Their concern Sunday was whether the players would allow that recent history to play too much on their minds.
Their versatility, balanced defense and two great players just don't allow you to make any mistakes.
Some players allow trading of Risk cards, but only during their turn.
"I think, because the atmosphere hasn't been the same, the players have allowed our attitude to change a little bit," Houston said.
A player is allowed but not required to use only one sheriff card per turn.
A player allows the ball to bounce twice in his or her square.
When this rule is in effect, players must allow an adjacent player to choose the last card played on each turn.
The result is the expected amount of points that an individual player will allow on defense over 100 possessions.
One point is subtracted every time a player allows a ball into his or her goal.
The American players took the position that they had gained 3 points in the standing and had not allowed a goal.