I have to get up in about 6 hours (445am) so this is going to be short. We took the bronze here in Roseto, Italy. It was a strange tourney as we did not play at all on Saturday.
We flew from Charleston last Sunday going to DC and then continuing into Rome. We got to Rome Monday morning and spent the day checking out the Colisium and some other ancient spots. Amazing and somewhere I would love to come back and spend some time seeing everything. Truly amazing what they were able to do back then.
The next morning we took the shuttle to Roseto which is almost 3 hours from Rome. Basically across the country. We did our usual workout stuff on Tuesday and Wend. and then started play on Thursday. In our first match we were pitted against the under 21 World Champions who are from Italy and received a Wild Card into the event. They are pretty good but have very little world tour experience. We won 14 and 17 or so. In our second match we played Heyer and Heuscher from Swissland. They had beat Mark and Stein in the first round and we exacted revenge for our compatriots winning 16 and 17.
On Friday we played the Russians and were aced around 6 or 7 times by the Bazooka but still managed to win 14 and 19. The guy can absolutely bring the gas as no one I have ever seen. He has the perfect armswing. I thought we were done for the day but it turns out we had to play the winners bracket semis. We played the very good Dutch team of Schuil and Nummedor. We played well and won 18 and 16. So it turns out that we have no game on Saturday. There are only losers bracket games. Phil and I set up a practice session with the Aussies to try and break a sweat and stay in the groove. It did not work.
Today we played two brasilian teams and lost the first and won the second. We lost to Harley and Pedro in 3 tight games. We played pretty poorly in my opinion with the exception of at the service line. Both Phil and I were ripping our jumpserves and that is pretty much what won game 1 for us and kept us close in game 2. I think I had 3 aces in a row in game 3 but we could not sustain the momentum. I was siding out poorly and digging not so good and Phil had 1 block in total for that match. We were off and they were fired up and played well. Went on to win the tourney at any rate.
In the bronze medal match we played Ricardo and Emannuel in a very uninspired match by both teams. Such a tough match to play. We won in 2 but both games were battles. Something like 21 and 24. Should have gone 3 games as we were down 24 to 23 and Phil set a ball that was pretty bad. The ref did not call it and I sided out. The brasilians were furious and rightfully so. The next two balls Phil got 2 of his 3 stuffs for the game but they were very timely and I would have to say the no call probably helped. All in all a nice week in Italy.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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7 comments:
Congrats;
if you think about it, one game (or really two or three points) and you would've been 12-1 and carrying the gold instead of the Brazilians who ended 12-4.
Not to mention it looks like you are officially 4th seed in the Olympics after this weekend (to be improved upon I'm sure).
SAFE TRAVELS
Congrats on the Bronze. I too wondered about the no play on Sat. and how it would affect you. You and Phil looked like you were really cruising and in control up to that point.
Hope to see you in Louisville! (more on that later... we have some catching up to do!)
Uncle J.
Todd,
I watched your semifinal match on the FIVB's website and I thought that serving was definitely your strong suit. The side out game was a little rough. I watched the first game of the bronze medal match. Interesting that you've played against Rego on the AVP and FIVB for 10 years. Doesn't it seem that no matter who he plays with, he rises the level of the team's play?
Congrats in the bronze.
Kip
Come on Todd...you must have accidently deleted the part in your blog where you talk about the beautiful Italian babes. I saw the pic on the FIVB site of the cheerleaders....OMG!!! WOW! I caught the last game of the South Carolina tourney on Comcast New England Saturday. Good to see you guys in action again. I need to buy a damn Tivo someday but this month I have my wifes birthday, our anniversary and Mothers Day. I took her to a store in Natick Mass where Doug Flutie is from and ended up spending over $400 on a ring she wanted. Now I am broke. I hate the month of May. I think you have mentioned in the past that the Brazilian guys are really cool and hard to hate but it sounds like they get (as Pete Caroll used to say when he coached the Patriots) "pumped and jacked" when they see the Red White and Blue. Congrats on the medals and keep it rolling...get youself a nice bottle of wine and get some R&R...Scott from Cape Cod
Todd,
As Kirk Gibson used to say when he played for the Dodgers, "What A Team!" It is obvious that the work Phil and yourself put in during the off-season is paying off. Not to mention what you in between tournaments.
I am liking what all of our American teams are doing on the FIVB tour. The chances of us taking two gold's in Beijing looks real good to me
Later,
Arsenal 12
Todd,
I just returned to Florida from Rome, Italy and was unable to go over to watch you guys play. It must be very difficult to play with Jet Lag; i just got back and tried to play and was exhausted; however, i am far from being a conditioned pro athlete like you. Are the players on the FIVB better than the AVP? I sometimes wonder how the US teams would do if one of the FIVB tournaments were played here in the US. Good luck and bring home the GOLD..... I truly believe you guys will win it..... P.S. it must be difficult to be away from your family; i will pray for God's protection over you and your family while you are away trying to bring home the Gold :).
Thanks,
Big Boy
Todd,
Great finish in Italy! Are the set calls more lenient on the FIVB tour?
- Steve
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