will give us a break form all the political fluff on the news and the Olympics will give the news organizations something else to report on.

2008 Summer Olympic Games:

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be celebrated in Beijing, People’s Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008 and followed by the 2008 Summer Paralympics from September 6 to September 17. Ten thousand, five hundred athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports, just one event more than was on the schedule of the 2004 games.[1] The 2008 Beijing Olympics will also mark the third time that Olympic events will have been held in the territories of two different National Olympic Committees (NOC): at the 2008 Olympics, equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong, which competes separately from mainland China.

The Olympic games were awarded to Beijing after an exhaustive ballot of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 13, 2001. The official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features a stylised calligraphic character j?ng (?, meaning capital), referencing the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing both a colour of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture. The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit. Several new NOCs have also been recognised by the IOC.

The Chinese government has promoted the games to highlight China’s emergence on the world stage and has invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems. A total of 37 venues will be used to host the events including 12 newly constructed venues. Earlier in 2007, former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch had said that he believes that the Beijing games will be "the best in Olympic history,"[4] and despite the controversies that have marred the image of the Chinese Olympics, current president Jacques Rogge asserts that the IOC has "absolutely no regrets" in choosing Beijing to host the 2008 games.

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Norway beats US in Olympic Soccer

Well the Olympics gets underway in a couple of days and the U.S. has already suffered a defeat in Olympic Soccer. It was not an official match for medals, but it does sow that Norway may be every bit of the contender in Olympic soccer that they have been estimated to be. This Norway soccer team will be the one to watch when the official Olympics get underway.

Norway jumped on the United States from the opening whistle Wednesday in Qinhuangdao, China.

The Norwegians scored two goals in the first four minutes and beat the U.S. women’s soccer team 2-0 at the Beijing Olympics two days before the Opening Ceremonies.

In a matchup of world powers, Norway played like the medal-contenders they’re supposed to be, while the Americans never looked the part.

Leni Larsen Kaurin outmuscled U.S. defender Lori Chalupny to head the ball over charging goalkeeper Hope Solo and into an open net in the second minute.

U.S. Women’s soccer Photos Two minutes later, Melissa Wiik latched on to a deep pass on the right side after the U.S lost the ball in midfield. The Norwegian then outraced U.S. captain Christie Rampone and curled a right-footed shot past Solo and just inside the far post.

"We are satisfied," Norway coach Bjarne Berntsen said. "We are grateful for the tremendous start we had."

"After the great start, I think we played a very good defensive game. There were very few big chances for the United States."

Norway, which handed the U.S. its only other Olympic loss in the 2000 gold-medal match, dominated the first half as a sluggish U.S. side seemed out of sync in the back and lacking creativity up front.

The loss was the first for U.S. coach Pia Sundhage, who took over in November.

"My glass is always half full, so for us it’s a new experience to lose a game," Sundhage said. Sundhage was encouraged with her team’s aggressive play after the break.

Japan 2, New Zealand 2: Aya Miyama and Homare Sawa scored second-half goals to rally Japan in Group G in Qinhuangdao.

Canada 2, Argentina 1: Goals by Candace Chapman and Kara Lang offset a goal by Ludmila Manicler in the 85th minutes in a Group E match in Tianjin.

Germany 0, Brazil 0: In a Group F match between the World Cup finalists in Shenyang, the Germans limited FIFA player of the year Marta from threatening. Both teams had a shot that struck the piping.

China 2, Sweden 1: Han Duan scored the winner in the 72nd minute in a Group E match in Tianjin.

North Korea 1, Nigeria 0: Kim Kyong Hwa scored in the 27th minute in a Group F match in Shenyang.

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad are almost upon us. This year the Olympics will hold the games in Bejing China and is really shaping up to be an historic event. Of course all Olympic games are pretty much historic by their very nature. Over 10,000 athletes will be competing for the gold medals this year. I normally don’t follow the games as much as I should but this year I’m going to try to be a little different and keep up with who is winning what and the general atmosphere surrounding the games.

Many people have been protesting that the games will be held in Bejing as they consider China as a violator of human rights. This is probably accurate, but its not a reason to protest the games. These games should be about the athletes and not politics. These Athletes spend their entire life training and for many of them they will only get one shot to compete in the Olympics and we should allow them to compete  without guilt imposed by the politics of their individual country. We need to just let these remarkable people compete and perform the best that their abilities will allow them to.