ON THE DL

Dan Steinberg Joins the DL from China

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post joins the DL – from China. We’ve done a lot of cool things on this show and talked to a lot of cool people, but I think this is the coolest thing we’ve ever done.

Steinberg is in China covering the Olympics, but using amazing internet technologies, we talk as if we’re in the same room. I know I’m making a big deal about this, but he’s in freaking China and the sound quality is better than interviews I’ve done from three miles away from here.

Steinberg has one of the best sports blogs in the country day in and day out. But, if you’re not into the DC sports scene, it can get a little too inside the Beltway for your liking. Well, the past week has been, in this podcaster’s opinion, the best sports blogging ever. If there was Olympic gold for sports blogging, Steinberg would be Michael Phelps and the rest of us would be going down to the basement to compete for silver.

We talk about the smog in Beijing and if it’s as terrible in person as it looks on TV. We get into the ‘man on the street’ feel to the Bog (Smog) and he compares it to his time in Turin. We also talk about who the most interesting person he’s met has been, and turn it into a conversation about Yak cheese, Craig Sager and a Lithuanian guy who looks just like my brother.

We also talk about the city of Beijing and the transformation it has seen in the last two decades. Steinberg responds to the question of how Americanized the city has become by remarking that it’s unlike anything he’s ever seen. The architecture is beyond Americanized.

We discuss the interest phenomenon of cheering, and why Chinese fans seem not to partake. We also get a little newsy to talk about how the assignments are given out and how the tragic murder of an American was covered, and how that coverage changed when word came down that there was a sports connection.

We also discuss the Chinese government and if Steinberg has felt in any way oppressed or constricted while in Beijing.

We spin that to a chat about the economics of the game and talk about how the average Chinese person makes $2-3 a day, watching an opening ceremony that cost $300 million. Seems insane.

We move to a lighter note, discussing who has been photographed more, President Bush or Kobe Bryant. That leads us to a conversation about the superstardom of some athletes we only care about for two weeks every 1200 or so days and how Shaun Johnson is more famous during the games than Serena Williams.

Lastly, what do some of the athletes in the less popular sports do when they aren’t in the Olympics? Do they work at the Cheese counter at Whole Foods? Also, what does Steinberg have coming up (it involves bars) and more Kobe stuff, including the question of whether or not the Chinese know about his off the court transgressions and if that would change the way they look at him.

Great show.....HE’S IN CHINA!

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