News-Record.com

The Olympic Games have started. They just haven't Opened. Leave it to the International Olympic Committee to confuse us.Two days before the Opening Ceremonies, the action began this morning when the U.S. women's soccer team, featuring five former North Carolina Tar Heels, surrendered two goals in the first four minutes and fell to Norway 2-0.

The American men will get their own jump on the games at 5 a.m. Thursday, when they face the Japanese in a first-round soccer game. The U.S. squad includes two former ACC players who, exemplifying a recent trend, left school early for professional ball.

Dax McCarty, a midfielder, turned pro after earning first-team All-ACC honors in 2005, and it's hard to say he made a bad move. Only 17 when he enrolled at Carolina in 2004, he's well inside the age limit of 23 for the Olympics and is on loan to the national team from FC Dallas of Major League Soccer.

Michael Parkhurst was an All-American at Wake Forest in 2003 and 2004 who was drafted by the New England Revolution in the spring of 2005. Having made the dean's list in each of his years in school, he has continued work on his degree online.It has been an exceptionally eventful year for Parkhurst, who got married in the offseason, earned MLS All-Star honors last month and took off for China shortly thereafter.

A complete list of locally affiliated Olympians and their anticipated schedules is attached. The games can be seen on NBC (WXII, Channel 12), several specialty channels on cable and satellite and via www.nbcolympics.com.