The Globe and Mail - 2008 Games blog

Blair: Play Well With Others

Jeff Blair — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:47 EDT

'88 Minutes' is[amp]nbsp;a huge[amp]nbsp;piece of garbage, so as I was half-heartedly watching Al Pacino damage his reputation on the flight back from China, I had some time to think about the past couple of weeks covering the Beijing Olympics. It's really all about playing well with others. Geezus - Follow link to read full post

Walton: Pin-mania

dwalton — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:30 EDT

I'll never understand those who collect. The got-em, need-em, want-em mantra has never appealed to me - at least, not as a grown up. Not so for the dozens and dozens who gathered daily outside the Olympic Green trading, buying and selling pins from every nation, sport and media organization somehow - Follow link to read full post

Sekeres: It's Back to School

msekeres — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:22 EDT

Throughout the Games, Dawn Walton and I have had a running joke: the Olympics are summer camp. [amp]nbsp;Every day, members of Team Globe wake up in a single bed and fight a roomie for the shower and the loo. Then we traipse down to a cafeteria-style breakfast. We usually have a cafeteria-style lunch - Follow link to read full post

Mickleburgh: What's with the ribbons?

rmickleburgh — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:56 EDT

I was ignored among the hundreds of journalists packed into a large conference hall to hear IOC president Jacques Rogge field the final questions of the Games on human rights and the Beijing Olympics. “It is Chinese law,” he told a reporter who asked about the sentencing of two elderly petitioners - Follow link to read full post

Sekeres: How far we've come

msekeres — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:59 EDT

To be sure, the Olympics did not solve all of China's ills, and every society could use a little more progress, and a little more humanity. But I saw something this week that got me thinking more about how far we've come, rather than how far we have left to go. I saw Englishman John Amaechi, the former - Follow link to read full post

Blair: Globe medallists

Jeff Blair — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:58 EDT

They have these funky souvenir "medals" that they're giving out to reporters who covered these games, along with a citation from Jacques Rogge thanking us "in recognition and appreciation of your contribution to the success of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad," which I take to mean that Rogge saw the bar - Follow link to read full post

Blair: Ivy ... we got ivy

Jeff Blair — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:02 EDT

I had my weekly contemplative moment Saturday night sitting in the press centre at the Wukesong Baseball Field. My guys were in the process of losing the baseball gold medal - I am an unabashed admirer and lover of all things Cuban baseball and, frankly, I don't give a damn what people think that says - Follow link to read full post

Mickleburgh: Chinese Ping-Pong veteran a joy to watch

rmickleburgh — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:53 EDT

I'm a big admirer of veteran Chinese Ping-Pong player Wang Nan. She's been playing so long, I remember her from my daze as the Globe's China correspondent about the time the Chinese invented gunpowder. She has kind of a tough face which used to be a bit intimidating and impenetrable when she was younger - Follow link to read full post

Blair: Now THAT'S a wall

Jeff Blair — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:37 EDT

So. Dawn Walton and I were gifted some time off by the weather gods Thursday because rain washed out the BMX event - predictable, dude, since all the moisture would likely rust the various piercings of the competitors and spectators. I've still got the women's soccer final tonight between Brazil and - Follow link to read full post

Sekeres: Olympic pressure

msekeres — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:56 EDT

[amp]nbsp;At the women's 10-metre diving semifinal this morning, one athlete was both hard to watch, and hard not to watch. She finished third in the prelims, which suggested she is a very competent diver, and was up to the Olympic task. But when she stood on the platform for her first dive today, the - Follow link to read full post