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Nado Natterings |
A weekly column by David Axelson |
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Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive
Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation
20 August 2008 Issue No. 31
Welcome to Nado Natterings,
The Olympic Edition. Very late Sunday night and on to early Monday morning, the
U.S. Men’s Water Polo Team accomplished the unexpected. They qualified
for the medal round, or the Olympic version of the Final Four to use a more
familiar term, with considerable assistance from Coronado’s own Layne
Beaubien and Jesse Smith.
To set the stage, the U.S. was
playing Germany in the final preliminary round game and as can only happen in
the Olympics, if the U.S. won, they advanced to the medal round. If they lost
to Germany, they were out of the 2008 Olympics. If you think about that long
enough, the logic (or lack thereof) could drive you crazy.
The U.S. held a 5-2 lead
before the Germans mounted a comeback to tie the game 5-5. Beaubien scored U.S. goal No. 6 to give the Americans a lead they would never relinquish. Smith contributed
two assists (a pass leading directly to a goal) and two field blocks, while
playing outstanding two-meter defense. Both Smith and Beaubien were awarded
with tight close-ups by the broadcast cameras during the course of the game.
What would an Olympic event be
without a little controversy from the game officials, this time in favor of the
U.S.? With 15 seconds remaining in the game, Germany found the back of the
net, put the player making the shot was ruled to be too close to the goal and
the score was disallowed. Smith helped run out the final seconds at the game’s
conclusion and the U.S. emerged victorious 8-7.
Generally regarded as an
also-ran in the medal race, the U.S. entered the Olympics ranked No. 9 in the
World. Now they will do no worse than fourth. They play their semi-final game
Friday against the winner of the Spain vs. Serbia contest to be played earlier
in the week.
The game that propelled the U.S. team into the Final Four was a 7-5 victory over Croatia, widely considered to be the No. 1 team
in the world. As has been the case for the past couple of weeks, we have access
to USA Water Polo Head Coach Terry Schroeder’s journal that he is
keeping. The journal is forwarded by USA Water Polo Publicist Wayne G. Bean.
Schroeder discusses the Americans’ victory over Croatia. Bean sent the last
edition from Beijing.
“Today was huge,” Schroeder
said. “We beat a team that was as good as anyone in the tournament. Just four
days ago, Croatia dominated Serbia, beating them 11-8 after leading 10-4 at one
point in the game. Today we out-played Croatia in almost all aspects of the
game. We had them out of balance and frustrated.
Their offense stalled and they
couldn’t do much at all in their front-court offense. We beat them 7-5 and had
a few good opportunities at the end to beat them by even more. They scored four
of their goals on 6-on-5 (a man advantage earned due to a U.S. major penalty or exclusion) chances and had only one goal out of their center. Our
defense is really playing well. In the last two games against Serbia and Croatia, we have given up a total of nine goals. That is against two of the strongest
teams in the world.
Merrill Moses has been
playing great in goal and our defense is moving well around him. Today all
systems came together. Now the trick is to keep it rolling and to build on this
game.”
Schroeder then looked ahead to
the game with Germany, outlined above. He also added some insight into the
unique Olympic method of determining which teams advance to the finals.
“We will play Germany on Monday and a win guarantees us a Top Six slot. After we beat Germany, we will have eight points in pool play. Serbia and Croatia will more than likely
have eight points also (Serbia actually lost later to Italy 13-12 and thus earned only six points, but still advanced). In case of a three-way
tie, the tie is settled by goal differential. We had a huge victory over
Croatia, but we have to beat Germany. Hey, maybe we just need another game to
mature. We are getting better as the tournament goes on, so look out.
I am feeling a bit spent this
evening. It has been a fantastic day, full of success. I told the guys to enjoy
the moment. Enjoy the day and tomorrow we get back to work. The pinnacle of our
journey still lies ahead and we need to go forward and build on this game. I
like what I am seeing in and out of the pool. This is a team, a team that has
grown to appreciate and respect each other and now they are willing to lay it
all on the line for each other. What I like the most is that we can still get better.”
Bean, the U.S. publicist,
arrived in Beijing the morning of the victory over Germany, at 4:30 am and a
12-hour flight. “So far I am really impressed with everything,” Bean said. “The
airport is unbelievable, everything is so clean and the people are very
friendly.”
The Olympic scores to date for
the U.S. if you (like me) are having trouble following the results are: USA 8,
China 4; USA 12, Italy 11; Serbia 4, USA 2; USA 7, Croatia 5 and USA 8, Germany
7.
