2008 Olympic Gold Medalists

2008 Olympic Gold Medalists
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Gibb/Rosy Match

Beat Jake and Rosy in 3 games last night. Not a very high level match in general. The first game we were good and they were bad. The second it switched. The third it switched again. The first play of the third game Phil set me tight and I jousted with Jake. I won the joust and they were not able to get the ball back over. I essentially crushed the net but the refs completely missed it. They told Jake they felt the ball hit the net. It might have, but I definetely netted and I was shocked it wasn't called. They never recovered from that call as I served for the next 5 points to make it 6-0 before they sided out. We continued to increase the lead throught out the game and won 15-8.

Supposed to play the kiwi's tomorrow. We'll see. Lot of weird stuff going on in this tourney with people forfeiting and playing poorly on purpose. The pool play format is just ripe for cheating and adjusting things to make sure you or your "friends" get out of pool in the best possible position. I will let you know tomorrow.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Cooking Competition

Had a competitive Sunday night here in Stavanger. Jen Kessy and I were asked to compete in a cooking competition for a Norwegian TV show with an American chef that lives here in Stavanger. The teams were from Norway, Brazil and the USA. The other players invited were Emmanuel Rego and Ana Paula from Brazil and Iver Horrem and Nila Ann Hakedal for Norway. All 3 chefs were cooking some type of fish. Our chef was named Craig and he was an award winning BBQ chef. He had the Webber Grill all ready to roll as we were going to show 'em how we do it in the states.

We had 20 minutes in which to make our meal. We made grilled salmon, cole slaw and potato salad. The salmon was probably the best salmon I have ever tasted. Craig had taken some small mesquite wood chips and soaked them in beer for awhile. When he put the salmon on the grill he put some of the beer soaked wood chips on the charcoal and covered it up. This smoked the salmon with a mesquite and beer flavor. He then basted the salmon with brown sugar and dijon mustard and topped it off with some chives. I made the cole slaw. I thinly sliced up some red onion and then seeped in red wine vinegar and then sliced up some cabbage. Mixed it all up with a bit of parsley. Jen sauteed the onions and added the already cooked bacon. Her job was to set up the table half way into the show so I took over for her on the potato salad. I mixed it all up with the already cooked potatoes to make a type of potato salad. I have to say I kind of liked this potato salad and cole slaw. Not a big mayonnaise guy and both of these dishes had no mayo in them.

The norwegian team made halibut with some type of sauce on it. For their side dish they had asparagus with a cream sauce on top of it. The Brazilians cooked salt cod which is cod that has been dried and salted first, then cooked in some type of broth to make it soft again. They also had some type of fried potatoes or something like that. For dessert they made a mango puree with a dollop of whip cream on top.

All 3 dishes were good but I have to say hands down the salmon that Craig cooked was by far the best fish. The norwegian halibut was good. The brazilian salt cod was okay. I felt it was a little bit tough which is kind of to be expected of a fish that has been dried and salted then cooked. The norwegian asparagus was probably the best vegetable but then I am majorly partial to asparagus. The brazilian mango puree was the only dessert so it won that catagory but I think it would have won anyways. It was really good and super easy to make. The brazilians ended up winning because part of the competition was about animation and they begin to sing and dance while they cooked. Jen, Craig and I did none of that. Next time, if there is one, Jen and I are going to sing a rendition of Born in the USA or Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Needless to say we all had fun and the food was much much better than we would get at the hotel! The coolest thing is, what Craig cooked could easily be cooked camping out in the middle of nowhere! I kept telling him that, as I thought it was the coolest thing. Next time I go camping I am going to make that dish. With just a small bit of preperation, you can have a gourment meal out in the sticks. Loved it!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Angola

http://www.universalsports.com/beachvolleyball - Check out this website as they are showing games live in the States.

