I know the games won't begin for a few weeks, but I thought I'd get a jump and start now. I've always loved the Olympics...really speaks to what sports is all about and I'm a sucker for a feel-good story (i.e., kid from town with no running water, malaria, drug lords living next door...overcomes all odds and runs like the wind to win gold...come on, how do you not shed a tear?)!

Anyway, in addition to Michael Phelps and Dara Torres, I'm really excited about the US men's olympic soccer team. Soccer and hockey are probably two of my favorite sports (also used to box as a young man, so will be eagerly watching those matches)...and though NOTHING will ever compare to the Miracle On Ice, the US men's soccer team looks really good. For those of you here that care, here is the lineup:

2008 U.S. MEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)


McBride is a tv story waiting to be made (he's twice as old as both Adu and Jozy) and we have some serious firepower up front. The defense may be a bit shaky without Jonathon Spector but our goalkeeping is always world class. I can see us going with a 3-5-2 with Adu in the role of drawn forward. Also, watch Kljestan. This kid has come a long way and has a great first touch, good vision and has shown a bit of a mean streak recently. Wouldn't be suprised to see him end up in Europe soon. Can a medal be in the near future?

I just hope that the athletes playing outdoors will be able to inhale and exhale without dying during the competition.

someone send me a pm when the womens beach volleyball starts

Is that the women or the men?

I've as well always been very interested in the Olympics. Especially I like it when it's held in some far away country because that usually means you have to be up all night to watch the events. (kinda like when I'm up listening to Islanders radio in the middle of the night)

This time I believe the live broadcasting will be somewhere between 3AM - 1PM (CET).

I guess it won't be that big time difference for American citizens, right?

Not for those who work the nightshift! As best I can tell, China is just about directly on the opposite side of the globe from the US. Regardless, it will be fun. Not unlike the '02 World Cup.

are they showing the soccer live this time around? they usually don't

I've heard of camel toe, would that be considered camel heel?

:dontknow:

I also agree with smitty.
I'm very psyched for the soccer matches.
I think the US has an outside shot at a medal.

and how about that wonderkid, freddy adu over in Monaco?
after the olympics, this kid's star should shine even brighter.

:cheers:

:blink: those are women...

i think..but is that hair on the abs

NBC will be televising ALL of the Olympic soccer matches. As I understand it, the matches will be shown on NBC or one of the affiliates (CNBC, MSNBC...) and there will also be other on-demand channels.

From USSOCCER.COM

Sweet.

Steve:
I like Adu in Monaco. Ligue 1 is, from top to bottom, a better league than Portugal (IMHO). Benfica, for all their great history, is in disarray (3 coaches in 1 season?!). Freddy is still young and just needs playing time. Not sure he will get to see Champions League play with Monaco but UEFA Cup is possible. Altidore and Bradley are also two to watch at the Olympics. If Jozy stays at Villarreal, he can form a nice one-two combo with Rossi (too bad Rossi decided to play for Italy and not the US - despite having been raised in NJ). Bradley has been an animal and there are rumors that he can also end up at Monaco. Not a bad place to play for two young guys. Soccer, south of France, women....

yep, all the affiliates will be available to broadcast the heck out of these games.
re: soccer...I just hope they do a better job at profiling Adu over Mcbride,
but i think Mcbride because of all he's been through makes a better story (in their eyes).
we'll see, maybe both get major spotlights. They deserve it.

should be fun.

Agreed. But, in all honesty, the player on the team who really deserves to be featured is Altidore. I think Adu has had tons of previous exposure and, let's be honest, his time in Europe hasn't been overwhelming (though this is through no fault of his own - who knew Benfica would self-destruct?). Altidore is even younger and playing in possibly the best league in the world (my apologies to the EPL supporters) with the team who just came in second place. Oh yeah, he commanded the largest transfer fee of any player in US history. Jozy is a tall, strong, young kid with athletic talent to burn. Can you say "first world class US striker"? Now that's a story (and, of course, it's a nice tie-in to McBride, who will surely be "tutoring" all of these kids).

Not a good way for the US to start...US Women's Soccer got owned by Norway today (2-0). Norway, IIRC, is the only other team (aside from the US) to win a gold medal in women's soccer.

And is anyone in Scandanavia less than 6 feet tall?

Sorry IQ, but if they're women, then I've been looking at the wrong a$$'$ all my life.

:dontknow:

AND IT AIN'T BEEN THEM KIND

First winning result for the USA.

USA 1- Japan 0 (men's soccer)

Robbie Rogers and Marvell Wynne (some of you may remember his father who played pro baseball with the Pirates) were outstanding. But Japan was actually the better team. Maurice Edu & Freddy Adu had less tyhan stellar games and Klestian was god awful.