It looks like Friedrichshafen is going to win the finals here in Germany. And may I say, a fitting end to a great season for them. Winning the Champions League, the German Cup and now the Bundesliga title. Okay, they haven't won yet, but it would take a very surprising turn of events for them to lose.
The triple. That sounds pretty good.
Talking to a few people here in Germany, it seems like Friedrichshafen's success could have an effect on volleyball in general throughout the country. More coverage, more sponsors, more money, more fans, more interest. Hopefully it's true.
I've been thinking hard about volleyball the last few weeks. Why isn't it as popular as some other sports? Why aren't our fan numbers growing?
I don't have any real answers, but at some point, I thought to myself, maybe volleyball just isn't that exciting to watch. I mean, it's hard to admit it, being a volleyball player and a lover of the sport, but it's very possible. We've changed the format of the game to be more friendly to television and I guess it's helped in getting volleyball on TV more often. But I still look at the stands and I see an empty arena. We talk about how to "fix" the game so that it is more appealing to more people. The more I think about the idea of "fixing" volleyball, the more disgusted I feel.
I love the game the way it is. Actually, I love the game the way it WAS. I loved sideout scoring. I think that was the coolest thing about volleyball. You had to score a point in your own serve to win a point. And that meant you had to battle for it. Scoring a point was genuinely exciting - for players and for fans - because it was something out of the ordinary, there was a level of difficulty to scoring a real point.
I honestly think that the players have become less interesting since the abolition of sideout scoring. We are more business like, more calm, more focused. Points are easy to come by, all you have to do is sideout, do it 25 times in a row and the game will be over. It's like each team is a big indistinguishable mass of people with no discernible personality because really, what is there to get excited about? Who do people always enjoy watching? Brazil. Why? Because they are the only team that really look like they are enjoying the game. Each point is a celebration. No one else plays that way, no one else has the energy to do it.
I was at a basketball game the other day. And at one particularly exciting point in the game, before I realized what I was doing, I jumped to my feet. It felt totally natural. I was caught up in the moment and I realized afterward that I hadn't felt that way in a long time.
There are only two times where modern volleyball really gets exciting these days. One is when there is a long rally with a lot of great defense. The other is when the score reaches a deuce situation. 24-24 and the teams continue siding out back and forth. That's it.
Let me set the scene for you: Your favorite team is serving, they are ahead 12-10 in the old scoring system, a really good serve is passed poorly by the other team, they set a high ball to the outside who hits the ball well cutting it back to the corner over the setter's head, your position six defender dives to his right and just barely digs the ball with one hand, it comes up high enough for your setter to get under it and make a high set to position 4... This is where I would be feeling that anticipation, that feeling in my stomach, waiting, hoping to see my team's outside make a great swing on the ball and give us a big point to go up 13-10. Can anyone remember that feeling? Am I the only one who used to feel it? In the rally scoring system, this point is still nice, you are still happy to see it as a fan, but it isn't the same. It's just another point. Especially if say, your team wins the point and then goes back and makes a service mistake. All the points mean the same thing and in the end they all kind of blend together.
I recognize the importance of the rally scoring system for the "popularity" of the sport. Of course it is good that the sport is on television more often, but, it seems to me, volleyball was on TV all the time before. I watched because it was exciting then. I watch now because I want it to be exciting.
Showing posts with label Favorites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Favorites. Show all posts
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Where are we headed?
Volleyball players move around a lot. Being a professional is committing yourself to a rootless lifestyle. It's hard to really get comfortable in one place when you easily could be moving somewhere else in a year. What's funny is that each new year, more or less, follows the same program as previous years. Figure out a way to move all your stuff to new place, spend first month trying to get internet and telephone set up and spending way too much on food, spend the next couple of months figuring out the new city, learning where to shop and where to go to have fun. Spend next couple of months repeating the same daily schedule. Spend last months looking forward to the playoffs and figuring out where you will spend next year. Repeat.
Since it is that time of year where everyone is out looking for new jobs (at least the people who aren't ballsy enough to wait until just before next season when they could make even better money but might end up without anything) I thought I would share my thoughts on the whole process.
