Dallas Finishes

As promised, here is my take on the teams in Dallas.

Have to start with Stein and Mike. What happened? I saw very little of the first match they lost to Ed Ratledge and AL-B due to being in the middle of my match. From what I hear, Stein did not play very well and Ed and AL played very well in games 2 and 3. I did see most of the second match they played against Doble and Loomis. While I don't think they played their A game, I don't think they played their F game either. Somewhere around the C game. Doble and Loomis on the other hand had their A++ game going. Some of the serves Loomis was bringing down the line at Stein were absurd. Stein didn't have time to react and Loomis didn't miss many serves. That accounts for the game one beat down. The second game was a battle back and forth. Stein and Mike had the lead at 18-17 and were on the slightly better side when they gave up 4 unanswered points. The wind was mostly a side wind and Stein was going to the good side each time. I believe the first point Mike tried to hit on 2 and it went out. The next point Doble blocked Stein. The next point Loomis scooped Stein. The last point Doble blocked Stein. I could be a bit off but I think in general that was how it ended. For me, it shows how tough this tour is. Phil and I just barely beat Doble and Loomis in Miami. I have a feeling that Stein and Mike are going to be pretty good in Huntington Beach. Very tough to beat as they will be very very hungry.

I have touched on Phil and I of course as well as Rosy and Jake. Sean and Matt were a pleasant surprise. They admittedly had a good draw due to the upset of Dax/Jeff and Mike and Stein, but still beat some very quality teams and took Rosy and Jake down to the wire in the third. I didn't see them play much, but from what I hear, Matt was blocking exceptionally well and Sean was scooping a lot of balls in the back. If they are both doing that and Sean is siding out well, that team is tough.

Dax and Jeff were out of sorts due to an injury to Dax. He messed up his back and was not his normal sideout at 90% kind of guy. Look for them, if healthy, which they should be, to do a lot better in Huntington Beach.

Willy and Casey had another solid tourney and I know they are probably still seething at, in their minds, giving away the match to Rosy and Jake. I am sure in Rosy and Jake's mind they felt they took it from them. At any rate, they are a fun team to watch from both a volleyball and entertainment perspective.

Fred and Anthony had another solid tourney. 9th place. They played us tough but I think they were still feeling it in their next match when they lost to Nick and Billy.

Hyden and Romain were out of sorts. I don't really want to get into that except to say that I for one will be praying for my friend Big George and hope he comes back stronger than ever.

Another notable team was Nick and Billy. They played well and I saw Billy make some tremendous block moves against Fred and Anthony. He had 5 or so blocks in a row and they were impressive.

Is AL-B back? He and the eagle were awfully good in Dallas. It remains to be seen how they keep going but I think the eagle's block is very underated on tour and AL-B looks to be in tremendous shape.

I touched on Larry and Ryan already. They are good and have a big upside.

Ring and Olsen were solid and lost some close games to good teams. Took a 9th. See how they do in the home town of Huntington Beach for Ryan. He was pretty good there last year.

Good tourney for Hans and Scott Wong. Took home a 7th and Scotty took down his brother Kevin in the last match of the day on Friday. I think the third game was 16-14.

I didnt' see Karch and Kevin at all so I can't comment on them.

All I can say on the women's side is "I told you so." Misty and Kerri obliterated everyone for the most part. Not that I was going out on a limb on that one. It had to be expected of the best team over the past 4 or 5 years.