Entertainment

The 2008 Summer Olympics officially opened in Beijing with a huge ceremony this morning (the opening ceremony airs tonight in the US). Watching the world's best female athletes compete will be a great way to spend these last dog days of summer. And making that even easier to do will be the unprecedented amount of live and on-demand video available online. Viewing this content requires the Silverlight plug-in and a short, painless registration process. Visit NBCOlympics.com to start watching the Games online.

Switching gears, but only a little, I have to say that I'm starting to get pumped about the return of Sarah Connor Chronicles, especially after seeing this promo:



This suggests to me that Summer Glau will be not only back for season two (season one's finale left that open) but also turned loose as the show's muscle, something SCC didn't fully commit to during its first season. If so, I say, Hurray! Summer is the best thing about an already good show, and SCC will get only better if it follows through on the promise hinted at here.

Jennifer Widerstrom (aka Phoenix), one of the new American Gladiators this season, is an outstanding all-round athlete. She was a track and field star at the University of Kansas, specializing in hammer and weight throwing (photo), and she has also competed in diving, rowing, gymnastics, and NPC figure. Jennifer looks like the explosive athlete that she is, with what is perhaps the best physique on the show. She introduces herself in this clip (use link if clip doesn't play on page):



The two-hour season finale of American Gladiators will air this Monday (August 4).

(Additional sources: Bodybuilding Weekly; University of Kansas Official Athletic Site.)