BEIJING, China --- The first night  game of the 2008 Olympic Games proved to be a special one for the USA Softball  team as winning pitcher Monica Abbott ( Salinas,  Calif.) tossed  a perfect five inning 8-0 victory over the Netherlands and the U.S.  set the Olympic record for overall home runs in the Games with 12. A 6’3” south  paw, Abbott recorded the first-ever perfect game by a U.S.  pitcher in an Olympic Games, recording nine strikeouts in the 15 batters she  faced.

  “I am really excited,” smiled Abbott. “I kind of had a goal to come out and  throw one when I was named to the team. I was glad I was able to go out and  make some good pitches work and I had some great plays made today by the  defense with Lovie (Jung), Tairia (Flowers) and obviously Bergy’s (Laura Berg)  catch in right field. You can’t really ask for much more than that and I was  just trying to take it one pitch at a time and stay focused for each one.”

  The U.S.  saw three long balls clear the fences for another Olympic record of most runs  hit in an Olympic Games by a team. Currently, the U.S. has 12 total after  three came tonight from Jessica Mendoza ( Camarillo,  Calif.),  Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.),  and Tairia Flowers ( Tucson, Ariz.).  The previous record was held by Japan and Australia  with 11 total in the 1996 Olympic Games.

  With the win, the U.S.  is 6-0 with its final round robin match up against China  on Monday at Noon/Local. The U.S. also now knows it will  be the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs on Wednesday, August 20 and will match  up with No. 2 seed Japan  at 9:30 a.m. at Fengtai Field. The No. 3 seed is Australia  and the No. 4 seed is TBD on Monday, August 18. The playoffs follow the ISF  page system with the gold medal game on Thursday, August 21 at 6:30 p.m.

    Natasha Watley ( Irvine, Calif.)  led the game on a positive start with a slap base hit through the left side  continuing her hit streak to six consecutive games. Watley was later out at  second with a fielder’s choice from Caitlin Lowe ( Tustin, Calif.).  Mendoza then took  a pitch off the side of her body from Venezuela  starting pitcher Rebecca Soumer sending her 60 feet to first base forcing Lowe  to second. Hitting .500, Bustos connected on her fifth RBI of the Olympics with  a line drive through the left side sending Lowe across home plate for the 1-0 U.S.  advantage.

  In the bottom of the second inning, with one out, Flowers put her home run  mark on the Games with a towering shot to left center for a solo home run and  her first ever of the Olympic Games. With a 2-0 lead, right fielder Laura Berg  ( Santa Fe Springs,  Calif.) sent a  blooper to left field and earned a hit and advanced to second on a fielding  error from Venezuela’s  Marloes Fellinger. Berg later scored her second run of the Olympics when the  hot hitting Watley sent her second hit of the game over the third baseman’s  head for the RBI and 3-0 lead. Lowe then repeated the first inning with a  fielder’s choice resulting in Watley out at second base before Mendoza  roped what looked like a home run to centerfield but was caught and ended the  inning.

  Continuing to lead from the plate, Bustos drove in her fourth home run of  the Olympics with the second pitch of her at bat to lead the bottom of the  third inning. A line drive just over the 220 fences in centerfield, the home  run tied the Olympic record for most home runs recorded by a team with 11. Australia and Japan both had 11 during the  1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.  With a solid 4-0 advantage, Kelly Kretschman (Indian   Harbour Beach, Fla.) and Stacey  Nuveman ( La Verne,  Calif.) both  reached on base hits before the Netherlands  brought in Judith van Kampen from the bullpen. The new pitcher didn’t faze  Lovie Jung ( Fountain Valley, Calif.),  who extended her hit streak to all six games of the Olympics, with an RBI base  hit through the middle scoring Kretschman for the 5-0 lead. Another run was  added in when Berg singled to right field plating Nuveman who marked the 6-0  lead.

As Abbott continued her perfection from the circle,  the U.S.  closed in on the run-ahead rule scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth  inning. Mendoza  roped her fourth home run of the Games to centerfield to kick start the inning  while Bustos followed up with an infield single to the shortstop. A wild pitch  from van Kampen moved Bustos to second before rookie Vicky Galindo ( Union    City, Calif.)  inked her first ever Olympic RBI with a single to left field pushing Bustos  across home plate for the eventual 8-0 win.