I've played at three different clubs during my career, switching from SK Aarhus to Marienlyst and from Marienlyst to SV Bayer Wuppertal. The first time, I switched because I thought that Marienlyst provided a much better environment for the players. And it did. The second time, I switched because I wanted to push my limits as a player. I did. There are lots of other reasons to move: experiencing something new, exploring a different culture and the likelihood that I'll be playing for a winning team all play important roles in the decision making process.
Money has never been a big issue for me. True, it's nice to make more money than the year before. But, the money that I make, and this isn't true for some volleyball players who make very good money, is never going to be enough to make me feel rich. I'm not in the class of players who can demand huge sums of cash, therefore there are many other things that mean more to me than money when I'm looking at a potential club to play for.
First, I look at the team and I look at the staff surrounding the team. Do I think I would be a good fit there? Do I think that the staff is reliable and that the players are willing to work hard enough to win? Can we win more than we are going to lose? Is the coach crazy? Is the coach crazy in a bad way? Then I look at the technical stuff. The city and the arena etc...
What I really want though, and this may sound kind of weird, is to know that the club really wants me. Before coming to Europe to play, I used to marvel over how professional athletes in the US could leave a great situation where they had played for many years and were loved by the community, etc... over a few million dollars. They make so much money, I couldn't understand how a couple million dollars could convince a player to just get up and leave a team and move to some other place. Well, the answer is the other team made them feel wanted. That extra money shows that they are willing to go the extra mile for that player. It shows that they believe in that player and want to show that by giving more.
If a club is willing to do something extra for me, then I will seriously consider playing for them. It seems like a simple thing, but not every team manager or club owner understands this very well. Of course, there are certain conditions that have to be met, but a little attention from the club's side can go a long way. I think every athlete likes to have their ego stroked a little bit here and there...
Since it is that time of year where everyone is out looking for new jobs (at least the people who aren't ballsy enough to wait until just before next season when they could make even better money but might end up without anything) I thought I would share my thoughts on the whole process.
I've played at three different clubs during my career, switching from SK Aarhus to Marienlyst and from Marienlyst to SV Bayer Wuppertal. The first time, I switched because I thought that Marienlyst provided a much better environment for the players. And it did. The second time, I switched because I wanted to push my limits as a player. I did. There are lots of other reasons to move: experiencing something new, exploring a different culture and the likelihood that I'll be playing for a winning team all play important roles in the decision making process.
Money has never been a big issue for me. True, it's nice to make more money than the year before. But, the money that I make, and this isn't true for some volleyball players who make very good money, is never going to be enough to make me feel rich. I'm not in the class of players who can demand huge sums of cash, therefore there are many other things that mean more to me than money when I'm looking at a potential club to play for.
First, I look at the team and I look at the staff surrounding the team. Do I think I would be a good fit there? Do I think that the staff is reliable and that the players are willing to work hard enough to win? Can we win more than we are going to lose? Is the coach crazy? Is the coach crazy in a bad way? Then I look at the technical stuff. The city and the arena etc...
What I really want though, and this may sound kind of weird, is to know that the club really wants me. Before coming to Europe to play, I used to marvel over how professional athletes in the US could leave a great situation where they had played for many years and were loved by the community, etc... over a few million dollars. They make so much money, I couldn't understand how a couple million dollars could convince a player to just get up and leave a team and move to some other place. Well, the answer is the other team made them feel wanted. That extra money shows that they are willing to go the extra mile for that player. It shows that they believe in that player and want to show that by giving more.
If a club is willing to do something extra for me, then I will seriously consider playing for them. It seems like a simple thing, but not every team manager or club owner understands this very well. Of course, there are certain conditions that have to be met, but a little attention from the club's side can go a long way. I think every athlete likes to have their ego stroked a little bit here and there...
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Zen
Two days ago, I had one of the worst days of practice I have ever had. Nothing went right, every touch on the ball felt awkward and wrong. Instead of doing something to help the team each time I played the ball I was doing the opposite. My hands felt sticky, my legs heavy and most importantly, my head was elsewhere. No matter what I did I couldn’t get myself into that place that an athlete needs to be in to do well. And after spending a lot of time replaying that day in my head, I think that I’m starting to understand why.
Here’s the main reason: My focus was misplaced. I don’t mean focus as far as concentrating on the game. I was most certainly focused on the task at hand. But specifically, I was focusing on things that were of absolutely no value to me at the time.
