diplomatic boycott of the game, citing china s human rights abuses. meanwhile, the pandemic remains a major factor for the competition getting under way in beijing. three members of the u.s. men s hockey team have tested positive for coronavirus this morning. but as they isolate in the olympic vig, usa hockey still hopes to have all three available for the tournament which doesn t begin until the middle of next week. meanwhile, today s opening ceremony will be a little less grand than the last time china hosted the olympics, the summer game in 2008. this time only 3,000 performers will be there, compared to 15,000 in the last beijing games. the event is expected to last less than 100 minutes, making it the shortest opening ceremony in more than 30 years. of course, they will be showing it on nbc. and one other sports note, no real progress yet in the major league baseball labor strike. the league is asking for a mediator to be involved. it is unclear if the players union will go for th