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Nino Giarratano USA Baseball Blog
Nino Giarratano - On the Road With Team USA Baseball
Team USA 1, Japan 0 (12) Team USA in Europe - Day 26 Day 45 - July 27, 2008 Team USA is bringing home the GOLD!! Team USA wins 1-0 in 12 innings over Japan in one of the greatest games I have had the pleasure of coaching in. I have been humbled by the great game of baseball once again! It was a great, record-setting run of 30 straight victories and a gold medal now hangs proudly around my neck. It was such an honor to wear USA on my chest and represent a country this summer. We are coming home with a better understanding of what it means to be an American. We will also cherish all the great things that our country has to offer. We will add to the comfort of being the best national team in the world for 2008. Thank you all for joining in to our journey. Brenda, Bianca, Nico, Toni, Ryan and the entire team thank you for all your support. One last time I am proud to be bringing home to all of you a GOLD MEDAL. Thanks and see you all soon.
Team USA in Europe - Day 25 Then Nico and I went in search of some decent food. Well, we did not quite meet our needs for an In and Out Burger or a good old Burrito!!!!! You might have guessed my favorite food? Saturday was Semifinal Day! We had a 10:30 game vs. Chinese Taipei! This would mark our 10th meeting of the summer, six in our opening series, two in Amsterdam, two in the Czech. Wow that is a lot of games and some very close ones as well. Today was no different - a 3-0 win for USA. That makes 30 in a row for us and we need one more to win gold. We play the winner of Korea against Japan. I hope it is Japan for the gold!! We have an opportunity to make history as the only National USA team to go undefeated in the 30 year history!! We all know what the Patriots were going through trying to go undefeated for the entire season!! It's down to one game. After all this work and preparation for the last six weeks, we are ready to step up and claim the gold for all Americans. Game time is at 6:00 pm Sunday. That is 9:00 am San Francisco time! Thanks for all the support! I am humbled by the opportunity to represent all.
Team USA in Europe - Day 24 Team USA does it again!! We won 3-2 over Chinese Taipei in the bottom of the tenth with a walk-off home run by Hunter Morris. That makes 28 in a row and we need just two more wins to make it Gold. We play Taipei on Saturday morning in the semifinals and Japan plays Korea. We hope to play the winner and do not care who as long as it is for the gold medal. The time is here when we need to play like we are capable. Tonight was a banquet for all the teams to enjoy the hospitality of the World Baseball Classic committee! Good food and some awards that went mostly to the Japan team. Great motivation to beat them for the third time!! Nico is off trading American equipment for Japanese and Taipei gear. Lipkin is keeping us laughing as usual!! Stay tuned for Saturdays update!
Team USA in Europe - Day 23 It was a sad day. The girls had to go home today and we will miss them. They had a great time with the entire team. The guys were great to them!
Team USA in Europe - Day 22 Today was an interesting one with our streak on the line vs. team Canada. We were down 1-0, then a walk and an error and it is 3-0 in the seventh and the umpire blows his third call of the game at second base. And if you guessed this made the third base coach (me) happy, you would be incorrect. So the next thing that happens is Coach G is ejected for telling a young kid that the play was not even ahem, fairly close (but in French)! I make my exit with the team down 3-0. Well the troops rally to tie and eventually win 4-3. Exciting turnaround for the team! We play Japan at 10 am. Four more wins to get the Gold Medal! The food has improved and so have Nico and Lipkin.
Team USA in Europe - Day 20 Nico G made a huge leap with the drill work, best adjustment with his load that I have witnessed and that really pumps me up!! O yeah, the players - CC, Jackson, Dendekker - they all made good adjustments also. After early work, we took a stroll to the mall and another Super Size-me moment at McDonald's!!! I need to be training for the half marathon. Those double cheese will help late in the race. After the fries it was time for a hair cut. What a challenge to get your hair cut with a language barrier. Well now on to BP and the game. We had the 8 pm game vs. the host Czech team with a packed house of horn blowing fans. They jumped out to a 1-0 lead through the first three innings. We had a lead off double, a ground ball to second and a fly ball to centerfield to tie it at 1-1. From then on it was all USA with 7 more runs and some stellar pitching for an 8-2 victory. Send Mexican food anytime now!! The girls are having fun and have decided to extend their trip for a few days to see Prague. Twenty-five wins in a row and counting! See you all soon.
