As a result, Tuesday was a much needed day of rest. I'm not sure about everyone else on the team, but I was starting to hurt a little bit and I think the break definitely helped mentally as well as for the obvious physical reasons. It always helps a little once you get deep into something, especially a competition of this duration, to take a step back and collect yourself. A little bit of a refresher. A couple of guys used the time to rent bikes (Amsterdam is all about the bikes- they are everywhere) and ride into town. A few just took it easy around the hotel. I went into town to visit my dad again with my uncle and my dad's friend Anders. We met at about 1 in the afternoon for a nice leisurely lunch, walked around, took the tram, pretended to see a museum, and just sort of enjoyed our time together. As lame as that might sound, it was actually such a neat experience. I mean, I toured a foreign city with my dad just soaking in the life and culture. I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything.
After that, we had a nice dinner on the houseboat, a couple of drinks on the deck and then I trained it home. We finally figured out how to make the journey from his houseboat to my hotel in less than 40 minutes. We tried the bus, the tram, and then finally the Metro! Anyways, all transit issues aside, it was time to focus on the quarter finals the next day.
We happened to draw Sweden for this match and it turned out to be another great game. It was tight from the very start, but it was evident that we weren't catching the same breaks we did against the Czechs. Balls were dropping, posts were being hit (I personally hit 3 or 4, 2 on the same play. ie shot, ping, rebound, ping). We played another tight game of Scottish lacrosse though. Guys fought hard until the very end, and it was the type of game, every athlete loves to be in. Maybe we deserved to win, but at the end of the day we really couldn't have done anymore. We lost by a goal, and with a couple chances right near the end to tie the game up, we just couldn't find any last minute heroics. I personally had my best game of the tournament with 3 goals and some odd assists. The first was an isolation play of sorts that left me dodging from the top with no slide in sight. I beat my man down the alley and deked low before dumping over top. The second was a quick stick from in tight. Jesse came around from behind the net and I managed to slip underneath my check against the flow as the defence shifted. I got a great pass just off my right shoulder, and all I had to do was pull the trigger. The 3rd was a man up goal that came out looking way cooler then it needed too. It was a play designed to hit the back door man- either Troy up top or myself down low depending on the reaction of the defence. On this particular play, Troy took a shot that may or may not have been better as a dish to me (I was as naked as a jail bird as coach would say). Regardless, the shot took a funny rebound straight up in the air and soon as this happened I knew I wanted the ball. Call it athletes intuition or just dumb luck, I knew as soon as the play started to develop, I was going to end up putting the ball in the net. I stepped into the middle, bracing myself to get killed, grabbed the ball and threw it over the goalie (who also happened to be 6 foot 5, no big deal). It was a pretty spectacular dunk, and despite getting knocked to the turf, I felt like a pretty big man. The game wound up in quite the excitable fashion. We had possession twice in the last minute and a half and both times we failed to convert. As a player and as a team, there's not much else you can ask for. We played a great game though, a game that every players dreams to be in.
As a result of our quarter final loss, we were dropped to the 5th to 8th place bracket. We played Israel (of all teams) in our 7th game for the chance to advance to the 5th place game. I was worried that they might be the sleeper pick of the tournament because I'm not entirely clear as to their citizenship rules and who qualifies to play for them. In any case, they were mostly North American including a fellow Vancouverite who lives on Commercial Drive. I got a chance to chat with him after the game and we bonded over that. It was actually a little funny, because I was chirping a little bit with him during the game and his last name turned out to be Goldstein. Goldstein.... playing for Israel. I mean, it wasn't racist or anything, just the usual, grab his stick on the way through the middle, he hits me, i cross check him in the back "Do that again", "okay, done", nothing happens. I just thought it the whole experience was rather humourous. Anyways, we won the game 19-6 I believe. They definitely weren't the under dog I expected them to be. I had another couple of points although for me, it was one of the harder games to play. It wasn't tight as it had been the two games previous, so there wasn't a lot of motivation, and my legs were completely dead. It was the first time I had felt the 2 solid weeks of consecutive practices and games. At this point it turned into a little bit more of a mental battle.... fight the fatigue! I just knew I had to try and get some jump back in my legs to play Germany the following day for 5th.
Anyways, I shall wrap up the lacrosse related stuff tomorrow and post some neat things about France. It was a great day, but for now, Je suis tres fatigue!
Night!
Pictures of the Day:
Anders and Uncle Jere. Can you tell Anders is Swedish? Would you believe it if I told you he works at Ikea?
Helping a girl out with her bike. Part of our adventuresome day off.
Look at that hustle.
Getting ready for the anthem- Singing the Flower of Scotland with the boys is honestly one of the most moving experiences. Everyone sings and everyone sings loud. I get chills every time.
I told you they were crazy about bikes in Amsterdam. This is a parking garage....for bikes.
Songs of the Day:
Such a Colourful World- Max and Simon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBIm6OyGVX0&fb_source=message
Thank you Sam for bringing this to my attention. A good song.
Demons- Imagine Dragons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSoIWEGL1YM
A shout out to Scott for introducing me to this song. Always sends me good music does that Scott guy.
Calgary- Bon Iver
Studio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KrmxavLIRM
Live:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMgyIR2qPEU&feature=related
One of the main reasons I love Bon Iver is the way he performs live. You must give the two versions a listen side by side.
No comments:
Post a Comment