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The U.S. Olympic Committee has compiled quotes from some of the U.S. athletes who took part in the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing Games on Friday in the Bird's Nest. Here are a few more comments:
Jennifer Joines (Volleyball)
“For four years we have been training in a quiet gym. Tonight we walked into the stadium with everyone watching. It truly was amazing. This journey was well worth the wait.”
Oganna Nnamani (Volleyball)
“It was a breathtaking experience walking into the stadium. I am thankful to be part of this moment.
Phil Dalhausser (Beach Volleyball)
“It was really cool. My favorite part was definitely walking around the track. It was the whole atmosphere. I had chills, especially when we first walked out.”
Giddeon Massie (Cycling)
“I think it’s great having done this once before and having the opportunity to do it again. They’ve really stepped up the apparel and I’m really looking forward to it. I think they all look good.”
 Glenn Eller (Shooting)
“It was the best Opening Ceremonies I’ve ever seen. They did an awesome job and it was amazing to be out there, representing the United States. I also got to meet President George Bush, so that was really neat. I took pictures with him and Laura. It was really cool – he was there energizing us before we walked out.”
Caitlin Lowe (Softball)
“It was so amazing and wonderful to see the torch lit. There is nothing anything like it, it was so cool." Meeting all the U.S. athletes before was incredible because we were all dressed the same as one team. Everyone was taking pictures, wishing good luck.. It was so neat to meet all the famous athletes.”
Natasha Watley (Softball)
“What an amazing night. It was a lot of fun getting a chance before we lined up to mingle with the other U.S. Athletes in the delegation. Also meeting the President... Wow, just a crazy, crazy night. The best part was the guy running around the top with the images of the torch being shown. Being in the middle of the venue and watching the fireworks was an incredible feeling.”
Kate Hooven (Synchronized Swimming)
“What got to me the most was the lighting of the torch. It was so amazing, it brought me to tears. It was overwhelming and embodied everything that is 'Olympic' to me.”
Photos: Top: Lopez Lomong carries the United States flag during the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at National Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE. Insert: Glenn Eller. Credit: USOC
The U.S. women's softball team closed out their pre-Olympic exhibition tour with a 6-2 win over Team Intensity at Bill Barber Memorial Park Stadium in Irvine in front of 2,447 fans who were chanting U-S-A.
During the tour, the U.S. team (59-1) has played in front of more than 200,00 people in 45 cities and is ready to earn another gold medal, which would be their fourth.
“Tonight is bittersweet for us. These past few months have been exhausting but also so amazing to see so much passion for the sport. Although it’s sad to see it end, we are so ready to go over and bring home our fourth gold medal,” said Jessica Mendoza of Camarillo on the USA Softball website. “The best way I can describe it is we are going to bottle up all the places we’ve been, the fans we’ve seen and take them over to China. We are going to represent them and know they are at home supporting us.”
The U.S., leading 3-2 in the fourth, put the game away by scoring three runs with two outs. Caitlin Lowe of Tustin got it started with a double to center field, and scored off a triple by Mendoza.
Mendoza closed the tour with a team-high 107 runs-batted in and was second on the team with five triples. The tour leader in home runs finished her last at bat of the tour in typical fashion as Crystl Bustos of Canyon Country hammered her 28th home run of the season for two RBIs.
Pitcher Jennie Finch of La Mirada collected the win and had nine strikeouts while giving up two earned runs. She finished with a team-high 19-1 record.
Mendoza, who batted .495, also was team leader in doubles and hits. Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) had a team-high 247 strikeouts while allowing 37 hits. Finch worked a team-high 118.2 innings with 11 complete games.
The team opens up Olympic competition Aug. 12 against Venezuela.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Jennie Finch, seen here during an exhibition game in May, finished with a 19-1 record. Credit: Kyle Terada / US Presswire
For the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Beijing Games is all a numbers thing.
But first a trivia question:
3: The number of states that do not have a representative on the U.S. Olympic team headed to Beijing. Name them (answer at the end).
Now for the real numbers.
596: The number of athletes on the U.S. team, 310 men and 286 women.
