This is my first Olympics as either a journalist or a sports fan, and I’m sure in any Games there always a bit of disconnect between Olympics World and the Real World. But I’m thinking this disconnect is a bit more pronounced here, in Beijng in 208. Can you imagine what the press coverage in the US would be if, in the run up to and …

I watched a couple of the qualification football matches last night at Beijing’s Worker’s Stadium. First up was USA vs. Nigeria. The US had a player sent off five minutes into the games and struggled to contain an energetic Nigerian side, which eventually triumphed 2-0 despite some last minute heroic efforts by the Americans. At half …

As one commenter suggested, I am posting a link to Hannah Beech’s excellent piece on the controversy over the possible age violations of China’s women, ahem, gymnasts.

I shot the above video around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday outside the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park, where a small group of Tibet activists were holding a demonstration. (Here’s my piece today for time.com on Olympic protests.) The first attempt at unfurling a banner on the overpass was apparently a diversionary tactic, so the other …

Here’s another snippet from our roving sports guru Sean Gregory:

Random happenings at the team handball venue (I know, it’s pretty random to be at a team handball venue). The halftime show consisted of scantily-clad Chinese cheerleaders, dressed as cowgirls, dirty dancing with those five cute little mascot characters. (The Fuwas) The

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Another attack in Xinjiang, three policemen killed (here). Clearly planned and coordinated with the previous attacks and, as we have written, , and likely to happen again.

Is it any wonder that the Chinese crowd at the USA-China hoops game the other night was oohing and aaahing whenever Kobe Bryant dunked with pinache? The following release today from the NBA on jersey sales in China came out today.

2007-08 Top Selling Jerseys in China
1) Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
2) Kevin Garnett, Boston …

Here’s a thought from our colleague Sean Gregory. Could cause a kerfuffle if the Chinese netizens get wind of it:

What is it about sports that makes Spain appear quite racist? A few years ago, Spanish soccer fans made monkey noises at black players on England’s team and the country’s national soccer coach called French icon Thierry

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Amid China’s celebration of its young, victorious Olympians, the country has paid special attention to the performance of a 50-year-old Canadian who crashed out of the second round of the fencing competition. Why is Luan Jujie such a hit? For what she did more than …

Just for the record, we have a number of talented colleagues covering the Games in Beijing. You can see their stories here, including this piece by Hannah Beech on the emotional triumph of the Chinese gymnastics team today. They’ll be contributing occasional posts from the games to this blog too. The Chinese gymnastics team were …

The spectacular Olympic opening ceremony that director Zhang Yimou pulled off last week appears to have relied on a few elements of visual chicanery. First it emerged that some televised images of 29 firework footprints that traveled up Beijing’s north-south axis through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City to the Olympic Village …

One of the more interesting memes to emerge from the press conference after tonight’ s USA-China basketball game was this: two questioners, one Chinese and one guy who sounded European, asked US coach Mike Krzyzewski whether his team wasn’t rubbing it in a little by dunking so often and with so much flair. Even as the question was …

For the record, seeing as how I have been somewhat obsessively cataloging this, the wind blew overnight and the haze dispersed. Skies are bluish and the API around 60, which is ok, especially for Beijing. Let the Games begin! And the clean air continue.