The US men’s soccer team was far from impressive, echoing the performance  of the women’s team the day before, but they managed to get the three points against Japan on the strength of a goal from Stuart Holden. What I found more interesting, though, was the fact that the team was missing the official team crest on the jerseys and shorts, another way that they mirrored the women’s showing. See how they normally look here. Still looking for a reason why, so any insight would be greatly appreciated.

It all happened so fast.  Today in Beijing the Olympics quietly kicked off with the first round of women’s soccer matches.  Sorely missing their star Abby Wambach, who suffered a broken leg last month, the US team gave up two goals in the first four minutes to Norway and struggled the entire time en route to losing the match.  Let’s hope that they get their act together because they now sit in last place in Group G.

Something I found extremely interesting, though, was the fact that the United States team was playing without the US Soccer badge that is usually worn over the heart.  Looks like the logo was also missing from the shorts (see official game shorts here).  As a matter of fact, there was not a US crest to be found on the field of play today, not even by the goalie, which left the American team looking, ummm, naked.  But not like this or this, which I’m sure all of you are upset about. Surely this omission had something to do with the team losing its mojo today.

Anybody have any clue why the team went crest-less today?  Let me know in the comments.

With some thanks to all who signed the petition for Dirk Nowitzki, the big German will be the his country’s official flag bearer for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  On another note, what is up with that haircut?  Of course we’d expect this type of dome artistry from someone like the “Tru Warier” Ron Artest, but the Olympic rings carved into Dirk’s head proves that you never really know what this guy is gonna do.  To his benefit, about half of his teammates are currently looking just as silly with their head rings.  Let’s see if this look makes it to the court. We’ll keep our fingers crossed. Congrats, Mr. Nowitzki.

Those of us in the good ole U.S. of A., especially in Dallas, have been lucky enough to see former MVP Dirk Nowitzki polish his exceptional hoops talent on our home turf.  Now we all have a chance to show our gratitude for the big German.  Looks like a guy named Tobias Gerhards has started a petition to get Dirk the job as the official flag bearer for Germany in this summer’s Olympics in Beijing.  At the time of this writing, the signature count is just under 4,000.  Let’s show our support for the lovably goofy giant with a sinister skill set — Dirk Werner Nowitzki. [Link: Dirk Nowitzki als Fahnenträger in Peking Petition]