BEIJING, China -- The USA Softball team opened the 2008 Olympic Games making a statement breaking an Olympic record for most runs scored in a game by a single team and tying an Olympic record with three homeruns. The three-time defending Gold Medal winning team captured an 11-0 victory in five innings against Olympic rookie team Venezuela. Breaking its own previous record which was 10 runs from the 2004 Olympic Games, the U.S. used 11 hits including three home runs and a base clearing double to improve to a 15-game win Olympic win streak dating back to 2000.

"Today we were really excited to get on the field," said head coach Mike Candrea. "I was pleased with our outing and at bats and where we are right now. Jennie gave a really strong pitching performance from the circle and things were good. But in the Olympics there is no time to celebrate.... On to the next game."

With a combined no-hit performance from Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.) and Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.), rookie Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif.) led the U.S. effort with a 3-for-4 debut with one RBI coming on a solo inside the park home run.

"Well I was happy that I got a good pitch," said Lowe when asked her thoughts on the home run. "Then once I rounded first base I saw coaching doing his wave thing and knew I was going to go all the way."

Along with Lowe, designated player Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.) was 2-for-3 with one RBI while third base rookie Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif.) was also 2-for-3 with a team leading three RBI.

Winning pitcher Finch tallied four hitless innings recording five strikeouts and allowed two walks.

The U.S. put its first runner of the Olympic Games into scoring position early. Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.) led the visiting team with a lead off walk before Lowe recorded her first hit of her Olympic career with a chopping shot to left field. With the speed of Watley now at second base, the U.S. threatened to score with its RBI leaders on deck. Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.) recorded a flyout advancing Watley to third base but then back-to-back flyouts left the runners stranded.

Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif.) was quickly on base in the top of the second inning after the ball brushed her right thigh placing her on first with a hit by pitch. Two-time Olympian Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, Calif.) then made her first at bat of the 2008 Games a memorable one with a base hit to right field pushing Duran to third base. Lovie Jung (Fountain Valley, Calif.) drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice flyout to right field plating Duran for the 1-0 lead.

The U.S. then padded their lead with power from the leadoff hitters. Watley connected on her first-ever Olympic home run with a two-run shot to left center before Lowe drove the ball just over the Venezuelan left fielder's head and legged out an inside-the-park home run for the 4-0 advantage.

The long ball struck once again in the top of the third inning when Olympic record holder for home runs with five, Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif.) belted the ball out to left field within three seconds with a straight shot over the 220 fences. Two-time Olympian Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Springs, Fla.) was then hit by a pitch before Duran recorded her first ever Olympic base hit with a drive to left field. Nuveman then looked to knock in some RBI, but grounded into a double play with Duran out on the play. The U.S. then scored its sixth run on an error from the Venezuelan left fielder who dropped a routine pop up from Jung that plated Kretschman.

A pitching change from Venezuela bringing in Marianella Castellanos didn't phase the U.S. bats as they put five more runs on the board in the top of the fourth inning for an 11-0 eventual win. Lowe started the inning with a single to right field before a Mendoza hit-by-pitch put two runners on with no outs. Bustos then drove in her second hit of the game to load the bases for the Red, White and Blue. Castellanos continued to struggle issuing a walk to Kretschman that allowed Lowe to score. Four-time Olympian Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) then entered her fourth and final Olympic Games as a pinch runner for Kretschman. Duran then belted a base clearing double, the first of the game, scoring three runs before Jung roped in an RBI single for the fifth run of the game.

Yaicey Sojo was the only Venezuela player to reach base earning two walks off of Finch.

Up next the U.S. will battle a familiar foe in 2004 Olympic silver medal winning team Australia. The U.S. is 20-7 overall against Australia in major international competition (Olympics, World Championships, and World Cups). Game time is Noon on Wednesday, August 13.

Ouch.

Rau'Shee Warren

Here's where it hurts: Warren spent the last 30 seconds of the match dancing around the ringand away from Ok-sungbecause he thought he was winning. Instead, he was about the only one in the arena who didn't know the truth: He was losing 9-8 and needed to attack and try to get another point.

"It doesn't feel real," Warren told the AP afterward. "I didn't feel like I lost the fight, because I was fighting hard, doing everything the coaches were telling me. To get this far and then lose, I don't even know what happened."

Warren lost early in the 2004 Olympics, too, and avoided turning pro to get another shot at a gold medal. Instead, he had a devastating loss he may never get over.

Occasionally, the Olympics have heartbreaking moments like this. South Korea swimmer

Park Tae-hwan

Tae-hawn and Jansen redeemed themselves in future Olympics. Warren, now 21 with professional boxing in his future, probably won't have another chance to correct his mistake.