Team USA in Europe - Day 20 - Part II Ryan Lipkin update: He went 2-3 with another home run against Lithuania. As the summer winds down it is exciting to think about the possibilities of what we can become!! Thanks for reading.
Team USA in Europe - Day 19 The Koreans pushed us into the eighth and tied the game 1-1 on a two-out hit. We responded with a four-run ninth on five hits! Just like all summer long, when we need to respond, we have! We went on to win 5-2 and pushed our record to 17-0 in International play. We have a team era at 0.96. Wow!!! After the game it was time for dinner and walking the mall. We ate dinner at McDonalds and we loved every minute of it! I've gone 15 years without McD's and after what our food is, it was fantastic! Super Size ME!!! Please send tacos, Mom! Chocolate chip cookies! Steak! Burritos! Green chile! Any other form of food from the great USA! We all sit around and fantasize about what we will do upon our return to America!!! Today we play against the Czechs.
Team USA in Europe - Day 17 Ostrava makes me think of my hometown of Pueblo, Colorado and all the Bojans - the most famous Anne Pechek my grandmother and the mom of my father Mickey! The food is the biggest nostalgic moment with Kielbasa as the main staple, the language (krofa-donut, imuk-soup) all something that was a special time in my youth. This has been a great learning experience for all of us. Opening Ceremonies for the World Games were nice! We open with Korea at 10:00 am and it is back to winning the gold!! One great piece of information was that Steven Strasburg was named to the Olympic Team in Beijing that begins August 13th. News flash: Nico got smoked in spoons by Lipkin.
Team USA in Europe - Day 16 We traveled from Regensburg Germany to Ostrava, Czech Republic to play the Czech National Team in a exhibition game. We traveled at 6:30 am until 4:20 pm to get there and get ready for a 5:30 start! Wow, we were almost out of breath. Not so fast that we scored in the first to go up 1-0 and pitched to a 5-0 victory. We are now 16-0 in international play! We need to keep it up! Thanks for the support and send Mexican Food whenever you can!! Also, I'd like to send a special shout out Happy Birthday to Paul Meyer! Sorry to miss!
Team USA in Europe - Day 15 More importantly, my sister Marianne had her wedding in Denver! Congrats to her and Gary and best of luck to them! Sorry sis for not being there, but who said there are no sacrifices in this profession. She will understand just like the many other times. Sisters of baseball coaches understand as well as coaches' wives!! Back to the travel day. We left Haarlem and get on the bus for Regensburg, Germany. Eight and a half hours on a bus that fits forty and is loaded for eighty. What a fun, beautiful drive through the German countryside. It reminds me of Sonoma-Napa and most of all, the wine country! The churches and rivers are so nice. We arrive in Regensburg around 8:30 and immediately find out that the food is much better in Germany. We ate dinner and had some card playing with my roommates Brenda, Bianca, Nico and Toni. Have I mentioned that Regensburg should be a destination stop? Wow, we rode the bikes along the river into one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We toured the St. Peters church - a breath taking experience. Then it was off to lunch at the oldest brat house in Regensburg for a brat with sour kraut. Not sure of spelling, but the taste was great! Today was a game day against the German National Team. Off to the field and a 9-3 victory in front of another packed house! Half were American service men and women stationed in Germany. Flags, chants of USA, and cheers! We never play on the road. On the bus at 6:30 am and travel to Ostravia for an 830pm game, doing what we do.
Team USA in Europe - Day 13 Mike Minor is the starter and has forgotten his uniform top and Brenda, Bianca and Toni are in charge of getting the uniform to the field by 3:00 PM (game time). Well, they are not at the site at 2:50 and we are worried. We find out that they needed to jump on the back of two Vespas to make it to Pim Mullier Stadium by 2:55. It was good to see them! Well the game is tight and we misplayed a ball in leftfield and fall behind 1-0. In the bottom of the fifth, Blake Smith hits a solo home run to tie the game 1-1. Jared Clark smokes a 2-0 fastball to left center and we go up 2-1. It's a great game to this point. In the seventh, Cuba loads the bases with one out. Kyle Gibson enters and gets a 4-6-3 double play. What a great play. We score two in the ninth and win 4-1. It is our second win over Cuba's Olympic team! It's the first time we have beaten them in 25 years for a gold medal. The boys have become men! What a proud day to be an American!!!
