Tuesday was a busy day at Dynamo practice, as there were team pictures before-hand, plenty of competition during practice, and interviews galore following the squad workout.
Topics of the day included Saturday night's ring ceremony (get there early; it starts at 7:00 p.m.), Landon Donovan's celebratory antics, and today's Barcelona-Manchester United match in the UEFA Champions' League.
The day started, however, with several of the team's newer players doing a photo-shoot for the team's player cards and then a full team picture with staff. Needless to say, there was a lot of orange and a lot of teasing, but it all got done on schedule.
Practice saw the team run through many of its normal drills, including technical skills relay races, which were not without controversy and argument. Whether it's a first-team game or a practice drill, these guys want to win.
Practice heated up with the team's standard 8 v. 8 half-field game between three teams, with the non-playing team serving as one-touch options around the perimeter of the field. The teams played mini-games up to 13 points (three points for a win, one point for a tie), but the orange team ended things relatively quickly by scoring five of the seven goals.
The orange group included Wade Barrett, Craig Waibel, Corey Ashe, Ricardo Clark, Richard Mulrooney, Brian Mullan, Brian Ching, and Kyle Brown. From that group, Brown and Mullan each scored twice, with Ashe adding a goal. Brad Davis and Stuart Holden (white team) also scored.
The players then did some more fitness work and closed practice with finishing drills and a typical wind-down.
With several television stations and print outlets at practice, there was plenty of post-practice chatting. The two players who had the most input on the team's championship rings - captain Wade Barrett and veteran Craig Waibel - took their distinctly different interview approaches into a couple of conversations.
The Manchester United-Barcelona match also drew quite a bit of chatter. Not surprisingly, former Chelsea star John Spencer was firmly in favor of Barcelona, rooting for a Chelsea-Barcelona final. Midfielder Stuart Holden, also Scottish born, was definitely rooting for Man U. Dominic Kinnear, yet another born in Scotland, predicted a 2-1 Barcelona win. Holden had the last laugh.
Finally, the line of the day was delivered, predictably, by a glib Craig Waibel: "I don't know who designed these rings, but they're brilliant."
