2008 Olympic Gold Medalists

2008 Olympic Gold Medalists
(click on picture to see larger picture)

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Great Tourney in Boston

Another good weekend for Phil and I. Started out with a direct flight from LAX to Boston in first class. I did have a hopper from Santa Maria to LAX but its a short flight and almost doesn't count. Flew in comfort the whole way and got into Boston on time at 5pm. Phil and I grabbed a cab with Jeff Alzina, the coach for Mike/Stein and JJJ/Annette, and went to the Hilton. Saw a PF Changs right next to the hotel and the 3 of us had a great dinner there. Have not eaten there in about a year and I love that place. Especially the chicken lettuce wraps.

The next day we started the tourney. 24 team MD so we got a bye in the first round as the 2nd seeded team. Played Loiola/Jewell for our first match. They had beaten Rester/Lee in their first round match. Both guys are coming off of surgery from last year. Loiola had hip replacement surgery and he is starting to show glimpses of his old self. In the beginning of the year you could tell he had surgery. Now he is jumping well and looking more like the Loiola of old. Jewell had knee and shoulder surgery. I think the knee was major and the shoulder was minor. He can still hammer the ball so I think the shoulder is fine. The knee looks good as he is jumping well. He does wear a knee brace probably just in case. We beat them in two games and played well doing so. Scores were in the mid teens or so.

In our quarterfinal game we had a rematch of the MB finals with Dax and Sean. Good match. We smoked them in the first and then they smoked us in the second. The third was tight until a controversial call. I scooped Sean on a short line shot, jumped up and banged a ball off his right fingers that landed out of bounds. Phil and I celebrated and Sean was yelling no touch. They called a touch and a point for us. I think the score was 9-6 instead of 8-7 with us up. Sean went ballistic on the refs. For my part, I swear he touched the ball with his right pinky, ring finger and middle finger. Things happen slowly when you are mid play and I distinctly saw that touch. Phil saw it also. It was a turning point and we won 15-9. I asked others if they saw it and got different answers. Two guys said it was a touch. Another guy said no touch. I stand by my assertion that he touched it. Only Sean truly knows and I had no desire to ask him after that game. Maybe next week. Maybe not...

When we woke up Saturday morning it was howling windy outside. We played an old foe, Rosy/Gibb, on an outside court. It was standard wind ball. We won the first game about 21-18 and there was probably 5 true pass, set, putaway sideouts. The second game we lost 22-20. In the third we pulled ahead and stayed ahead to win. Lots of great rallies because of the wind. It was very difficult to put the ball away.

In the semis we played Fred/Anthony again. This team is becoming a permanent fixture in the late rounds of tourneys. I expect they will be the 4th seed next week in N.Y. We beat them in 3 games in another wind ball match. We lost the first 21-18. Won the second 21-7. The third we were down 7-9 and then won 15-9. Side out and then 7 straight points on errors, blocks and digs. On to the finals.

In the finals we played Matt/Casey. They had lost to Stein/Mike in the quarters of the winners and fought through to get to the finals. On the way there they beat Jake/Rosy to give them a 5th and got revenge on Stein/Mike to give them a 3rd. Casey was really fired up to be back in the finals. He is a really great guy and I love playing against him as he is such a fiery competitor. Phil and I were up to the task and played well though. Phil blocked great in the 1st and then served them off of the court in the second. I played my usual game trying to clap a lot as Phil got blocks and aces. :)

It was a good tourney for us and a great new stop for the AVP. We have had several new stops this year and Boston has to be number one, at least in my book. I congratulate the Fenway Group and Mike D. on a great tourney., I look forward to coming back next year.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Todd,

This is the first Men's Finals I have not watched (I'm not sure why AVP.com didn't show it.) I'll have to take your word that it was another "Silly Phil"-fueled rout. Congrats on that.

I have been meaning to ask you about your (non-float)jumpserve. I've noticed that you use it periodically early in the tournament (I thought I saw you pop a few against Dax), but not in the finals. Would you rather just get it in so Phil can do his thing?

Best of Luck in Brooklyn,

Dave in San Diego

Anonymous said...

another great win Todd...Phil looked intense all weekend..maybe he was still mad from last weekend at MB from the knock to the noggin. I will be interested in your blog from New York...my wife and i are contemplating on making the trip to Brooklyn and Vegas next year, and of course Atlanta and Charleston...again, great win in Boston and good luck this weekend. Alan Beverly/Birmingham,
Alabama.

