By now, the Chinese public must have at least reached the "bargaining stage" in the fives stages of grief over the early exit of Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang from the Olympics on Monday.

Liu Xiang walks off the Men's 110m Hurdles Heats at the National Stadium in Beijing on August 18. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Much has been written about the disbelief and anger of Chinese bloggers over Liu's departure from the field before he was set to race in the 110-meter hurdles due to an inflamed Achilles' tendon and a bone growth on his right heel.

Some harsher critics have said it was fear that led him off the field. Others have actually accused him of faking his injury and giving up. Bloggers have also expressed anger that he did not at least acknowledge his fans when he left the stadium. (Beijing communications consultant Kaiser Kuo has some interesting thoughts on using blogger comments as a dipstick of Chinese sentiment here.)

But just a day later, the country seems to have softened. A poll by the Chinese social-networking Website Xiaonei found that an overwhelming number sympathized with the 25-year-old athlete who literally jumped to stardom when he won China's first track and field gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Read more...

Sunday was a magical day in Beijing as I sat in my bleacher seat at the Wukesong Olympic Baseball Stadium to watch China play South Korea. It was the resumption of a game that I actually missed when the two teams first faced off last Thursday.

For some reason, I thought that Thursday's game was at night, and not during the day. So when the the first pitch was thrown, I was out buying shoes. But thanks to a downpour of rain, the game was put on hold until Sunday, and I was the first through the gate. This gave me ample time to watch the players practice. (See slideshow above.)

Highlights (and lowlights) included: