Words: Hersey
Pictures: Mansoor Ahmed
Pictures: Mansoor Ahmed
Sometimes watching GB is a bit like getting out a pile of old DVDs and finding Groundhog Day. I wouldn’t want to work out how many close games we’ve lost since we started – though to be fair I don’t think anyone ever thought we’d get to this level this quickly.
It was another one that got away. When van Oostrum gave the assist for Freeland to put five up in OT, we really should have put that to bed. You hope we’ll learn from it, Finch’s comment that we were 5-10 minutes away from a really good tournament was spot on – we could easily have finished with a 3-2 record. Obviously the injury to Dan Clark is a worry, there’s noticeably no word on Sulli, either, and if neither were fit we’d be in trouble.
Van Oostrum’s performance certainly gives Finch a dilemma. He’s got plenty of guys who can play the point, but none really stand out on a nightly basis as the obvious one to start. Maybe by the time we get to Lithuania I will have stopped mistaking Mike Lenzly for Flinder Boyd. These players, they all look the same.
I skipped the first game, even though I‘ve enjoyed the tournament, three games a day is tough going after a while, and I thought I should show my face at the GB Supporters’ Club bash. Most people had left by the time I got there – probably because I’d announced I’d be there, but you can’t knock the work Della’s done for it, and hopefully it’ll work out. Curiously I did meet a Leopards fan who I hadn’t seen since two or three years before the old club folded – she did look a bit surprised when she found out the lunatic now runs the asylum.
It was a bit surreal to see both Chris and Nick Nurse on the bus out of the complex at half-time in the Serbia v France, it was less surreal to see the Leopards coach and stat man on board. I’d planned to stay until at least the end of the third period, but the OT, yet another five minutes wasted while the table argued their inability to count fouls and the fact that Serbia didn’t look interested (until the final quarter, anyway, it turned out) meant that I made a swift exit – along with about half of the remaining crowd. 11.5 games in five days proved to be enough for me.
I think it would have been better if it had started at 3pm rather than 3.30pm each day, a lot of people left at the end of the third period and – I said this before Sunday’s action started – it should probably have started around 2pm on the final day.
It was a bit surreal to see both Chris and Nick Nurse on the bus out of the complex at half-time in the Serbia v France, it was less surreal to see the Leopards coach and stat man on board. I’d planned to stay until at least the end of the third period, but the OT, yet another five minutes wasted while the table argued their inability to count fouls and the fact that Serbia didn’t look interested (until the final quarter, anyway, it turned out) meant that I made a swift exit – along with about half of the remaining crowd. 11.5 games in five days proved to be enough for me.
I think it would have been better if it had started at 3pm rather than 3.30pm each day, a lot of people left at the end of the third period and – I said this before Sunday’s action started – it should probably have started around 2pm on the final day.
I’m sure there will be calls to keep the arena and after some games next year for me, together with five visits in six days, I’ll feel a bit sad to see it go. It’s not as simple as saying “just keep it”, it’s not really built for 12 month-a-year use, all the food and drink units are outdoors – and the problems with that were shown on day three when it monsooned – even if they sold something better than Fosters, I’d have needed to be seriously in need of a beer to go outside in that.
It’s sealed off with temporary fencing at the moment, and it’ll be interesting to see how big they actually make the outside area when it’s full to capacity next summer. They’re going to need a lot more food and drink units, and with the current layout there’s not enough room for what’s required.
Hopefully we will get to play some games before the Olympics there. I doubt we’ll have any shortage of prospective opponents, and even a couple of men’s/women’s double headers would be good. I imagine there’s also a chance of staging Diamond Ball which is a pre-Olympic tournament – I watched the last one on Eurosport, we’d have a job getting smaller crowds that the Chinese did. There’s still things to sort out, but I think the organisers proved they can handle an event such as this.
And so this blog comes to an end. I never got around to telling the world how my car rolled into my neighbours’ house after day three, but that might be for the best. I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings, and that someone will step up and do a diary from Lithuania. Hersey out.
It’s sealed off with temporary fencing at the moment, and it’ll be interesting to see how big they actually make the outside area when it’s full to capacity next summer. They’re going to need a lot more food and drink units, and with the current layout there’s not enough room for what’s required.
Hopefully we will get to play some games before the Olympics there. I doubt we’ll have any shortage of prospective opponents, and even a couple of men’s/women’s double headers would be good. I imagine there’s also a chance of staging Diamond Ball which is a pre-Olympic tournament – I watched the last one on Eurosport, we’d have a job getting smaller crowds that the Chinese did. There’s still things to sort out, but I think the organisers proved they can handle an event such as this.
And so this blog comes to an end. I never got around to telling the world how my car rolled into my neighbours’ house after day three, but that might be for the best. I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings, and that someone will step up and do a diary from Lithuania. Hersey out.
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