Last week, during the middle of the Olympics, we asked you who is the biggest star other than Michael Phelps.
Now that the Olympics are over, who do you think was the biggest star of the overall Games?
{democracy:5}
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 Bailey and U.S. settle for silver in water poloAugust 24th, 2008, 6:16 am by JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING – They were left hurting and not just Peter Hudnut, who had stitches over his left eye to match the ones under his nose. The U.S. men’s water polo team walked away smarting Sunday, silver medals around their necks but something much weightier hanging from their hearts. “It’s painful as a coach and painful as a player,” coach Terry Schroeder said. “They’ll he hurting tonight and hurting tomorrow and hurting for the next few days. But they’ll realize one day just how much they accomplished here.” The Americans, who entered the Olympics as long shots to medal, left with second place, losing to Hungary in the finals, 14-10. The Hungarians now have won three consecutive gold medals in this sport and nine overall. The finish matched the best for the U.S. men’s program. The Americans won silver in 1984 and again in 1988. Your thoughts, pleaseAugust 24th, 2008, 12:11 am by JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING - Two of our favorite quotes from the Games: “The fact is I didn’t punch him. It’s he who punched me.” - George Gogshelidze of Georgia after losing in wrestling to Taimuraz Tigiyev of Kazakhstan. “We won because of our togetherness, hard work and because the music our fans were playing in the stadium gave us power from God.” - Nigerian soccer player Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi after his team beat Belgium. So how about offering up your comment on the Games? “The best thing about being at the Olympics is you aren’t subjected to NBC’s coverage.” - Jeff Miller, O.C. Register columnist.
U.S. wins volleyball gold medalAugust 23rd, 2008, 11:06 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING-The U.S. ended a 20-year gold medal drought in Olympic men’s volleyball Sunday, knocking off Brazil 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23) victory at Capital Gymnasium. The seat of powerAugust 23rd, 2008, 10:45 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING-Sometimes it seems like there’s a Starbucks on every corner in Beijing, usually with a McDonalds or KFC next to it. There are sections of this city where you can almost convince yourself you’re in Atlanta or Miami. There’s even a Hooters just down the street from a pair of Olympic venues. Somewhere Mao is spinning in his tomb and I’m feeling ripped off. I know China’s changed. Watching the Opening Ceremony I couldn’t help thinking these guys are going to own us for the next 100 years, which given the national debt they basically already do. But I didn’t travel 19 hours to get Charlotte. I wanted at least a glimpse of Mao’s China. A double caramel, non-fat, frappuccino is never more than a block away but trying finding one of those olive green caps with the red star. These days you would have a better chance of finding the Dali Lama’s autobiography in Beijing than Mao’s Little Red Book. So I was excited to walk into Worker’s Stadium for the Olympic soccer competition back through time. Worker’s Stadium is basically the People’s Republic’s Fenway Park. It’s straight out of the 1970s news reels, Communist Party symbols still present, drab, gray and cold, even when the temperature is 85 and the humidity even higher. You could almost envision Mao and Zhou Enlai sitting next to each other. Almost until the other night when I spotted Kobe Bryant there. But not even the Kobester could ruin my lockstep march through the past. At halftime of Thursday’s U.S.-Brazil women’s final, I entered the men’s room near the VIP section, went into a stall, closed the door and took a seat, convinced that I now sat where Mao once had. Upcoming men’s team finalsAugust 23rd, 2008, 10:13 am by jchin
Didn’t it seem like just yesterday when Beijing wowed the world with its spectacular Opening Ceremony? The Olympics enters its last day tomorrow, and will cap more than two weeks of action with several men’s finals. Here are upcoming highlights involving U.S. athletes:
(TV listings are from nbcolympics.com and are subject to change.) Related links: Men’s basketball:
Men’s volleyball:
Men’s water polo: At Olympics, press are a bunch of homersAugust 23rd, 2008, 9:53 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING-Greetings from the front lines of the 2008 Olympic Games women’s volleyball final. The Brazilians are out in full force. On the court. In the stands. And especially here at the media tribune, where more than a few in the country’s rambunctious press corps are wearing more yellow and green than Brazilian star Paula. The Brazilians aren’t the only ones who have brought national pride to press row. At Thursday’s women’s water polo bronze medal match I sat next to a Hungarian writer who was wearing the same golf shirt that the Hungarian coaching staff was wearing on the pool deck. Every time Australia scored he pounded the press table in disgust sending his computer bouncing. Random Ramblings From BeijingAugust 23rd, 2008, 8:30 am by Summer Bailey - OC Tourist & #1 Olympic FanSummer Bailey here again from the Beijing Olympics. It’s our 3rd week away from Orange County. We’ve spent a week in Tokyo Japan and a little over 2 weeks here in China so far. Here are just a few of my highlights as well as some random observations. 1. Go USA Women’s Water Polo! We were fortunate enough to attend the women’s final match. I’ve always watched from home as Olympians looked sad getting silver and thought to myself… “how can they possibly be disappointed with a silver metal?” But after watching the women’s nail biter match, I understand. I spoke with 3 time Olympian Heather Petri, (which by the way was an honor), and she said that it does take a bit to shake off the loss, but when you do - you are thrilled to have the beautiful silver medal. U.S. drops Olympic volleyball finalAugust 23rd, 2008, 7:00 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM It didn’t. Brazil ruined Team USA’s fairytale ending to a storybook Olympic tournament for the Americans, taking the gold medal with a 3-1 (25-15, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21) victory Saturday. The U.S., playing in its first Olympic final in 24 years, made a final charge in the fourth game, leading as late as 20-19 but in the end the Brazilians were simply too strong. Logan Tom led the U.S. with 16 points. Tayyiba Haneef-Park of Laguna Hills and Heather Bown of Yorba Linda each added 12 points. The U.S.-Brazil final will be aired at 3 p.m. today (Saturday) on NBC.
U.S. baseball slips to bronze medal gameAugust 22nd, 2008, 7:27 am by JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COM
The Americans lost in the semifinals Friday to Cuba 10-2, giving up six runs in the eighth inning of what was a tight game. “Yeah, we were a bit flat,” said designated hitter Matt Brown, an Angels’ minor leaguer who doubled in one of the U.S. runs. “But we did the same things in preparation as we’ve been doing. We just got beat by a better team.” The Americans will play Japan here Saturday morning (7:30 p.m. Friday in Orange County) for the bronze. That could be their last Olympic baseball game for awhile. The sport is being removed from the Games starting in 2012. “They’ve got a lot of talent,” Brown said of the Cubans, who will meet Korea in the gold medal game, also Saturday. “They can hit. They can pitch. As far as if they can play in the major leagues, I’m sure a lot of them can. It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity.” The game was close early, Cuba leading 2-0 and 3-2. It was 4-2 entering the bottom of the eighth, when Cuba opened it up. The U.S. finished with only six hits, compared to 14 for the winners. Dodgers farmhand Terry Tiffee was 1 for 4. Mike Hessman, a graduate of Mater Dei, went 0 for 4. “It’s been awesome,” Tiffee said of appearing in the Olympics. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. The pressure-packed games were awesome. I would compare it to playing in the big leagues, maybe even better.” Tiffee has appeared in six games for the Dodgers this season. Related: Former Anteaters lead men’s water polo to verge of goldAugust 22nd, 2008, 7:10 am by JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COM
Maybe even better, given the way the U.S. men are playing water polo during these Summer Olympics. “We were meant to be here,” driver Rick Merlo said. “This tournament was meant for us. Our whole motto for the past four years has been to get to the podium.” They are guaranteed of that now, the Americans set to play two-time defending Olympic champion Hungary on Sunday in the gold medal match. Before the Games began, such a prospect seemed highly unlikely, as reflected by those long-shot odds that appeared on various on-line betting sites. “The feeling is amazing,” said center forward Ryan Bailey, a former All-American at UC Irvine. “We’ve worked so long and so hard for this. We are where we deserve to be. We’ve paid the price.” The Americans did more than just beat Serbia to advance; they flattened their opponents, winning 10-5 and prompting center forward Dusko Pijetlovic to utter, “This is the worst game we have ever played.” Down 4-3 early in the second quarter, the U.S. took control late in the first half, going ahead for good on a goal by Bailey with 1:26 to go. “We just came out and brought our game tonight,” said Merlo, who also starred at UC Irvine. “Our defense was on, we were scoring and our goalie was on fire.” Merrill Moses certainly was, being credited with 16 saves. By comparison, the two goalies employed by the Serbs combined to make one save. In the second