In a strip mall, across the street from the shooting range … Atop a store front, this sign: “Massage by Blind Masseurs.” Actually, that may be a good thing for everyone. Those of us who are less than toned and svelte don’t have to worry about being a visual blight to the massage therapist. And […]

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This is a sport I never have covered. There aren’t many left I can say that about (hmm, maybe judo?). And I will rectify my no-shooting record in a few minutes when the women’s 10-meter Air Pistol event begins. Among the two Americans in the competition is Brenda Shinn, a lieutenant in the Riverside County […]

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OK, sure, China has an authoritarian government. A totalitarian government. Ostensibly a Communist one, though it doesn’t quite have the feel of the two other Big Red countries I visted — Cuba and East Germany. But this isn’t a free-wheeling democracy, by any means. Still, you have to give China this: It can make things […]

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It’s hard to convey just how many “helpers” there are at these Olympics. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. They are on every corner. At every turn in a venue corridor.  They ride on every bus, open every door, greet you before every meal, rush to bus your dishes after you finish. They are hovering […]

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Looking a bit stunned from three hours in the Beijing heat, I do not mug for the camera as the U.S. Olympic team enters the stadium. This is my seventh Summer Games, going back to Los Angeles 1984 … and I can say this with assurance: Beijing 2008 was the sweatiest Opening Ceremonies of the […]

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I’m sweltering here at the Bird’s Nest stadium in the Olympic Green, in aisle 209, row 14, seat 8. So far, the best thing about this is that my seat has a lucky number: An 8 p.m. start on 8-8-2008 in seat 8. What more could I ask for? How about a wet towel? I’m […]

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I believe the Beijing Olympics will be the biggest, most expensive, most lavish, most over-the-top Games in Olympics history. And I can’t even imagine when another Olympics might eclipse this one. Let’s consider the factors at work here. And then you can try to create a scenario that might be similar enough to prompt the […]

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Just another example of the host country wanting complete control of its event … There will be no internet connections for computers during the three-plus-hour Opening Ceremonies. The Chinese phone company is taking down its links during the event, presumably so no one will be tempted to try to put up streaming video. Taken by […]

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I’m working in the Main Press Center as the clock ticks down on the start of Opening Ceremonies. Always a very big deal at the Olympics. Problem is, the MPC is packed. Even though the first buses to National Stadium (the site of Opening)  left at 2:40 p.m. for the 8 p.m. event … and […]

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Nothing makes international sports reporters weak in the knees the way the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team does. People with years in the business and scads of experience suddenly become goofy fans, trying to get close to the tall men from the United States. The American men found an hour in their busy day to […]

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