Ugh.

God that was a great Superbowl. Wasn't it? One transcendent play, lots of tension, an underdog coming back to win, it almost lived up to all the hype. It's just so much fun to watch sports when games are like that. Honestly, and this is a crazy thing to say considering the way he is regarded, but Bill Belichick choked. He turned into Marty Schottenheimer in the game that could have cemented him and his team as the greatest of all time. They got conservative when they had been playing wide open and aggressive all year long. And it cost them.

Besides feeling slightly obligated to write something about the Superbowl, I kind of needed some filler to beef up this match report from ASV. And normally, I try not to be too critical of the teams that we play against. In this case, I feel it's justified to say that ASV was horrible. When two teams step onto a court against one another, they enter into a kind of contract. They both pledge to do whatever they can to win the game and compete. On Sunday, ASV didn't fulfill their end of the bargain.

It's weird because, out of all the teams we've played against this year, ASV has had the most drastic fluctuation in their level of play. Earlier in the year, they looked like a team headed in the right direction. Sunday they played the worst match I've seen in recent memory. Yes, they were dealing with one starter who was out of place, but that does not excuse the absolute lack of emotion, effort or intensity that they brought into our gym. It was slightly embarrassing, and to borrow a thought from recent debate (a debate some might say is still ongoing) - I'm extremely glad that there were no television cameras anywhere near Marienlyst for this one. Airing this match on tv would set Danish volleyball back about twenty years. You could hear people in the stands having conversations from the court.

We played well, but were hardly pressed in any part of the game. All of our players played a substantial amount and as the scores indicate were equally successful in what they did. We've got a nice stretch of home (and close to home) games coming up which we can hopefully use to establish ourselves as the definite first seed heading into the playoffs. It's really important to generate some momentum for the end of the season, especially with Aalborg playing very well and Aarhus also improving. This Friday's game between the two is going to be exciting to follow. If Aarhus loses that one at home, I can't imagine them being able to get it together in time to make it to the playoffs.

Speaking of Aarhus, I watched their Saturday match on Gentofte's new webcam. I think it's an extremely exciting feature and the quality is good enough to follow the action. I might be a huge nerd, but by keeping my own score on a piece of paper I was able to enjoy the game a lot more. It's funny how much knowing the score and the context of each point makes a difference for watching a game. Anyways, thanks to Gentofte for offering the service, it would be great if there were a few more clubs that could set something up like this.

Big match for us this weekend, maybe the last time we see Middelfart this year...