Summer Olympics News

The roster for U.S. Olympic basketball team was announced today. One thing that stands out to me is that the team is on the small side. They are loaded with talent, but I am a little concerned about their size.

Anyway, here is the final 12 man roster for the United States Olympic basketball team:

Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

Dwyane Wade – Miami Heat

Carmelo Anthony – Denver Nuggets

Jason Kidd – Dallas Mavericks

Tayshaun Prince – Detroit Pistons

Carlos Boozer – Utah Jazz

Chris Bosh – Toronto Raptors

Dwight Howard – Orlando Magic

Chris Paul – New Orleans Hornets

Michael Redd – Milwaukee Bucks

Deron Williams – Utah Jazz

I just read this article about how the 2008 Summer Olympics are going to be a “High-tech” Olympics. According to the article:

One of the three themes of the Beijing Olympics is to make it a “high-tech Olympics.” According to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), the event will incorporate “the latest domestic and international scientific and technological achievements” and serve as “a window to showcase the city’s high-tech achievements and its innovative strength.” With a published operating budget of US$2 billion, BOCOG has estimated the technology portion of the budget at over $400 million for 449 science and technology projects, although it has not delineated what those projects are.

It’s too bad most of the technology projects aren’t really going to be for the consumers of the Olympics. When I first read the article, I thought the high-tech advances were going to be for visitors of the Olympics and for the fans. Unfortunately, it seems most of the “high-tech” aspects of the Olympics will be used for government surveillance and other government projects.

According to state media, more than 4,000 Chinese babies have been named “Aoyun” or “Olympic Games”. Apparently, Chinese citizens are very excited about the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics.

We just had a new baby two weeks ago, and I can’t imagine naming him after a sporting event. I am not sure that I would even name one of our children “Olympic Games” if we were paid a million dollars. Would you?

During the 2008 Summer Olympics you might want to know answers to questions like:

“Where can I find the most current Olympics medal count?”

“Which country has the most gold medals so far?”

“Who is the current leader in the 2008 Summer Olympics medal count?”

etc.

While we will be providing up to date coverage during the Summer Olympics, there is a new cool way to keep track of the medal count in the 2008 Olympics.

You will now be able to use the Olympics Games dashboard, which will present medal counts and sporting event data in an interactive dashboard display. Available starting August 8, the 2008 the Olympics Games dashboard, powered by iDashboards will serve as a single view of up-to-date Olympics results and medal standings.

Interested in seeing what this dashboard will allow you to do? For a sneak peek, iDashboards has created a comprehensive dashboard incorporating the 2004 Summer Olympic Games results. Check it out by clicking here:

http://live.idashboards.com/beijing2008/?guestuser=guest

It looks pretty cool to me, what do you think about it?

My wife and I have been very busy this week, so I wanted to go ahead and share a few of the more interesting 2008 Summer Olympics related stories from around the web this week:

Beijing Olympics Airport: World’s Biggest Airport Opens in Beijing
This post has very cool pictures of the new Beijing airport.

Many hotel rooms still vacant for Beijing Olympics
This is good news for people planning on traveling to the Olympics this year.

Olympic Sponsors Cheer the Home Team
This is very interesting article about the way sponsors are advertising in this Olympics.

GYMNASTICS: Paul Hamm has surgery on hand
Story about Olympic gold medalist Paul Hamm’s hand surgery and how it affects his changes to compete in the upcoming Olympics.

Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee dubbed the fastest man on no legs, will most likely be banned from pursuing his Olympic dreams. Tests conducted show that his prosthetic legs give him a competitive advantage. He plans to appeal the decision and request additional testing.

I understand the IAAF’s need to ban any items which give a technological advantage. However, it does seem that the fact that the man has no legs mitigates any advantage the prosthetics may give him. If ever there were a place for an exception, this would seem to be it. By the way, Pistorius is not exactly the bionic man. He has not yet run Olympic qualifying times and was simply seeking the opportunity to compete. He was not considered a high threat for qualifying, much less medaling at the Olympics.

I’m going to start writing a periodic feature called unlikely athletes, which will bring you stories of athletes chasing their Olympic dreams, despite hurdles such as age and physical challenges. If you know of an athlete who should be featured, please tell me about it in the comment section or contact me through the contact information.

Our first athlete is 49 year old Tim Barnes of Pueblo, Colorado. Barnes hopes to make it to Beijing competing in kayaking. Not only will Barnes have to compete against athletes half his age but he’s also had both hips replaced. In spite of this, he’s already had a couple of strong finishes in national competitions. In April, he’ll compete in the Olympic trials in Oklahoma, hoping to complete his dreams of a trip to the Beijing Olympics this summer.

He’s supposed to retire (we’ve heard that before), but Roger Clemens would definitely consider foregoing retiring for a chance to pitch for the U.S. Olympic baseball team next year in Beijing. MLB.com reported that his agent said he is looking into his options. The decision will need to be made by early summer in order to add Clemens to the roster. Whether Clemens plays, or not, the 2008 Olympics will be a milestone for baseball. It is the last Olympics scheduled to include baseball, which has been dropped by the International Olympic Committee.

Roger Federer is one of the hottest players in tennis. He’s won 12 Grand Slam Tournaments. But one thing he’s never won is an Olympic medal. In this recent article, he talks about what it would mean to him to bring home the gold.

Although Chinese swimmer Wu Peng looks up to Michael Phelps, he doesn’t consider him to be his idol. Wu Peng is one of China’s great hopes for a medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Recently, he won the 200 m butterfly at the Asian Games.