Brasilia, Brazil is different from what you would expect of Brazil. I would say it is the most similar city that I have been to in Brazil, to a city in the USA. Fairly clean and well maintained. City is only 50 years old so everything is relatively new.
On the playing front we won so bonus. We had a tough road. We played a Venezuelan team, 2 American teams, Jake/Rosy and Matt/Nick, German World Champs (Brink/Reckermann) and 4 different Brazilian teams out of the 5 that were in the main draw. We lost to the new Brasilian team of Thiago and Pedro Cunha. Good team. They will be in the qualifier for awhile but I could see them making it into the main draw eventually. We played and beat Pedro Salgado and Ricardo, Benjamin/Bruno and in the finals, Allison/Emmanuel.
The story in the finals was simply we played well and they did not. Certainly was not their A game. Did seem as though Allison was having trouble consistently setting Emmanuel. Can't blame it on the wind though. There was a light breeze but it was mostly stopped by the wrap they put around the whole stadium. Nice for us to take the crowd out of the game quickly. The score was 7-2 in the first and 12-6 in the second and not much was heard from the pro-brasilian crowd. I expect that Allison and Emmanuel will be back. They are a good team and will keep getting better as the season progresses.
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12 comments:
Todd,
Earlier this evening I caught the rebroadcast of the Brazil final on Universal Sports. I do agree that you guys were in a grove. The point I loved the most, was point #9 in the second game. You ran back to bump pass the ball back to the net, with your back almost completely to the net, and Phil leaped and pounded straight down. In my mind I was screaming out loud! Outstanding defense.
Arsenal 12
Todd,
You and Phil played great, congratulations! As a volleyball ref, I love watching the play and the calling of the match by the refs. I noticed Phil was called for a double hit at least twice. I found this odd because Phil has a reputation of having great hands and FIVB refs have a reputation of calling a "loose" match. On the slow motion replays the sets looked very clean and I didn't see a double. You and Phil didn't argue the calls, but I am wondering if you agreed. Is the officiating better on the FIVB or AVP tour?
Arsenal- Thanks it was fun.
Wayne- I would actually say the setting is now tighter on the FIVB than the AVP. They are really pushing hard to call lifts on the FIVB tour. There are several players that hold the ball a long time so they are pushing to quicken up the hands.
Todd
It is great to see such a positive start for you and Phil. Have teams tried changing their serve receive to take Phil out of the block and try and sneek hits buy you (hits on two, back sets, shorter sets)?, or has it been pass set hit, repeat...
Great show from Santa Barbara today on ESPN2. If Todd is like Bill Belichcik of the Patriots he will not disclose the extent of the injury to his left hand...looking forward to Todd's comments on a great win....Scott from Cape Cod
You guys played great and looked in midseason form. I must say it seems to me this new ball is harder to handsest than the avp and old fivb ball.
Good luck in Shanghai!
I'm commenting on this after watching the Santa Barbara tournament this past weekend and all I have to say is wow. In the final you and Phil were so dominant and played absolutely amazing. Wish I could have left college here in Austin,TX to watch in person. The beach volleyball seen needs some help out here. Congratulations on winning in Brazil also. I cannot wait to watch your future matches!
Congratulations on winning again. Must be getting old! Loved seeing you pull out the sky ball at the end, although I would have hated if that led to a better comeback than the one you and Phil had over Sean & John last year(or was it the year before?). Is it just me or are you hitting harder this year? Must be me. Also loved the postgame interview with Geeter. Congratulations on tying Hov and good luck overseas.
Oh forgot to mention that Rosie's Raiders(or one of them) commented on their Facebook page that they hate you and Phil...so you're doing something right!!!
Hi Todd,
I managed to get to SB to watch the tourney - what a treat! The level of play by everyone is amazing - but it seems like you guys managed to notch up your play a level or two since last year, and nobody knows what the heck to do against you. It's awesome to see.
I'd love to hear what you'd attribute the continued improvement to - optimizing training regimen, new strategies vs top teams (e.g. Hyden/Scott, Rosie/Gibb) , or just that you've had more more time to gel together.
One thing I noticed was your transition defense was even more amazing than normal - your ball placement off digs and Phil's sets off those digs (when he didn't hit on 2) were awesome. It seemed like you guys converted every one of the digs you controlled into points. Combine that transition defense with all of Phil's blocks and no wonder you're such a buzz saw.
Keep up the great work, and I'm looking forward to following you in Shanghai.
Drew
Hi Todd,
I'm taking an interesting class at college called Sports Aesthetics for which I have to do an aesthetic analysis of an elite athlete from the Olympics 2008 or '10.
That's how I came across your blog. It's awesome to see that you're doing so well!
I just thought I'd let you know I immediately thought of you for my school assignment and we all continue to be proud of your success!
Katie Schreiber :)
Todd-
At Santa Barbara were you wearing one of those hologram things on your wrist that "improves energy flow" in the body? Let me know the brand and I will buy one. GO TEAM RED BULL!!!! Scott from Cape Cod
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