Countdown Beijing - Settling into the Village

We are beginning to get into a routine in the Village. It has actually been great being over here so early. We are learning the ropes on how everything works.

Here are a few of the things that we have learned so far - transportation – if you are one minute late the bus will leave without you. The driver waits until the clock in his bus strikes the designated time and then he drives off. No stopping him. It has definitely been better to learn this now rather than later.

Cafeteria –so far the Mediterranean food has been the best. There are different sections set up in the cafeteria with different types of food. There are Asian, Mediterranean, and International stations. There is also a McDonalds set up in the Village dining hall. The oatmeal is excellent in the mornings. There is lots of good pasta also. Probably the most important thing that I have learned about the cafeteria is that the Dove Bars go fast and they only have them at a few of the dessert stations. We figured that one out real fast.

The Village is set up like a city. It has been landscaped beautifully. I really don’t recognize it from when I came over in March. It is really nice. However, it is a long walk to almost everywhere. We are all getting some good exercise just going back and forth to the dining hall and transportation and our apartment.

BNU (Beijing Normal University) is where the USOC has set up our high performance training center. We are training there most of the time. It is about a 15 minute ride from the Village to BNU. We have been training there in the morning and then getting lunch there before we head back to the village. The food at BNU is awesome. It is certainly much easier to feed a hundred athletes then it is to feed thousands. They say the Olympic Village will serve 30,000 meals a day. It has been a nice break to have a quiet meal at BNU once or twice a day. The longer we are here I am sure that the guys will appreciate the break from the village food more and more.

We trained last night in our competition pool. It was the first time that the guys have seen the pool (other then pictures) so they were very excited and most of them had their cameras out. I focused in on the podium at the scoreboard end of the pool. It was already set up so I took the attached picture of it and will post this on each of the guy’s rooms tomorrow. I am hoping that this will help them visualize standing on the podium in a few weeks.

We had a short team meeting last night and I reminded the guys about staying calm and yet confident and not getting caught up in all the excitement. I also left them with these words from a Joni Mitchell song “you don’t know what you have till it’s gone” and told them to enjoy the moments here. One week until opening ceremonies!

See you at the pool!

Coach

Countdown Beijing - En Route

We woke up this morning to some interesting news. The Beijing Organizing committee (BOCOG) sent out a statement that said that no Olympians will be allowed to stay at Beijing Normal University (BNU). It was a little unnerving to wake up to this news especially since we were to get on our plane to Beijing in a few hours and BNU is where we were set to stay for the first week of the trip before we can move into the Olympic Village. We are also supposed to be training at BNU prior to the beginning of the Games.

This whole thing was a bit stressful to say the least. Here were our options: 1. Don’t get on the flight and stay home for another week for training. 2. Get on the plane and hope that we can get into the Olympic Village right away. April Heinricks (our main contact with the USOC) called from Beijing and assured me that they would get us into the Village early and work hard with us to make sure we had a place to train. We chose to get on the bus and head for the airport.

From this point on the day has become better and better. We arrived at the airport and found out that Kinetics (a company that I was introduced to in New York on our way back from Europe in June) had launched an advertising campaign to help “make us famous”. There we were on a big digital billboard right next to Tiger Woods in the airport. It was pretty cool to see. This particular one was a picture of Jesse Smith up high in the water shooting a ball. The caption read “The most intense sport in the Olympics and you only see half of it. Watch the USA Men’s Water Polo team in Beijing”. The guys all gathered around the billboard and we took some pictures. We were then ushered over to the red carpet room at United and treated as if we were some special.

As we boarded the plane a few of the guys met the captain. It turned out his daughter is a water polo player. One conversation led to another and the captain invited our whole team to sit up in business class for the trip. Obviously, this made the team very happy. There is nothing like a big sleeper seat for a 12 hour flight. Usually, we are packed in coach and by the time you get off the flight you feel like you have been beat up. Beijing here we come!

