(Photo: Italy scores against Germany, but falls in the end 7-8, Saturday, Aug. 16th.)We meet the most seamless security check so far at the Olympic Park, south of the Bird’s Nest and housing the Yingdong Natatorium (for water polo and modern pentathlon swimming), the Olympic Sport Center Gymnasium (for handball) and the Olympic Sports Center Stadium (for modern pentathlon running & equestrian). Fans arrive to view both water polo and handball today. It’s a second beautiful blue sky day in Beijing and we can see the Bird’s Nest and Olympic flame clearly. We also discover we’ve received the worst seats so far! The Natatorium is a long rectangular building with a diving pool and water polo pool in the middle of facing stadium seating. We are against the wall, in front of the diving platforms and as far away from the water polo pool as can be. The seats are too small to turn our bodies the 40 degrees or so we need to even see the water polo straight on! As usual, there are many empty seats right in front the main pool, but the ticket checkers are very efficient at checking tickets and we cannot move. However, after MUCH asking, one volunteer leads us to a desk at which three young female volunteers sit. We explain we cannot see clearly, they look at our original tickets, and they write us a new form with new seat numbers. We go to the new numbers and VOILA! They are front and center at the main pool! I later ask these volunteers if all venues have this service; they say only those with known obstruction areas have this service.
Water polo is brutal. To our inexperienced eyes it is all referee whistles, near drowning, and white water! The first game between Germany and Italy is tough; one Italian looks as though he has a bruised cheekbone. The goalies engage in a lot of German and Italian yelling to their teammates. In the 4th Quarter, Germany has the lead 8-7. With only 2 minutes left, Italy has two more goal attempts and everyone is either holding their breath or screaming. Still, Germany holds fast: final score 8-7.
One of our seat neighbors is an American who since last fall has worked for Major League Baseball (MLB) in China. He’s a strength and conditioning coach whose job was to help train up-and-coming players in the China Baseball League (CBL). After a quick fall training, the promising team went to Arizona to play minor, minor league teams for the experience. According to the coach, the Chinese were blitzed. After a winter of more training, the team went back to the US again for more of the same, but did better (or, not as badly). Still, he noted a lot of challenges MLB has in China. First, baseball is not the norm in China. Basketball and football are much more common, in both rural and urban settings. As a result, the Chinese start later (at 10 years old or older). The skills levels are lower. Moreover, since China was not anticipated to be a medalist in baseball, the CBL allowed no publicity or coverage of the MLB’s work. Finally, it’s been noted that the Olympic venues for baseball (one practice field and two stadiums) are temporary. This guy said that after Taiwanese came to view the baseball facilities in Beijing and complimented them, an official was overheard to say, “Yes, we’re keeping one.” We’ll see!
The second water polo match is between Canada and Greece. Within the first four minutes, Greece is pounding Canada 4-1! Behind us is the family of Robin Randall, one of the Canadian goalies; we cheer with them and learn a lot about the sports from their commentary. Canada attempts many goals, but Greece plays a few surprises and overpowers them. Final score, 13-7.
Sadly, we have to leave and cannot stay for the US vs. Croatia game. Already the stands are flooding with red, white and blue. We learn later that the US upsets the favorite Croatia 7-5. It’s too bad we miss it! But we are having a marathon day of water polo, men’s basketball and team ping pong semi-finals today. We’ll see if we survive!
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