Several members of the Australian Olympic team were victims of drink spiking at a Beijing nightclub during the games in China. It is not believed that the Australians were targeted but on several different occasions Aussies became sick after drinking at China Doll.

A member of the Australian women’s archery team was the first person to have their drink spiked.

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

The Australian Olympic Committee on Wednesday confirmed that the first victim – a female athlete and understood to be an archer – was struck ill at the end of the first week while at the China Doll bar after her events had finished.

One other victim last night told The Herald that in their case they suddenly felt ill, vomited and then passed out on a couch in the otherwise popular nightclub.

It is also understood that among those Australians who did suspect their drinks were spiked over the ensuing nights a rower, an athlete, and an athletics official who attended the bar at different nights were among them.

The Australian Olympic Committee didn’t report the incidents to the Beijing police or the IOC. That was good thinking on their part. If they had made a big deal out of some of their athletes being drugged China would have gotten all pissy and the Aussies never would have made it home. The Australians should be thankful anyways. In the United States we have to wait for the Chinese to send us poisonous products. The folks from down under got the experience firsthand.

When Olympians come home with a medal they’re usually treated like royalty and make some sort of appearances to show off their prizes. Beijing Olympic silver medalist Kim Willoughby of the U.S. women’s volleyball team is trying to make prison the next place she shows her award.

From the Star Bulletin:

Kim Willoughby, former University of Hawaii All-American volleyball player and a member of the silver-medal-winning U.S. women’s volleyball team at the Beijing Olympics, is scheduled to appear in Circuit Court on Monday to be arraigned on a charge of first-degree assault.

An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment on Sept. 18 charging her with the crime. However, the court kept the document under seal.

Because the indictment was not publicly available, it is not known whom Willoughby, 27, allegedly assaulted and when. She has already posted $50,000 bail.

Good thing the medal is attached to the ribbon, sorta like soap-on-a-rope.To make matters worse this isn’t the first time Kim Willoughby has been charged with first-degree assault. According to court documents she was involved in a similar incident in June 2007. If the US women’s Olympic volleyball team had brought home the gold I could see Willoughby beating the rap. With a silver medal and her history of violence, Kim’s looking at some time in jail.

What’s going on everyone…the name is HalfCourtHeave, the man who runs the randomly updated blog HalfCourtHeave. I will be posting over here at YouBeenBlinded during the evenings…One of the daily posts I will be contributing is called The Postwork Recap.

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Welcome To The Postwork Recap.  Every day, I will posting about the biggest news in the sportsworld here.  That way, you can actually be productive at work, then when you get out of the office you can grab a beer and make your way to YouBeenBlinded.

Jaguars’ Collier Shot - Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot and critically wounded sitting outside of a building waiting for a woman around early Tuesday morning.  The motive behind the attack was still unknown, but the investigation continues.

Jamacians implicated in steriod ring - Fortunetly for the Olympics and any sports fan it wasn’t Usain Bolt.  In documents obtained by SI, The documents state that between June 2006 and February 2007, two shipments of Somatropin (Human Growth Hormone, HGH) and one shipment of Triest (Estrogen) were sent to Delloreen London and Adrian Findlay.  What gets me, is they used their actual names, your cheating the IOC and the Olympic games, and you are going to use your real names and birthdays!

USC now #1 - USC after an impressive blowout of Virgina is now #1 in the AP polls.  God I hate USC…God I hate USC…God I hate USC…that’s all.

Tyrod Taylor is not redshirtting after all - So it took all of 1 game…1 game (a loss to ECU)…for coach Frank Beamer to remove Taylor’s redshirt.  Sean Glennon must feel like a winner today.  This is the right move though (albeit he is correcting his own WRONG decision), Taylor being able to play in the games instantly makes VT much better.

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There you have it, see you guys tomorrow for another Postwork Recap…look on the brightside, at tomorrow is already hump day!

The Team USA against Argentina Olympic basketball game can be seen live online for free in the player below. The video will start on its own in a few seconds. Enjoy the game.

After an at least 6 month break Bloggas Be Typin’ returns to You Been Blinded. BBT is YBB’s version of the popular link dump. Click the pictures to be taken to the stories.

Greg Maddux, Usain Bolt, Texas Longhorns, Charles Barkley, video

A picture has surfaced of the Spanish tennis team taking part in a slant-eyed pose during April’s Federation Cup. The Spaniards supposedly took the picture in anticipation of playing the Chinese in the next round.

The Spanish have a strange way of saying “we’re looking forward to playing you” and “thanks for having us in your country”. I thought it was weak for the Spanish hoops team to do the pose and it’s just as dumb for their tennis team. There is obviously a cultural difference because the folks in Spain don’t think it’s a big deal. Jason Kidd disagrees.

Spanish Tennis Team, racist picture, photo

Team Usa cruised to a 92-69 victory over Greece in their third preliminary game in the Beijing Olympics. Dwyane Wade’s ball saving alley-oop to Kobe Bryant was the play of the game, which you can see above if YouTube hasn’t pulled the video yet.

The Greeks were supposed to represent Team USA’s first challenge in Beijing. They were for the first quarter, but the American defense and Chris Bosh pushed Team USA to a 19 point halftime lead. The U.S. shot 35 percent from 3-pt. range (7-20) for the game and continued to miss open three point looks. The poor shooting from distance and the occasional lapse in team play were the only negatives for Coach K’s crew. Next up for the Redeem Team are the racist picture posing ballers from Spain.

Team USA,
Greece,
highlights

Jason Kidd acknowledges Team USA is struggling with the three, but I agree with him when he says at the end of the day the team will enjoy the international line. It’s only a matter of time before the open looks start to go down.

Kidd went on to say that the Redeem Team’s defense is better than Dream Team II’s defense. The 2008 team, which has the most talent since the 1996 team, doesn’t have four guys that can lock it down like Gary Payton, David Robinson, Hakeen Olajuwon, and Scottie Pippen could.

Also, nice subtle slight to Kobe from Kidd when he said the defense begins and ends with LeBron, and then added Kobe a little later. Losing in the NBA finals made it open season on the Mamba. Since the Boston Celtics defeated the Lakers for the championship Shaquille O’Neal, some little kids, Paul Pierce, and Michael Jordan have taken shots at Bryant. If Team USA doesn’t win the gold medal the size of that list could triple.

Jason Kidd, Team USA, interview, youtube

Spain’s Olympic basketball team thought it would be a good idea to pose for a team photo making “slant-eyes”.. While in China.. Not that it would be cool if they did it somewhere else, I’m just pointing out the extra stupidity behind the picture. Strange behavior from such a racially progressive country like Spain.

Spanish sport has been mired in rows over racism in the last few years. In November 2004 black English footballers were subjected to relentless racial barracking from home supporters in a match in Spain. Before the World Cup there were calls for Luis Aragones, then Spain’s football coach, to be sacked after he called Thierry Henry a “black shit”. And last year Lewis Hamilton suffered racist abuse during testing for the Spanish grand prix near Barcelona.

I wonder how much Pau Gasol’s new Los Angeles Laker teammate Sun Yue appreciates this photo.

Spanish Basketball Team, Beijing Olympics, picture, photo

Team USA basketball got off to a good start in their quest for gold with a 101-70 whooping of host country China. LeBron James tore up the first half while Dwyane Wade was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points. Team USA struggled shooting the ball early but got it going in the second half to cruise to victory.

Yao Ming sprained his ankle in the game but he did return to the game. Before he got hurt he welcomed Kobe Bryant to China:

Team USA, China, basketball, video, youtube