Spent almost a week here in Stavanger and have played one match vs. Angola yesterday. They are nice guys and I hate to say it but I don't think they are one of the top 48 teams in the world. I understand the FIVB's position of having a representative from each continent, but there should be a competitive level that they have to reach before being allowed to play in the World Championships or Olympics. Not sure what that would be, but I would say something like they must have won a match in the main draw or something like that. We won 8 and 11. We switched blocked the entire time. We were up 14-2 in the first game. There is some team that did not get into the tourney because of this rule. Same thing in the Olympics. I just don't think that is right. Play Jake and Rosy tomorrow evening. I wonder how many times we have played them in the last 3+ years. Phil and I were guessing about 50. Either way, it is a lot.

Norway has had epic weather since we have been here. It has actually been hot here and is suppossed to remain hot and sunny for the entirety of the tourney. Everyone packed tons of cold weather clothes and I have not worn a long sleeve shirt or jacket yet. Crazy. So far we have seen a movie, Transformers II. Not bad. Lots of crazy fight scenes and what not. I enjoyed it in quite possibly the loudest movie theater I have ever been in. Played Golf at the Sola golf club in a Pro-Am. That was a lot of fun. Only went with 9 holes as I rarely golf. Shot the best I have ever shot though. Scored a 45 with par being a 36. Bogey golf isn't too bad since I play roughly 4 times a year. Even won the straightest drive contest to win my 70th swatch watch. Phil and I bet on our scores and I have to say I smoked him as he shot a 60. Been reading a bit. Got a great book from a friend of mine called "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters." Only on chapter 4 but a ton of info. on how to raise a daughter as a father. I like to think I do a pretty good job already. It has confirmed to me many things but it has also given me lots of good information to use over the next 8 years with Hannah who is currently 10. Thanks Brent.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Today Show

After OC Phil and I drove up to New York with the AVP's Nick Lewin and Al Lau to do the Today Show on Monday morning. Entertaining 4 hour drive up the Eastern coast. We were originally going to take a flight from D.C. to JFK but that didn't really make sense since D.C was about a 3 hour drive away and then add up all the time in the airport, flying and going from JFK to Manhattan. Would have taken us at least 6 or 7 hours that way.

We got into the hotel in NY around 10:00pm after leaving OC around 6pm. Stayed right across from the NBC studios. Went to dinner with Nick, Al Lau, and Sandy Combs, our trainer and his gal Carmen. Lewin took us to Cippriano's downtown. Solid late night fare. It was good to see Sandy and Carmen too since Sandy moved to NYC back in the beginning of March.

The next morning we got up and met the Today show people at 8:30am. We had breakfast and coffee and then went over to the studio. Did a couple of promo shots and then went on with Hoda and Kathie Lee in the last segment of the 10 o'clock hour. All in all it was a good time.

Went to lunch at Lewin's after that. He BBQ'd up some steaks and had some solid Margaux's for us to taste test. Steaks were great and the wine was awesome. We took off around 1:30 for our JFK flight to Frankfurt. Made it in plenty of time and we were both upgraded.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ocean City

Ocean City went similar to Atlanta unfortunately. This time John and Sean won in 2 games and played really well the whole game. I felt I didn't play very well for the whole match.

It takes awhile to get to Ocean City. The closest airport is in Salisbury which is about 30 minutes away. It isn't very big either. We flew into Baltimore which is about 2 to 2:30 hours away. Long travel day when you get up at 4am to catch a 6am flight. Didn't even get the upgrade from LAX to BWI either.

On Friday we cruised pretty easily. Essentially we played Phil's friends. Our first game was against Rance Jones and Tyler. Beat them 16 and 15 or so. Rance and Phil have known one another for awhile now. It was a friendly game at 9am in the morning. In our second game we played Adam Roberts and Mike DiPierro who are both good friends with Phil. All the guys we played were from the east coast. Phil put on a serving clinic in the first game and at one point we were up 9-1 and 11-2. Ended up winning about 12 and 15.