BEIJING (Aug. 12, 2008) -- The U.S. Men's Volleyball Team started out slow but picked up speed on Tuesday in its 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 25-21 victory over Italy in an Olympic pool play match at the Capital Indoor Stadium.

In their second Olympic match without U.S. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon who is still tending to his wife and mother-in-law at a Beijing hospital, the U.S. Men improve their record to 2-0 in Pool A. They will play Bulgaria (1-0 prior to its match against Japan on Tuesday) at 10 p.m. on Thursday at Capital Indoor Stadium.

Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawai'i) led Team USA with 23 points on a match-high 19 kills, three blocks and one assist. Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) added 20 points on 18 kills, two blocks. Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) scored 12 points on seven kills, three blocks and two aces.

"Today's match had a lot to do with our serve and their serve receive," said U.S. Interim Head Coach Ron Larsen (Lafayette, Calif.). "It helped with our block."

Team USA finished with four aces and 15 blocks as opposed to Italy with three aces and nine blocks.

The U.S. Men completed 58 of 111 kill attempts for 36 percent efficiency. Italy completed 50 of 119 kill attempts for 24 percent.

"I think I was having difficulties in hitting," said Italy's Alessandro Fei, who finished with 11 points on nine kills and two aces. His teammate Hristo Zlatanov led Italy with 19 points on 16 kills and three blocks. "Of course the Americans played very well. So if you combine the two things together, this is the result."

Among other scorers, Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) scored 11 points on eight kills, two blocks and one ace. David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) totaled 10 points on five kills and a match-high five blocks. U.S. setter Lloy Ball (Fort Wayne, Ind.) had one point on one kill.

Ball was credited with 41 running sets for an average of 10.25 per set.

U.S. libero Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) was credited with 10 digs and three faults on 15 attempts. He was also credited with 25 "excellent" receptions on 33 attempts for a successful percentage of 76 percent.

Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.), Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Scott Touzinsky (St. Louis, Mo.) all played as substitutes.

In the first set, Italy held an 8-6 lead at the first technical timeout and led 16-14 at the second. With the United States trailing 16-18, a block from Millar and an ace by Salmon tied the score. Italy reached set point first at 24-23, but then committed an error to tie the score. A Zlatanov gave Italy a second set point at 25-24 and Alessandro's ace ended the set.

"I thought we started the match waiting to see Italy's strategy," Hoff said. "After the first and second sets, our block was very efficient." After that our offense got going and felt comfortable knowing the block was going well."

The United States led the second set 8-5 at the first technical timeout and 16-14 at the second. Italy came close to tying the score at 22-21, but Salmon's kill kept it out of reach. Lee won the set for Team USA with a kill.

The third set seemed like it would be close at first as the U.S. held a slim 7-6 lead. However, it reached the first technical timeout first on an Italian error, then scored four straight points behind the serving of Salmon to lead 12-6. Team USA extended the lead to 16-8 at the second technical timeout. Zlatanov scored one point on a kill, and Team USA scored the next three to make it 20-9. Italy never recovered.

Team USA used three kills from Priddy along with kills from Millar, Stanley and Lee to take an 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout of the fourth set and led 16-12 at the second. The United States reached match point first at 24-19, but a Ball serving error brought Italy to 20 and Alberto Cisolla's kill made it 24-21 before Stanley ended the match with a kill.

The Men’s team final will take place tonight, the third day of Artistic Gymnastics competition, as eight teams will compete for the gold. In qualifications, China finished with 373.600 points, followed by Japan at 369.500 and Russia with 365.425, just .225 ahead of the Americans.

The favorite to win tonight is China, who dominated the qualification stage, but defending champion, Japan, will not go down without a fight.  Japan delivered a decent performance at the qualification stage, and has the potential to get much  better scores tonight.

Russia’s performance tonight may depend on whether or  not Konstantin Pluzhnikov is able to participate. Pluzhnikov fell off the rings at the end of the session, landing on the back of his neck. He walked off the podum, then lay down on the sidelines as trainers diagnosed his injury. Pluzhnikov did walk off on his own at the end of the  competition, but his status is still up in the air.

Although the Hamm brothers will not be competing in the Olympics this year, don’t count the U.S. out just yet. Sasha Artemev, who joined the squad Thursday night, and Raj Bhavsar are the Hamm brothers replacements, and both performed well the other night.

