Mourning glory
China grieves as national icon limps from track
BEIJING, Aug. 19 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
It was nearly noon, but Zheng Chen was still sleeping. She had dozed through the morning's drama to be awakened by a text message alert on her cell phone.
Liu Xiang had abandoned the 110-meter hurdles without finishing his heat, and this was sorrow that needed to be shared.
More Tim Sullivan Columns
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Distracted boxers hit rock bottom for United States: What USA Boxing needs is more medaling and less meddling. Personal coaches retain too much influence, national coach Dan Campbell said yesterday, and that continuing conflict has created a mutinous climate and contributed to what is now sure to be America's worst Olympic boxing showing in at least 60 years.
BEIJING, Aug. 17 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Phelps greatest Olympian of all?: Michael Phelps might be the best thing to happen to water since fluoridation. He has won more gold medals in swimming than any athlete has ever won in any Olympic sport.
BEIJING, Aug. 16 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Gold was in hand only at final touch: The race is not always to the swiftest. Sometimes, it goes to the guy most in need of a manicure.
BEIJING, Aug. 15 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Blake's big shocker over Federer caught everyone by surprise: The first clue came from Serbia. I was sitting in the Main Press Center, monitoring a basketball game and contemplating a haircut, when the boys from Belgrade grew oddly animated.
BEIJING, Aug. 14 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Stepping it up a notch: Stephen Strasburg's first pitch was clocked at 151 kilometers. That's 93 miles per hour for the metric-challenged.
BEIJING, Aug. 13 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Phelps in gold-medal league of own: Your mission, Michael Phelps, and you have no choice but to accept it, is immortality. It arrived yesterday in the form of career gold medals Nos. 10 and 11, which is more than any previous Olympian and three fewer than Phelps might own before lunch on Sunday.
BEIJING, Aug. 12 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Gay can't believe U.S. stars think he's one of them: Tyson Gay is the world's fastest shrinking violet. He is an elite sprinter with an ego the size of a cinder, the American record holder at 100 meters and modesty.
Aug. 11 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Ex-UCSD coach helping team cope with loss: Ron Larsen would rather be the suggestion box. He would rather be the nagging idea man than the last word in USA volleyball.
JUYONGGUAN, China, Aug. 10 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Heat, humidity and smog are great walls of China: Gao Xin has been planning a San Diego honeymoon. All she needs now is a husband. At the moment, however, the 21-year-old Olympic volunteer is not permitted to leave her post. She is under orders to stand beneath the Beijing 2008 umbrella by the top of the stairs on the observation deck of The Great Wall of China.
BEIJING, Aug. 9 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Dazzling opener shows China's serious: Chalk it up to good, old Yangtze ingenuity. To technical precision and limitless manpower. Mark it down as the most spectacular Opening Ceremonies ever staged at the most ambitious Olympic Games ever conceived.
BEIJING, Aug. 8 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Table tennis team outsourced to China: Gao Jun retired from Chinese table tennis because the hours were too long and her time was too short.
BEIJING, Aug. 7 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Cancer just ripple in swimmer's pool: For Eric Shanteau, cancer has been less of a curse than a convenience. It has provided him with a built-in alibi and a sure-fire sponge for Olympic stress. It clarifies priorities, generates support and streamlines the thinking of the wandering mind.
Aug. 3 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Alderson says he feels your pain: The short answer is that there are no short answers. The Padres are all about process and infrastructure now, and they are no more likely to make a big splash than is a malnourished minnow.
Aug. 2 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Roski not talking, so worry persists: Mr. Ed Roski Chairman and CEO Majestic Realty City of Industry, CA Dear Ed:
July 31 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
In Favre case, Packers forget Lombardi's credo: When your life depends on it, you want a seasoned surgeon holding the scalpel. If you have to choose, you take experience over energy; proof over potential.
July 29 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Young ready to roll after being rocked by Pujols: Chris Young can't smell his daughter's dirty diapers. He can hardly taste a gourmet meal.
DEL MAR, July 28 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Big payday ends with tip of hat: Jimmy The Hat had the race right, but the bet wrong. He was so confident in the outcome of yesterday's fourth race that he drew a red circle in his Daily Racing Form around the No. 7.
LAS VEGAS, July 26 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Plenty of weapons for Coach K, Team USA: If Mike Krzyzewski has a worry, it is how to handle a windfall. With billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett occupying courtside seats at the Thomas & Mack Center, it was the head coach of America's Olympic basketball team who experienced an embarrassment of riches last night.
July 25 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
U.S. bracing for physical, macho hoops: LAS VEGAS – The court is a stride shorter. The three-point shot is a yard closer. The ball is slightly smaller in circumference. The paint requires a little more paint.
July 22 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Wary Chargers sweating over Gates' recovery: Antonio Gates wants to come back whole. He wants to be what he was. He wants to be the athlete you remember, the tight end for a new millennium, the prototype too advanced for mass production.
NEW YORK, July 16 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
The long goodbye on a starry night: The corridors are too narrow. The seating is cramped. The prevailing odors range from pungent to putrid. The rumble of the subway is a persistent price of admission.
July 15 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Melt-down Bradley out; Texas star in: NEW YORK – Milton Bradley may have been somebody else's problem. But if you're a Padres fan, he looks suspiciously like a solution.
July 8 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
C.C. to Brewers reflects have-nots' hopes: The meek have inherited the girth. The Milwaukee Brewers, occupants of baseball's second-smallest market, landed the largest and most coveted commodity on the midseason market yesterday with the acquisition of His Hefty Leftiness, the 290-pound Cy Young Award winner, C.C. Sabathia.
July 6 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Kiel left little as memorial to himself: Twelve hours later, the cinderblocks were still scattered. Bill Alsup did not want to disturb the scene before meeting with his insurance adjustor, so there was still a piece of his backyard wall soaking at the bottom of his swimming pool.
