My last blog before going on vacation! China wins chess Olympiad with India finishing third. China becomes the first Asian country to win what is essentially the world team championship in chess. It is also the first time two Asian countries medal in the same Olympiad. This has to be very frustrating to Russia as it finishes fourth and has failed to win the championship for 4 straight times! Russia in chess is like the U.S. in basketball. Their number 5 player is better than most teams' number one. Sure a Bobby Fisher can beat any Russian but in a team competition over 11 rounds of play, you would think they cannot lose. In fact China did not send 3 of its top 5 players, including their number 1. So Russia's number 5 is ranked higher than Wang Yue, who played first board for China in this championship. India is also missing its top 2 players, including its former world champion! So how did this happened? I have no idea. But with this result, you can bet there will be a surge in chess in China, India and maybe other places in Asia.
First night on the NBA schedule: Houston at Lakers. I did not know that the NBA wants to give Jeremy Lin a chance at revenge so fast! Well, Lin vs Rockets is not the top story line here. How about Kobe vs Dwight after they parted ways last season? Or Kobe vs Harden since Kobe is upset that people are saying Harden is the best SG in the NBA. Looking forward to opening night on TNT!
Now that the Tigers have traded for Price and Soria, they just need couple more starting pitchers and couple more relievers and they can maybe catch the Royals!