Hello from beautiful Myslowice Poland. It actually is really nice here. In truth, it wasn't what I expected. It is essentially forest, rivers, lakes all around. Very pretty and scenic. Felt like they built a volleyball court in the middle of the forest.
The weather was calling for major rain everyday but somehow we pretty much escaped it. On Wednesday, the qualifier day, there was some light rain midday. Phil and I did our plyo workout in the morning and just beat the rain. Thursday through Saturday were nice. High clouds with some sun but no rain. Today it was nice in the morning and then for the awarding ceremonies it rained fairly lightly but then stopped after 15 minutes or so. Pretty good considering that the weather man was calling for 60%- 90% rain on almost every day.
The tourney went well for us as we won and I am actually blogging the same day as we won, not two weeks after the fact. Miracle in and of itself! On Thursday we won two games against a junior polish team that got a wild card and Casey and Brad. Always hate to play fellow Americans on this tour. It seemed like this tourney all the Americans and Brasilians were playing one another. Emanuel and Alison lost first round and fought all the way back to take 4th place. In their wake they left a lot of good teams. Jake and Rosy lost to Matt and Nick to take a 17th. Matt and Nick then lost to Emanuel and Alison who had just beaten Pedro and Harley. We beat Benjamin and Bruno in our first game Friday and then Alison and Emanuel beat them too. Just seemed like the brackets all aligned to where we would play one another.
In the semis of the winners we lost to Spain. They pretty much served us off the court. They sided out well and bombed their jumpers and it worked as we lost in 3 games. On Saturday we played the best Polish team and had a battle. We prevailed in 2 tight ones much to the dissapointment of the crowd. Then we beat Jonas and Julius from Germany in 3 games of which none were close.
Finally, today we got revenge on Spain and beat them in the finals pretty good. They didn't serve as well as the previous time we played them and Phil served really good. Nice to get on that long flight tomorrow with a win under our belts.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Rome
What an amazing city Rome is. I have spent a day there before when we played in Roseto back in 2008. Visited the Colisium but that was about all we had time to do. This time we spent a week there and although we were playing and not site seeing, we still were able to catch a lot of the cool stuff. Also, got to tour the American Embassy which was pretty neat.
The tourney itself went well for us. We lost our first match in pool play to Gibb/Rosy but then won all our matches from there on out. Had some tough ones vs. Germany and Brasil on Saturday but Sunday we played very well. Beat the Spaniards in the semis and were in control the whole time. Then beat Alison and Emanuel in the finals. First game was tight. We were in control but then I gave up 3 of 4 points in a row to go down two points. We came back and won that game and then Phil put a blocking clinic on Alison in the second game. Not sure how many but it was similar to the third game in Beijing vs. Fabio.
Monday we stayed and saw the Embassy as well as many of the sites to see in Rome. Marco Illustre, an italian coach for Austria who lives in Rome showed us around to some of the sites. It was very cool and I look forward to going back next year for the World Championships.
The tourney itself went well for us. We lost our first match in pool play to Gibb/Rosy but then won all our matches from there on out. Had some tough ones vs. Germany and Brasil on Saturday but Sunday we played very well. Beat the Spaniards in the semis and were in control the whole time. Then beat Alison and Emanuel in the finals. First game was tight. We were in control but then I gave up 3 of 4 points in a row to go down two points. We came back and won that game and then Phil put a blocking clinic on Alison in the second game. Not sure how many but it was similar to the third game in Beijing vs. Fabio.
Monday we stayed and saw the Embassy as well as many of the sites to see in Rome. Marco Illustre, an italian coach for Austria who lives in Rome showed us around to some of the sites. It was very cool and I look forward to going back next year for the World Championships.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Santa Barbara & China
Santa Barbara was the best tourney we have played to date and in front of the home crowd. Very nice. Phil mentioned that the most anyone scored off us in a single game was 17 points. That was Jake and Rosy. Little bit windy on the weekend but Sunday was a pretty nice day. Sunny the whole day and the AVP didn't cancel the finals.