On Saturday we played Hans and Anthony for about the 8th time this year. We won in 3 games. In the first, Anthony went on a serving tear. He scored about 3 aces but also had another 3 or 4 serves that we passed over or barely got back over. In the second we adjusted and he wasn't able to go on a run with his serve. The third was interesting. We were up 14-10 serving. Served Anthony and he hit a ball about 20 feet long trying to go for the tool on Phil. It wasn't close but the ref called a touch after Anthony started yelling touch. Both Phil and I said no touch and went to shake Hans hand who was going to shake our hand in the good game handshake. Phil and I went ballistic and started yelling at the ref. I asked him what he was doing and he leaned down and said, "I called a touch." I thought it was in quite an arrogant manner as well. I told him loud and clear, "YOU SUCK!!" Then I walked away to the other side of the net. He pulled out his cards and I expected a yellow card. He gave me a red. I was livid. This now made the score 14-12 as they got the undeserved touch call on the sideout and now a red card which is a point for the other team. The next serve was a tough serve at Phil and he passed it in the net. I set it out of the net but he hit it long down the line. The next serve was down Phil's line and he barely got it. I threw up the bump set and he sided out to win the game. I have to say that it was the worst red card I have ever received. The amount of things that are said out on the court that are profane ect... and no red card is given is ridiculous. I tell the ref he sucks and I get a red card at the later stage of the 3rd game. Needless to say, my esteem for that particular ref, who will remain nameless, has been knocked down quite a bit.

In our next game we played Nygaard and Mayer in the deluging rain. It was coming down in buckets but it was really fun. Probably because there were about 200 fans that didn't leave and they started yelling and screaming. We ended up winning easily with scores around 15 in both games. We were sopping wet but had fun.

On Sunday we played Matt and Casey in the semis. The first game we came back from a 2 point deficit towards the end of the game and won 21-19. In the second game they were on fire and we were not. We lost 21-15. In the third we played much better and won 15-9. In the finals I felt like I just played poorly. I do think Sean had one of his best sideout games ever against us. I didn't sideout very well. I felt like I played good defense but my transition was not very good at all. I had 3 digs at the end of the 2nd game and converted on none of them and we lost 21-18. Not good.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Vacation

It's practically been a vacation for the last couple of weeks. First one in years. Did my normal workout stuff but was able to go camping with the family over this past weekend and get stuff done around the house that I never have time to do. Camping was awesome as we went way out into the sticks and explored all over the place. The garden is doing great since I have had time to take care of the weeds and water and what not. Hopefully the wife and daughter will take care of it while I am away. If so, come August I will have tons of veggies and fruit from the fruit trees ready to harvest. Tonight Nate and I are going to a Dodgers game with Nate's uncle and cousin. Phil and I are throwing out the first pitch. It is against the Oakland A's so Phil and I are going to see our trainer Bob Alejo. First time since last December that I will have seen him. I think we will get to watch batting practice and hopefully get down on the field. Kids should love that. Hopefully they can get a few autographs too.

Coming up is the AVP event in Ocean City, Maryland. Leave Thursday for that. Phil says it is a nice beach with deep sand. Should be fun. Follow that up by going to New York for a day to be on the Today Show. Not sure what the plan is there but should be a lot of fun. Leave NYC for Stavanger on Monday and get in on Tuesday for the World Championships. That tourney runs until July 5th. From there we go to the Grand Slam tourney in Gstaad, Switzerland. The mother country for Phil. Get home on the 13th of July only to gear up for Manhattan Beach and follow that with another Europe trip to Marseille, France and then Klagenfurt, Austria. Lot of travel and we shall see how the body but more importantly the mind holds up.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

June 9 Todd & Phil participated in a celebration of 40th Anniversary of the Special Olympics

KEYT Television

Olympians Give Inspiration To Local Athletes
Video
Santa Barbara, CA-- The City of Santa Barbara celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Special Olympics on Tuesday afternoon.

