The Story

A trip to the Capitol Pool Checkers Club where, each week, men with nicknames like the Hammer, the Pressure Man, and the Razor gather to play checkers.

Iraq war veteran Matt Cavanaugh runs for the Wounded Warrior Project. Tom Cocchiarella is a Vietnam-era vet.  The two men didn't know each other well, but when Matt was deployed, Tom wrote faithfully and they soon became friends.

More than 150 vultures mysteriously moved into a two-block radius of Shelby, N.C. Kristen Duren, the woman charged with running the birds out of town, says the best deterrent was to hang vulture effigies upside down.

The 2008 Summer Olympics open tonight with lush ceremonies in Beijing. Head choreographer Shen Wei himself represents the night's fusion of East and West - he grew up in China, but spent 10 years living in the United States.Also in this episode, Frank Baker wrote to The Story after hearing Dick's interview with Jabari Aali Shaw, a young man adjusting to the daily pressures of life after prison. Frank worked over 20 years as a probation officer in Oakland, Calif. He says during his career many young people passed through his office, but none were as honest as Jabari. And, some world leaders are boycotting the opening ceremonies tonight to protest China's human rights record. Floyd Scholz lived through an Olympic boycott. Back in the 1970s, Floyd was focused on competing in the decathlon at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.