Team USA in Europe - Day 12 Well Steven Strasburg was our starter and he dominated the first six innings like no one I have ever seen. He had 13 punchouts and gave up only one hit! His fastball was 95-97 with command and an 80-82 slider. The offense showed up early with two in the second and two in the third. The final was 5-2 and a win for the Americans. We are all very excited about an opportunity to play Cuba in the afternoon for the gold. Brenda, Bianca, Nico are playing a crazy card game called Egyptian Rat Smack and it is off the hook! I think the game vs. Cuba will be the same excitement!!! I will have a great story tomorrow. Thank you for tuning in! Nino.
Team USA in Europe - Day 10 Well, today we played game five of our pool play and beat the Chinese Taipei team 3-1 in the morning game. This team has had the most amazing pitching I have ever witnessed in a stretch. Our team ERA is 0.86 in 12 international games! Wow! 64 hits in 116 innings and 32 BB and 136 SO. We are in the semifinals against Chinese Taipei, while Cuba plays Japan with the winners playing on Sunday for the 2008 Honkball Tournament title. The offensive part of our team needs to produce and take a little pressure off the pitching staff. We had early BP for the team in the morning and then a game against Taipei. Should be a fun day. Meanwhile there was some swimming today with Nico, Ryan, and myself. Fun and then some dinner at the Centrum at Wilma and Alberts. Great steak! Lipkin had another double today! He is tearing it up!! Hope to see you all tomorrow with our chance to play Cuba or Japan in the finals.
Team USA in Europe - Day 8 Day 30! Wow it is hard to believe how fast time flies. It has been 30 days since my last interaction at USF. I will be bringing home a wealth of experience and a great feeling to the Campus! Well it was game day today and an opportunity to do some early hitting before playing the home team Netherlands in the 7:00 pm game! Early BP was great with Hunter, Matt, Mike Leake and the College World Series MVP Tommy Mendonca, and of course the 6 foot 12 inch Wild Man, Nico! Game BP was once again in the rain and a challenge. The fans are the greatest and sit in the rain during BP and a three hour game in a steady rain! Noah please bring the Ark!! Seven days of rain is enough. Tonight's game is 0-0 into the sixth and then Derek Dietrich hits a home run to right field for a 1-0 lead! They scored in the seventh to tie it on a throwing error that brought down the sold out crowd, We scored one in the 10th to make it 2-1 for the final. We are 4-0 in the Honkball and 23-2 overall! Our pitching has an era of 0.88 which is awesome! Pitch and play defense and you can win. The hitting coach (me) only needs 1 or 2 runs per game!! Thank you Pitching Staff! What a luxury. We are playing Chinese Taipei in the afternoon tomorrow! Good nigh from Haarlem.
Team USA in Europe - Day 6-7 Two days into one blog! First of all, hello to Julie Congi! Heard she is back on the trail! Julie thanks for shout out about the blog and sorry for whooping up on you Cuban friends. Yesterday was an off day for the USA team. We had practice in the morning, which was a great one after our emotional win over Cuba. By the way, the win is the first for the USA national team against the Cuban Elite team since 2000! We would like to do it again. We spent the day off shopping at the Centrum, eating, and enjoying the culture of the Dutch! We also braved the train and visited Amsterdam in the evening. The dessert Waffles are fabulous!!!! Wow. Nico has officially eaten fresh fries each and every day at least twice! Man, it would be nice to be 13 and have that metabolism again. It was a fun day with the family and Rob Walton. Day 2: No more days off and now we are back on schedule in search of the Gold Medal in Prague! We were up and at them early this morning in preparation for our game against the Dutch Caribbean team. Are there any USF staff members out the from the island? We played well today after an hour and a half rain delay - everyday has been a battle against the rain. The same fans kept dancing through the delay and cheered the Dutch when they needed help getting out of an inning! The USA team won again 11-0 and moves closer to a No. 1 seed in the Honkball Tournament. Rain is expected for the next two days! The rain crew is outstanding with no tools like in the states! Thanks to the crew and fans for another great day. Lipkin got hit by two pitches and a hit a ball hard to center field. Thanks for joining in!
