U-22 Japan Game

Hey Everyone,
Hope all is well. The past couple days of have been great. Very low key and a lot of hanging out around the hotel in preparation for our game. We went yesterday to the stadium that we played in today. The stadium is very nice.. looks great from the outside and seats just over 30,000... we trained for only an hour, did some shooting and final preparations. Today we took it easy most of the day, resting and eating to prepare for the game. We played at 7pm, the stadium and atmosphere was great. I started the match, and played 70 minutes... the first half was a little shakey for everyone.. trying to settle into the tempo and get a touch on the ball. I struggled a little to hold the ball up and get dangerous. The second half was better i held the ball up and set two guys up for shots.. I didnt get any shot opportunities but we did very well as a team and had them on their heals for a good 20 minutes. We ended in a tie 0-0... the game was fairly even. I think they had the better of the chances, they hit the cross-bar and post in the second half. Both scary moments but we held strong and all ended well. The coaches were very pleased with the performance and happy with the way the team is coming together. The Japanese team has been together for much longer and they are preparing for qualifying very soon so it was good that after our first camp together that we are making progress rather quickly. The attendance for the game was 15,000, and it was really fun playing in that environment. We have a lighter day of training tomorrow and then play a game against the local J-league team who is in the second division but trying to move up to the first soon. Should be another great experience in a packed stadium. Until then...

From Japan

Hello all,
We arrived at the hotel about 1230am last night, it had just turned Sunday. Now it is 1130am and we have had breakfast and are now relaxing in the room. Lunch is soon and then a nap, training at 4 and then back to the hotel for dinner.

Traveling was not terrible, certainly long, about 22 hours door to door from our Hotel in LA. 2 flights and a bus ride and we got here with no problems. The town is nice, reminds me of Valencia with the style of the buildings and layout, only there is Japanese writing on everything. The airplane from Tokyo to Kumamoto had a very cool feature. There was a camara anchored under the base of the nose of the plane and we could see everything in front of us on take off and landing, and during flight... it was neat. The hotel is very high-tech lots and gadgets and conveniences, heated toilet seat, bedside control for all the lights in the room and full size beds that are a little too firm but still nice. We have a TV that plays cnn in english... unfortunately all the discussion is on the Anna Nicole drama, or presidential candidates.

All in all things are great, I woke up feeling a little off, probably that circadian rhythm thing, but after waking up at 930 and maybe after an afternoon nap Ill feel almost on schedule. Our first game is on Wednesday so we still have three days to acclimate and train here. Looking forward to get out of the hotel maybe a little after training. Maybe some pictures to come soon.
Until then...

Shout-Out

To my beautiful love Ashley...
I love you and miss you...

Cross Country

Hey from LA... actually I just finished writing the last post because I slacked off the past few days, but today Ryan Solle and I left our hotel at 515am this morning and flew out of Providence. With a quick stop in Charlotte we finished our 10 hour trip by arriving at the Hotel here in Manhatten Beach. After a quick bite to eat I headed straight to bed and slept much of the afternoon. Our only engagement for the day was a 630pm dinner followed by a short meeting where we were introduced to the staff and caught up with some of our old teammates. Our schedule for the next couple days includes a 2 session day tomorrow, followed by a scrimage versus UCLA, another 2 session day, and another scrimage versus LA Chivas. Friday we head to Japan to train and play 2 more games. The weather is in the 60's and cloudy today with a chance of rain tomorrow. The warmth is a nice break from the below freezing temps back in Foxboro but I will certainly miss the time of getting to bond with my new teammates on the Revs. However this trip is an awesome opportunity and I cant wait to play with the guys here. Until then..

The Bruins Hook-up

Hello again...After a couple more days of training all the rookies got tired of the same routine, training, eating out, and then retreating to our hotel rooms to be entertained by the TV. We had a hook-up though, the dad of one of the rookies works for Mastercard and is able to get tickets to anything that Mastercard sponsors. So we got some tickets to a Boston Bruins hockey game. Our drive to Boston from the hotel was only about 30 minutes and we paid for parking near the Fleet Center Garden and stopped in a bar for a bite to eat and a drink. We went to the game which the Bruins lost 5-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes but it was exciting to watch and with 7 goals and a fight it was a lot of fun. After the game another one of the rookies knew the trainer from the Bruins because he used to work at the school he went to so we stayed a while after the game and got a tour of the Bruins' locker room and facility. It was great to get out of the hotel and have some fun and a really cool experience. Training ended Friday with the similar drills and running, nothing too hard but good training. With the weekend off each guy had a different agenda and plan for the weekend. Solle and I are set to leave for LA early in the morning. Until then..

First day of training

Hello again,
After yesterdays short physical and tour of the facilities we began training this morning. Training was relatively light as we try to ease into the nine week long pre-season. After getting into the warm-up and running it felt as if we were already fitting in and feeling a part of the Revs. After the training all the new guys got some lunch and most of us retired to the hotel for a long nap before heading to a hibachi grill for dinner.
I was also delivered some exciting news today that I will be joining the U-23 national team for a trip to LA and then to Japan. I will leave this Saturday Feb 10 and return Feb 24. This means I will miss the trip to Bermuda with the Revs which I wish I could be a part of to grow closer with the team however I am extremely excited about the opportunity to join the national teams again. Hopefully this camp with the U-23's will help my situation and standing here with the Revs as well. More updates as the week progresses, but cmon what excitement so far.
Until then..
http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/mediacenter/index.cfm?ac=gallerydetail&f=17804&searchstring=20070205

The New England Revolution

Hello to all,
I hope everyone is well. Today was the start of my journey up here to New England. I was up at 6:30am and had breakfast with Zack and Evan at Einsteins Bagels. I left Richmond, VA at 7:45 and crused on up Interstate 95 for a little over 8 hours and arrived at a bone chilled Foxboro, MA. I checked in to the Holiday Inn Express, unpacked, and then relaxed after a long day. I was extremely happy with making the trip without any hold ups. My roommate Phil was the goalie from Clemson and we have settled in to our room quickly with about 20 bags total cluttering the free space in the room. We have a meeting in the morning over at the stadium so we can get physicals and maybe have a team meeting. After that the afternoon like most will be free time for relaxing, reading, playing guitar, or exploring the area. I am extremely excited to get into the system and get into the training with the guys. This blog will be a continued outlet to share my days and communicate with everyone. Until then...