Reid Priddy

Click on the link for the video:   http://www.ktla.com/pages/morningnewsat9  

Last night Bruno Serato had those of us who are in town over for dinner with our wives and girlfriends.  He is the owner of the Anaheim White House and has provided lunches for the team since we relocated in 2006.  It was a special dinner with tremendous food and lasted for hours!  He even busted out some crazy expensive and delicious wine for the occasion.  This morning Kevin Hansen, Dave Lee, Rich Lambourne and I will be going up to Torrance for a little celebration on KTLA at 9am.  If you are in the area, come join us at Paddy-O’s!

I wanted to let those of you know who have been asking me about JERSEY’S that I have contacted USA volleyball and requested them.  They have in turn contacted Mizuno (Japan) who is the official team provider of uniforms and we are waiting for their response on a timeline.  I apologize for the delay and hope to get them very soon!

The Chinese are all about the number 8 being lucky so I’ll just keep running with that!  What a day yesterday was!  We of course, sleep deprived and exhausted were quickly lifted up by the unbelievable response and welcome we received coming home yesterday.  Our sport has never been in the public eye here in the States and we are completely used to being unrecognized and overlooked.  But the response we received yesterday was awesome!!  We landed at John Wayne Airport in Orange County around 3pm and as we deplaned, we were greeted with a standing ovation from the entire terminal!  It was heart warming.  Every-time we suit up with USA on our chest we feel great pride, honor and responsibility.  But with the welcome home we are receiving it is becoming evident that our country was behind us every step of the way and that is making this moment that much more special.  Thank you for all of your support.  Your emails, messages and posts are and have been so encouraging.  To play a sport so often overlooked, your encouragement is inspiring and makes me want to step on the court again for TEAM USA!!

The bummer about being a human though is that we require sleep.  I can count the hours on 2 hands of sleep I have gotten in the past few days.  I finally crawled into bed last night around 1130 and was sure I would sleep all night and into the day…however, at 3am I woke up wide awake and wired.  Jet-lag is such a drag.  So at 7am I left the house and headed to a local Mimi’s cafe as I always to for a weekly breakfast appointment that I have with some good friends and they and they staff there surprised me with a party!!  Awesome!  More soon…

A dream come true!  It has been a truly amazing month.  I enjoyed grinding and scrapping with these guys so much!  After the match, we had buses take us and our families and friends to the Jasmine restaurant (TEAM USA HOUSE) to celebrate.  I was so tired I passed on walking in the closing ceremonies so we stayed there and watched it on the big screen.  Can’t wait to get back home. We are all packed and waiting for our transport to the airport.  More to come….let the festivities begin!!!!

Today, as is routine on the “off-days”, we went to the local University that the USOC has taken over for a video session, light training, recovery treatments and a good meal.  It is restricted and only for American athletes which makes for a great training/recovery environment.  It also creates opportunities for interaction with other American athletes and teams.  Today we practiced after the women’s basketball team in the main gym.  Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker picked up a Mikasa and started peppering.  I was impressed by their ball control and was informed by one of their teammates that over half the girls on the US Women’s basketball team had played Volleyball in high school.  Ryan Millar then went over and set Candace. She slammed the ball pretty good but then netted hard.  Still impressive.

We were able to spend the rest of the afternoon with our families and friends that are out here.  We have a very significant cheering group here with us in BEijing. Even being grossly outnumbered against China, they were still heard!  We have our last pool play match tomorrow against Japan…Go USA!

 After playing the early match against China we had all afternoon to spend with our families.  My crew along with the Millar’s went down to the Pearl Market and had a good time.  For those of you that don’t know, it is like a swap meet on steroids with people all around you screaming, “MAN, you want…” “Hey LADY, you want to buy”  ”No kidding, give you good price!”.  And they weren’t kidding around either.  I bought a totally authentic Breitling watch for under a $100.  I call that a deal right!  The only weird part is that when I try to spin the dial, the entire face moves with it??  Maybe I should try to take it back…they should be cool with that. After haggling with the locals we all went out for an awesome Mexican meal.  It was a good change of pace.

