The Olympic Opening Ceremonies

I am kicking back on the couch a little after midnight, watching the ceremonies on Kiwi national television. First, it must be interesting to know that you have just witnessed dawn while we are in the middle of the night, all the while perhaps watching the same spectacle. Beijing is four hours behind us, so they are on the same day as the U.S. while we are in your tomorrow.

Some interesting information:

• The New Zealand TV crew consists of 120 people in the basement of the media broadcasting building.
• NBC: 3000 people in a 7000-square foot space, including its own coffee shop and McDonald's.

The sports with realistic medalist hopefuls from New Zealand:

• Two-man scull
• Individual canoe
• Windsurfing
• Three-day equestrian event
• Men's field hockey

The flag-bearer for the Kiwis: Mahe Drysdale, a rower in his third olympics, but one of the few returners who has not won a medal.

I am looking forward to watching the games from another country. Probably equally biased to their own, but with fewer competitions in which their own are competitive for the medals. So how will they cover these events?

Several other sports have already been touted in the highlights. Among them:

• The Redeem Team in basketball
• 100-meter dash (Gaye from USA, Bolt, and ?)
• Michael Phelps' chances of winning more than Mark Spitz' seven gold medals

Other odd facts:

• Beijing population: 17 million
• Capacity in the Bird's Nest stadium for the opening ceremony: 91,000
• Demand for opening ceremony tickets: 2.3 million
• Bhutan is present for the games. The only sport in which they have competed: archery

Highlights of the ceremonies:

• The fireworks simulating 30 footsteps along a major thoroughfare in Beijing, covering the length of the city in 30 seconds.
• A thousand people with lights, running to form an image of a dove in flight. Impressive.

Well, these ceremonies are likely to go on forever. 204 teams to march in. We are planning on going skiing this weekend, weather permitting.