2:30 pm - we arrived safely in Beijing – one more step closer to blast off.

See you at the pool!
Coach

Olympic Television Coverage Schedule

USA Water Polo Television Coverage at the 2008 Olympic Games
(subject to change)
Live Broadband Coverage on NBC Olympics.com everyday
All Times are Eastern
Sunday August 10
Men’s Water Polo – USA vs. China – 10am to 6pm on NBC and NBC HD
Tuesday August 12
Men’s Water Polo – USA vs. Italy – 10:00am to 1:00pm on NBC and NBC HD
Saturday August 16
Men’s Water Polo – USA vs. Croatia – 10:00am to 6:00pm on NBC and NBC HD
Monday August 18
Men’s Water Polo – USA vs. Germany (Live) – 2:00am to noon on USA and USA HD
Wednesday August 20
Men’s Water Polo TBA – 2:00am to noon on USA and USA HD
Friday August 22
Men’s Water Polo Semifinal (Live) – 2:00am to noon on USA and USA HD
Sunday August 24
Men’s Water Polo Gold Medal Match – noon to 4:00pm on NBC and NBC HD
Men’s Water Polo Bronze Medal Match – 5:00am to 11:00am on USA and USA HD

Countdown Beijing - The Launching Pad

Yesterday we arrived in San Jose and went through processing with the Olympic Committee. As we were heading to outfitting we ran into the USA Basketball team. Kobe Bryant actually came up to us and said hello and wished us good luck. It was pretty cool for the guys. All the USA teams will come through San Jose for their processing on their way to Beijing.

Outfitting is quite a scene. The first thing that you do is to get a shopping cart and then give you a clipboard that has all of your sizes on it. Then you go station to station and pick up your goods. You try on everything to make sure you are getting the correct size. Our guys are not shy so before you know it they are all prancing around in their underwear going station to station and picking up their gear. I have some great pictures that I will share at a later time. The guys get a ton of stuff – really too much to use while you are at the games. Ralph Lauren and Nike were the big sponsors and then we get some gear from Speedo too. It was like Christmas!

The reality of going back to the Olympic Games has definitely set in. It has been 16 years since I participated in the Games. I am very excited and all of the guys are feeling the excitement too. Ryan Bailey one of our three time Olympians told me that when he woke up yesterday he felt some butterflies for the first time. We are close. It is a little like we are sitting on the launching pad and getting ready for take off. The countdown is very apparent now. “Liftoff” is less then two weeks away.

One of the biggest keys now is keeping everyone calm and confident at the same time. We don’t want to be wasting a great deal of energy on nerves at this stage. We need to keep our cool so that we can be totally ready when we hit the pool for our first game against China on August 10th. We trained once yesterday and will be in the water twice today before we leave tomorrow.

See you at the pool!

Coach

Countdown Beijing - Time to go!

Wow – unbelievable! I can’t believe that we get on a flight today and head out of town for one month. Looking behind us it is amazing to think about how fast 7 months of full time training have gone. It has been an incredible journey so far. I can also look at it from another perspective and say that in less than one month (August 24th) we will be playing for a gold medal.

Audley Harrison came and talked with our team this past week. He was awesome. Audley is a local resident who won a gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games in the Super heavyweight division in boxing. He was representing Great Briton at the time. He talked to the guys about visualizing winning. He said that when he arrived in Sydney he had already won the gold medal hundreds of time in his mind so he was totally prepared for the experience. He had us all close our eyes and than he played our national anthem as he talked to us about what it felt like to stand up on the victory podium. It was a great visualization and I believe the team really benefited from it.

I feel that same sense of anticipation I had a few weeks before the Olympic Games in Los Angeles (my first as a player). Now as I prepare for my first as an Olympic coach I can honestly say that I am ready. There is one person who I really wish were around to reassure me and tell me that everything is going to be alright. That is my Dad. He would always tell me that no matter what happened at the Olympics he was proud of me and that he would love me just as much when I returned. Those words were always so calming to me.

