2004 Worlds
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| Tuesday Recap Marcia and I joined the other parents already here at Worlds and finally saw our first 2 games. The Condors (aka Team USA) is dominating their games although it is to be expected at this point (so don't get too cocky yet). They look good and no injuries. Tuesday morning they played Finland in the stadium (different feel to be in a big stadium watching Ultimate). Finland played well the first half, but then fell back and the Condors won 17-11. I took video of the entire game from the top of the stadium and am looking forward to watching it when we get home. Of course I will prepare a video of everything I tape for anyone that wants a copy. The next game was against Switzerland. It was expected to be easy, but when the score got to 8-7 with the Condors only one point ahead, I was getting tense. Then the Swiss team began to get tired and dropping passes, and the Condors won 17-9. The teams always form a circle after the game and talk to each other. The Swiss team gave a shirt to the Condors most valuable player in their opinion... and it was my son Jason (happy dad). Wednesday the team was supposed to play their first game at 9:00am against Canada. Canada is Furious George who beat us at Nationals last year, so many people expect USA and Canada to meet in the finals here. So this may be a preview of the finals. The Worlds organization decided to change the time of the game to 8:00pm and play it in the stadium as a special game which probably many of the players will come watch since no other game is played at that time. By the way, it stays light here to after 10:00pm. The team also has a game at 1:00pm, but I don't think it is against a difficult team. All our love, Joe and Marcia -------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday Recap, Hello all. Wednesday was a bitter sweet day, but everything is fine. The first game was against Denmark which was expected to be easy. But Denmark played very well early and the score went to 5-5. Then the Condors began to get serious and they took half 9-5. Brain Cameros, one of the new players that used to play on DoG, had an awesome D in the endzone. The game ended 17-9 under hot, dry conditions. The weather in Turku is usually expected to be cool, but starting Tuesday it began to warm up, and we are now having the hottest weather here in a long time. I think yesterday it reached the high 70s with a lot of humidity. And there is usually no shade around the fields. And speaking of fields, the 20 or so fields being used are spread around Turku and even outside the city. Buses are used to transport the players (and guests) to where they play. Their are not enough buses to run often, so there are waits and sometimes goof ups. This takes away a bit from the excitment that we usually feel at these large tournaments when you can see so many athletes playing. Wednesday night the Condors played Canada (Furious George) in the stadium. I think about 500-800 people were watching. The first half went pretty even with Canada taking half 9-7. Then the Condors tied it at 10-10. But then we began to make uncommon errors on offense; it got frustrating to watch. We lost 17-13. Standouts were the usual Steve Dugan, Brandon Steets, Tommy Burfiend, Adam Glimme (who received the MVP shirt from Canada after the game) plus a few of the new guys like Kenny Leiserson and Idaho. There were others too. There were a few minor injuries during the Denmark game, but everyone was playing in the Canada game. Jason Seidler has had a bad cough/cold since before he arrived, and he chose not to play very much in this game. He is saving it for the more important games. This morning we play Great Britain which will probably be our toughest game after Canada. This evening we will play the quarterfinal game. And tomorrow there will only be one game - semifinals. Last night we were eating dinner at 11:00pm and it was still somewhat light out. We're having fun... but I wish the humidity and walking required would decrease. Joe --------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday Game 1, I have some time between games today, so I thought I would send out an update. This morning's game was the last of "pool play" and the Condors will play in the Quarterfinals this evening against Finland. The Condors beat Finland on Tuesday, but this is a new game. This morning's game against Great Britain was nothing like the final score indicates. The first half of the game was all GB, and they led by 2-3 points most of the time. In the second half the Condor defense started to click and they finally went ahead 11-10... and never looked back. But until then, it was the most tense first half so far. It was not a good time to be a spectator if you have a weak heart. I think it was a good game for the