The 2004 Athens runner-up, who finished sixth in the qualifications, lacks experience, but not heart. The United States, led by fist-pumping Jonathan Horton, who went wild the other night during competition upon seeing a U.S. flag, knows they have a lot to prove and will do whatever it takes to not let everyone back home down.

Does the U.S. have enough heart to medal? Will anyone be able to overpower China? Who do you think will take home the gold tonight?

One of the more well-known storylines of the Beijing Olympics involves swimmer

Michael Phelps

If Phelps does it, Spitz won't be there to see his amazing record shattered. Because, he says, nobody invited him.

In this interesting story, Spitz holds nothing back in making his emotions known. He's ticked off that the IOC or USOC had seemingly little interest in creating a sentimental moment.

Among the highlights:

"They voted me one of the top five Olympians in all time. Some of them are dead. But they invited the other ones to go to the Olympics, but not me," Spitz said. "Yes, I am a bit upset about it."

Spitz thinks his legacy should be respected a little bit more, especially since his lasting mark might be toppled in Beijing.

So is he right, or is he being a baby?

USA Basketball vs. China: U.S. Wins 101-70

Dwyane Wade picked up right where he left off in exhibition play,leading Team USA to their first Olympic basketball win with 19 points. Despite Yao Ming's rise to stardom, the Chinese are still incredibly weak in basketball because they lack the physical stamina, creativity and toughness it takes to win on the international level. Their best finish was a meager 8th in the 2004 Athens Olympics - and just three of their players have NBA experience (which is almost a necessity these days to understand how to beat Team USA mentally).

China played an impressive passing game, especially in the early going, as Yao Ming was surrounded by defenders. Chinese players loved the three-point line; the first points of the game were scored on a three (by of all people, Yao) and by game's end, no less than six Chinese players had hit threes. Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi, both of whom have NBA experience to add to their maturity as international-level players, each hit four threes.

TEAM USA used relentless defense to trigger turnovers and force the weaker Chinese team into mistakes - leading to countless easy layups and highlight reel ally-oops. Although the weakness of the American team is all too apparent: Zero halfcourt offense. It's really scary that a team composed of guys like LeBron and Kobe, and penetrators like Deron Williams and Chris Paul struggle in a half court setting, but these guys manage it somehow. If Team USA doesn't force turnovers to create easy baskets, you're going to see them struggle to put away opponents like Germany, Argentina, and Spain. We'll have to see if the opposing countries try and slow down the game of the Americans to force them into a half-court set. The ROAD TO THE GOLD has only just begun for "The Redeem Team."

Well, it wasn't pretty but they got the job done.  The 1-0 victory over the Japanese has the US sitting atop of arguably one of the toughest groups in the Olympic Tournament.  Securing three points early on will be a huge confidence booster for our young squad as they go on to face Nigeria and the Netherlands.  The Japanese are one of the youngest and least internationally experienced teams in the tournament, relaying exclusively on U23 players...so even though this first win is exciting for fans and players alike, it should be expected. 

Click here to check out a video on players reactions to the game.  Also check out ESPN Soccer Net for an overview on defending Champs and 2008 powerhouse Argentina along with pre-tournament rankings and reviews of all the Olympic contenders.  

The media pounced on the story that several American cyclists arrived at the airport in Beijing wearing masks that covered their noses and mouths, and, consequently, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) pounced just as quickly to un-embarrass itself.

The NY Times article linked to above reads:

But U.S.O.C. officials were apparently unhappy with their choice, scolding the cyclists for walking off the plane wearing the masks because it might embarrass the host country, Mike Friedman and Bobby Lea said. The cyclists said they did not remember the name of the official who spoke with them.

Except that the USOC gave them the masks. And told the athletes to wear them if they felt they needed to.

Earlier in the article, Times reporter Juliet Macur writes:

The United States Olympic Committee had issued the specially designed masks to protect athletes from the potentially harmful air here. The U.S.O.C.’s lead exercise physiologist, Randy Wilber, had advised the athletes to wear the masks on the plane and as soon as they stepped foot here.

Apparently, the USOC's exercise physiology department isn't communicating effectively with it's p.r. department.

The cyclists did apologize, but it remains to be seen how this will affect the rest of Team USA over the course of the games.

Has the USOC warned other athletes that if they need to wear the masks, they should do so in private? Will other athletes be overly cautious in putting them on so as not to embarrass the Chinese organizing committee?

For the athletes who train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, the environment is decidedly different than those who train along the highways of Los Angeles, let alone Beijing. Is it worth not competing at full lung capacity in a race you've spent your entire life training for so as not to embarrass your hosts?