Redeem Team Gets Redemption on Spain

LeBron James led eight U.S. players in double figures with 18 points and pulled down eight rebounds as the Olympic men's basketball team continued its dominating ways with a 119-82 pounding of previously unbeaten Spain. With the game tied 9-9 in the first quarter James took the ball from the top of the key and drove to his left a and threw down a left handed jam like a man possessed. The very next trip James comes down and splashed a three pointerin the heart of the Spain defense. Then the very next trip down the floor earned a trip to the free throw line and sank both free throws for another quick two. Team USA never looked back from that point on.

The Americans had 7 steals in the first quarter alone and finished with 18 for the game. "We are never going to take a step back in this tournament," said James. "We'll only take steps forward and give ourselves a chance to win. This game means we're 4-0. A statement game? I don't know."

We looked like the United States of Athleticism on Saturday. From steals to dunks to sinking the three pointers the Americans look unbeatable at this stage in the competition. A 17-5 flurry in the second quarter extended the margin to 56-36 and the Redeem Team was on its way to another rout, certainly a major difference to what was witnessed four years ago when the Americans were relegated to the bronze medal at the Olympics.

It was 61-45 at the half and Spain never threatened over the final 20 minutes.

The final game for the U.S. in preliminary round play is Monday versus Germany.

Here are some of the Top 10 plays from this years USA Mens Basketball Team.

There's not a whole lot to add.

Michael Phelps'

Besides, rolling through a loaded Olympic swimming field perfect and winning a record number of gold medals can't come without a fingertip of luck. There's no shame in that.

The question is, which race is more likely to burn in your memory forever: The 4x100 freestyle relay, Phelps' second gold highlighted by Lezak's amazing comeback against the French; or the 100 butterfly with the finish so close the naked eye couldn't determine a winner?

I can't decide, but I'm leaning toward the 100 fly because we're so close to the end of Phelps' legendary program, and the finish was one of the most amazing things I've witnessed. If Phelps was .02 seconds slowerthink about thatthe whole nation would've woken up grumpy this morning.

That said, the relay still remains a classic race. So I can't call it.

How about you?

Early-morning start times for triathlons finally pays off. Due to the time difference between the States and China, West Coast tri fans will be able to catch the Olympic women's race starting at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, streaming online on NBCOlympics.com. The men's race will start at the same time on Monday night.

East Coast fans will obviously have to tune in at 10 p.m.

Television coverage for the women will be on NBC Sunday night and early Monday morning. Men's race television coverage will appear on MSNBC sometime on Tuesday morning/early-afternoon.

The full broadcast schedule and links to online video can be found here .

Here's a slideshow of the American athletes at the Opening Ceremonies and in training.

Both races will take place at the Ming Tomb Reservoir . It features a one-lap swim leg, six-lap bike leg and is rounded out with four laps of the run course.

With Michael Phelps mania sweeping the nation, I find myself pulling more for Ryan Lochte in tonight's 200 Individual Medley.

Granted it's a huge long shot. He's got the 200 Back finals against Aaron Peirsol 39 minutes beforehand -- a race either man can win. And the IM field includes, oh yeah, Michael Phelps. But for Lochte to win would take an amazing swim, perhaps leading to a race more exciting than the recent 4x100 free relay.

Not to mention that Lochte, a talented IM swimmer, must sort of resign himself to finishing behind Phelps for the rest of his life.

I like Michael Phelps. I have nothing against him. I love watching him swim. But him breaking Mark Spitz's single-Games gold medal record isn't really that important to me and how much I enjoy watching Olympic swimming.

Frankly, I'm kind of turned off the Speedo LZR. It's a little too technological for swimming, I think. Now if Phelps stepped up on the block without a cap or goggles, sporting a mustache and wearing just a tiny Speedo, a la Spitz -- that would be amazing.

Phelps' toughest test is going to come against Ian Crocker in the 100 fly. Both men are probably going to be incredibly amped up for it. Crocker swam a slow 51.95 in the qualifying heat (compared with Phelps' 50.87), about a second and a half off his own world record. Maybe he's just conserving energy.

But I can't help but think, "How amazing would it be to see Ryan Lochte pull off an upset in a race that Phelps seemingly owns?"

Besides, maybe he's waiting for just that kind of swim to break out the grillz he sported at the 2007 Worlds in Melbourne:

AP Photo/Mark Baker

The shocking opening-match loss to Norway doesn't matter anymore. The United States' women's soccer team went 2-1 in group playtopping Japan and New Zealand after the lossto advance to the single-elimination final tournament.

