Firstly, an apology from me. When I thought a number of US athletes in the Opening Ceremony parade were wearing their caps back to front, I didn't realise that they were actually wearing a special parade cap (illustrated, right). The official fashion designers for the US Olympic team is a company called Roots - see the press release on the USOC website issued on Saturday, after the Opening Ceremony.

The olympic careers of Kostas Kederis and Katerina Thanou appear to be over. They announced their retirements, protesting their innocence, before the IOC disciplinary committee could ban them. Read The Guardian's report of proceedings. Enough of that saga already...

Another upstart Caribbean nation was at it on Wednesday. The Dominican Republic's women's volleyball team beat the US 26-24, 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 19-17.

When it comes time to select the best name of the Athens Olympics, Stubby Clapp will be up there in the running. The 31 year-old infielder hit 2 RBI's against Greece as Canada continued their unbeaten run in the Athens 2004 Honkbal tournament.

The third day of the baseball competition (or honkbal as the Dutch call it) on Tuesday saw Japan and Canada remain unbeaten.

Canada beat honkbalers The Netherlands 7-0, Taiwan beat the winless Greeks 7-1, while Australia got off the mark with a 6-0 win over Italy.

Japan shot to tournament favouritism with victory over Cuba. This is the Olympic News Service report of that game:

And a big cheerio to the United Arab Emirates. The country that brought you such fine cricketers as Sultan Zarawani won its first ever Olympic gold medal on Tuesday.

Australia's hopes of a baseball medal in Athens had gone pretty much out the window on Monday after their second loss in two outings, done by Taiwan.

This is the Olympic News Service's wrap on Monday's baseball action.

Day 2: Canada, Cuba, Japan continue winning ways 17 Aug. 2004

ATHENS, 16 August - Cuba, Japan Canada continued their winning ways to remain the only undefeated teams in the preliminary round of the Olympic Baseball tournament.

Graham Thorpe watched from the sidelines on Monday as Robert Key and Andrew Flintoff hit the winning runs in England's thrilling seven-wicket victory over the West Indies in the Third Test at Old Trafford. Thorpe had broken a finger when he was struck by a ball from Fidel Edwards while batting in the first innings on Sunday.

I had the pleasure of being at the Sydney Showground in November 1999 to see Australia beat Cuba in the semi-final of that year's International Cup. There was no repeat on Sunday when the two met in their opening game of the 2004 olympic baseball competition. Cuba beat Australia 4-1. The rest of the opening day's games were fairly one-sided.

This is the wrap of the first day of the Olympic Baseball issued by the Olympic News Service on Sunday night. I've added the links to Baseball-Reference.com where available:

Puerto Rico sealed its future as the 51st state of the USA on Sunday. Their men's basketball team defeated The Dream Team 92-73, in a slap on the face to the country that invaded their island two years after the last Athens Olympics. Only statehood, and thus their removal as a separate sovereign entity, can ensure that Puerto Rico does not repeat such a humiliation of its imperial masters in the future.

I think that beach volleyball has been on the better additions to the Olympic Games over the past decade. A very action-packed sport requiring great physical stanima in a very televisual environment. Although I don't agree with the "skimpy costume" requirements for the women - not only is it sexist, it's just plain unnecessary, if not uncomfortable.