How to follow the Games: Confused? Who isn’t? Trying to figure out what happened yesterday, what’s happening today and what’s happening tomorrow in Beijing has become an Olympic exercise in confusion. Here’s a little help.

When it’s 8 a.m. in Los Angeles

. . . it is 11 p.m. in Beijing

--

VIEWERS GUIDE

TIMING: Beijing is 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That means as you grab your morning paper at 8 a.m. today, it’s already 11 p.m. in Beijing. Much of the action takes place from about 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. Pacific time. The Times’ daily special section Beijing 2008 has all the information from events that conclude by about 10 p.m. Los Angeles time.

CATCHING UP: For up-to-the-moment news with your morning cup of French roast, go to latimes.com/olympics and pull up the “While you were sleeping” entry on The Times’ Olympic blog, Ticket to Beijing. Times Sports Editor Randy Harvey will fill you in on the big events that took place after you finally turned off coverage of women’s handball and hit the sack.

LIVE TV? Because of the time difference, virtually no competition we see on NBC on the West Coast is live. When you see “Live” in the upper right of your TV screen, that means it’s live on the East Coast, so it’s three hours delayed here.

COMING UP

SWIMMING: Michael Phelps could be going for his seventh gold medal, tying Mark Spitz’s record for the most in a single Olympics, and his 13th overall. It’s the finals of the 100-meter butterfly. One of his most competitive rivals, Ian Crocker, is expected to challenge him.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Coached by Jenny Lang Ping, one of China’s most famous athletes, the United States takes on China in a much anticipated first-round match. Both teams are 2-1. Ping starred as an outside hitter in leading China to a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Since 1983, China’s record against the United States is 82-29.

TRACK AND FIELD: The United States could sweep the shotput competition with Reese Hoffa, Adam Nelson and Christian Cantwell.

-- Randy Harvey