Beijing: 08-08-2008

[PeppyGPhiB]

Pepperdine has 12 alumni participating as athletes or coaches, so here's who I'll be cheering on:

Athletes

Simon Aspelin, Tennis (Sweden) ... Appearing in his first Olympics ... Will play doubles with fellow Swede Thomas Johannson ... Currently ranked #11 in the world in doubles by the ITF ... Won the 2007 U.S. Open doubles title ... Earned All-American honors at Pepperdine all four years (1994-97).

Merrill Moses, Water Polo (USA) ... Appearing in his first Olympics ... First played for the senior National Team in 2001 ... Led Pepperdine to the NCAA championship as a junior in 1997 ... Earned three-time All-American honors for the Waves.

Ryan Radmanovich, Baseball (Canada) ... Appearing in his second Olympics ... Canada took fourth place in 2004 ... Reached the Major Leagues in 1998 with the Seattle Mariners ... Currently plays in the independent Northern League ... Played one season for the Waves (1993) after transferring from Hancock Junior College ... Hit .305 with a team-high 13 home runs ... Was a fourth-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins following the 1993 season and turned pro.

Sean Rooney, Volleyball (USA) ... Appearing in his first Olympics ... Joined the AVP Tour in 2004 and also played in the Korean League ... Made the USA National Team in 2007 ... A four-time All-American (2002-05) for the Waves ... Was the 2005 National Player of the Year and the MVP of the NCAA Championships as Pepperdine captured the national title.

Jesse Smith, Water Polo (USA) ... Appearing in his second Olympics ... The USA took seventh place in 2004 as Smith was one of the top scorers ... Made his senior National Team debut in 2001 ... A three-time All-American at Pepperdine (2001-03).

Coaches

Marv Dunphy, consultant coach for USA Men’s Volleyball ... Heading to his fifth Olympics as a coach ... Was the head coach of the USA in 1988 when they won the gold medal ... Was also an assistant coach in 2000 and a consultant coach in 1996 and 2004 ... Heading into his 26th season as the head coach at Pepperdine and has won four NCAA championships ... Played volleyball for Pepperdine in the 1970s.

Brian Goorjian, head coach for Australia Men’s Basketball ... Heading to his second Olympics as a coach ... Led Australia to a ninth-place finish in 2004 ... Has coached five Australian League championship teams in his 20-plus years as a coach there ... Played three seasons on the varsity at Pepperdine (1974-76) ... The Waves made the NCAA Tournament his senior year.

Terry Schroeder, head coach for USA Men’s Water Polo ... Heading to his first Olympics as a coach ... Participated in three Olympics as a player, winning silver medals in 1984 and 1988 and finishing in fourth place in 1992 ... Was Pepperdine’s head coach for 20 years before stepping aside to join the USA coaching staff in 2006, and has plans to return some time after the Olympics ... A three-time All-American at Pepperdine (1977, ’78 and ’80) and still the school’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Troy Tanner, coach for USA beach volleyball duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh ... Heading to his first Olympics as a coach ... Won a gold medal playing for the USA men in 1988 ... A three-time All-American at Pepperdine.

Other Roles

Kevin Barnett, NBC Sports commentator for volleyball ... A two-time Olympian for the USA ... His volleyball squads finished 11th in 2000 and fourth in 2004 ... Earned two-time All-American honors at Pepperdine in 1996 and 1997.

Bob Ctvrtlik, U.S. Olympic Committee Vice President and member of the International Olympic Committee ... A three-time Olympic volleyball player for the U.S. who won a gold medal in 1988 and a bronze medal in 1992 ... Earned NCAA Player of the Year honors and won a national championship in 1985, his only season at Pepperdine.

Gary Moy, Global Sports Partners operations ... Associate Director of Athletics at Pepperdine ... Will be working at his ninth Olympic Games and servicing 32 National Olympic Committees at the Casa Americas in Beijing ... Team Manager for Marv Dunphy’s 1988 Olympic Gold Medal squad ... Served as the USA Olympic Team Delegation Director at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.


There are also around 40 athletes that are from or train in the Seattle area. We've got a lot of rowers and swimmers!

^^^

Pep, I'm surprised there aren't more Pepperdine alums on the Water Polo and Volleyball teams! We lose a lot of local kids to you guys every year!

[Benzgirl]

Dara is my idol!

[RedefinedDiva]

The opening ceremony was SPECTACULAR!!! WOW!!!

[DoctorD]

^^^^
Yep - that's how I look on a diving board.

Not.

She is amazing - I can't wait to see how she does.

[Benzgirl]

The athletes are entering. I'm so corny, but I love the opening ceremony. Guaranteed water-works when the USA comes in. It always happens on queue.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by OTW

^^^

Pep, I'm surprised there aren't more Pepperdine alums on the Water Polo and Volleyball teams! We lose a lot of local kids to you guys every year!

Yeah, I am too, especially volleyball. I knew both Merrill and Kevin when I was there, though. I suspect there are plenty of Hawaiians on the volleyball team?

[nittanyalum]

And the Nordic men did NOT disappoint!

[BetteDavisEyes]

This is why living on the West Coast can stink. I'm dying to see the opening ceremonies but I still have about a half hour to go. I hope I can make it til midnight.

[cuteASAbug]

What annoys me every opening ceremony is during the Parade of Nations when Liberia comes out. The announcers always say that it was founded by freed American slaves. Umm no, actually, it was founded for freed slaves. Huge difference.

[smiley21]

It was so cute seeing some of the foreign athletes wanting to have their picture taken with Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade.


The opening ceremonies were . The following host cities might as well throw in the towel. No one can touch China now! I have no words...it was just the most spectacular thing I have ever seen.


Some of those foreign men... HOT!

[epchick]

Awwww the story of that little Chinese boy touched my heart!!!

He was a survivor of the earthquake, where 20 of his 30 classmates passed away. Once he was able to free himself from the rubble, he went back to try and save some of students. When asked why, he said because it was his job---he was the class leader, the hall monitor (of sorts). *TEAR*

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

What annoys me every opening ceremony is during the Parade of Nations when Liberia comes out. The announcers always say that it was founded by freed American slaves. Umm no, actually, it was founded for freed slaves. Huge difference.

This DOES bug.

I was bugged by a lot of the comments during the parade of nations.

For example, the announcer said at one point... "The Central African Republic is a republic in Central Africa" with little to no sense of irony. UM, WHAT?

There were a lot of comments that I perceived as demeaning made about smaller nations. It was really offensive to me. Some of the poorest commentating I've seen at an opening ceremony. On par with John Tesh commentating gymnastics at the Atlanta games... oh, the horror!

[SoCalGirl]

Originally Posted by breathesgelatin

For example, the announcer said at one point... "The Central African Republic is a republic in Central Africa" with little to no sense of irony. UM, WHAT?

The first time he said it was with irony. Now he says it out of tradition.

[BetteDavisEyes]

I was annoyed at some stupid comment Bob Costas was making about one country (I forgot which one) that criticized NBC for cutting away when they came out at the last Olympics thus, their countrymen were unable to cheer for their athletes as they were announced b/c of a stupid commercial.