30: The number of sports, including the newest Olympic disciplines of BMX, open-water swimming and women's steeplechase.
2= 0: The U.S. will not compete in men's field hockey and team handball.
5 x 41 = 9: There are three five-time Olympians, including 41-year-old Dara Torres of L.A., who will swim at an Olympic Games for her third consecutive decade (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008). Torres will also enter the Games as the most decorated U.S. Olympic athlete, with nine Olympic medals to her name (four gold, one silver and four bronze).
12: The number of athletes who will be competing in their fourth Olympic Games.
8: The number of gold medals Michael Phelps is after as he looks to make history by surpassing Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in 1972.
1 + 3: Sheila Taormina (modern pentathlon) already made sports history when she became the first woman to qualify for the Olympics in three sports (swimming, triathlon and modern pentathlon). This will be her fourth U.S. Olympic team (1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008).
47: The number of states that will have athlete representatives competing in Beijing, based upon athletes' listed hometown affiliation.
175: The number of Olympic athletes who are from California, the most of any state.
4 > 50: Four members of the team competing in Beijing next month are over 50 years old. Distinction as the oldest goes to sailor John Dane III, who is 58. Libby Callahan (shooting) will become the oldest U.S. female Olympian of all time, at 56.
15: The age of the youngest team members, part of the women's 10-meter synchro team in diving. Mary Beth Dunnichay edges partner Haley Ishimatsu (of Seal Beach) as the youngest U.S. athlete.
3 + 1: Olympic history is being made as Steven, Mark and Diana Lopez (all taekwondo) become the first three siblings on the U.S. Olympic team since 1904. They will be coached in Beijing by their eldest brother, Jean.
20: The number of U.S. Olympic athletes who are mothers. Among them is Torres, as well as three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie (Sparks) and 2004 Olympic champion Jennie Finch (softball/La Mirada).
Trivia answer: Montana, North Dakota and Vermont.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Left to right, Mark, Steven and Diana Lopez. All three will compete in taekwondo. Credit: Pat Sullivan / Associated Press
 During a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House earlier today, President Bush urged U.S. Olympians to "compete swifter, higher and stronger" and also serve as "ambassadors of liberty" to the people of China during the Beijing Games, which begin Aug. 8.
Bush, who will attend the Opening Ceremony and watch some of the early competitions, told about a dozen Olympians and Paralympians that he is "fired up" to catch them in action next month.
"I can't wait to salute our athletes, and I can't wait to share in the joy of your triumphs," Bush said.
Though human-rights groups had urged Bush and other world leaders to boycott the opening day ceremonies, the Bush administration countered that the Olympics shouldn't be politicized.
"You will convey our nation's most cherished values," the president said. "As ambassadors of liberty, you will represent America's love for freedom and our regard for human rights and human dignity ... to other athletes and to the people of China."
Bush and his wife, Laura, will hold a White House dinner tonight to honor current and previous U.S. Olympians.
Such Olympians as track and field gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee and gymnastics gold medalist Shannon Miller will enjoy what AP described as "not a low-cal affair, with pea soup with duck pastrami, cheese puffs, crispy black sea bass, butter beans, salad and a dessert called the 'Olympic Torch,' a dark chocolate tart with raspberries and a blown-sugar Olympic flame."
The bluegrass band Seldom Scene was the chosen entertainment.
Photo: President Bush is presented with a jersey by softball player Jennie Finch during a ceremony today in the Rose Garden of the White House. Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images
 The USA Women’s National team, behind the pitching of Cat Osterman, improved to 55-1 after routing the Midwest College All Stars 15-0 in a tuneup game in Springfield, Mo., tonight.
A 15-minute lightning storm delay the start of the game to 7:45 p.m. as the clouds brought in light rain showers during lineup introductions.
Osterman, of Houston, struck out 17 strikeouts as she moved to a perfect 14-0 in tour action.
“I not only felt in control tonight with my pitches, but with my mental game,” Osterman said on the USA Softball web site.
At the plate, the U.S. totaled 18 hits with 11 players tallying at least one hit. Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo) and Lauren Lappin (Anaheim) led the way with three hits each. Mendoza, Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Springs, Fla.), Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif.) and Tairia Flowers (Tucson, Ariz.) each had home runs. Mendoza collected a game-high four RBIs.