The quarterfinals are on Friday, and shape up like this:

USA vs. Canada, 6 a.m. EST

China vs. Japan, 9 a.m. EST

Brazil vs. Norway, 6 a.m. EST

Sweden vs. Germany, 9 a.m. EST

Canada has never had great success against the U.S., but the neighbors to the north are ranked No. 9 in the world by FIFA and have played close matches with the Americans recently. Plus, there's familiarity. Almost all of the Canadian players were collegiate standouts in the United States, including Brittany Timko (Nebraska) and Kara Lang (UCLA).

Timko, Lang and others had nice college careers. But anyone who has followed women's college soccer recently is well aware of Christine Sinclair, who was an All-American at Portland and led the Pilots to the 2005 national championship. Sinclair has played for Canada's national team since she was 16.

Canada went 1-1-1 in group play and slipped into the quarterfinals. As the whistle blew after the final game of group play, Sinclair reportedly turned to a teammate and said "I want to play the Americans, now."

She'll get her chance.

In my last blog I talked about my Olympic moments from past and present Games.  Well, four days into the Beijing Games there has defintely been enough happening to talk about my non-Olympic moments.

-the Women's Gymnastics.  It's Women's gymnastics so even having an age-limit of 16 is stretching it. But, what about the  Chinese whose team was composed of a bunch of girls, yes, they are girls!, who are 15 or younger.  As everybody has been saying that violates the rules of competition for gymnastics in the Olympics, but still the Chinese girls, yes, they are girls!, were still allowed to compete.  Hey, I am not bitter about the USA getting silver.  They made enough mistakes and were not gold-worthy.  I just think that if you have rules, you either follow them or throw them out.

-Georgia's women's volleyball team.  No, we are not talking about the peach tree state. We are talking about one of those seemingly endless countries formed after splitting from the former Soviet Union. The women on the Georgia women's volleyball team are actually Brazilians.  Yeah, the have dual citizenship, but, let's face it, when you are the Republic of Georgia, you can grant citizenship to just about anyone you want. OK, in the grand scheme of things, having more Brazilian women playing beach volleyball is a good thing, but given the current conlict between Russia and Georgia, when the two teams played each other in Beach volleyball on Wednesday, I wanted to see some fireworks.  A good old kick of sand in the face or something along those lines would have been expected. But, when your team is made up of Brazilians they just don't care.  Too bad.  We all remember the Hungary vs. USSR water polo match in 1956. It could have been so good.

-judged events.  OK. I am about to suggest that any event that has judging be immeditely removed from the Olympics.  There is so much bias in all the judged events nothing seems to make sense except that there is no guarantee that a stellar performance will be rewarded.

-Equestrian events.  They should give the medals to the horses.  They are the ones who have to do all the jumping and while carrying all that dead weight on their backs.  Let's recognize the true athletes in the equestrian events.  If the riders were really athletes they would not be clothed in formal wear.

OK.  There were a few positives that could qualify as Olympic moments.  How about Tonga's first Olympic medal (and in the whitewater kayaking!)?  How about Kristin Armstrong winning gold in the women's TT?  How about Michael Phelps finally winning that long sought after gold medal.  After all this is his third Olympics.

Oy yeah, a big Olympic moment for me is the apparent kidnapping of Jimmy Roberts of the NBC crew.  With so much actual competition to show on TV, I guess there is no room on TV for Mr. Superlative. Hopefully he will feel scorned and book and early flight home. And anyways, most of us are not smart enough to get all the symbolism he seems to uncover at every turn.

What are your Olympic and non-Olympic moments?

Bruce

Tyson Gay wasn't sure if he would even be at the Olympics due to a left hamstring injury he suffered in early July at the U.S. trials, but the 2007 world champion is eagerly awaiting a 100-meter dash showdown this weekend with Jamaica's Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt.

Gay owns the fastest wind-aided time in history with a 9.68, but his competitors hold the two fastest legal times in the history of the 100-meter dash. Powell held the world record of 9.74 until this spring when Bolt, who beat Gay, broke the record with a 9.72.

So even if Gay is 100 percent recovered as he claimed this week, he has to race his absolute best to beat Jamaica's flying duo. If he's healthy as he says, it will be an exciting showdown to watch as these three race to grab the gold.

What are your thoughts? Will Gay be able to bring one home for team USA?