Countdown Beijing-50 days

6/20/08


Yesterday we experienced another big breakthrough on our journey towards the Olympics. Our first big breakthrough was our win last month against Croatia (the # 1 ranked team in the world). That win helped us to be chosen the Team of the Month by the USA Olympic Committee.

Currently, we are in Europe competing in the World League Finals. We played Spain yesterday in bracket play. We beat them 11 – 4 and this win put us in the final four of the tournament. It has been a long time (years ) since our Men’s team has been in the final four of any international tournament. Today we will face Montenegro in our final game of pool play. This game will determine the seeding for the semifinals. It looks like Australia and Serbia will advance from the other bracket. So we will play either Serbia or Australia in the semis. I am proud of the guys. They dominated play yesterday with a very strong defensive effort. Now we will see what we are really made of as we get a shot at Montenegro and possibly Serbia.

I am excited that we are on the right path. I can see good things happening. You can see the team beginning to believe more and more. It is an exciting time to be coaching Team USA. I am feeling more and more confident that more good things are going to happen in the next 50 days. We keep growing and getting better. We are closing the gap that exists between us and best teams in the world.

See you at the pool!

Coach