We have a recovery day tomorrow and then the late match on Monday so it will be a great time for some needed rest.  One pool play match left and then into the main event!  Go USA! 

So far so good.  We were able to edge out Bulgaria last night.  It was a late night though getting back to the Village around 2am.  On our off days, we train at a local college that the US Olympic Committee has taken over.  Aside from all the amenities and perks of an Olympic Training Center, they have also dialed us in with Rock Band on the Wii.  Here Richie, Ryan and I kill some time after practice covering Soundgarden…it was lights out-encore material! (though we may have annoyed everyone else in ear shot, namely the Women’s Water-polo team, sorry).

It’s very early in the morning and I’m looking to the north from my twentieth floor apartment window.  I can barely make out the mountains in the distance.  As the day unfolds the mountains will soon disappear from view due to the smog.  The Priddys have followed Reid to his second Olympic Games, here to cheer on Team USA.

The apartment we have rented from a friend of a friend is a typical apartment in Beijing at the top floor of a high rise apartment building surrounded by other high rise apartment buildings.  This building is part of a multi-building complex with several security gates on the perimeter.  Each gate is manned by numerous security personnel who seem quite curious about the American family that keeps going out and coming in.  We can’t communicate with language and charadesdoesn’t always work, so we smile at each other and try to project friendliness.

The large courtyard below is buzzing with activity.  There is a group of older people practicing tai chi (I’m guessing) using swords and fans in their unison movements.  Another younger group is playing a hacky sack game while still another older group is playing a game in a wide circle that is much like hacky sack except that they are striking the projectile with their hands.

What appears to be a playground full of brightly colored playground equipment is actually half playground and half fitness center.  Some of the equipment is for adult exercise including a bright yellow elliptical and matching “skier” apparatus.  All of the equipment and outdoor floor space is in use, mostly by people who are middle-aged and older.

The younger adults are headed off towork or perhaps school, moving toward the exit gates with obvious intent.  Many are on bicycles, soon to join the thousands who travel this city on bikes in the bike lanes that parallel the main streets.

It’s a busy town filled with busy people, most of whom are living very modest lives in humble circumstances.  All that we have met have been most kind and generous, especially the taxi driver who zeroed out the meter once he realized that he had been taking us in the wrong direction.  He retraced the journey back to the original starting point and then started the meter again.  The side trip cost us a little time, but we still made it to the gym in time to see the US Women’s Basketball Team defeat an over-matched team from the Czech Republic.  Both President Bush and the NBA players that make up the men’s team were in the stands.

In a couple of hours we’ll be heading out to the Capital Gymnasium to see the US Men’s Volleyball Team take on Italy in the second round of pool play.  Go USA!

The last few days have been difficult.  First and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with the McCuteon/Bachman family.  We pray for God to be near in this most devastating time.  We pray especially for Mrs. Barbara Bachman and a full recovery.

It is hard to put words to these circumstances.  As we walked out to our first match against Venezuela there was a definite void and Hugh’s absence was felt.  It was especially emotional as the team shared a moment of silence for Todd and Barbara, Hugh, Wiz and the rest of the family.  For what is usually an exciting time as a tournament kicks off, it was more emotional and somber.  But we were able to pull it together and beat Venezuela in 5.

I thank you all for your emails of support and encouragement.  To hear some words from Hugh himself you can visit this  ”LINK”.  He has left a significant imprint on this team and we will continue to operate and compete as if he is still here, knowing that is what he wants. We face Italy tomorrow.  Go USA! 

So there I was, checking my email in a back room of the Athlete Service Lounge last night in the Olympic Village.  That is the place the USOC has set up for us to hang out, work on the computer, call home, etc…So I was in the back room plugging away on my computer when the noise level in the other room rose tremendously.  Casually, not missing a key stroke, I reached over to shut the door and kept working.  Well about 10 minutes later the door opens and Carlos Boozer sticks his head in and says, “You guys studying?”…ok, so you have my attention now!  I look past him and see Kobe posing for a pic with another athlete.  Then  Kidd, Paul, Melo, James, the whole gang.  It was awesome…only problem was that they were on their way out.  I missed it.  Next time I’ll try to be more aware of my surroundings.