"Phil Got Shot in the Head"

In a figurative way, of course. Let me explain.

If you hadn't figured it out, our jobs, as of this point, has been a lot of fishing. We look at which teams are scheduled to practiced at that moment and look at the big fish for each team, the favourites in each race or whatnot. Then, you have to a) hope they actually show up to practice, b) agree to talk with you and c) speak English. As Frankie Valli says in "Jersey Boys", getting an interivew is like the Stations of the Cross.

Now, every time, until today, I have been rejected by someone for an interview, it's either been for a good reason (ie, the team has to get on a bus soon or they have a meeting at the embassy or they don't speak English (and even that hasn't been much of a deterrent)) or done with all the politeness in the world.

That is, until today.

I was up at the track and was planning on interviewing a Danish cyclist who is the runner-up for the Points Race from the World Championships this year. But, mainly, Krystyna gave her to me because she was cute.

And, no I'm not kidding.

But, this is after Ernst made "friends" with one of the Netherlands cyclists by helping her carry stuff down to the locker room. It was adorable.

But anywho, so I was waiting for the Danish team to finish up in practice so I could go talk to her, when Ernst and I saw the Danish coach doing an interview. So, he logically suggested I should try to get him to talk as well and could maybe lump it all together in a story about the Denmark team. So, after he was done with the interview, I went up to him and asked him if I could talk to him now or after practice.

"No."

And that was it. I was donezo. Stick a fork in that possible interview. Shot down. Which explains the title of this post...

Kelsey: We've been shot DOWN today! Phil got shot in the head!"

Aaaaaaaaaaand scene.

Well, anyway, I ended up getting the interview and it went really well. This good day was all topped off with the fact that today started the period of time where we get a shuttle bus to the venue, meaning that our charming (wipe the sarcasm off that statement) subway ride everyday will cease to be. Added bonus: on the shuttle, we watch Chinese music videos and Bruce Lee movies.

After we got back from work, we headed over to Annie's Italian Experience. Yes, I swear that's the real name and yes, I'm well aware it sounds like a ride at MGM studios. But, in all actuality it's a really really good Italian joint here. Awesome fettucine with ham and mushrooms, cappucino and tiramisu. Then, on the cab ride back, I had the best cab ride ever.

We get in the cab and Andrea decided to make friends with the cabbie by giving him a KitKat. Then, he asked us (we think) if we knew any Chinese. So, we start going through what we know.

Hi hao. Hello.
Booyao. I don't want it.
Xie xie. Thank you.
Pijou. Beer.
I Ping Xiue. Cold bottled water.
Tai gue la. That's too expensive!

Just to name a few. So, then, in an act of desperation, above Lauren and I laughing at the situation in the background, Andrea sings "Beijing Welcomes You," the official song of the 2008 games.



So, then the man proceeds to teach us the rest of the song. And, then the flood gates opened. We learned up, down, left, right, I am an American, He is an American, She is an American. It was the perfect cap to a really fun day.

Tomorrow starts the insanity of the Olympics. Events start @ 4:30.

A Boring Day, Then a Productive One

Yesterday was really a boring day, hence no post. I interviewed a cyclists, he didn't really know English, I waited around for the cyclist a lot. Then I went home. Pretty normal.

Today, I got to sleep in, as today is my last day off before the craziness of the games start. I woke up and watched some swimming. I saw Phelps win another gold (shocking, I know) and Katie Hoff in, to be honest, a disappointing performance, in my opinion. I understand she was swimming against the world record holder, but she sank so low in the last 50m...it was sad. Also caught some gymnastics today and saw the US get beat by the Chinese. It was a solid year for both squads that, while we didn't rock gold in either men's or women's, it shows that we're a powerhouse that isn't just about gold medal fluke years.

We went to Paul's for some brunch. Then, Chad and I headed off to Sanlitun to the Adidas store. I bought the official Chinese team jacket, which is pretty sweet. Then we went off to a Mexican restaurant we know for some margaritas and a quesadilla. It was a small day, but a nice last day off before the madness begins.

Jam-Packed Day

Yesterday, I woke up to a startling e-mail. It was from Jane, our professor, saying, very non-chalantly, that we had tickets to Beach Volleyball for Monday (today). Needless to say, this was an awesome development, considering I had already resigned myself to the fact that, other than the awesome cycling action that will go down at the Laoshan Bicycle Cluster, I wouldn't be able to see any of the events.

We also learned that on the 16th, at least some of us will get to go to the Bird's Nest to go see some Track & Field (or, as it's officially called in Olympic-Speak, Athletics). But, I'm supposed to work then so, news is still developing on that front.

So, we got up and made our way over to the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, which is, essentially, placed smack dab in the middle of an amusement park. It took us a while, because there was a severe lack of taxis this morning. Plus, when we got off the subway, and found a taxi, the driver dropped us off at the completely wrong gate. So, we ended up taking a short little cab ride around to the other side of the joint. Then, we were in.

