Hello from Tianjin, China! My name is Brad Guzan and I am here as a member of the U.S. Men's Olympic Soccer team. I grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, in Homer Glen to be exact, and attended Providence Catholic High School.

I just want to give the people of Chicago an inside view of the Olympics and what it's like day-in and day-out as an athlete during this great event. We just arrived from Hong Kong where we were for about eight days preparing for our three group games - Japan, Holland and Nigeria (being called the group of death). Basically, we used those days to get adjusted to the time difference as well as the HEAT!

There were a lot of sleeping pills in circulation as China is 13 hours ahead of Chicago. It is extremely humid here and growing up during the Chicago summers, I thought I had experienced humidity. But this brings it to a new level!

As I stated earlier, we arrived at our hotel which is about an hour outside Beijing and we can already tell that we are going to be taken care of by this outstanding staff! The security is pretty intense, but it is better to be on the safe side, so no complaints there. We are looking forward to our first game which is Aug. 7th.

Yes, I know the opening ceremonies don't start until the 8th, but soccer is a little different so the first round of the games are the 7th. The atmosphere is unbelievable as everything in the city has the Olympic colors on it! We all feel very fortunate to be here and represent our country and just to be a part of these great games.

Well it is getting late here and a good night rest is greatly needed after a long day of travel. If there are any questions about the games or about anything in general, I will try my best to answer them all!

Until next time,
Brad Guzan
U.S. Men's National Soccer Team

- Joe Trost