Unknown said...

Congrats on winning yet again in Boston. Hopefully this'll be a regular thing and I could just cut n paste my comments but just change the location. Hopefully AVP.com will be able to show Boston, NBC must have had it on tape if the women's final went only two games.
Hope to say hi to you in Brooklyn!

Unknown said...

Just a sidenote on Sean's touch. I remember the most famous "touch" call. I think it was in Rhode Island in 89 and it was Smith/Stoklos against Kiraly/Frohoff. I remember it being a double final and Karch was blocking, Frohoff dug it and Karch set it and when Frohoff hit it they called it 4 hits. Karch went ballistic and it was a pretty pivotal point. After they lost, Karch pulled down the net and the ref slid down the pole. Smith and Stoklos claim they heard the touch. At least Sean didn't pull down the net!

Anonymous said...

Don't mean to overstate the obvious, but it seems your schedule has you peaking nicely this year as in the last. Should pay dividends in 2008 Olympics roughly one year away.

You and Phil are amazingly consitent with this high level of paly.

Ever consider some winter tourneys in Brazil, or would that screw up off season training?

Jeff

Anonymous said...

Todd,
What are your thoughts on the new Hot Winter Nights tour? How many do you think you will play.

Congrats and keep up the good work.

David

Todd Rogers said...

Dave- I am looking into what happened with Mosaic and NBC as far as the men's final is concerned.
My jump serve will never be the weapons Phils is. Therefore, I use it sparingly. I actually was jump serving in our last 3 matches of Boston because it was so windy. It was effective as well. If you look at MB you can see why I don't. Phil was missing most of his serves. We have to be able to score so I keep mine in. I tell Phil to continue to go for it. He is crappy until 5-5 in the third and he goes off for 5 points. This past weekend he was just silly from the line and I was going for it too. Have to judge things within each game in regards to serving.

Alan and Garret - thanks. I remember that "touch" call as well. Still gives me a chuckle.

Jeff- Have looked into it but it was more of a hastle than worth it to play in those tourneys.

David- Winter Tour could and should be a good thing. Don't have enough information on it to let you know my plans though. Basically, I don't have any plans until I know what the scoop is for those events. Will let everyone know when I know.

Todd

UmassJSP said...

Todd and fellow fans-
The last live AVP Volleyball we had here in Massachusetts was in July of 1997 on Cape Cod. We waited for OVER a decade for the AVP to return and I hope the Ivory Tower people at the AVP think like Todd does that this is a good site. Chris Marlowe on the old Prime broadcasts called the Mass. AVP fans "the most knowledgeable on the tour" and I think he is right. For me, an AVP fan since NESN started showing the matches here in 1986, the last 10 years without live AVP matches was like sleeping with Hillary Clinton...painful. But this Saturday morning it was like waking up with Hilary Duff....beautiful. For my Gen Adm. ticket I got front row seats to see the World Champions beat Rosie/Gibb and then Team Jump Serve on the outer court. Between those two matches I saw Wong/Wach vs Team Jump Serve in a 3 game barn burner. Grabbed some lunch and a few more $6 Budweisers and then went into the stadium court where Geeter had the place rocking and the video of all the AVP players saying they preferred the Red Sox to Yankees got everyones adrenaline pumping. My buddy who came with me and didnt know any of the players turned to me and said "we are coming back to this next year" which is how I think all the people attending their first event felt. Thanks to Todd for taking the time to shake my hand and do a photo opportunity. After meeting Todd and then seeing Fred/Anthony beat him in game 1 of the semis I thought I had passed the Curse of the Bambino on to him but we rooted him and Phil on to victory in that match and over what I felt was a pro- Jennings/"Golden God" crowd in the Finals. Everyone have a great week!! Scott from Cape Cod, MA

Anonymous said...

Hey Todd,

Wow what a weekend it was. I went to the tour everyday and enjoyed every minute of it. I coach high school volleyball and took the oportunity to bring some of my players. It was nice for them to see what it looks like up close. Unfortunately, there's not a great deal of opportunity here in Boston for our young palyers to connect to on the professional level, especially the young men. So this was truly a welcomed event! Hopefully the AVP will become a regular part of the Boston sports tradition! It was refreshing to see how down to earth and approachable all of the players were! Looking forward to seeing the AVP again and thanks for the autographs and pictures! Good luck with the rest of the tour!

Kelley