Dad passed away over two years ago and I have certainly gone through phases where I missed him more than other times. This week has been one of the worst. I am sure it is because I know how much my dad would have loved to see this all happening. He was always my biggest fan and kind of a “rock of strength” in my life. I know he is watching me from up in heaven but I sure do miss picking up the phone and just hearing his reassuring voice telling me that he is proud of me. He taught me so much and I am thankful for all of his love and support through the years. They have helped to get me to this point. I can still feel his presence in my life.

Perhaps those are the words that I need to tell the team today. I am proud of them. They have come a long way as a team and I will love them no matter what happens in Beijing. Although, I am quite confident that something special is going to happen with this team. Anyway, we are off to the airport. We will spend two days in San Jose (getting our credentials and outfitting) before we leave for Beijing on Monday morning.

See you at the pool.

Coach

Countdown Beijing - 7 days

Saturday we had an Olympic Send Off for our team. When it came time to say a few words all I could think about was how important the supporting family and friends is to each one of our athletes. Each of us (coaches included) need to have understanding and supporting wives or girlfriends (whatever the case may be), family and friends. Without these people in our lives we would struggle to do what we do. There are not many that fully understand what an Olympic athletes goes through to make his/her dream come true. Most of our family and friends do. They see the sacrifices that are made to make the dream come true. We have just completed our second week of hard training at home. We are spending 6-7 hours a day (weight room and pool) and going 6 days a week. At this point the guys are practicing, eating and sleeping. There is not much time for anything else.

I guess as an athlete or a coach. We don’t really look at it from the view point of what I am giving up. What are the sacrifices? Perhaps they are not really sacrifices. We tend to look at it as an opportunity to make our dream come true. Very few people ever live out their dreams. We are living out our dreams and we are able to do that because we have people around us who have helped us to believe and achieve our dreams. All I can say is thank you to my family and friends (especially my wife and daughters). Coaching the Olympic team has been a lifetime goal since I stopped playing. I am living my dream.

Our move out to the Conejo Valley has really worked out for the team. The community has really embraced us and supported us in our training. So many people have stepped up and helped us. We now have 50 – 60 people coming out to watch everyone of our practices. The bottom line is that we feel that support and all of it has helped us to get to the point where we now believe that we can beat anyone in the world.

Thank you all for your support. It is getting exciting. I even began to pack my bags this weekend.

See you at the pool!
Coach

Countdown Beijing - July 15th

We have been back home now for just over a week. The team is working very hard. We are trying to take advantage of the fact that we do not have any games in the next month. So we have really been pushing the workouts. Here is what our schedule looks like right now. We will work hard through these next three weeks and then ease back a little when we arrive in Beijing.

M – F – Weights 8:30 – 10 am
Pool - 10:15 – 12:45 pm
Pool - 7 – 9:45 or 6 – 8 pm depending on the night

Saturday - 9 – 12 noon

As you can see it is a very busy schedule. We have left some times in their so the guys can eat and sleep. They are all very focused on what we are trying to do. The goal is to arrive in Beijing in better shape than any other team.

The mood has changed at practice. Everyone knows how close the Olympics are now. All the guys are working extremely hard and the focus is great. We all believe that we can beat anyone out there. My job is to try to help these guys stay calm and focused while keeping workouts competitive and fun. We are close – so close. Here is a quote I read to the guys the other night.

“Many of us spend our lives searching for success when it is usually so close you can reach out and touch it.” Russell Conwell (writer/minister)

I told them that I did not want them to just touch it – I want them to reach out and grab it!

See you at the pool!

Coach

Countdown Beijing- One Month to Go

A few nights ago we celebrated the 4th of July. I have never been more proud to represent our country. I am not sure why. Maybe it is just being a little older and having lived longer in our great nation. Perhaps it has been coaching the team and wearing USA gear all the time. Whatever it is I am proud of the red, white and blue and while we have our share of problems, there is not a better place to live in the world.

