With Nike and adidas grabbing all the attention they can get, rivals Puma have been relatively quiet on the whole Olympics front. But they have just stepped up their game and put themselves in the mix with the release of these collectible vinyl toys. They might not have a sneaker in every medal color, but these vinyl toys are a cool attempt to do something different.
[Via Hypebeast]
The Olympics isn’t just about the spirit of competition, but about nations and athletes coming together. To be an Olympian…
Image via LATimes
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]
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.
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.
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.
