Sorry for not getting out a blog before
the Final Four (European Championships) but we were put in a hotel
without an Internet connection three days before the game.
The atmosphere at my first Final Four
was really amazing —- there was a huge screen TV outside of the
stadium for the hoards of people who did not get tickets, and inside
there was a completely packed crowd of screaming fans.
The experience was great but
unfortunately our game was not. We played what was possibly our first
bad game of the year. We started ahead but never put them away and by
the third period we were down by 3.
Watching all the games during the
tournament, I realized what a difference missing two of our players
(Pavo Marcovic and Maro Jokovic) has made. Pro Recco and the other
teams sub six for six, but we on the other hand have only one sub
besides our whole man. I always play all four quarters.
The day after our loss to Pro Recco, we
had the third place game vs Mladost (I know, I can’t believe how
many times we have to play them) and won. Our team prize was 10,000
euro.
Now we move on again to our third game
of the best of five series for the Croatian Championships.
This coming Saturday we will play Mladost (again) at home and
hopefully become champions (we have won the first two games of the
best of five series already).
If we lose, we play game four in Zagreb
on Wednesday and then game five at home on Saturday, June 6th.
Beating a team like Mladost five times in a row (which is what we
have done during this year) is amazing. But each successive game is
that much harder. Mladost will arrive ready to fight, they have
nothing to lose, and unless our team starts strong they will all play
great.
If we lose this game on Saturday,
upsetting them at home again will be nearly impossible and in game
five you never know what will happen. If you can watch, be prepared
for one of the most physical games of the year (last game I got my
tooth broken), and a real test of our abilities.
May 30th, 2009 at 1:01 pm Great Job Tony!!!