One of my favorite blogs, U.S.S. Mariner, has been chronicling the Mariners' horrendous season full of bad decisions, management changes, and mistake-correcting personnel moves. Jarrod Washburn's situation became a hot topic over there last month, when the Mariners reportedly turned down a trade from the Yankees that would've shed Washburn's contract. Two winters before signing Carlos Silva to a four-year, $48 million deal, the Mariners handed Washburn a four-year, $37.5 million contract.

Minnesota rowers Matt Schnobrich and Micah Boyd helped the U.S. men's eight team win a bronze medal Sunday.

It's easy to get caught up in the new gloss and glitz of Beijing. In a word, it's fantastic. World-class architecture and infrastructure has sprung up virtually overnight. The capital is currently in the process of throwing a superb coming-out party for China. The games have occurred thus far without a major glitch.

BEIJING — Brothers and sisters have wrestled forever. It's part of growing up. A decade ago it often meant that the girls longed for their brothers' trophies and cool gear. There wasn't wrestling for girls and women.

BEIJING — He finished last. Dead last. Afterwards, Roman Cress was fighting back tears and a certain amount of embarrassment. We wrote about Cress way back in May when he first learned he'd represent the Marshall Islands here in Beijing.

More than two weeks before the July 31 trade deadline, Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire met with general manager Bill Smith and asked for two things to improve his team for the stretch run.

Delmon Young provided one of the more dramatic moments of the season Tuesday night when he sliced a fly ball down the right-field line that wrapped around the foul pole for a game-tying three-run homer off Mariano Rivera. Unfortunately, his clutch bomb and Rivera's first blown save of the year were wasted when Matt Guerrier fell apart in the 12th inning, but Wednesday afternoon Young came up with another huge three-run homer that put the Twins up for good in a 4-2 victory.

Nobody has to look far to find proof of what's wrong with the world. China or elsewhere, talk of problems, issues and scandals dominates coverage. I've opened the door for a cheap shot at the Chinese media, but I'll refrain. Insert your own propaganda joke here. The Beijing Olympics employ "One World, One Dream" as their tagline. And as impossible as it might be to achieve in the so-called real world, the Games provide an opportunity to see what this single world and single vision might look like.

BEIJING — For the next week, the Peking University Gymnasium is the world's biggest and most spectacular rec room. But you've never seen pingpong like this in your basement.

BEIJING — Cathy Wurzer at Minnesota Public Radio's "Morning Edition" is marvelous at what she does. All things considered — so to speak — she is a very perky and friendly gal. But that lady periodically makes life very difficult for me, particularly when I am many time zones away.

BEIJING — From time to time during these Games, we're going to have a quartet of other Minnesotans chime in with their Olympic and Chinese observations.

The new poster boy for green marketing is standing shirtless in sub-zero temperatures, his shaved head painted in team colors as he waves a giant foam finger to the heavens.

Death at the Olympics: Bachman murder touches home

The opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics are history. But they are part of a traditional ritual that gets athletes and host cities prepared for what's to come. And then there is one special opening ceremony that our intrepid Olympic reporter will never forget.

BEIJING - Sarkozy was there. Putin was there. Karzai was there. Bush was there. It was such a big deal even Kobe and LeBron were there. They call this a sporting event. But we know it is more than that when 100 of the world's leaders blessed China's Olympics Friday night, Beijing time, surrounded by 90,000 others, mostly Chinese, who saw an oft-times serious opening ceremonies.

When Lisa Broek met her husband Alan Uetz, it was on a baseball field. The two northern Iowa natives and University of Iowa students were members of competing intramural softball teams. His was one of the best in the league, hers one of the worst. They were also Twins fans who found each other living amid the Cubs and Cardinals fans who have historically sprouted in and around Iowa City.

As Brock Lesnar throws punches and scrambles through various moves in his "ground game'' as a rapidly progressing professional in the mixed martial arts, you almost can't help but flash back to what Clubber Lang said in his close-up moment in "Rocky III.'' Lang, Sylvester Stallone's ferocious opponent played by the oft-imitated, never-duplicated Mr. T, was asked his prediction for their fight. After a dramatic pause and a glare into the camera, he gives it: "Pain.''

As you read this, the Summer Olympics' opening ceremonies will be taking place, 13 hours ahead of Minnesota time. As soon as I am able, I'll write about the opening ceremonies and provide you a preview of what to watch on TV tonight.

When Francisco Liriano returned from Tommy John surgery on April 13 to take the mound against the Royals for his first MLB start since September of 2006, he predictably struggled with both velocity and command. His average fastball clocked in at just 90.2 miles per hour and failed to crack 90 one-third of the time. His once-unhittable slider never registered higher than 82 miles per hour on MLB.com's radar gun and averaged just 80.7.