Although we tuned-in every day on TV, and saw athletes, volunteers, media, etc everywhere we turned, it was really special to see some competitions LIVE. We lucked into two sets of tickets...
Men's Basketball: The basketball stadium was packed when we arrived – probably 75% Chinese spectators. The stadium seats around 15,000, and there's not a bad seat in the house (so even our 300 level seats had a great view). Another bonus – beers cost only 5 RMB (80 cents)!
Greece vs. Spain was FUN. The fans of both teams are so spirited, there was singing and chanting practically the entire game. OF COURSE I was cheering as loudly as I could for Greece, however, the defending world champs (Spain) won 81-66. Below, you can see the rivaling fans, and "love" between challengers.
Argentina vs. Lithuania was an exciting game! The Chicago Bulls' Andres Nocioni was there (above), and there were TONS of Lithuanian fans with face paint, wearing flags and tie-dye t-shirts... the only annoying thing was they whistled way too loudly anytime the other team had the ball – quite unsportsmanlike. It was a tight game, but Argentina pulled comfortably ahead in the 4th quarter. The momentum started to shift with less than 2 minutes remaining, and with FOUR SECONDS LEFT TO PLAY Lithuania scored and won the game! Who knew that we were watching 3 of the 4 teams that would make it to the finals?!
Swimming: THE CUBE IS COOL, from the inside and outside. We were just 24 rows from the pool, and could really enjoy the races and the excitement on the faces of the victorious swimmers. You knew whenever a swimmer for China was racing because the crowd would go NUTS - no matter that these were qualifying heats for the following morning's finals. USA Mens and Womens impressed, and multiple Olympic Records and World Records were beat. 
After Swimming ended on a high note, with USA Men breaking an Olympic record in the 4x100 relay, we wandered outside to see the Olympic Green by night. People were everywhere, enjoying piped-in music, a water-light show
And... we got sucked into the live broadcasting of the TODAY show. After laughing at the crowd screaming “Matt! Matt Lauer! Meredith, I love you!” we scooted over by a family from Indiana (their grand/daughter is a US synchronized diver) about to be interviewed by Al Roker, just to get on-camera. I don't think my mom watches the show, so I mouthed the words “HI HEATHER!”, for my friend who watches religiously (Heather, did ya see us??)
too bad his eyes just closed... I swear he winked at me :)
Olympic Village: By the time we arrived in Beijing, the only way you could gain access was if you were holding a ticket to one of that day's events at one of the ten venues located in this area. Once we presented our tickets and made it through security (where they confiscated my chewing gum? but passed over the swiss army knife I mistakenly had i my bag), we took the new subway line that bisects the “Olympic Green”. It is a vast open space with many sculptures and creative landscaping. Each Chinese province had a small tent in which to display and/or demonstrate their unique traditions in arts, crafts, cuisine and music, etc. There is a “superstore” selling official Olympics merchandise... and the prices were so reasonable, I was tempted to buy souvenirs for the whole family! I settled on just a baseball cap for me (sorry!), since my overstuffed backpack continually prevents my shopping urges. With the exception of a few standard concession items (nasty looking sausages, drinks, candy, chips), the only food we found for sale in the Olympic Village was MCDONALD'S, a major sponsor. Moving on.... The Bird's Nest is an AMAZING feat of design, architecture and engineering. It is beautiful to look at close-up, from afar, during the day and at night.