Day 24 - July 6, 2008 We strolled the streets of Haarlem and enjoyed some lunch before the big game vs. Cuba. It was by far the greatest game and crowd experienced in my 20 years of coaching baseball. Batting practice was delayed by the rain, but that did not push away one of the craziest crowds ever. After a scoreless first, the rains came for a 35 minutes. Not one fan left the stadium. In fact, they donned their rain coats and began to dance and sing!!! WOW, what energy! Well Team USA, led by Lipkin, Nico and 10 others, repaid the fans with a line dance that brought down the house of 6,000 faithful. Play resumes and no one goes away without great plays by both teams! Ten to be exact - plays you will not see every day. We turn two inning ending double plays in the first and third. We dive in the four hole. They dive in right field and at short and throw us out at the plate in the eighth. We struck out a pinch-hitter with runners at second and third to win 1-0. That is the best team I have ever seen from 20-40. There are eight bona fide MLB players on their team. I happen to think USA will have a dozen or so. Thanks to Mike Minor for the seven innings, Kyle Gibson for one, Chris Hernandez for an out and strikeout and Volz for the last four outs! And thanks to the Dutch fan for mooning the umpire twice... anything goes! By the way we went in as boys and came out as young men! We hope to play them again in the finals and earn our stripes as American men. Everyone can be proud for now that we beat the best team in the world for the time being! WOW. See you tomorrow!
Day 23 - July 5, 2008
It was day one of the 2008 Honkball Classic in Haarlem, Holland! Team USA vs. Team Nakamura AKA Japan.
Japan's Lineup: I think you all get how exciting it was to play against Coach Nakamura's ancestry! We pitched and played well enough to win 5-2. It was great after the game. The Japanese coaches take Nico to their side and teach him some culture. They had him stand in their line and bow to the crowd! Something about a 13 year old kid that has curly hair and green eyes that everyone loves. It was a great day in front of about 6,000 Dutch fans. They appreciate hits, runs, moan on errors, and boo the umpires! They sounded a lot like Americans. The evening was spent riding bikes with the curly haired guy through the Centrum in Haarlem. Oh yeah Lipkin had a great sac bunt and two well hit balls. He started against Japan as the designated hitter, then he just snuck into the room and stuck Nico with Mike Leake's help. Not sure Lip needed any help! Tomorrow we play Cuba. Hopefully we will see our 19-20 year old superstars mature before our eyes!!!! This will be an experience of a lifetime! Thanks for joining.
Day 21-22 This is where the time goes fuzzy. My phone has the time as 3 AM and it is 1 PM in Amsterdam but 1 AM in San Francisco and 4 AM in Cary, NC. Well my body is still trying to make the change. Yesterday was spent exchanging the dollar for Euro and weeping over every cent that was lost in the transaction! Ouch! Well Nico and I decided to jump right in and rent bikes to tour the city! What a great idea! We rode around the Centrum in Harlem and enjoyed French Fries twice - that's how good they were. Gelato, you guessed it, twice and then some more riding. We are now off to practice. We play on Saturday vs. Japan and Sunday vs. Cuba, who by the way have shown up with their Olympic Team that is favored to win the gold in the Olympics! What a great opportunity for our team to play them! Rumor has it that they have the type of players that would be All-Stars at the Major League level. Most of their team is 30-35. Possibly older and stronger! Hopefully our young guns will see their potential right before their eyes. I will keep you all posted as we catch up on some sleep! We are excited to see Brenda G and Bianca here on Sunday. Hope they have a safe trip! Afetersain (aka auf Wiedersehen), or whatever they are saying here!
Day 20 - July 2, 2008 Nico was doing his thing BP , ground balls, swimming and eating. Now he is sleeping quietly like his dad... NOT! Travel and rest tomorrow! Hey Lipkin had another base hit to CF. He is getting better by the day.
Day 19 - July 1, 2008 Wow it just keeps on coming! Nico hit first and then spoke with Reggie for about 10 minutes. Nico probably was dropping some info on Reg. Ha Ha! Game time was at 7 with possibly the whole city of Cary, NC in attendance. It was a great night with USA winning 5-3, for our sixth straight win against China-Taipei. In the fifth with 2 outs and a 3-2 game Ryan Lipkin doubled in the gap to put us up 5-2. Great swing for the Diamond Don! Then it was time for fly balls after the game for Nico and Donovan! Finally it was time to go back to the Hotel and now Nico and Ryan are trading gloves and shirts with the Chinese Taipei team. We ended up with two jerseys, a red ssk glove with a Chinese name, a blue phiten, and a number 14 ct sweatband. Good deal!!! Nico is snoring like his Grandma G. Hi Mom and Dad!
