NOTEBOOK | From Athens

Knocked out: Taraje Williams-Murray had a tough finish in men's 60kg judo. He was momentary knocked out, allowing his opponent, Akram Shah of India, to move in for the victory. After winning his opening match over Gal Yekutiel, of Israel, the Bronx native lost to Khashbaatar Tsagaanbaatar of Mongolia in the second round. Then in the elimination match, Shah came in for a low shoulder throw and rolled Williams-Murray over for a half point. On the way down, Williams-Murray's head hit the mat and he was dazed for a few seconds, giving Shah time to apply an arm lock to end the match. "They say anything can happen out there and it just did. To me," Williams-Murray said. "I can't remember when I last hit my head like that. Everything just went tingly for a few seconds and I didn't know it until I felt my arm."
First disappointment: Emily Hoff, the youngest American Olympian at 15, entered Saturday's 400-meter individual medley preliminary with the fastest time in the world. She left staggered and vomiting at pool side, after a shocking 16th-place finish, nearly 10 seconds slower than her best time. Only the top eight swimmers advanced to Saturday night's final. Hoff, of Abingdon, Md., does have another chance to medal as she is scheduled to compete in the 200 IM on Monday. Her coach, Paul Yetter, said: "It was nerves. There is nothing physically wrong with her."
Suitcase problem: Access to one of the Olympic media villages was temporarily blocked Saturday while a journalist's bag was inspected by police. The suitcase belonged to John Anthony, a sports anchor at Associated Press Radio in Washington. Police brought in sniffer dogs to check the bag and questioned Anthony before deciding that a bottle of after-shave was the item that had raised the suspicions of security screeners. "I had no idea of what was going on," Anthony said. "Three policemen questioned me. They said they had found a suspicious explosive powder on the outside of the bag. They were satisfied with my answers."
House party: Chief Olympic organizer Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki threw a party at her hillside villa Saturday after Athens' lavish opening ceremony went off without a hitch. The party, however, was a disaster. Fireworks set off at the mansion caused a fire in the nearby wooded area, burning out of control for nearly an hour, police said. Sixty firefighters were called to the scene near Filothei, about two miles north of the city, and eventually put out the blaze. No one was hurt.
Blackout: Greek television screens went blank for a second time in four days Saturday as state-run ET-1 television lost its Olympic signal. Two senior executives from Greece's main telephone operator, OTE, resigned after the company accepted responsibility for the signal loss. The 20-minute Olympic blackout affected Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, as well as northern and central parts of country, ET-1 said. International broadcasts were not affected by the interruption. Wednesday, ET-1 viewers missed more than 10 minutes of the first half of Greece's opening game against South Korea in the men's soccer preliminaries.
Combined dispatches