Asthe fireworks exploded and sparkled in the air my eyes filled with tears and I had goose bumps all over my body. I am so proud to be an American and I am looking forward to representing our country next month at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

I believe that our team will be one that America will be proud of too. This is a team that believes in each other. That belief system is getting stronger everyday. It has been fun to be a part of this journey. I have watched these guys go from a very fragmented group when I took over one year ago to a team that now trusts and respects each other. The whole idea of team - this is why I played the game and this is why I coach the game. There is no greater feeling in sports than to be a part of a group that shares a common goal and comes together to work for that goal.

Just last week in Colorado Springs our sports psychologist asked our team to come up with words that described themselves back in December of last year when we had our first training camp. They chose words like frustrated and flustered. Then he asked them to pick a word that describes the team now. They picked energized and confident. We have definitely transformed into a united team. The chemistry is building and in my opinion it will continue to grow from here. We have momentum and this is a team that will become closer and stronger..

I am looking forward to seeing how far we can go. We may not win the gold –that is a reality- but I feel really good about our chances to surprise a lot of teams. Go USA!

See you at the pool!
Coach

Countdown Beijing - 35 days to go

Last Wednesday was one of the toughest nights I have experienced as the Olympic Team coach. After we played the Hungarians to a close 7 – 6 loss, I had to go back to the hotel and make our final two cuts. It was very difficult. All of these guys have put so much time into the program. They have all sacrificed a great deal to make it this far. In most all athletic competitions there is very little that separates the winners from second place. In a similar way, there is very little that separates the players that made the final team and the two alternates. In was a painful process for me. I met with the two players and told them why I had made my choices. Both were near tears and I could see there pain. I know that this can be a life changing event. I sincerely hope that for both of these players that have been cut (John Mann and Brian Alexander) that it changes their lives in a positive way. I know that may be hard to understand but honestly for me (in my life) some of my biggest defeats and disappointments have done more to change my life in a positive way then any of my successes. Regardless, I had to get outside and take a walk. I spent about an hour on my own just walking and thinking. My heart hurt but I knew that even though it was very difficult - I made the right decision.

On Monday morning, we held a press conference at the Los Angeles Athletic Club to formally announce our team. It was a nice event and there was a good amount of press in attendance. Immediately after the press conference, we left for the airport for 5 days of training and team building at the USA Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. We trained for a day and then went up to the mountains (Lake George area) to spend some good quality time together. We spent about 5 hours on Tuesday doing a ropes course and listening to Dr. Guy Reikeman talk to us about leadership, our belief system and becoming a closer team. All of us, picked up a good deal of information. That evening we built a nice fire and spent about 2 hours discussing things that we have learned about ourselves and our team over the past six months. One of the most important questions that I brought up was “Do we really believe that we can win the Gold Medal?” Most of the guys spoke up and once again I could sense that we had come to a new level. Sure there are doubts –that is a normal – but these guys now believe that we can win. They all recommitted to do everything possible to give us the best chance to win in Beijing. No one wants to get to the Olympic Games and have any regrets!

We spent the night at the ranch where we actually slept in authentic Indian teepees. None of us are used to sleeping out in the woods so I think that we all slept a little rough. Never the less, it was pretty cool. The following morning we drove to a town called Buena Vista where we went white water rafting. The guys all enjoyed it and I think that it was a very good team building activity.

It is time to get back to work and focus on preparing these guys so that they are ready. We have 19 more days of practice (counting today) before we leave for Beijing. It is a little nerve racking that we have so little time left. However, I am confident that we are coming together at the right time. We have to work on some tactics and improve in certain areas of the game but there is no reason that we can not win a Gold Medal. Our collective belief is stronger now that it has ever been!
See you at the pool!

Coach