Todd Rogers: Updates from the Beijing sand …

USA vs. 3 Brasilians
Phil and I are the lone team left in the men’s side of the tourney that doesn’t originally hale from Brasil. Obviously there are the defending gold medalists from Brasil, Ricardo and Emannuel. They are playing Marcio and Fabio also from Brasil. The last team from Brasil is playing under the Georgian flag and they will be our competition at 9am tomorrow morning.

We have played the Georgian team a handful of times over the past 2 years. I don’t think we have lost to them. The right sider is a smaller guy, probably around my size, with a whip of an arm and very good all around ball control. He has a very good jump serve when he gets it going that can wreak some havoc. The left side guy is the blocker. He is probably only about 6′5 but has exceptionally long arms and puts up a good size block. Should be a good match. They have been playing well and it was a pretty big upset when the took down the team from the Netherlands.

Into the Semis
I have been having trouble finding time to keep everyone up to date. I wanted to blog everyday but it just seems like there is to much to do to get it all done. Also, wanted to let everyone know who is posting that I am reading your post and I appreciate all the support. Have not had the time to post back though but certainly will once the games are over.

Good times the last couple of days. We had that battle against Swizterland and the next day I went to the airport and picked up my wife. Very happy to see her and have her here in support. No kids though. It was a decision that I agonized over for awhile but felt it would be the best call not to have them here. After being here for a couple of days I am glad I made that decision. My kids would not have had a very good time. They would have loved watching me play but they would have been bored out of their minds most of the time. Not to mention that all the venues are a fair distance away from one another and you have to spend about 30 minutes or more in a cab to go to most of the venues. If I actually play for another 4 years and happen to make it to the 2012 games, then I would definetely take them. Long ways away though and I have no desire to even think that far down the road.

On Monday morning we beat the German team of David Klemperer and Eric Koreng. Very athletic team and a couple of very good guys in general.

I have the utmost respect for both of them as players and people. Phil played very well. Probably the best he has played so far. I played okay but struggled to pass a bit which made it tough for Phil to set me with consistancy. This of course led to errors, blocks and digs for the Germans. We were fortunate that we won the match in 2 games.

Today we trained in the morning at the site and then Melissa and I did a little shopping at the USA House. They have some great stuff there with the Olympic Logo and USA on them. Winding down the day now. Time to take a steam, have some dinner, and hit the hey for tomorrow’s 9am match vs. the Georgian team.

Tags: AVP, Olympics, Beach Volleyball, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers