First off, congrats to Jake and Rosy for breaking through to the winners circle. They lost the same round we did and came through the losers to win it all. Didn't see much of their games but they must have been playing well to beat all those teams and play a ton of games.
Stein and Lambo were off again. Took a 9th by receiving a bye and winning their first game. Then they lost two straight matches to Romaine/Witt and Fred/Anthony. Saw them in the box with their coach, Jeff Alzina, having what looked to be a heart to heart chat between the three of them for an hour after their second loss. I am at a complete loss as to why they are not doing better. Lot of people have asked me and I just don't know why. I have not been scrutinizing them by any means but from what I have seen they look healthy. As the saying goes, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." I expect they will do pretty well in the next two tourneys gearing up for the FIVB events.
Ring and Olsen had a tough go. Still a little bit on the inconsistent side. Had a bye and then lost in the second round to John Mayer and Scott Wong. Came through to 9th but got a bad draw with Jake and Rosy. Made a good game of it in the second but couldn't pull it out.
Wong and Karch were of course the story of the weekend. Karch looked very fresh after his off weekend. He was jumping very well and scooping a ton of balls as he has done all year long. Wong was his usual solid self. Good passing and setting and mixing up his shots and hits. They played very well against us and their coach Rangy (Mike Rangel) had a great game plan to shut me down. Kudos to them on their second place finish.
Mark and Casey took a 9th. Lost in the second round to George and Larry and then to us at 9th. I honestly expected this team to be more consistent. Great ball control and all around skills. Plus game moxy as well. Not sure.
Sean and Furbs keep going up the ladder. After AZ, where a lot of people thought they were breaking up, they have just kept getting better. Took a 9th in AZ and since then took a 7th, 5th, and now a 3rd. I guess that means they will be taking a 2nd in Atlanta and 1st in Charleston. They actually had 3 match points vs. Jake and Rosy in the semis. They won the first game and then were up 20-17 serving. Stinger on that one. Playing better though and in a good rhythm.
Hyden/Keenan took a solid 5th. Kicked our booties so to speak. Also beat Nick and Billy, who took a 17th, but I think are a very good team. They ended up losing to the 2nd and 1st place teams so not a bad finish.
George and Larry took a 5th and were very good. Beat Stein and Lambo and Mark and Casey. Two pretty good teams in my book. Nice finish by those guys.
Nice finish by John Mayer/Scott Wong and Canyon Ceman/Chad Turner. Both teams took 7th place finishes and beat some solid teams along the way.
4 comments:
Todd,
Thanks for taking the time to fill us in on your perspective.
Regarding Lambo and Stein, I watched them play in the Huntington and Hermosa tournaments as well as see them practice some in Huntington. I think they are just too comfortable with each other and can't seem to get themselves out of funks. Maybe a new coach will help. That's what Misty and Kerry did with Jeff.
Williams and Casey.....I don't think that Williams is a dominant full-time blocker. He's a tweener like Larry Witt and Scott Wong. I think that he needs to play both positions in order to get into the flow of his game.
But what do I know...I'm just a fan.
Steve
Hi Todd,
Thanks so much for 'Passing' with Margo at the end of the Tampa youth clinic. Such a thrill for her! She keeps going over the tip you gave her about "opening up" on the swing. Sure to pay off someday!
You played well despite the outcome...it's all relative. It's just finding the channel, feed and passage needed for that day. You, absolutely, know what to do and how to do it so just Flip the Switch! (ON, that is.)
We'll miss the Paris Grand Slam by a day - will be there on the 25th. Best of luck, though, and we'll want to hear about some major switch flipping. (Cue Phil.)
See you next year on the tour and thanks again for the unbelievable inspiration you were to Margo…you’ll never know…
~Devin
Todd,
I was in Tampa supporting Phil and yourself, and to me you both looked just a bit off all weekend (as opposed to Miami where you were both firing all weekend). Bummed we didn't get to see you win again, but stoked on how well you've done so far this year and look forward to another string of W's starting this weekend in ATL.
Do you think Stein and Lambo's struggles have anything to do with the free happy hours at these hotels? We couldn't help but give them a hard time in Tampa when they sat down next to us and began downing tequila shots and Sam Adams at the famed Embassy Suites Happy Hour. Fun guys though.
Good luck in ATL.
Steve- Could be that those guys are too comfortable with one another. They both want to win very badly though. Interesting take at any rate. I think Willy is a good blocker but you are right, he is not a dominant blocker in the mold of Phil, Jake, Lambert ect..
Devin- It was great passing with Margo. She was very nice and worked hard at the clinic. I hope my tip does pay off. Good to know we can still make a difference as athletes.
Anonymous- The free happy hours are nice if you are not in. Maybe they tanked it to let some steam off. Certainly they let some steam off from what I heard. Can't blame them frankly. Somehow I don't think they tanked on purpose though.
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