With the Olympics getting set to kick off in Beijing, you just know that the city is about to be a non stop party. After seeing images of the smog level and bugs that have invaded, it might not be a bad idea to get acquainted with some indoor activity. If you are going to be in Beijing and are looking for a place to hang with some gorgeous people while you knock a few back, I suggest checking out China Doll Club. Founded by award-winning Chinese actress/producer Ai Wan and club designer Wu Ying, this place is a cornerstone in the Beijing night life. More pics after the jump

[Pics via The Cool Hunter]

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Are you ready for this year’s Olympics to kick off? HKLUG is…They’ve created their own reprdocution of some of Beijing as they get set to host the Olympics. This little mini version contains over 300,000 Lego bricks and 4,500 mini figures. I can’t even imagine how long it took to put this together. Let’s hope Lego kicked them down to help them complete this. More pics after the jump.

[Via Hypebeast and HKLUG]

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The US Women have landed in Beijing (without our girl Leslie Osborne, Cat Whitehill and Abby Wambach who will all miss the Olympics due to injury) to prepare for their 2008 Olympic grouping in Qinhuangdao, the venue for the first two matches.

Now it’s training, passport, paperwork, drug testing and everything else that happens behind the scenes before an Olympic Tournament.

Follow the team’s updates on WNT-USSoccer.BlogSpot.

image via WNT-USSoccer

The names are set (for the most part) as Piotr Nowak has released his Beijing Roster and yes, there are a few surprises.

2008 U.S. MEN’S OLYMPIC TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio)

FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

U.S. Men’s Olympic Team Alternates List
Goalkeeper: Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract)
Defender: Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew)
Midfielder: Dax McCarty (FC Dallas)
Forward: Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

We always knew there would have to be one or two surprises, so let the second guessing of Piotr Nowak’s roster begin.

Who am I surprised about? Benny Feilhaber and Nathan Sturgis, based on injuries alone. The inclusion of Marvell Wynne instead of Kamani Hill tells me (reading through the lines) that Nowak is going with three in the back.

Players missing from the Concacaf Qualification Tournament - Kamani Hill, Dax McCarty, Chad Barrett, Hunter Freeman, Jonathan Spector,Sal Zizzo, Dominic Cervi, Dax McCarty and Robbie Findley (although the last three are alternates).

The team will get together Sunday July 20th in San Jose, California for a week of training before heading out to participate in the ING Tournament in Hong Kong with fellow Olympians Ivory Coast (July 30th) and Cameroon (August 2nd).

Keep something in mind.  Nowak has until July 25th to submit his FINAL roster.  That means a full week of training and two matches before the team gets to Beijing.  Just saying…

New Nike commercial

Let the marketing wars begin!

* BTW, watch the guy running at the end.  It took me a couple times to notice how he was running.  Takes the ad to a whole new level. 

DOUBLE UPDATE - Ronaldinho’s been given the all-clear by Milan to join up with Dunga’s Beijing bound Olympic Team.

“We’ll respect the agreement that was made before his transfer to Milan,” Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said Wednesday.

UPDATE - Barcelona director of football, Txiki Begiristain has dropped an interesting tidbit regarding Ronaldinho’s transfer to AC Milan for 19.8 Million Pound.

Via Goal

The player will always decide where he wants to play. As a club, we can have 40 different offers but in the end, what counts is the player’s own desire,” he said.

The technical director also revealed one of the main deal-breakers that clinched the move: “This agreement was reached because Ronnie forfeited his right to 15% of the transfer fee.

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Dutch Olympic Team coach Foppe de Haan has named his 18 man Beijing roster, including his three over-23 players.

Holland squad:

Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse Arnhem), Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax); Kew Jaliens (29 years old - AZ Alkmaar), Calvin Jong-A-Pin (Heerenveen), Luijckx (AZ Alkmaar), Dirk Marcellis (PSV Eindhoven), Erik Pieters (PSV Eindhoven), Gianni Zuiverloon (West Bromwich Albion); Otman Bakkal (PSV Eindhoven), Urby Emanuelson (Ajax), Jonathan De Guzman (Feyenoord), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Evander Sno (Celtic); Roy Beerens (Heerenveen), Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Royston Drenthe (Real Madrid), Roy Makaay (33 years old - Feyenoord), Gerald Sibon (34 years old - Heerenveen)

Surprisingly no Ibrahim Affellay (PSV), no Maceo Ritgers (the top scorer of the 2007 European U-21 Championships with 4 goals that Holland won to Qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) who’s still having hamstring troubles and no Ismail Aissati (PSV).

Still not impressed with Foppe’s over-age decisions.  Too much talent in that country to bring a 33 and 34 year old to lead your attack.

I would have loved to have seen Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but until FIFA decides to make the Olympics a mandated tournament, then we’re all wasting our time since coaches can’t have the choices they truly want because of big club’s hesitations to let players leave during Champions League and UEFA Cup Qualifications.

image via 1000goals

DOUBLE UPDATE - Barcelona has reportedly denied Ronaldinho his chance to represent Brazil at the 20008 Beijing Olympics.

I’m just starting to wonder if Dunga had spoken to any of the clubs about pre-season, qualifiers or possible transfers that he’s pulling players from.

UPDATE - Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 have denied both Diego and Rafinha their Olympic Team release, much to the dismay of Brazil Head Coach Dunga.

While the Bundesliga sides do not have to allow the release of their players (much like Bayern Munich’s refusal to release Martin Demichelis, Lucio and Mark van Bommel to represent their countries in Beijing), many thought that both players would be allowed to go.

“It’s clear that if we don’t release Diego, we won’t face any sanctions” Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs said.

No word who will be Dunga’s replacements, but this is pretty weak in my opinion. I know that players are always at risk for injury when they’re away with their National Teams and the clubs pay their salaries, but to take away the opportunity to play for their countries at the Olympics is an incredible opportunity, much the same way it was for each player that played in the 2008 European Championships.

The only difference is that the Euro’s were FIFA sanctioned and the Olympics (I know, I know, it’s only a glorified Under 23 tournament) isn’t. I wonder though if Germany could qualify for the Olympics if their perspective would change quickly?

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Adidas has officially opened their largest concept store worldwide in Beijing at midnight on July 5th.

The store will be a fusion of Adidas’ Sports Performance and Sport Style Division that includes the Original and Y-3 branding.

The Brand Center will be located in China’s newest Sanlitun Village Shopping Center, only minutes away from the Workers’ Stadium, one of the venues for the Olympic Football Tournament.

If you do get the opportunity to check out the Olympics first hand, you can check in and create your own “Original” clothing as well as kicks that fit your style.

images via adiNews

Nike is prepping for the Olympics in Beijing on a whole nother level. With China being the biggest emerging market, Nike is attempting to cement themselves in China as the leader. Videos such as these where they project some of China’s best athletes onto the the side of the new government CCTV building are definitely a step in the right direction in terms of getting in the hearts and minds of locals. They also picked an amazingly look cool looking building which was designed by Dutch superstar architect Ron Koolhaas.