Day 17 - June 29, 2008 Jerry was here to do the TV broadcast of the series! By the way coach has been an idol of mine for sometime. He phones to invite me to church. Wow a call from my coaching idol and a chance to talk one on one with him. Well it was an amazing experience and what a wonderful man. It nice to meet an idol and know that he was everything I thought and more. Then it was off to batting practice and a chance to work with Nico and Donovan again. They were awesome as usual!! The Wildman is 6 foot 12 and 300 pounds now. Still snoring like his dad, (not mom)!! That one got me in some trouble!!! Well it can't all go good? We won again to bring our record to 16-2. Wow! Thanks for joining.
Day 16 - Saturday June 28 Friday was a great day in Cary, NC. The day started off at our home facility for USA baseball, we have three practice fields and one main stadium. To say the fields are beautiful would be an understatement. We practiced for a couple hours and then pregame Batting Practice. After bp we headed to Durham to play Chinese Taipie in game three of our six game series. The Durham Bulls ballpark is two years old and the most beautiful baseball venue I have had the pleasure to coach or play in. It is exactly like the old park with all the amenities. It was a great day for the team! They received all their USA gear: Wilson baseball gloves, travel bags, three sets of hats, Reebok turfs, cleats, shorts, fleece, shirts and wristbands!!!!! If only you could have seen Lipkin's eyes and his excitement to be part of all of it. It was definitely a pretty good day to be a player. We then went on to win 4-2 in front of 6,000 fans! A lot of fun! Then a firework show that was fabulous. In a day I thought could not possibly get any better, the day just did. We play there tomorrow and Sunday! Lucky us!! PS Mrs. G does not snore only Mr. G...
Day 15 - June 26, 2008 Then off to the field where (former Diamond Dons) Aaron (Poreda) and Steph (Stefan Gartrell) played for the Kannapolis Intimidators, the Class A club of the Chicago White Sox. We had a workout, then batting practice first for Nico and then the team. Nico one- hopped the leftfield wall at 330 feet, not bad for the Wildman. Then it was time for game two against the Chinese Taipei team. We won in 10 innings 4-2. Sounds easy, but no not at all. We were trailing 2-1 in the 8th and tied it 2-2, then in the ninth they loaded the bases with one out. We turned a 6-4-3 double play. We then scored two in the 10th to win. WOW! It sure was a proud moment to see Ryan catching and representing USF as well as USA. After the game we bused to Cary where we play game three of six at the Durham complex. It's 3 am and Nico is snoring like his Mom. She can really cut the wood and stack it!! He takes after his Dad. See you soon Nino, Nico and Ryan.
Day 14 - June 25, 2008 We won 4-3 in the bottom of the 12th inning. Ryan Lipkin made his first appearance in the 9th to sac bunt? He made a nice bunt but the CT pitcher made a great play to bounce off the mound and bullet to second on to first. Ryan went on to catch three scoreless innings. He also came up in the 11th with runners on 1st and 2nd and hit a ball down the left field line that went foul by an inch, then hit a bullet line drive to the right of the second baseman that was caught and then doubled off our runner at second. Well great night for the USF boys Nino, Nico, and Ryan. We are happy to have him! More to come.
Day 13 - June 24, 2008 Off to batting practice. Nico got a 32 inch USA bat from Mike Leake, wow what a great BP with wood for the Wildman. Then the rain and lightning came a calling for about 25 minutes. The outfield was flooded and we needed to see our last four pitchers before cuts. Well the outfield is too wet, so we decide to play a mini Blue-White scrimmage with infielders and pither-catcher only. Oh yeah, we will send Nico and Donovan out to play the outfield so no one gets hurt. By the way, there are 2,500 fans watching. We play and the White wins 4-2 in eight innings. Nico and Donovan each catch a ball off the bat in a live game and bring down the house! We might say how fortunate!!! Then we went home to cut the roster down to 22. Three catchers go down and we are adding USF Diamond Don Ryan Lipkin to the team!! Ryan deserves it and is at the right place at the right time! I am so happy for Ryan and so proud to have him in the uniform with us. Well, it's 5:00 am and time to shut it down.
