Press release from the IPC:

Bonn, Germany - Universal Sports, a multiplatform destination for amateur
sports programming throughout the year which is co-owned by NBC Universal and
InterMedia Partners, the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee (BOCOG) and the
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced today an agreement to
provide the first-ever multiplatform broadcast coverage of the Beijing 2008
Paralympic Games, presented by GE in the United States.

The groundbreaking broadcast will premiere on 6 September on

Hey! As promised, here come by updates and blog entries during my trip overseas for the Beijing Paralympics. We arrived at Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan, yesterday and have now had one day to take in the sights and sounds of...little America, just not in America. :)

The last week has brought with it numerous creations of garage shop awesomeness. Indeed, it seems that 'round these here parts, it's possible for a wheelchair racer to say "Hmm...I think I need *this*"... and viola! With a few phone calls and a couple of rounds of this guy knowing that guy, she's in the money.

See it first hand in the new photo gallery: "garage shop awesomeness."

Today has brought with it a myriad of adventures…concluding with a run around the Bay Area to do some fact finding. First order of business: looking for a place in San Francisco proper to move into after I return from Beijing. Second: scoping out the course of the Nike Women’s Marathon to see if starting a wheelchair division of the race would be a realistic goal, considering the outrageously hilly terrain.

Today is July 21st, exactly one month out from the day that we, as a Paralympic Track and Field team, leave for our training camp at Kadena Air Force base in Okinawa, Japan. I'm sitting here looking at the weather in Okinawa vs. Beijing, the Kadena AFB homepage (looks like the movie theater has some good flicks!). My training is coming along very well, and actually is just now ramped back up to full pace after encountering a slight (or large) bump in the road in June. Wait a minute - "what?" Why was I off for two weeks in June? Let me briefly recap the series of events:

Last week I attended the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles and I decided to drive to So. Cal. instead of fly. Why, you ask?

Tonight I was feeling frustrated. This week, my goal was to get up at 7:00, train at 9:00, go to the library from no less than 11:30 – 3:30, train again from 4:00 – 6:00, then relax at night. Why this craziness, you ask?

As life continues to get crazier and crazier, and more amazing, and more amazing, I'd like to blog here today about the air times for a new Visa commercial which will feature..... woah....can you believe it....a person with the initials CB. I never, in my entire life, thought I'd be in a position to type that last sentence.

As part of it's Go World! campaign, the commercial will air:

Thur, 5/29
830-9pm, Last Comic Standing, NBC

Fri, 5/30
8-11pm, Dateline, NBC

Sun, 6/1
830-9pm, King of the Hill, FOX
10-11pm, Brothers and Sisters, ABC

Dearest Friends,

This entry finds me on a plane from Zurich, Switzerland, to San Francisco, after being away for about three weeks. The trip started out with a stop in Chicago to do a speaking appearance with The Hartford, followed by a quick stop off in Manchester, England, for the Paralympic World Cup track meet, followed by 2 weeks in Switzerland for the Swiss Series of Wheelchair Racing, which consisted of two track meets and a marathon. All in all, it’s been totally rockin,’ but most certainly an experience of piling one thing ….after the next… after the next. After being overwhelmed and inundated by dairy products in Switzerland for the past 14 days and hearing the melodic *dinging* of cowbells as we pushed past sprawling green pastures during training, my mind continues to rehearse a certain Saturday Night Live skit in which Will Ferrell is requested to provide – in accompaniment to “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” - more cowbell. Give me more! More racing! More cowbell! One track meet down – on to the next! And the next! And the next!

Last week the International Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) ruled that a double-amputee runner from South Africa, Oscar Pistorius, would be eligible to try out for, and potentially compete with, his team at the Olympic (in addition to the Paralympic) Games. Here is the official press release:

http://www.tas-cas.org/press-release