TIMA Nationals 2010 Vol.2

TIMA Nationals 2010 Vol.2
Tuesday, June 29, 2010. It’s a little after 11:30pm on Tuesday evening and it’s been a long day. I’ll get the inconsequential’s out of the way before we get to what everyone is really interested in, Seth’s fight.

We started the day with waffles. They were awesome and quick. I have a new appreciation for toasters. As you saw from last night’s blog, we were up very late and were all working on very little sleep. But, we had to get to the venue by 9:00am for check-in.

The event is being held at the Orange County Convention Center. It’s a huge complex and the hall we’re using is massive. It’s not as awe inspiring as Detroit, but it’ll do. I’d like to report that USAT is running the event smoothly. Unfortunately, they’re a few levels below retarded. Seth literally sat in the staging area from 9:00am until 2:00pm. It was a joke. They had about 19 rings and most of them sat idle throughout the day. The electronic hogu’s were as troublesome as we had feared. Action was constantly being stopped so the officials could test them to insure they were working. No match could start until the equipment was checked. It was time consuming and it definitely changed the game. In over 6 years of watching, attending and coaching competitive TKD I cannot remember a single match that ended 0-0 after regulation and sudden death, requiring the scorekeepers to determine the winner. I saw that 4 times today, with three of them in Seth’s ring and one in Seth’s fight.

Some good news to report was Coach Kaihewalu, Jake and Chad finally made it into Orlando. Even better, they made it in time to see Seth’s fight. The venue has a couple of attractions that we’ll surely check out before we leave, including a rock climbing wall and a bungee trampoline ride.

Seth’s fight finally started late in the afternoon. There were 19 fighters in his division. We saw both of Seth’s opponents from the State Championships here and they were in his division. Seth’s first fight was as close as they get, though to be honest; Seth appeared to be the more aggressive fighter. With the electronic gear the scores of the matches were typically pretty close. And much like soccer, once you had a one or two point lead the chances you were going to lose were pretty slim. The first round ended with neither fighter registering a point. The second round ended the same as the first. Seth was definitely the aggressor, launching a couple of tornado kicks, barely missing. The third round ended and the scoreboard still read 0-0. Sudden death overtime started. The first fighter to score would win and go on to the next round. I’ll tell you right now I was as calm during a sudden death as I can remember ever being. I just knew that kid wasn’t going to come close to scoring on Comet. His footwork, angles and speed were untouchable. However, as the previous three rounds went, so went sudden death. With the match knotted at 0-0 the decision was left to the judges. I was certain Seth had done more than enough to garner the decision. But everyone in this sport knows you can never predict what the judges will do. I’m happy to report the judges were able to accomplish accurately what the electronic hogu’s could not. Seth was the winner.

Seth then had another marathon wait until his next fight. In that time we saw his toughest opponent from states go down in defeat. We then saw his least skilled opponent eke out a 1-0 victory to advance to the next round. Some of you may remember ‘Billy’ from states.
He’s the kid Seth destroyed like 12-2 or something. Billy repeatedly fell on the matt, accused Seth of cheating, screamed, cried and chucked his helmet to the ground after the fight. As luck would have it, Seth and Billy were destined to meet up again in Orlando. We were more than excited as we knew this match was in the bag. However, nothing in TKD is ever certain and Seth had to do the work.

The first round ended 0-0. Billy was vastly improved from States, but Seth clearly had him outclassed. Seth executed turning kicks repeatedly to Billy’s roundhouses. Round two came and went with neither fighter lighting up the scoreboard. Heading into round three the score was 0-0. The majority of the round was a strategic battle with a surprising amount of offense. With half the round gone Billy fell face down on the mat for the umpteenth time. This kid flopped on the ground more than a forward for the Ghana National Soccer team. As the round neared its end Seth let loose with a Nautobon, just missing. Billy attacked simultaneously and scored the first point of the match. With less than 10 seconds to go Seth scrambled to get the match even, but time ran out, as did Seth’s run at this year’s Nationals.

We don’t want to sound like sour grapes, because Seth was awesome. But the new electronic gear leaves much to be desired. Seth repeatedly landed kicks that could be heard in the stands, but they didn’t register points. All the coaches and masters at ringside told Guro they were shocked Seth didn’t receive a single point as were we all. That being said, Seth handled himself like a champion. Not that anyone would expect anything less from him.

After the fight we were all treated to “Cici’s” all you can eat Pizza Buffet by the Okerlunds. It was sort of an early birthday celebration for Comet who turns 11 next week. The Mertz’s arrived in Orlando and joined us for dinner. They’re staying in the room directly below me. Sucks for them.

Once we got back to the resort we all went for an evening swim. Unfortunately they kicked us out of the pool at 11:00pm. Guro and the kids are back at the rooms changing into dry clothes. I suspect they’ll be back here in the clubhouse shortly and we’ll all stay up way to late again. That’s it for today. I’ll post again tomorrow. Until then, please keep us in your prayers and sending out support to the team.

From Orland, For the Team,
Coach Woodward