The one thing that was looming in the thoughts of all of us was whether the weather would cooperate. It had rained overnight and just looked like it could pour at any second. It was bad enough that volunteers were handing out ever-so-fashionable ponchos at the entrance.

We got to the court and, to be honest, it is...AWESOME! We walked in after the first match and then got to see the Australian Men's team beat Angola.


And, yes, those are cheerleaders. Let me explain the typical Beach Volleyball Match.

In between points, there is blaring music. The music varied from Bon Jovi to European dance music and everything in between. Every about 10 points, the teams switch sides. Then, there are technical time outs. During these, anywhere from 10-20 Chinese cheerleaders, The Beach Girls, come out and do a little dance...or...eight volunteers come out and rake the sand. Guess which one's more entertaining?

So, in short, they really have tried to create a party atmosphere, and it partially works. It doesn't seem like you are watching these people down on the sand who have trained their entire lives for this while cheerleaders in skimpy outfits dance around. It's an odd, odd juxtaposition.

A couple of fun things about the day:

1) Kobe was there.


Yes, that man in the white jersey with his legs taking up another seat (assumingly because his awesomeness doesn't fit into one seat) is the one and only Kobe Bryant, who helped to lead the Americans in kicking Yao Ming's butt (although he's so tall, they actually just settled for kicking his shins and leaving it at that) last night.

2) We met an Australian reality TV star. This guy Chad saw some of the Australians in their full regalia (remember, Australia played in the morning) and called them, meaning us, since I was with them, out as fellow countrymen and women. So, we sat near him, moving to much, much better seats in the process. My friend Janice kept saying how she recognized him, but chalked it up to him looking like a footballer. Then, he says, "Did you ever see the show Playing it Straight?"

And there it was. That was where Janice knew him from. "Playing it Straight" was an Australian reality show from about four years ago where a woman had numerous suitors to choose from. But...wait for it...are you sitting?...some of them were gay and some of them were straight!! EGAD! So, she had to rule out everyone and eventually pick the straight man of her dreams. If she did, both of them won $100K each. If she picked a gay guy, he walked away with all $200K.

Classy isn't it.

And, in the course of conversation, we found out, not only was he on this show.

HE WAS THE WINNER!


Chad is the dude in the front left in the white shirt. Turns out, he works in Perth (I love the way the name of that city sounds...Perth.) and she was in...umm...not Perth, so they eventually grew apart.

And, I Googled this. It's all true.

It was a crazy day off. Back to the salt mines tomorrow.

It's Like the Best Satellite Package Ever...But FREE!

So, I forewent posting last night for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I got home at midnight, which I'll explain in a second. Secondly, I didn't feel like I could blog about the Opening Ceremonies before people had seen it.

Weren't they absolutely incredible?! I'll say, with all honesty, that the city feels different today than it did the day before.

But that could be that I had to be out the door at 7 in the morning to get to work. But, I'm gonna go with the Olympic Spirit.

We went, as I said we would, to Paul's Steak and Eggs for the Ceremonies. We sat down and I had a lovely meal of country fried steak, mashed potatoes, caesar salad and some black forest cake for dessert. The aforementioned cause of the late night was because the international feed we were watching decided to take a commercial break every 18 seconds...a commercial break that lasted 8 minutes. We counted.

Therefore, during the long long March of Nations, we would see about five countries and then have a commercial break. So, we ended up being about 45 minutes behind the live ceremony. To put it in another way, we left Paul's soon after the American team came out (in their stunning ensemble), took a taxi back to campus and got back to see the amazing torch lighting.

So, much to my chagrin, I went from that long long tonight to being up early this morning (the earliest I've been up so far here in Beijing, to my recollection) to get to work at the velodrome this morning. We were uncertain enterting the day, considering we didn't know a) how many athletes would be in the same position we were in, completely tired from the night before, perhaps getting a much-needed reprieve from training and b) how many of them would/could talk to us. And then there was c) Not having Krystyna, our boss, there to grease the wheels, as she was at the road race today. So, we embarked on what turned out to be a pretty solid day, for not having any professional help: two flash quote reports and a news article.

One of the best things about this job right now is the television we get in the ONS office. There are all of the normal channels that we've had for a couple of weeks now, including CCTV, CNN International, BBC World, EuroSport, MTV...all the essentials. But, today, they added channels DX 1 thru 40. Those channels are, I swear to you, all Olympics, all the time. If it's being played on a court or field, it's on TV for us. It's AMAZING! Today, in our down time, I watched handball, judo, boxing, basketball, weightlifting, equestrian, the cycling road race, and gymnastics. It was nuts. At points, we were hesitant to leave the office to go do, you know...OUR JOB...because we were watching the Australians play Belarus in basketball. Truly awesome day. :)

Now, a welcome two days off.

