FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. After all, the Chinese did invent fireworks so you'd expect quite the pyrotechnic performance during closing ceremonies. From my vantage point about 50 yards away from the Bird's Nest, it didn't disappoint.
For those of you who've been following along with my Olympic adventures in Beijing, you may recall how the impenetrable security at the opening ceremonies thwarted any attempts I made to see some of the fireworks on 08/08/08. But after spending the past two and a half weeks in China, I learned a few key facts that helped me gain entrance to the Olympic Green for this evenings closing ceremonies. The most important of which is that I don't speak Chinese and they don't speak English so if you just act like you're supposed to be going through a certain security check point they seem cool with it.
So yes, tune in to NBC later this evening to watch the taped version of what I just saw in person. (I had to rub it in a little bit.)
FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Americans Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers won themselves a gold medal on Friday by beating Brazil on the hot sand in Beijing. If you ever get the chance to attend a summer Olympics event in person, beach volleyball is the way to go.
Having seen a riveting performance of rhythmic gymnastics a day earlier, the gold medal match of men's beach volleyball was absolutely the most exciting event I've attended at the 2008 Olympics thus far. Not only is there high flying spikes, slams, blocks, and digs, but there is cheesy rock and roll in between plays.
Before coming to Beijing for the games, all of the buzz in my group of travelers was about trying to score the hot events. Right near the top of the list was a ticket to see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and the rest of the 2008 USA basketball team play. The opponent didn't really matter.
I was lucky enough to score a seat in the second row of the upper bowl of Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium to watch as Team USA made Dirk Niwitzki and the German team look like a third world country. The US squad won by forty-nine.
Sure the high flying dunks and attempted alley-oops off the backboard were entertaining but after the US had a twenty-five plus point lead things got a bit boring. Should a fan in attendance simply marvel at the display or hope for a more competitive game? I say both.
Before coming to Beijing for the games, all of the buzz in my group of travelers was about trying to score the hot events. Right near the top of the list was a ticket to see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and the rest of the 2008 USA basketball team play. The opponent didn't really matter.
I was lucky enough to score a seat in the second row of the upper bowl of Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium to watch as Team USA made Dirk Niwitzki and the German team look like a third world country. The US squad won by forty-nine.
Sure the high flying dunks and attempted alley-oops off the backboard were entertaining but after the US had a twenty-five plus point lead things got a bit boring. Should a fan in attendance simply marvel at the display or hope for a more competitive game? I say both.
FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. I'm in Beijing, China. Not sure exactly how far it is from Havertown, Pennsylvania -- the town I grew up in -- but it's safe to say it's a few thousand miles away from the comfort of a WaWa Shortie Italian. Knowing that fact, I wonder what the chances were that I'd run into not one, but two people from Havertown while in Beijing on the same night.
And both of them just happened to be sporting Olympic Medals they won earlier that day.
FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. The U.S. Olympic Team is the only country other than the host nation with their very own training facilities located in Beijing. They've contracted out a relationship with Beijing Normal University to set up the kind of training center our nation's top athletes have come to expect.
During a tour I took of the facilities the other day I got the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the ladies hoops stars -- including Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, and Diana Taurasi, among others – in the middle of a closed practice. They seemed light and loose during their shoot around, as they should with the rest of the world struggling to even compete with our dominant women's team.
More photos of the basketball team as well and the men's water polo squad after the jump.
FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. There's certainly no two drink limit per person at the Bird's Nest in Beijing as there are at every single venue in America. One friend of mine actually purchased eight beers at one time and had the friendly concession workers put them nicely in a box for him to carry back to his seat.
Not only are beers plentiful but they're also ridiculously cheap. You can see my purchase of 6 Budweisers and two ice cream above that came to a whopping total of 40 RMB or approximately $5.75 US. As you may imagine, we had quite the fun time watching Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay run really, really fast last night.
A few more photos I snapped of the Bird's Nest last night after the jump.
FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. As I'm sure you can see on NBC back home in the states, the Water Cube and Bird's Nest are two breathtaking buildings. When we entered the Water Cube on Thursday evening here in Beijing, the sun was still out and the full effect of the amazingly unique structure wasn't visible just yet. But as you can see from the photo I snapped above after exiting the 100-meter butterfly prelims, the Water Cube's aura is ridiculous when lit up in pool blue and purple.
To be quite honest with you, the swimming prelim wasn't all that exciting and simply getting the chance to enter the amazing structure out-shined the actual swimming. The highlight of the action in the pool was clearly getting the chance to watch Michael Phelps in person during the Olympics where he is trying to break history.
More photos of Phelps and the Water Cube after the jump.
For those of you who read my personal website, The700Level.com, you'd know that I'm a bit of a Phillie Phanatic apologist. I love the furry green fella even when many sporting enthusiasts believe there is no place for mascots in serious competition. To those people, I say "I hope the Phanatic spills a giant vat of popcorn on your head, you miserable hater of fun."
Anyone who has ever been associated with the Olympics knows that the chosen official mascots of each games are almost assuredly annoying. So it was with great pleasure that I got to see the five elements of the Beijing games get to trip over themselves and fall on their faces. Yes, I know. I'll grow up someday.
The below video is from the epic Spain vs. China battle that took place a few days ago here in Beijing.
FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. As of today, I've been in China for a week and have only seen one event in person: China vs. Spain basketball. That's about to change as I've got an action packed line up of events over the next two weeks ranging from random small competitions like cycling or team handball to huge marquee events like seeing the Kobe Bryant-led Redeem Team.
When I boarded my flight to China last week I only had tickets lined for the lesser-known competitions but with a bit of legwork, some networking, and sweat – okay, a lot of sweat – tickets to some of the bigger events can be had.
Before coming to Beijing for the games, all of the buzz in my group of travelers was about trying to score the hot events. Right near the top of the list was a ticket to see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and the rest of the 2008 USA basketball team play. The opponent didn't really matter.
Before coming to Beijing for the games, all of the buzz in my group of travelers was about trying to score the hot events. Right near the top of the list was a ticket to see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and the rest of the 2008 USA basketball team play. The opponent didn't really matter.
