Phil and I took the bronze here in Berlin. We lost to the second brasilian team, 15-13 in the third. In the first game we got smoked. We scored one real point and Marcio and Fabio were hammering the ball straight down. Lost 21-15. In the second we were down most of the game but made a comeback and kept the score close. I chopped a ball sharp angle just past Marcio for the 21-19 win. In the third we dropped down 5-2 early and then brought it back to lead 13-12. But a sideout and 2 Marcio dig and putaways made the match for them.
We received a forfeit in the Bronze medal match due to Julius Brink hurting his shoulder in the semifinal game.
The final was a battle with the 3rd German team beating brasil in the first but losing in the second. The third was all tied up at 10 all when the big guys started dropping like flies. Fabio called a medical timeout as he was suffering from the heat. Then Koreng called a medical as he started to go down too. His partner called a second medical for him and then they took their regular timeout. He went out there but was really woozy and stumbling. Tried to block on the first play and pretty much fell over. His partner called the game as he realized that Koreng was in trouble.
The consensus out here is that the FIVB Tour has been in cold weather for the entire length of the tour this year. Then all of a sudden you get a heat spell the last 2 days and guys were struggling. Phil and I had no problem but last week in Seaside Heights was similar to the weather here in Berlin. Add to that the FIVB is always 4 day tourneys and the most games you ever play is 3, you get guys that are not in as good of game shape as perhaps they should be.
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9 comments:
In that last paragraph you wrote "the most games you'll ever have to play in one day is 3" you meant matches, not games, right?
Seems like you're pretty much winning against every other country except the Brazilians and even still, they seem to be close matches that could go either way.
Congratulations to you and Phil on the 3rd place finish.
@garret: They took out a Brazilian team in the quarter finals. But it seems Marcio and Fabio really did find a good way to get around and through Phil's block. Speaking from what I saw of the AVP tour, all the US teams have a much harder time to get through.
Other than that it was nice seeing you "in person" in Berlin. A lot better than the (quite good) video streams through avp.com. Are you guys always like that on the court? You both seemed a bit ... annoyed on Saturday and Sunday.
Cheers from Germany,
Stefan
Hey Todd. Much congrats on all your successes. I am a Floridian and know Phil so it's been pretty cool to see him partner up with someone to drive him to the next level. Best of luck the rest of the way this season and on your plight to Beijing 2008. I think you and Phil will be an awesome representation for the US and the AVP.
Todd,
Hope your travels home went well. Congrats on Berlin, I sure hope those dropped matches to Brazil aren't mental. Was hoping on training tips for vertical out of the sand if you can help.
ps used the sunflower trick on a midnight run to NC last weekend and had no problems staying awake.
Jeff
@Stefan...true they did beat Harley/Pedro but then they lost to Fabio Luiz/Marcio Araujo, also a Brazilian team. Paris, their only lost was to....Emmanuel/Ricardo, another Brazilian team. Norway, only loss was to Fabio Luiz/Marcio Araujo again. That was my point...not that they haven't won against the Brazilians but all their losses have come against them, all tightly contested 3 game matches.
Todd,
Congrats on your and Phil's success this season. I enjoy watching you play as I am also a towering 6'3". You give me hope. I am interested in seeing the finished product (your court). My wife and I just tackled the same beast and we are quite happy with the results, any chance of you posting a photo? Any way, once again thanks for the updates and I will hopefully see you guys in Chicago.
I did mean matches and not games. Thanks for the correction.
Thanks Garret.
Stefan, Phil and I tend to be pretty quiet on the court. It may look like we are annoyed but for the most part we are not. Against Marcio and Fabio we were lucky to be in that game. I did not feel we played very well and neither did Phil. They made the plays at the end and we did not.
Thanks BD. Phil would have gotten their eventually but I like to think I accelerated the process.
Jeff- Great to hear you used the sunflower trick and that it worked. Travel was great for me. Had to change my flight but got upgraded from Frankfurt to Denver. Happy about that. Not 100% mental in those losses but when you lose their is always some component of it being mental. The last 3 points Marcio sacked up with a gnarly angle hit and two scoops. One was a miss hit pokey by me on a tight set that was easy for him. The other was on a hard angle bang by me that he scooped nicely.
I will post a shot when I home long enough to do so.
Also, at some point I will do a blog about training ect...
Todd
Todd: Thanks for the time you take out of your schedule to blog. We all appreciate it!
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