Another Day, Another Interview

Sorry I didn't have a post up yesterday. I was sooooooooo busy posting over at jconline.com. Check it out if you're bored...well, more bored than you must be to be reading this.

Today was just another day at the office. I thought, when I left, I would be the last one to be at work. But, pleasant surprise of surprises, I was first to get there. So, I went up to the track and watched some of the teams going around. I've been around professional cyclists for a few days now, and I'm still amazed with what they do on a daily basis. Especially the team, I forget which country they're from, that ride around in a circle at blinding speeds non-stop...for more than an hour.

We've seen the Americans a couple of times now and, I will say, regardless of what they want to put on their faces when they walk off a plane (Google "USA Cycling Masks...you'll find the controversy), they are working their butts off on that track. And, they're nice, at least compared to some of the cycling teams we've encountered so far.

Later in the day, after lunch, we got to talk to the French team. And, it was refreshing to talk to a coach who said, "Yes, you can talk to anyone you would like." I got to interview Clara Sanchez, a French cyclist who actually lives and trains in Aix-en-Provence, which is where the D'Arlier kids go every year. It wasn't the best interview, since she had to answer through a translator (aka one of her teammates), but it was cool to be able to talk briefly about Aix and how much I love it.

So, another day, another interview down. Now, tomorrow will be a crazy day: Opening Ceremonies (which we'll watch at Paul's Steak & Eggs, some of the best food here) and, more importantly, a day off. Sleeping in, maybe some errands if it's not too crowded out there in the harsh harsh world.

I Love Our Staff

So, I was going to post about the wonderful Subway TV entertainment, but then I looked and I'll have a starring role in the J&C blog tomorrow, so I'll save it until then.

Today was the first day of cyclists on the track. And, to be honest, it was pretty uneventful. A lot of cyclists, especially cyclists who are endurance riders (or "enduros" as Amy calls them) might not even be here yet because of the pollution and weather. It's a whole lot more beneficial to practice in the mountains of Germany or in Australia or someplace like that than it would be to just keep riding around the track a week and a half before they're races start.

So, today was kind of slow going, but I worked a little more on my story and did more research on riders and, even though it was only one or two, we got to watch some riders on the track. We also got to see the pace bike for the Keirin.

The Keirin is an event where the cyclists have to run behind a motor bike for a billion laps, jockeying for position. Then, the bike leaves and they sprint for a couple of laps, every man (or woman) for themselves. Well, we got to see the pace bike, which was pretty cool, actually.

Every day is a reminder of how awesome of a staff we have to work with. I hear stories (not necessarily horror stories, but less than pleasant stories) from people from other sports and other jobs where people just sit and do nothing all day, have no idea what they're supposed to do, etc. We have a very good balance of being prepared while being able to take time with whatever we're doing and having fun while doing it.

So, we now have about two and a half weeks (not to be confused with Two and Half Men...though, oddly enough, I could have bought every season of it from certain DVD shops) left and I feel weird. I feel like we're winding down, but ramping up. I just hope things keep going the way they're going and everything turns out well.

Isn't It An Awesome Feeling...

...when something you thought was crap turned out not to be. Let me explain.

So, now that training is over (more on that in a second) tomorrow begins the period of teams' training periods. We don't know when exactly they'll be on the track, or how many of them there will be, but now is the time to really get some writing done...well, anything more than our Flash Quote Reports and Press Conference Reports. So, pretty much from Day 1, Amy and Ernst and Krystyna have been pressing us to come up with story ideas: different angles to cover that would make interesting stories to put into the system.

So, on a whim, I tried to come up with an idea. In doing our research, I found a lot of track cyclists with road track experience, including some of the favorites in all the sport. So, I want to do a story about how they benefit from doing both. And, apparently, it's a good idea. I was expecting it to be a sort of empty gesture that, even thought it was bad, it at least showed some effort and forethought; but, it turns out to maybe be a viable story.

Soooo, training was pretty non-eventful. We went out to the BMX venue and, thankfully, even though it was humid, the smog was covering the sun, so it was about a billion times better than it could have been. The deal with BMX will be that we'll have to call in our quotes to people back at the main ONS office at the velodrome, since the walk between the two is about 10 minutes or so. We practiced that today, which was helpful for everyone. Then, they threw out a mock rain delay at the venue so they could practice putting the tarp out onto the track.

It made me long for the Cubs grounds crew. It was just really inefficient and felt kinda like a waste of time. The rest of the day was pretty normal. Mixed zones, press conferences, lunch (It was one of the worst days for lunch. Didn't sit well with me AT ALL!) and then some milling around, at which point I came up with my story idea, and then back here to the dorm. Oh, and we also learned the ICMS (Something Content Management System) which is how we'll input all of our reports.

Overall, a pretty good day. Back to begin training for the cyclists tomorrow.