Day 12 - June 23, 2008 I was very proud of the team and how they stayed disciplined in their offensive approach. After the game Nico and Donovan got their 100 groundballs and fly balls and then the SC boosters fed us a great dinner. Tomorrow is the last day before the final 22 roster is to be announced. You could really feel the tension. See you in the morning!
Day 11 - June 22, 2008 We played a Blue-White scrimmage game in front of about 2,500 fans last night at a wonderful ballpark in Columbia, SC. The Blue team came away with a 6-4 victory in the 7-inning affair. Today we are off to the Children's Hospital in the morning and then go to a workout before a 7:00 pm game vs. the Columbia Blowfish. It should be a great game. By the way Nico had a chance to take BP in front of about five MLB scouting directors yesterday and was having a blast with it! I would like to be him for a day! WOW.
Day 10 - June 21, 2008 The game was pretty close 1-0 going into the 8th and then Mike Leake pinch-hit with bases loaded and one out in the inning, a single to right and a 3-0 cushion. We won 3-0 on eight hits and only give up one hit and just three baserunners. Pretty impressive stuff on a fun travel day. By the way Dan Harrington made it to the game with Marcus and both were waving USF camp shirts in his army gear! It's always great to see your former radio broadcaster and friend on the long road. Today we are off to Columbia, SC. Our team is starting to play!! We are hitting a tough stretch where we need to pick the team of 22 out of our 34. They all deserve to stay! The have given every ounce of energy to wear this uniform! By the way our two batboys were offered spots with the Swampbats at ss and 2b. Nico and Donovan, the two switch hitting 13 year old shortstops. Thanks for reading.
Day Nine - June 20, 2008 There were 2,700 fans right on top of you from the third base box there is five feet from the first row of some great fans. The food... oh my god was it great. After the game they set up tables on the infield dirt and fed everyone. There was steak, stuffed shrimp, corn, clam chowder, potato salad, pasta salad, cookies (Nico had four), ice cream (Nico had three bowls). The players signed their 400 or so autographs and headed back to the Sauve Regina campus on the cliffs of Newport!! Oh yeah, we won 8-3. As we head off to the Airport this morning at 5:30 AM, I reflect back on all the great people in the NECBL. Thank you for a great week!!!!! Nico is sleeping he better rest up for pregame tonight.
Day Eight - June 19, 2008 There was a buzz around the stadium with Steven Strasburg from San Diego State. Wow this guy is really special. He throws 94-101 with command of three pitches. Tonight he pitched in front of many professional scouts and the entire front office for the USA Olympic team. He was impressive for all to see, striking out nine in four innings and allowed no hits and threw only 5 balls!!!!! Wow! We ended up striking out 22 Chinese players in honor of Naks and his countrymen!! We won 8-1. Our good luck charm has arrived in Nico G. It was a treat to watch him run after the bats in his USA gear. After the game he did his customary bucket of ground balls, with Mike Leake at first base. Great life, and by the way he was on his game with the whole team watching him. In his words. "Dad I had to set a good impression for the summer." We are now on our way to Newport RI.
Day Seven - June 17, 2008 Last night's game was rained out in Pittsfield and rescheduled for today at 12 noon. We hit today in an indoor hitting facility that was like something out of Rocky 2. It was an old barn with great memorabilia from the 50's and 60's, the nets where even older than the memorabilia? The hardest part for me is that everywhere we go, there is a Red Sox banner! It is hard being a Yankee fan in New England. Pittsfield beat us today 5-2. We made three errors and got behind 4-1 and could not put together enough good at-bats to get it done. We are on our way to Torrington, CT to play at 7 pm. No rest for us! We will be battled tested soon. Where are the Starbucks in MA? I need some Iced Tea (proud sponsor of the Nino Giarratano Coaches Show)!!! My sleep has improved without all my friends supplying me with black tea. Right now we are finding out that it is not the best team rather the team that plays the best! We will need to improve tonight. Our good luck charm arrives tomorrow Nico G, AKA The Wildman. I'm counting down the seconds.
Day Seven, Part II What a great place to play and the Chicken Parm would make Joe D proud! We are staying at the Yankee Peddler which is the oldest Hotel in America- town. What a great experience. We play the Chinese Olympic team tomorrow night in Torrington. Go USA!! |
