Olympic Disappointment

With their loss to Chinese Taipei, Canada fails to qualify for the playoffs in Beijing. While they won't be able to medal, they're still Olympians, and we congratulate them on all their Olympic efforts.

Olympics: August 13

Starting lineup for Canadians in their preliminary game vs. China:

1. Adam Stern #7
2. Stubby Clapp #11
3. Michael Saunders #20
4. Scott Thorman #40
5. Nick Weglarz #33
6. Matt Rogelstad #4
   
7. Jimmy Vanostrand #29
8. Chris Robinson #30
   
9. Emmanuel Garcia #15
10. Chris Begg #35

12:30 AM EST: Game beings streaming live on nbcolympics.com in the 4th inning. Since it's online, there's no verbal commentators. A mic seems to be in each dugout, as you can hear the Canadians chatting (swearing sometimes) and I assume the Chinese are doing the same. It's actually really nice to listen to a game without anyone commentating. And it's highly amusing to hear some of the conversations going on in the dugout. For instance, in between innings, some young Chinese cheerleaders came out and performed on the field, as one member of team Canada commented, "Laker girls." Haha. Very cool that NBC is -- streaming everything live online for anyone to see -- gotta love the interwebs. I also love that the crowd does the 7th inning stretch and even sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" -- it's so interesting to see which how a sport that I've only experienced in the American culture is carried out in other places.

2:20 AM: Game over. Mercy rule in effect after 8 innings. Adam contributed with a two-run triple and scored on a sac fly by Stubby Clapp. Great start for Team Canada as they beat China 10-0.

Olympic Coverage

Looking to see Adam in action? Here's the schedule of when the Canadian baseball team will be playing. All games are live and streamed on NBC Olympics, with the exception of the Canada vs. USA game which will be replayed on the MSNBC TV station. All times are EST. All games are preliminary round-robin games, though hopefully more times will be added when the team qualifies for the playoffs!

Tuesday, August 12, 11:30p - 2:30a vs. China
Thursday, August 14, 6:00a - 9:00a vs. Cuba
Friday, August 15, 6:00a - 9:00a vs. South Korea
Friday, August 15, 10:30p - 1:30a vs. USA
Saturday, August 16, 12:30p - 5:00p vs. USA (on MSNBC; taped)
Sunday, August 17, 10:30p - 1:30a vs. Japan
Wednesday, August 20, 6:00a - 9:00a vs. Chinese Taipei

Happy watching!

Olympics Countdown

With the Summer Olympics beginning in less than one week, Adam Stern and the rest of Team Canada's baseball squad are hoping they can pull off a medal-winning performance this time around. The Forward has a nice article highlighting Jewish athletes, Adam included, headed to Beijing. We'll be following Adam & Team Canada as they begin play next week.