The U.S. began their scoring onslaught in the bottom of the first inning with four runs and added seven more runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Osterman struck out the side three times in the game.
The U.S. team, which next heads to Connecticut to play the Stratford Brakettes Sunday evening, has just four tour games remaining before heading to Beijing on Aug. 4.
Earlier this week, the U.S. team went to see Mt. Rushmore, which Jessica Mendoza wrote about in her blog, proving it's not all work and play ball.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Pitcher Cat Osterman, seen here during a game in May, has helped lead her team to a 55-1 record. Credit: Kyle Terada / US Presswire
It's now less than a month until 08-08-08, so do you know where your Beijing-bound U.S. athletes are? On the court, in the pool and heading for home.
Earlier today in Yokohama, Japan, the U.S. women's national indoor volleyball team lost its opening game in the FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round, 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 to top-ranked Brazil.
The World Grand Prix Final Round is a round-robin format. Each team plays five matches in five days. The U.S. will play Japan on July 10, Cuba on July 11, Italy on July 12 and China on July 13.
The top-ranked and Beijing-bound U.S. women's water polo team has been warming up for the Games with a four-match series against No. 2-ranked Australia.
The U.S. won the July 4 opener in Los Alamitos, 13-12. Australia came back on July 6 in La Jolla to beat the U.S., 12-11. Last night in Coronado, the Americans prevailed, 12-6. The final pre-Beijing Olympics match will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in Stanford University's Avery Aquatics Center.
USA Softball, also headed to Beijing, on Tuesday routed the Portland All-Stars, 19-0. Pitcher Monica Abbott earned her 14th win and third no-hitter of the season, working nine complete innings and registering 15 strikeouts.
The team has seven games remaining on the KFC Bound 4 Beijing Tour, which concludes July 26 with a sold-out game in Irvine.
--Greg Johnson
Photo: Natalie Golda (#6) moves the ball past Australian defender Jenna Santoromito during an exhibition match in La Jolla; credit: Robert Benson/US PRESSWIRE
More than 300,000 tickets have been distributed for the nine-day softball tournament in Beijing, making the event a sellout.
And that's a fact International Softball Federation Preisdent Don Porter is heralding in his campaign to get the sport returned to the Olympic calendar for 2016. The International Olympic Committee voted three years ago to remove baseball and softball from the Games for 2012 but will hold another vote for the 2016 Games in October 2009.
"This is wonderful but not unexpected news that confirms that softball is an immensely popular Olympic sport," Porter said in a release issued by the ISF. "It means that tens of thousands of people in China and from all around the world have chosen softball as their Olympic sport of choice."
The U.S., which has dominated Olympic softball, winning all three gold medals, is favored to successfully defend its title in Beijing. Others in the field for the competition, which begins Aug. 12, include Australia, Canada, China, Taiwan, Japan, the Netherlands and Venezuela.
"This go-around I think you're going to see better pitching overall, better hitting overall and I think the game has gotten better," U.S. Coach Mike Candrea said of the competition. "It's unfortunate that we're fighting to get back on the program when I really believe the game has actually kind of turned a corner."
-- Kevin Baxter
Photo: Team USA second baseman Lovieanne Jung of Fountain Valley tags out Mid-American Conference all-star team's Courtney Waters in an exhibition last week in Ohio. Credit: Tom E. Puskar / Associated Press-Ashland Times
The U.S. women's softball team has been dominant on its 60-game pre-Olympic barnstorming tour around the country, winning 49 of its first 50 games while outscoring opponents 573-26.
In the last week alone, the three-time defending Olympic champions won four consecutive games against teams made up mostly of college players by a combined score of 73-1. (Virginia Tech, a 1-0 winner on March 26, is the only team to beat Team USA.)
So coach Mike Candrea has decided to make things a little more challenging by allowing opponents to start innings by placing runners on base.
“I was the first victim of that tactic,” said left-hander Cat Osterman, who is 11-0 with a team-high 180 strikeouts in 85 innings. Three times she was forced to start an inning with a
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