I had lots of family and friends down at the event watching which makes it all the sweeter. Wifey and kids were there and Nate was hamming it up for the ESPN broadcast. Have not seen but hope to soon.
China was pretty good for the first three days and then the semis and finals were not so good for us. Won two matches on both Wednesday and Thursday and then Phil and I went into the city to hangout with my brother. Spent the night at a flat he was staying at on thursday night and then went shopping in Shanghai and playing tourist. We didn't play at all on Friday so we had a day to kill. Bought a bunch of stuff for the wife and kids. Then on Saturday we struggled against Harley/Pedro. They pretty much smoked us. Had a good game vs. Alison and Emanuel but lost 15-13 in the third.
I had lots of family and friends down at the event watching which makes it all the sweeter. Wifey and kids were there and Nate was hamming it up for the ESPN broadcast. Have not seen but hope to soon.
China was pretty good for the first three days and then the semis and finals were not so good for us. Won two matches on both Wednesday and Thursday and then Phil and I went into the city to hangout with my brother. Spent the night at a flat he was staying at on thursday night and then went shopping in Shanghai and playing tourist. We didn't play at all on Friday so we had a day to kill. Bought a bunch of stuff for the wife and kids. Then on Saturday we struggled against Harley/Pedro. They pretty much smoked us. Had a good game vs. Alison and Emanuel but lost 15-13 in the third.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Brasilia 2010
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.
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.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Ft. Lauderdale AVP
Hello everyone. Have not blogged in ages and frankly it has been kind of nice. Just hanging with kids and the wifey enjoying life at home without all the travel. But, since the season has started and I am on the road trying to fill up the time, I figure I should get back on it. This year I don't think I will go as in depth as I have in years pass. Just give you any interesting tidbits about the tourney and maybe a game or two.
In Ft. Lauderdale Phil and I played very well in pretty windy conditions. We mostly breezed through the first 4 rounds and into Sunday. On Sunday we played John and Sean in a close good match. Back and forth with everyone siding out pretty good for the most part. In the end we won in two.
In the finals I have to clear something up that I have heard. I have heard it said that the players didn't want to play because they were afraid of getting injured. All the players were fine with playing. Not one of us ever said we would not play or that we should not play. We all said we would do whatever the AVP wanted us to do. After a couple minutes of back and forth, Matt Gage, the tournament director, said he thought we should not play. I was shocked. I have never heard Matt Gage say he thinks we shouldn't play. Lightning can practically be hitting the courts and he has always said, "keep playing, it is just a little lightning!" Then a minute or so later the management team at the AVP said, "you guys aren't playing." That was it. The players did agree it would be ugly volleyball for TV in that kind of rain and that the balls would be awfully heavy and tough on the shoulders. But everyone would have played. Ended up a tie for first and a split of the Prize Money.
In Ft. Lauderdale Phil and I played very well in pretty windy conditions. We mostly breezed through the first 4 rounds and into Sunday. On Sunday we played John and Sean in a close good match. Back and forth with everyone siding out pretty good for the most part. In the end we won in two.
In the finals I have to clear something up that I have heard. I have heard it said that the players didn't want to play because they were afraid of getting injured. All the players were fine with playing. Not one of us ever said we would not play or that we should not play. We all said we would do whatever the AVP wanted us to do. After a couple minutes of back and forth, Matt Gage, the tournament director, said he thought we should not play. I was shocked. I have never heard Matt Gage say he thinks we shouldn't play. Lightning can practically be hitting the courts and he has always said, "keep playing, it is just a little lightning!" Then a minute or so later the management team at the AVP said, "you guys aren't playing." That was it. The players did agree it would be ugly volleyball for TV in that kind of rain and that the balls would be awfully heavy and tough on the shoulders. But everyone would have played. Ended up a tie for first and a split of the Prize Money.
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