Pretty in Silver

On Tuesday the American men shocked the gymnastics world, winning an unexpected bronze medal in the team competition without the Hamm brothers. Wednesday night it was the American girls turn. Their expectations were far different however. The defending world champions came in to Beijing expecting a gold medal, but they fell short to the Chinese and had to accept a silver. The 2nd place finish was in large part because of two major mistakes by team captain Alicia Sacramone. At the start of her balance beam routine, her right foot did not land properly on the beam and she fell, causing huge deductions. Later in floor exercise on a tumbling pass, Sacramone fell again, leaving the Americans with little chance for a gold.

The Americans were at a disadvantage from the very start in these games, as team members Chelsea Memmel and Samantha Peszek were injured before the competition began, limiting their participation. Defending World all-around champion Shawn Johnson said the Americans were still proud of their silver medals and were not disappointed. The 16 year old cutie will compete in the individual all-around competition later this week, as will her teammate Nastia Liukin. Both will have a good chance to still bring home a gold for the Americans.

Aaaand they're off.....

Though the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing don't take place until Friday Night, the Olympics officially got under way on Wednesday with several soccer matches. Both the US men and women were in action Wednesday. The US Women, once a superpower in the women's soccer world, fell to Norway 2-0. The US struggled to create goal opportunities without star Abby Wambach. It will be a tough road for them to qualify for the medal rounds.

The US Men fared much better, defeating Japan by the score of 1-0. The lone goal was by Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden in the 47th minute. The win was key to the American chances for advancement to the medal rounds, as the play 2 strong teams in Nigeria and Holland in the coming days.

Obscure Olympic Event Preview of the Day : Handball

Our first Olympic event preview will take a look at Handball. Handball is a fast paced and entertaining game that features lots of scoring. It is not uncommon for a game to finish with both teams scoring over 30 goals a piece as they race up and down the court to leap and fire shots on goal.

Men's Handball was first introduced at the Olympics in Berlin in 1936. It didn't catch on though and was subsequently left out of the Olympics for almost 40 years until 1972 in Munich (Apparently the Germans love their handball). It has been played at every Olympics since. Women's Handball has been contested at every Olympics since 1976 in Montreal.

Handball has never been a popular sport in the United States, largely because we suck at it. Although one could argue it's lack of popularity is the reason we suck at it. The United States has never won a medal in Handball.

The rules of Handball are somewhat similar to Basketball with the biggest difference being that players can hold the ball for 3 seconds and take up to 3 steps between dribbles. Goals are scored by throwing the ball into a 6 meter wide goal that is defended by a goalkeeper.

Games consist of 2 thirty minute period or halves. Up to 2 five minute overtime periods can be added on in the event of a tie but after that a penalty shootout determines the outcome. The penalty shootouts are similar to those in soccer or hockey where 5 players from each team get a single shot to score a goal.

Teams to watch for

In Men's handball the favorites have to be Germany. They won the last World Championships held in 2007 and won the Silver at the 2004 Games in Athens. Not to be overlooked is Croatia which has won the Gold at 2 of the last 3 Olympics.

In Women's handball the favorites, until somebody proves otherwise is Denmark. The danish ladies have won the Gold at 3 consecutive Olympics. They didn't medal at the World Championships in 2007 though. Russia won the Gold in both 2005 and 2007.

Players to watch

Men's

Ivano Balić : Balić of Croatia, is not only the best player on the planet today, but is widely considered of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is a 2 time World Player of the year and has won the MVP at 6 different International Competitions.














Women's

Gro Hammerseng of Norway.

Hammerseng is the reigning World Player of the Year and has twice been named the MVP of the European Championships.













The United States did not qualify for Men's or Women's handball for the 2008 Olympics.