China

One of the best things about watching the Olympics is the media's coverage of the middle country. This of course takes me back to the summer of 2004 when I went to Beijing through Miami University's study abroad program. Not that I need proof, but below is the group at the Forbidden City:



When I see the USA basketball team playing the Chinese team I can't help but think about when the Miami University Pacific Rim 2004 students competed against the Beijing University students. I can vividly remember pulling a Bill Russell and being a player-coach for the Miami University team. Unfortunately, we weren't able to pull out a victory (I blame the smog) but I enjoyed the competition.

Another "fun" memory were the cab rides. Some of my favorite bloggers/writers have written articles about these thrill rides. If you have the time check out Dave Barry or Joe Posnanski (it is at the bottom after his take on Nadel).

Finally, I can remember the problems we had with the Internet. We were in China when our 2nd Semester grades came out and couldn't check them because China blocked http://www.muohio.edu/. Thankfully we had our Bill Gates on the trip (my roommate and friend Jeff) and he was able to break through China's firewalls. Joe Posnanski (can you tell he might be my favorite current blogger) wrote about the problems with his Internet. It is funny to think of sites like firejoemorgan.com being blocked. I wonder if my site is blocked as well because Chinese people really love Tyler Hansbrough's grit and determination.