half, the Americans poured on the pressure, Bailey scoring again in the first minute. Up 7-5 entering the final quarter, the U.S. pulled away on goals by captain Tony Azevedo, Merlo and Jeff Powers, another former UC Irvine Anteater. “We’re not done yet,” Merlo said. “We have one more step to go.” The Americans lost to Serbia earlier in this tournament and, as best as anyone from either side could recall afterward, hadn’t defeated the Serbs since perhaps 2000. In Hungary, they will face a program that has won eight Olympic gold medals in the men’s game overall. Shortly before these Games, the teams played in Hungary, a match the U.S. lost by one goal. “They aren’t out of our reach, that’s for sure,” Merlo said. “We certainly can play with those guys. We proved it the last time we played them.” The U.S., logically speaking, never has won an Olympic gold medal in men’s water polo. A team from America did finish first at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, but teams from America also finished second and third in that tournament. According to official Olympic statistics, the Americans have won two silver medals and three bronze medals in this sport. Their last medal was silver in 1988. “Our goal was to get to this spot,” Bailey said. “We are where we wanted to be, now we have to take advantage of the opportunity. This is a great place to be right now.” U.S. plays Hungary in the men’s water polo final at 3:40 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24 Beijing time. (12:40 a.m. Sunday PST). NBC will air the game during the 12 p.m.-4 p.m. time slot on Sunday. Related: This Olympic medalist isn’t celebrating at DisneylandAugust 22nd, 2008, 5:40 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM
Ball was asked shortly before the Sydney Olympics how the son of parents who both stood under 6-feet produced a son who grew to 6-feet-8? “The milkman in my hometown is 7-feet tall,” Ball responded without missing a beat. Ball’s three previous Olympic appearances, however, were no laughing matter. At 24 he was the youngest player on a U.S. team that was ninth at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, a finish that left the U.S. program reeling after medaling in the consecutive Olympics. Four years later Ball and the U.S. just missed a medal, finishing fourth in Sydney. The U.S. slipped to fifth in Athens. So not surprisingly no one seemed happier than Ball when the Anaheim-based Team USA locked up a medal and a shot at gold in Sunday’s final by upsetting Russia 3-2 in a 2008 Olympic Games semifinal Friday. “It’s been a long journey for me and a lot of the guys, who’ve put in a decade to get to this point,” said Ball, now 36, who was talked into rejoining the U.S. team by head coach Hugh McCutcheon in 2007 after a three-year absence. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was four-years-old. I said at the beginning (of the Olympic tournament) that winning or losing wasn’t going to affect me. But it sure is going to be nice to have a medal in the house.” Ball was asked how he was going to celebrate. “I’m going to Hooters, awesome,” he said. He was kidding. We think. U.S. men’s volleyball in gold medal finalAugust 21st, 2008, 11:52 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING-Anaheim-based Team USA advanced to its first Olympic men’s volleyball final in 20 years with a 3-2 victory against Russia Friday in a 2008 Olympic Games semifinal at Capital Gymnasium. The U.S. won the opening two sets then missed a chance to put the match away in the third before finally prevailing 25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 22-25, 15-13, David Lee clinching the match with a huge block. U.S. and Russia tied 2-2 in men’s volleyballAugust 21st, 2008, 11:34 pm by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COMBEIJING-The U.S. men’s volleyball team was two points away from qualifying for its first Olympic final in 20 years against Russia Friday in a 2008 Olympic Games semifinal only to waste a 2-0 lead. The U.S. and Russia now head into a fifth and deciding set tied 2-2. U.S. defends Olympic soccer titleAugust 21st, 2008, 8:37 am by SCOTT M. REID, OCREGISTER.COM
Carli Lloyd scored in the first of two extra-time periods as the U.S. avenged a controversial loss to Brazil in the 2007 Women’s World Cup that was the low point for the American program. Lloyd nearly put the U.S. up 2-0 in the 117th minute, slipping through the box then knocking a shot past Brazil goalkeeper Barbara only to have the ball bounce off the foot of the far post. Brazil, who dominated the first hour of the match in regulation, also had its chances in extra-time. With just seconds remaining, U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo jumped over Brazil’s Fabiana to punch away a corner kick. The deflection fell to Brazil’s Renata Costa, who fired into the side of the net. Related: ADVERTISEMENT
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