Let The Games Begin ... Early

Okay, Olympics junkie, here's your first test.
Officially, the Beijing Games get under way with Friday's opening ceremony at the National Stadium (a.k.a. the Bird's Nest). Live coverage of that spectacle — and from what we're reading, it truly will be — begins at 7 a.m. ET on CBC.
Easy enough to take, don't you think? Compared to what awaits you over the next two weeks, that is, as you try to keep up with these Games.
Well, here's a bit more of a reality check in that area. Our women's soccer team hits the pitch on Wednesday morning, more than 50 hours before this party really gets going. Yes, that's a (gulp) 4:45 a.m. ET start for Canada-Argentina (the match is also available on CBCSports.ca, the beginning of extensive live online streaming of Games events).
Get used to it folks. But hey, if you're a true Olympic junkie (and don't need to be anywhere else too early tomorrow or have the day off work) who wants the whole Games experience, no reason you can't get off to this early, early start.
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A few more details on the opening ceremony coverage.
CBC's scheduled airtime for the Olympics lid-lifter runs from 7 a.m.-12 noon, with Olympic Prime host Ron MacLean and CBC News' Peter Mansbridge providing the commentary (our first tangible evidence, too, that this is indeed an Olympics without Brian Williams).
If you miss it live, CBC Newsworld has an encore presentation at 1 p.m. and a two-hour highlights show at 7 p.m. CBC offers a further replay during Olympic Prime, beginning at 6 p.m.
CBC Sports executive director Scott Moore promises we're in for a spectacular show.
"They're going to be just incredible in their scope," Moore told the Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones, a former colleague from my days with Sun Media. "I'm convinced they'll be absolutely stunning."
We can hardly wait.
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Dug up this Scott Moore Inside CBC Sports blog post from back in April.
An interesting read if you'd like a sense of how the public broadcaster plans to tackle the good stories and the not so good ones during their two-plus weeks on the air in Beijing.