Condors since it showed them they cannot take any team for granted, and they can come back. The final score was 17-12. I nominate my son as MVP as he led the defense with D's and scores. I think the D team scored 7-8 points in the game; mostly in the second half. If we beat Finland, we will play in the semis tomorrow. Joe Thursday Game 2 - Quarterfinals against Finland, The first time we played Finland on Tuesday, they were not too difficult. Today they brought a very different team... but so did the Condors. The Condor D was awesome in the first half giving the team a 9-6 advantage at half. We kept the 3 point lead up to 16-13 (game to 17). They scored, they got the D and scored again to make it 16-15. At that point, the few hundred Finland fans on the sidelines went berserk. Yelling, screaming, singing and generally pumping up the Finland team. It was so loud I couldn't hear anything else. Our guys on the field had to listen to that and still perform. James Sturarus was back in his own endzone with the disc and threw a 40 yard flick which was caught. But it came back due to a travel call. James threw another great pass that was caught, and they called travel again. At this point, the athletes on the field were feeling the heat and exhaustion of the day, and the Finland team was using foul calls to disrupt the flow of the Condors. It was just a surreal scene. So what did James and the Condors do? They calmly worked the disc up the field including a few more foul calls by Finland. With the disc on Finland's goalline, we threw it, it was caught, and again called back. Then Tommy Burfiend threw a very short pass to an open Condor and the game was over. Even then it felt wierd. All of a sudden the cheering and noise stopped. The 10 or so Condors parents and family there couldn't compete with the huge crowd, so we had been quiet. When we won, we still didn't know how to respond to the intense energy in the air that the Condors had just ended with their win. So for a minute or so, there was no cheering; no noise of any kind. Eventually we remembered who we were and the parents started yelling CONDORS AND USA. I think the guys (on both teams) were so tired, they could hardly respond. I think they will need some rest before they realize what they accomplished. But of course, by then, they will need to be ready for the semifinals tomorrow. For now Marcia and I hope to spend dinner with Jason and treat him to great food. I think they will play Australia in the semis, but I'm not sure if that is confirmed yet. BTW, no injuries and everyone is playing. Joe ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday Semifinals against Australia, If you haven't seen the score yet, you are in for some fun. Our team's defense simply shut down Australia. Here's how the score went: 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3, 6-3, 7-3, 8-3, 8-4, 9-4 (half) 10-4, 11-4, 12-4, 13-4 (then our offense had a lapse) 13-5, 13-6, 13-7, 14-7, 14-8, 15-8, 15-9, 15-10, 16-10, 17-10 So the Condors are in the finals as many expected against Canada (Furious George). In the first meeting of these two teams earlier in the week, many of the new guys played a lot and my son Jason was sick. Tomorrow, I think the young guys may play a bit less and Jason is healthy (in fact he was awesome today on D). On O, as usual Steve Dugan, JD Lobue Jr, Adam Glimme, Brandon Steets, Tommy Burfiend and James Studarus were great. On D, Jason, Idaho, Nick were amazing and Ryan was selected MVP by the Australians. That was appropriate since it was the Condor D that ran the game. Sorry for leaving out other names, but you'll have to forgive my memory at my age. Today was Ryan's 30th birthday and we had a party with doughnut and candle for him after the game. Marcia also gave him a hug for his mom, Scotty. Tomorrow we play Canada and we plan to win! Joe ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday Finals Recap, I thought I would let my son Jason do the talking since he did the playing. Joe Hello all, If you haven't heard or seen, the Condors lost a close battle against the Canadians 14-12 in a tough but hard fought World battle. This week, Canada was better than us and they deserved it. Our defense played great but our offense faultered when it mattered most. Unfortunately, the game ended early due to Stadium hours so we were unable to make a final push. I am sad and happy at the same time. It has been a pleasure sharing this monumental event with all of you. A silver medal hangs around my neck to remind me that life is good, but there is always something out there to strive harder for. I personally had a great time and I hope my teammates can reflect with perspective and learn how to play even better in the future so I can retire and pass the torch. I love this game, let's all play sometime soon. Love, Jason |