By George B. Eichorn of the Detroit Monitor

Let the games begin! The 2008 Summer Olympic Games open Friday, August 8, in Beijing, China, as athletes, officials, media and dignitaries from around the world gather through August 24 for competition involving 10,500 athletes in 28 sports and 302 events.

Some stories to watch as they unfold the next few weeks in Asia :

-          Will U.S. swimming Michael Phelps be able to break Mark Spitz’ record for gold medals in a Summer Olympics?  Phelps is looking to capture eight gold medals and will swim at least 17 races in Beijing .

-          Will Chinese organizers be able to stage a dazzling and dissent-free Summer Games in their Communist capital of 17.4 million people?

-          Will $40 billion in Games-related construction at 12 of 37 venues help deter potential air pollution problems in Beijing ?

-          Will the athletes from China be able to dethrone the Americans in the overall medal-count, something they failed to do at the 2004 Athens Olympics?

-          Can the U.S. men’s basketball team live up to its hype with the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd playing selfishly under Coach Mike K (Krzyzewski)?

-          Will 41-year-old U.S. swimmer Dara Torres add to her career haul of nine Olympic medals?

-          Will the U.S. men’s gymnastics team recover from the loss of gold medalist Paul Hamm?

The Summer Olympics will be officially opened Friday by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Beijing National Stadium during a three-plus hour Opening Ceremony. President George W. Bush heads up the U.S. delegation at the Games. First Lady Laura Bush and former President George H.W. Bush will also be on hand. Several world leaders are skipping the opening ceremonies because of recent human rights tensions in Tibet .

Five Fuwa, each representing both a color of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture, are the mascots of Beijing 2008. The Olympic slogan, “One World, One Dream” calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit. Yet threatens of a potential terror attack and dissident protests have placed the Chinese security team on high alert.

The United States is sending 596 athletes (310 men and 286 women) to these Olympics, and they’ll compete in 27 out of 28 sports. The U.S. did not qualify for the men’s or women’s team handball. Sorry handball fans!

The summer Olympians with Michigan ties are: Basketball – Tayshaun Prince (Pistons) and Katie Smith (Shock), Modern Pentathlon – Sheila Taormina (Livonia),  Rowing – Matt Hughes (Ludington) & Ellen Tomek (Flushing), Sailing – Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe),  Shooting – Daryl Szarenski (Saginaw), Soccer -  Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills) & Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo),  Swimming – Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor), Michael Phelps (Club Wolverine), Allison Schmitt (Canton), Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester) & Erik Vendt (Club Wolverine),  Track & Field – Dathan Ritzenheim (Rockford), Brian Sell (Rochester Hills), Anna Willard (Ann Arbor) & Lauryn Williams (Detroit), Water Polo – Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor) & Alison Gregorka (Ann Arbor) and Wrestling – Andy Hrovat (Ann Arbor), Spenser Mango (Marquette), Randi Miller (Marquette) & Adam Wheeler (Marquette).

            Coaches and officials with Michigan links: Mike Bottom (U-M) is Croatian national team swimming coach, Bob Bowman (U-M & Club Wolverine) is assistant U.S. swimming coach, Steve Fraser (Hazel Park, U-M & EMU) is U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling coach, Kevin Jackson (Lansing) is U.S. men’s freestyle wrestling coach and Jon Urbanchek (U-M) is U.S. swimming special assistant.

            And don’t forget the two Toledo Mud Hens (the Tigers’ AAA farm club) who are playing for the U.S. baseball squad - infielder Mike Hessman and pitcher Blaine Neal. The U.S. does not send professional baseball players yet it does for men’s and women’s basketball. Go figure.

Incidentally, some 4,500 doping tests will be conducted at the Beijing Games which is a 25 percent increase from the 2004 Athens Games. At press time, there have been suspicions raised about various Olympic athletes taking foreign substances.

NBC had the first color broadcast live via satellite at the 1964 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo . In 2004 in Athens , NBC televised 1,200 hours of competition. This year, NBC (Channel 4 in Detroit ) plans 3,600 hours of coverage and 106 commentators on its flagship NBC-TV and its cable affiliates such as CNBC , USA , MSNBC and NBC Universal. NBC has owned the rights to the last six Summer Olympics and the last two Winter Olympics. For 2008, the network persuaded the International Olympic Committee to hold gymnastics and swimming finals in the morning so it will be prime time in the U.S.

“My first Olympics in Mexico City in 1968 were the first Olympics live in primetime and we had maybe two dozen commentators,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and Executive Producer of NBCU’s Olympic coverage.  “To have a roster of 106 commentators broadcasting 3,600 total hours is simply astounding.  It’s a tribute to David Neal and Molly Solomon that we’re able to put together such a talented and versatile roster, with a great mix of Olympic veterans and newcomers, particularly considering many of these sports are rarely televised.”

Nineteen-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas reprises his prime-time anchor role on NBC, a spot he’s held for the last six network Olympic telecasts. Jim Lampley (a record 14 Olympics) is the daytime host, a role he developed well on the 2004 and 2006 broadcasts. Mary Carillo is the new late-night host. Cable hosts are Alex Flanagan, Matt Vasgersian, Melissa Stark, Bill Patrick, Fred Roggin and Lindsay Czarniak. NBC’s lineup includes 28 Olympians who won a combined total of 42 Olympic medals (25 gold, 5 silver and 12 bronze).  “Team NBC” would have finished sixth at the Athens Olympics with 42 total medals behind Australia and Germany with 49 and ahead of Japan who amassed 37.

NBC correspondents include Carillo and Cris Collinsworth. On play-by-play are Tom Hammond & Ron Vaccaro (track & field); Al Trautwig (gymnastics), Dan Hicks (swimming), Craig Hummer (canoeing, cycling, triathlon & open water swimming), Ted Robinson (diving), Mike Breen, Chris Carrino & Mike Crispino (basketball); Bob Papa (boxing), JP Dellacamera, Glenn Davis, Adrian Healey and Steve Cangialosi (soccer); Chris Marlowe (beach volleyball), Paul Sunderland (volleyball), Wolf Wigo (water polo), Matt Devlin (wrestling), Andrea Joyce (rhythmatic gymnastics), Pat Parnell (cycling & canoeing), Tim Ryan (canoeing & rowing), Pete Pranica (weightlifting), Kenny Rice (equestrian), Joe Castellano (archery, softball & fencing), Barry MacKay (tennis), Eric Collins (baseball), Andrew Catalon (handball), Bill Clement (table tennis & shooting), Jim Kozimor (badminton) and Mike Corey (field hockey),

Commentators/analysts include newcomer Bela Karolyi (in-studio), Tim Daggett and Elfi Schlegel (gymnastics); Rowdy Gaines (swimming), Dwight Stones, Carol Lewis, Lewis Johnson, Ato Boldon, Craig Masback & Ed Eyestone (track & field); Cynthia Potter (diving), Doug Collins, Teresa Edwards, Steve Jones, Ann Meyers & Bob Salmi (basketball); Teddy Atlas (boxing), Marcelo Balboa, Shep Messing, Lori Walker & first time Olympic analyst Brandi Chastain (soccer); Karch Kiraly (beach volleyball) and Kevin Barnett (volleyball).

Also: Bob Fitzgerald (water polo), Rulon Gardner (wrestling), Kenan Harkin & Paul Sherwin (cycling); Siri Lindley (triathlon), Yaz Farooq (rowing), Joe Jacobi (canoeing), Heather Olson (synchronized swimming), Rod Stull (modern pentathlon), Shane Hamman (weightlifting), Melanie Smith-Taylor (equestrian), Michele Smith (softball), Jimmy Arias (tennis), Joe Magrane (baseball), Dawn Lewis (handball), Sean O’Neill (table tennis), Clement & Steve Kearney (badminton); Catalon & Mika’il Sankofa (fencing); Denise Parker (archery), Shari LeGate (shooting) and Nick Conway (field hockey).

Reporters include Joyce (gymnastics), Andrea Kremer (swimming/diving), Neumeier (track & field, diving), Craig Sagar (basketball), Jim Gray (boxing), Heather Cox (beach volleyball) and Marty Snider (cycling & triathlon). At the sports desk: Lester Holt, Peter Alexander, Eyee Hsu, Julie Foudy, Lindsay Czarniak, Alan Abrahamson, Lindsay Soto and Nancy Snyderman.

The NBC news division has dispatched Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Lester Holt, Richard Engels, Kevin Tibbles and weathermen Al Roker and Jim Cantore. The recent death of long-time Olympics anchor Jim McKay was a reminder of how ABC-TV was in place to cover the tragic kidnapping and murder of Israeli athletes in 1972.

CBC-TV (Channel 9 in Windsor ) has wall-to-wall coverage with Ron MacLean as primary anchor. Also, Canada ’s TSN will televise 150 hours from the Summer Olympics including 50 hours in prime-time.

ESPN’s 2008 Summer Olympic coverage will encompass providing news, interviews and highlights on multi-media platforms both in the U.S. and internationally as well serving as rights holder in Brazil . Each ESPN SportsCenter will feature live and taped Olympics coverage. Reporters Jeremy Shapp and George Smith are in Beijing . The 2008 Summer Games mark the fourth Olympics ESPN will broadcast in Brazil , and the first for both networks, ESPN Brasil and ESPN, which combined will air 30 live hours daily. Some 150 fully dedicated staffers, including 45 in China , will present six hours of live news and features daily. Pat Forde, Cim Caple, Elizabeth Merrill and Chris Sheridan represent ESPN.com in Beijing .

Westwood One radio has been the official radio network of the Olympic Games the past three decades. They will provide live updates from China three times per hour, 24 hours a day and will offer exclusive, live play-by-play coverage of basketball track & field, swimming, gymnastics and others. Steve Mason, Justin Kutcher, Kevin Kugler, Peter Vidmar, Jim Gray, Steve Futterman, Joe Tolleson and historian David Wallechinsky report.

Reach George Eichorn at geichorn@yahoo.com.

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