my entire household watched that race and i can assure you not one of us will forget that night for many, many years to come.

faben came to me last thursday night and said she could not wait to watch the olympics this year. this, coming from the most un-sport like child on the face of the earth that has never expressed any interest in anything sport related during her entire 14 year existence, was a shock, to say the least.

allthough our trip to china a few years back was probably the catalyst for her olympic interest this year, nevertheless, she was so excited and awed during the opening ceremonies and throughout the weekend, including last night, that i'm sure she too, will not forget these olympics for as long as she lives.

for her it’ll be one of those moments where you think back on your childhood and realize that this was the year where she became aware of the importance and impact that the olympics have on the entire world. she has always known what the olympics were, but until this friday, she had no idea as to what the olympics meant. what they meant to the athletes, to their families, to the host nation and the visiting nations and what it all means to the citizens of the world who are counting on their athletes to represent all that their county stands for and is hoping to achieve.

this is the year that she will realize that the olympics are the one and only event (other than a tragedy) that can bring together the entire world and the one event where people feel tremendous national pride coupled with a truly genuine human experience that unifies peoples of all cultures, races and ethnicities, while standing side by side with dozens of other nations and cheering for our country and their county and countries with which we have conflict, and countries whose names we cannot pronounce or locations we cannot identify. The countries that are our allies, our foes, our friends and enemies. the one and only time in which the entire planet respects and honors all of its neighbors regardless of their GDP or military power and it is one of the few times in which a 16 year old girl, from a dairy farm in indiana, can become a true princess based solely on her hard work and dedication and not on the size of her cleavage or one of the few times in which a man without money, power or connections can become the king of the nation who provides his people with tremendous amounts of optimism, inspiration and enthusiasm by nothing more than hard work, dedication and the true love he has for his sport and his country.


this is the only time where humanity becomes all that it stands for; kindness, charity, compassion, sympathy, mercy, and pride. pride in our selves, in our country, in our people, in our culture and values and beliefs. pride in our work, our dedication, our sport and leaders and friends, teammates and coaches. pride to be part of a movement, of a world wide event, pride in ourselves, in our neighbors and families. the olympics mean so much to so many. once every four years, for two weeks you can become THE ambassador of your country and of your sport to the ENTIRE world and carry on one of the oldest traditions known to man. the olympics continue to represent what it means to be human, what it means to compete, to work hard, to give it your all, to sacrifice, forfeit and to surrender yourself for the honor of your nation and your sport.

this is why i love and respect the olympics and all that it stands for.

the opening ceremonies for the beijing olympics were the most spectacular thing i have ever seen. i have never seen something so amazing. i could not have even imagined anything close to what they did. my entire family watched for 4 1/2 hours and we will never forget this night.

china spent 300 million dollars on the opening ceremony presentation. overall it spent 40 billion for the olympic preparations. again, it was utterly breath taking. if you didn't see it, you missed a moment in history that will be remembered for a long time to come.

Father-in-law of U.S. coach stabbed to death in Beijing

i can't believe this. some crazy man attacked two americans and killed one and wounded the other and then jumped off a building and killed himself on the first day of the competition.




BEIJING - A 47-year-old Chinese man stabbed an American tourist to death, wounded his wife, then jumped to his death from an ancient downtown landmark, marring the first full day of competition at the Summer Olympic Games, U.S. sports and government officials confirmed Saturday.

The American couple are relatives of a U.S. men's indoor volleyball coach,

Todd Bachman, 62, a prominent horticulturalist from Lakeville, Minn., was killed, U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said. He owned Bachman, Inc., a family business that dates to the early 1900s.

Bachman's wife, Barbara, was in serious condition Saturday night at a Beijing hospital.

Todd Bachman is the father-in-law of U.S. men's indoor volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon.


The Bachmans had come to Beijing to deepen their ties with the Olympic Games. Daughter Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman competed as a member of the U.S. women's volleyball team at the 2004 Athens Games. She was with her parents during the attack but was not injured.

McCutcheon was scheduled to take the floor Sunday as coach of the U.S. team when it played Venezuela.