Gold Medalists Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser led a parade of athletes and coaches down to the Courthouse Sunken Gardens. The celebration lunch recognized 275-athletes and highlighted the volunteers and law enforcement agencies who inspire the Special Olympic Athletes. Athlete of the year, Ray "Hoop" Hooper spoke to the crowd after hearing some words of encouragement from the Beijing Gold Medal winners. Hooper has participated in the Special Olympics for 27 years.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Lounging

How nice is it to have a weekend off in the summer? I cannot remember the last time I wasn't playing in a tourney in June, July, or August. And two weeks off! I don't think that has happened during my tenure as a pro. Not going to lie, I like it. I have lots of time to get my workouts in and hang with the kids and family and don't have to stress about getting things done before leaving again. Essentially it is the calm before the storm. After all, we will pretty much be travelling from June 18th to August 3rd with a short stop at home mid-July.

Just last night I went out on a date with my daughter Hannah. Nice dinner and a movie. Trying to show her how a gentlemen will open car, restaurant, and movie doors while on a date as well as pull out her chair if there is a chair to pull out. Never too young to learn the proper etiquette. Planning on camping next week and going to a Dodgers game with Nate before I leave for Europe. Looking forward to enjoying some time with the kids with no school or strings pulling us away.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Atlanta

Took a very dissapointing 2nd place finish in Atlanta losing to Hyden and Scott. Atlanta seems to be our biggest trouble spot on tour. In 4 years I think we have finished 5th, 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd.

We started off slowly vs. ALB and Jewell after receiving a bye in the first round of the 24 team tourney. In the first game I was pretty bad and ALB was serving and digging well. We lost 21-18. In the second game I cleaned it up and we waxed them 21-9. In the third game we were pretty much a point ahead most of the way. With us up 10-9, ALB dug me and hit a deep angle shot from the right side. I did a stop sign dig about head level right to Phil and put it away to go to 11-9 us. They were pretty deflated at that point and we went on to win 15-11.

In the next round we played Prosser and Pedro. We won in two games but both games were neck and neck the whole way. They had a lead and then we would take the lead. Prosser and Pedro have been having mostly solid finishes ranging in the 7th to 9th area. If they continue to play together I expect they will take a 5th or two and maybe even break into the top 4 too. I think the scores were 18 and 18.

We played Brad and Nick in the Saturday night match. In the first game we pretty much handled them easily. In the second game we were up by 4 or 5 points but let them back into the game. They had game point at 20-19 but we sided out and won 23-21. In the semis we played Wong and Olson. Really fun game to play with tons of defense. Both Matt and I were scooping everything. Great rallies throughout the match and both of us were covered in sand. We both definetely upped our dig average in that match. We won 21-18 and 21-19.

In the finals we played Sean and John. In the first I was terrible. Just didn't have it for whatever reason. We lost 21-14. In the second game I came out flat again and we were down 3 points or so. Somehow we caught them at 17 all and won the game 21-19 I believe. Probably should not have won the game as we were pretty bad. I was struggling to sideout and our serving was terrible. I would guess that Phil missed 50% of his serves in the first two games and I missed an uncharacteristic 5 serves. In the third we were up by several points throughout the game. We were up 14-11 and they sided out. I hit a shot down the line out by a 1/2 inch to make it 14-13. Then Sean soft blocked me and John dug it to Sean. I dug Sean back and shot it deep angle. John made a crazy dig and Sean barely got it up to keep it alive. They sent a free ball to Phil on the right side. Good pass and set and he hammered it straight down the line about 1/2 inch out to tie it up at 14 all. It was back and forth from there and they ended up winning 19-17 I think. We should have lost in two but once it got to three we should have won. Essentially choked it up is the way I see it. Still bitter about that loss and will be for awhile. Congrats to Sean and John though. Great 3rd birthday for John's little girl and Sean is one of the most deserving guys on tour and I can't begrudge them the win.