Countdown Beijing - Distractions and our final tune up

Training this morning was on our own at BNU. As we arrived there was all sorts of security and commotion. Our bus was not allowed to travel its normal path to the gym. We were stopped and told to wait. Finally they told us that President Bush was at the gym watching some of the teams practice. We never saw him but we certainly felt his presence.

Practice went well and as we finished the basketball team was just finishing up there practice. A bunch of the guys had pictures taken with them. Adam Wright even played Kobe in PIG. Just for the record Kobe made two slam dunks and made Adam look a little silly. I was a little bummed that I did not stick around. Coach K is one of my favorite coaches and I would have loved to have a picture taken with him. Perhaps I will run into him at Opening Ceremonies tomorrow.

The basketball team was actually very friendly to our team and made the guys feel pretty special. Like I said the Olympic Games are full of great life experiences and many memories that will last a lifetime. I am sure that we will create many more in the next two weeks. I am good with all this as long as the guys focus when they need too. All of these things can certainly be distractions if we let them.

Tonight we had our final tune up against Monte Negro. These guys just won the European Championships so they would have to be considered one of the favorites for the gold. Our guys played very well tonight and we gave them all that they could handle. No one was really keeping score but we beat them 8 – 5. Ha. OK – it was just a scrimmage but it is a nice way to close out our common training. The guys are definitely getting back into their competitive mode.

Tomorrow is opening ceremonies. It is going to be a very long day. We have training in morning for 90 minutes than we have an hour with the media. Then at 5:15 we have to be dressed and ready to go. We will go over and meet with President Bush and have a team picture with him. After that we join the parade of athletes in the ceremony. We have been told to expect to be home after midnight. I have told the guys to stay off of there feet as much as they can between now and then. It should be exciting but tiring.
At least we have a day off before we play.

See you at the pool!

Coach