Chinese authorities identified the attacker as Tang Yongming of China's Zhejiang Province. Chinese and U.S. authorities said the couple was at a site known as the Drum Tower around noon local time when Tang stabbed the couple and wounded a Chinese tour guide on the second floor of the structure.

Built in the 13th century, the Drum Tower is one of the few ancient structures still in Beijing. It is located on an important central axis of the city to the north of the Forbidden City, the former home of the emperor, and is five miles from the Olympic site.


Shortly after the attack, Tang leapt to his death on a stone path in the busy central Beijing district.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the fatal assault, but the USOC said investigators believe Tang was acting alone. Seibel also said the victims were not wearing clothing that might identify them as Americans or supporters of the U.S. team.

"The U.S. delegation is deeply saddened," Seibel said. "Everyone is suffering with this. It's too early to say what might have motivated this; we're just a few hours from learning the worst possible news."

"It is impossible to describe the depth of our sadness and shock in this tragic hour," said U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth. "Our delegation comes to the Games as a family, and when one member of our family suffers a loss, we all grieve with them. Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with the Bachman and McCutcheon families."

Seibel said the volleyball team was informed of the tragedy Saturday afternoon, a day before its opening match. Seibel said it was too soon to know whether the 12:30 a.m. ET match would go on as scheduled.

"Our priority in this hour is to attend to the needs of the family members, the U.S. Olympic men's indoor volleyball team and staff, and the entire U.S. Olympic delegation," the USOC said in an early statement. "The USOC is working closely with the United States embassy, United States law enforcement authorities and local (Chinese) law enforcement authorities."

Shortly after the incident, the U.S. embassy dispatched the FBI's chief legal attache in Beijing to the crime scene to monitor the inquiry.

"We've heard the reports, we've got people on the scene,"' said U.S. embassy spokesman Don Washington. "We are not at liberty to say any more out of respect to the presumed victims."

President Bush, who is attending the first days of the games, was alerted to the incident shortly after it occurred.

The rare act of violence in Beijing, where serious crime does not approach levels in the United States, came just hours into the first day of competition at the Olympics. Chinese officials have dispatched more than 100,000 security officials to guard against violence and possible acts of terrorism.

In March, a screaming, bomb-strapped hostage-taker who commandeered a bus with 10 Australians aboard in the popular tourist city of Xi'an was shot to death by a police sniper.

Still, Shanghai and Beijing are safer than most foreign cities of their size. Punishments of crime against foreigners are heavier than for locals, and police-linked neighborhood watch groups are highly vigilant. Chinese are not allowed to own guns.

In recent days, security has been hardened throughout the city with hundreds of Chinese soldiers standing watch at Olympic venues and at popular tourist destinations throughout the city to maintain order and guard against anticipated protests.

At the Drum Tower, once used to keep time in ancient China, police pushed through a crowd of tourists at mid-day to enter the tower courtyard. A number of shopkeepers, whose stores ring the site, declined to speak with a small army of journalists who descended on the area in the hours after the attack. Seemingly oblivious to the crowd, two elderly men continued their game of chess, shooing reporters away.

The state-run Chinese news agency, Xianhua, said security officers were examining the scene on the tower and below, inspecting and taking samples from the balcony railing.

Associated Press photos taken at the scene about 3 1/2 hours after the attack showed a white sheet spotted with what appeared to be blood in the courtyard on the west side of the Drum Tower. It appeared that the body had already had been removed.

Seibel said Chinese officials had offered their condolences and offered to provide any assistance they could.

The International Olympic Committee, the games' governing body, also said it was "deeply saddened to learn of a tragic incident."

"It is understood at this time that a lone assailant was responsible, who shortly afterwards committed suicide," the IOC said in a statement.

i took this picture apprx two years ago. it was counting down to the olympics. as of 8:08:08 today it stands at zero.

omg, i am obsessed with this whole casey anthony case. listen to the 911 calls and then to the released jail calls and then read the charging affidavit. this chick is sooo guilty. i can not wait to see what develops in the investigation. i also scoured myspace and found a bunch of photos of her on people's pages. she was partying the entire time her kid was supposedly missing and didn't tell anyone until her mother confronted her a month later.

seriously you guys have to hear this and read the afidavit.