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US women's water polo seeks Olympic gold; more Olympic notes

The U.S. women's water polo team went silver, bronze, silver in the last three Olympics, but it's been nothing but golden in the run up to 2012.

The world No. 1s won the FINA World League Super Final over Italy 9-7 on Sunday in China. In water polo, there are four major tournaments: the Olympics, the world championships, the World League Super Final and the World Cup.

The Americans won the last two world championships (2007, 2009), the last three World League Super Final titles (2009, 2010, 2011) and the last World Cup (2010).

No doubt they're favorites to claim another world championship next month in China, but their sparkling resume won't be complete without an Olympic gold. "For us to say that's not the goal is kind of avoiding the elephant in the room," coach Adam Krikorian said.

USA Water Polo hopes Krikorian is the man to deliver the elusive Olympic crown. He guided UCLA to seven NCAA titles in a 10-year stretch before replacing Guy Baker as the U.S. coach in 2009.

Baker had been in charge since women's water polo was added to the Olympic program in 2000 and left the post to take a job in the USA Water Polo Olympic development program.

The transition was smooth. Krikorian had been an assistant under Baker at UCLA in the 1990s and brought a similar coaching style. But Krikorian wasn't averse to change. Captain Brenda Villa, a three-time Olympian, remembered one of his first addresses to the team in 2009. "Everyone here has to earn their spot," she recalled Krikorian saying. "It doesn't matter if you've been here before. No one has a foot in the door."

At the time, 11 of the 13 members of the 2008 Olympic roster were active. The recent World League Super Final team however, included seven non-Olympians. No Americans were among the top 10 overall scorers, but 12 of 13 had at least two goals. Goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong earned all-tournament honors.

"We have a lot of players that are very versatile and can play different roles," Villa said. "It's harder for teams to scout us."

Villa also credited improved fitness and Krikorian's training regimen, which included a day with Navy SEAL on a California beach in February, climbing over walls, under barbed wire and through obstacle courses.

"That was crazy," Villa said. "I don't think any of us would do that experience again, but we're glad we did it and survived.

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You Have To Love The Location, Say These Owners Of Orlando Florida Villas

You Have To Love The Location, Say These Owners Of Orlando Florida Villas

It has been said that in real estate there are three things that count the most: location, location and location. I recently discovered how powerful this concept can be.

Not long ago, I wrote an article about owning a vacation rental and what to consider before making the plunge ( clients/villa-ownership.html ). Like every decision, there are pros and cons, and it also depends on an individual’s temperament coach wallets , comfort with risk and many other factors.

I asked a few dozen villa owners who were listed at an Orlando Florida villas rental listing site at why they had chosen villa ownership and what cautions or advice they would offer somebody considering a Florida vacation rental.

What struck me, however Vibram Five Fingers Sprint , was how most of the vacation rental owners I interviewed offered more comments on why they chose Florida as a location, than why they chose to be a villa owner.

In other words, the location more than the occupation inspired villa ownership, and that location is Orlando, Florida. Considering the battering Florida had recently taken by one hurricane after another, this struck me as kind of odd. So I picked up the phone and called Stewart Granville, owner of the listing site.

“It’s late Fall and I’m sitting out here in my shorts. Do I need another reason?” he asked. “How are you doing up there?”

“Uh…let me just go get a sweater,” was all I could respond.

To give you some idea of how important it for a vacation rental property owner to fall in love with the location, here are just two samples of what some villa owners told me:

“When we are driving back to the airport in Florida we never want to leave,” says Michelle Prince, owner of Secret Key Villa in Kissimmee, Florida ( villa/166/ ), adding “It was something we have always wanted to do since taking a Christmas break in Florida every year.”

“I believe that to feel that you wish to buy property in Florida you must think further than ‘Profit’,” says Dave Gordon, owner of Lindisfarne Villa in Orlando ( villa/89/ ). “I sincerely believe that most foreign villa owners have the ‘feel good’ factor themselves and buy because they want to return time and again��if they make a profit��what the heck!

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