Well. It was not the ending we had anticipated hoped for. It was not a surprise. What I mean by that is the game would be hard, the teams would swing leads back and forth and there would be frustrating moments when nothing goes well only to be followed by moments when the gods are with us and everything flies our way. When it balances out, the team with the more positive moments would win. The reality of team sports found the women WC basketball team on the losing end of an 80-72 game against the USA. They all know each other well as many lay together or against each other being members of Varsity WC basketball teams in NCAA schools like Alabama, Illinois and Whitewater.
It's a great rivalry and they can't all go our way.
After coming out World Champions last year in the same facility with wins against powerhouses like Germany and the Netherlands, the women thought they might have been on the right track to take it to their US opponent. What appeared to easy in the week's tournament seemed to not be going as planned last night. Shots not falling in while it appeared the US couldn't miss. Some interesting referred calls like a foul assigned to the wrong player, Cindy Ouellet (one of our best) put her in foul trouble in the second quarter. This limited her play for the rest of the game. Her role as a feared scorer, playmaker, leader and defender was limited which only added to frustration.
Not many smiles after the game but hopefully we can get something out of this. It's sports. You have to learn from everything. This was but one step on the team mission: the road to Rio, at the Paralympics next year. They had already locked up their spot for next year. This was a qualifier.
The men's team is on the courts at 11 for their shot at Gold. They had a lot of pressure at this tournament. A completely unanticipated failure to qualify for World Championships last year, after being Gold Medallists in London, saw them with their backs against the wall .Sports funding pays close attention to performance. If they did;t qualify for Rio, it would have been 2 major events where Canada didn't qualify and funding from Own The Podium would have been cut. Now they're back and looking good. The rivalry presents itself again this morning: Canada vs USA. It will be a backyard brawl!
What a great day yesterday: my family came to experience the finals and Closing Ceremonies tonight. They will be at the game this morning. I hope Canada comes up with a deserved win. The fans are loud and we need them to have the home court cheer them to victory!
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| Lukas |
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| Darlene, Gabrielle and ...me |
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