USA Men’s
Basketball Playing the Game the Way It Should Be Played
Although not a big fan of the
Duke University men’s basketball program, the coaching job that USA Men’s
Basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski has turned in during the Olympics
has been fantastic. You’ve never met an ego until you have been around top-line
NBA players and Coach K has the U.S. team, which is full of superstars, playing
as a cohesive unit.
Monday morning the USA opened
their game against Germany with a 20-3 run, on their way to a 106-57 domination
of a team that includes former NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman
of the L.A. Clippers. Last week we talked about the concept of ‘extended
garbage time’ in relation to the San Diego Chargers’ exhibition game with the
Dallas Cowboys. The USA vs. Germany game fit that description after the first
five minutes of play.
The Americans have no drop off
in talent among the first 10 players on the roster. In fact the team’s first
player off the bench, Dwyane Wade has been the star of stars during the
preliminary round for the U.S. Backup center Chris Bosh has outplayed
the starter Dwight Howard and the backup guard combo of Deron
Williams and Chris Paul has outplayed starter Jason Kidd. Mix
in LeBron James, Carmello Anthony and Kobe Bryant all playing defense
like they mean it, while passing the ball unselfishly, and that’s a devastating
combination.
At press time, the U.S. had
just waltzed through their preliminary round play and was headed to the
quarter-finals, where they will play Australia. To win the gold medal, they
will have to defeat the Aussies, probably Argentina and then Spain. Here’s
hoping the passing, defense and unselfish play through the Olympics.
Olympic
Sensory Overload
The cure for a poor recent
sleep schedule would be for the Olympics to end soon. Thankfully they do. My
viewing has been expanded in breadth and simultaneously shortened in length by
taping most of Olympic broadcast schedule and speeding through the sports that
I don’t care to watch.
Sports I won’t miss include
volleyball, men’s or women’s, beach or indoor; men’s and women’s basketball,
badminton and table tennis for a little change of pace and also women’s
softball. Also anything related to Michael Phelps was on the schedule
for the first week.
As good as the Men’s
Basketball Team has been, the Women’s round ball contingent may be even
stronger relative to their competition. The USA Softball Team is stronger yet,
outscoring opponents 44-1 thus far. One of my favorite plays of the Olympics
thus far has been USA Softball’s Crystal Bustos hitting a low-and-away
fastball and converting it into a screaming line drive over the centerfield
fence for a homer.
Phelps is in a world and
category unto himself in the Olympics. Stories have circulated that he has
worked out for 365 consecutive days and that his swimming routine often
includes 11 miles in the pool in a single day. With that level of dedication it
is nice to see Phelps have success.
One of the funnier television
moments was observing a member of South Korea’s Women’s Table Tennis Team play
a match, as described by Korean television announcers.
Mix in some gymnastics and you
have the makings for several full evenings. I guess the stack of newspapers
accumulating in the living room will have to wait to be read.
Chargers
Pre-Season Game Laughable
Between and among the Olympic
broadcast coverage, the Chargers popped up on my television, albeit briefly. I
have seen better athletic intensity in Coronado Middle School Boys basketball
practices. The number of Charger starters participating in the game would
barely extend to your second hand if you were counting along at home.
Last week NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell announced that the exhibition season would likely be shortened to
two games, with the other two games exhibition games magically converted into
regular season schedule contests. The reason? Pre-season games aren’t
representative of the quality of the league’s product. I’m glad someone
noticed, but the real reason is money. The owners won’t give up the gate
revenue from the two sellouts and something meaningful has to be done to quell
restless season ticket holders who know they are being ripped off.
As has been noted here in the
past, until the All-Pro running back LaDanian Tomlinson appears on the field
for the Charger and not on the sidelines in a sweat suit, you (and I) are
wasting your (our) time and money watching on exhibition games.
Athletic
Physical Update
More than 40 CHS and CMS
student-athletes took Dr. Gretchen Deel up on her offer for the make-up
physical exam last Friday, pushing the total number of participants to nearly
300. The proceeds from the make-up physicals also will be directed to the
purchase of supplies for the CHS athletic training room. A total of $4,200 was
raised by Dr. Deel and the eight other doctors and several volunteers who
worked on the project.
CHS Boys
Basketball Pizza Fundraiser
A reminder that Village
Pizza in their new Ferry Landing location is helping the CHS Boys
Basketball Booster Club with a fundraising special event. Saturday, August
23rd from 5-8 pm, Village Pizza will donate 15 per cent of your food
tab to the basketball program.
Participants should download the required flyer from IslanderSportsFoundation.com, or pick up a copy of the flyer from a CHS basketball player at the door the night of the event. Great pizza and a great cause combine to assist the Islander Boys Basketball program.