Okuri Judo Club

Am-Cans 2002

We have safely returned from the American-Canadian Cup. The trip to Buffalo was uneventful, in fact most everything went our way. We flew stand-by on earlier flights and made every single one. Not bad! We left early Saturday morning and connected through Chicago into Buffalo. We managed to get to the hotel 4 hours earlier than scheduled by flying stand-by. This was a good thing because Jorge was 1 pound over weight. Akin and I left Jorge to run it off and we checked into the Super 8. This was not the Ritz! (For those of you who not know, we got to stay the Ritz for the National Championships in April. AWESOME!) Jorge managed to lose 2 pounds instead of the 1 he needed. We were off to Niagara Falls. We hung out at Niagara Falls and ate dinner. I cannot believe people actually went over the falls in barrels. I do not know what the heck they were thinking! We got to bed early to prepare for the tournament the next day. We got up on Sunday and ate the traditional IHOP breakfast consisting of pancakes and headed to the venue. For those of you who haven't been to the Am-Cans, they have 8 playing areas. It's a sight to see! Jorge had 17 players in his division and Akin had 15. There were a total of 318 seniors fighting that day. They had 500 juniors the day before, 800+ players. The Am-Can is double the size of the LSC! Jorge's first match was quick. He was thrown by ippon. He did not play how we all know he can. We had a pep talk and moved onto the second one. Unfortunately, I was not able to coach the second one because Akin was engaged in quite a battle at the same time. Luckily, Jorge was on the mat next to Akin. Jorge fought the match better, however he was thrown for a yuko, but the guy was given an ippon. Jorge was done for the day. I should have known from that moment the refereeing was going to be a problem for the rest of the day. Akin's first match was a tough one. We had a goal of no penalties. Akin fought the match very well. He stayed busy. Both he and his opponent both had one penalty. In the last 15 seconds of the match, Akin was given his second penalty, causing him to lose the match. Akin's second match was yet another battle. He had to win this one or be eliminated. He again fought well, the match ended up even and went into "golden score." (Golden Score is similar to sudden death. It's a new concept IJF is trying. Instead of going to flags, the match continues for another 5 minutes or until the first score. If after 5 minutes there is no score, the match goes to flags, but only the second match is considered in the decision.) Akin's opponent liked uchi mata. When the opponent came in, Akin stopped the throw and was able to push him to the mat and earn a yuko, winning the match. Akin's third match was against a fellow American named Phillip Farabough. Akin fought him in Chicago and lost. It was time for payback. Akin fought well and in the last 15 seconds was behind a score. He managed to throw Phillip for a yuko, tieing the score, and sending the match into golden score. The key to golden score is not to make a mistake. I told Akin he was not allowed to do drop seoi or kata guruma because we could not afford a penalty. Akin managed a to knock Phillip down with a foot sweep for koka, winning the match. I have to tell you, two back-to-back golden scores is not fun. Akin's conditioning is what pulled him through. Both opponents were dead leading into golden score. Akin captialized and won. The next match was against a Canadian who had placed 3rd two weeks prior in the Canadian Nationals. This was a tough match. Akin was down and needed something big to win. He had just been thrown for wazari. We decided to attack with throw we call the "Anita." It was an osoto attack he taught Anita before she went to the US Open. This is when it got really interesting. The scoreboard person gave the W to Akin. The referee changed the score to the Canadian. The head referee observing the match from the sidelines called matte and called the referee team over. He overruled them and gave the point back to Akin. To be honest, I don't know what that referee saw, but I saw Akin fall down for a W. This action caused the Canadian player to lose his concentration. Akin threw him for ippon ending the match. The Canadians went mad. They protested after the players left the mat. The head ref then called Akin and me over and asked Akin to fight the match again. The ref said he had made a mistake and cost the player the match. I know I had smoke coming out of my ears. I told the ref there was no way he was fighting the match again. He threw the guy for ippon. It was not our fault he lost his concentration after the error. I told him I have lost plenty of matches because of a referee error and was not allowed to refight them. It's the player's fault for losing his cool. The ref said fighting the match again was the right thing to do. I told him no and that if Akin refights it, that means the other refs' errors that caused players matches would also have to be redone. There had been two matches previously where the ref had cost players the fight. I was fuming! By winning this match, Akin was 1 of 3 in the running for 2nd and 3rd. The Am-Cans do a strange matching system I have never seen before. I cannot explain it. Basically it boils down to if you have already played a player, you cannot play them again. The guy that Akin lost to in the first round was one of the 3. The guy had already played Aaron Cohen, so he got the bye and an automatic 3rd place. Akin had to fight Aaron to place. Aaron threw Akin for ippon. Akin settled for 4th. I feel confident, if Akin would have played the first guy again, he would have placed 3rd. As for our goal of no penalities, Akin received a total of three. This was a great improvement!