Let me explain the way practice was structured that day. Morning training consisted of a warm up game called Hagebau, a game based on the principles of soccer and volleyball, which has become just as competitive as anything else we do down here. This day, the “young” team, made up of the younger players on the team, killed the old and set the negative tone for what would be a terrible day for me. Afterwards we did a bit of straight setter training and a few light drills afterward. The night training, and I count this as the worst of the two, was basically a competitive practice with scrimmage-like drills taking up all of the two hours.
The thing that worried me most about playing so poorly on this day was the fact that I had a good feeling going into the day. I’ve felt an improvement in my game over the last few weeks, and felt that I had been training well, doing my job and working hard to get better every single day. My serving felt stronger than it had in a long while, my hands felt light like I could do almost anything with the ball I wanted to. In short, I felt strong. So, going into the day, I was full of confidence, I knew that I was improving and I was looking forward to getting a chance to continue.
But somewhere along the way, my priorities got mixed up. Instead of going into that night competitive training with the mindset that I was going to keep improving, focus on the aspects of my game that needed work and just work hard, I came in thinking only about winning. Now, winning is absolutely one of the most important parts of playing sports. Anyone who says different is not being honest with themselves or anyone around them. But, focusing on winning, especially while playing, is a complete and utter waste of time.
The concept is nothing profound. I don’t claim that what I’m saying is innovative or deep. However, I do believe that it is something we lose sight of all the time.
For example, when I walked into the gym on Thursday night, I had already had a full training earlier in the day where I didn’t feel very good about my game. Like I said, my legs were slow, my hands didn’t feel very good, I didn’t feel like I could make solid connection with the ball. I knew all of these things, I felt them somewhere in the back of my mind but when I got to training and I saw that we were going to have a competitive game like practice I immediately started thinking about winning each drill. We warmed up, did hitting lines and served. And I still didn’t feel good about my game, but I remember still thinking, when the games start, hopefully I’ll be able to switch it around.
What happened? The team I was on lost every single set that we played. Zero wins and five losses. And we switched around a lot so I brought the losses to both sides of the net. As a setter, I take a lot of responsibility for those losses. No one has a bigger influence on the outcome of a volleyball match than a setter.
The funny thing is, I spent the whole time worrying about the score, worrying about the refereeing, worrying about the difference in how hard the free balls were to my side of the net compared to their side of the net. Worrying about losing…
I finally realized afterward that these were the things that a loser would think about. These were the things that I hadn’t been spending my time on for the past two months.
So, what should I have been thinking about? Well, that’s the tough question. The more I think about it, and this is for me personally, the more I think that getting better and being a great player is based on working on your weaknesses all the time. More than that, it is identifying your weaknesses on any given day. Maybe today your legs are tired and that means that you have to work that much harder to make sure you move your feet and get to the position you need to be in. I have a tendency to drop my hands when I set and not take the ball as high as I should (something I did all of Thursday without doing anything about it) and I have to remind myself all the time to take the ball high. We all have lots of things that we have to work on and it is a constant struggle with yourself to keep working on those things. But the only way to get better is to focus on them and correct them and continue to develop as a player.
Second, I think all great players have the ability to drop all of their insecurities when they get on the court. This is directly related to focus because once you drop that insecurity you are free to just play the game. All of a sudden, winning doesn’t reflect positively or negatively on the player because it is what we can call an “outcome goal”. We all know that winning is not 100% dependent on how well we play, there are several factors that influence the outcome of every match or game. Luck, weather, opponent’s ability, refereeing, teammates, these are all things that can make even the best performance a losing one. Without insecurity, a player can play without distraction, the only thing that matters is their performance and knowing inside their heart that they have done all that they could do to help their team. They can be courageous and they can play without pressure because the only important pressure comes from inside, and usually, a player who plays this way wins. Once you forget about winning, you generally win and that, for me, is a zen-like state.
So, that’s where I’m at right now, trying to lose all of my insecurities. Trying to take what the coaches tell me without saying, “But….” Because they don’t want to hear an excuse and an excuse only holds me back from my goals. When I make a mistake, the goal is to correct that mistake and do it right next time, not to get angry at my hitter for not putting the ball away so that I don’t look bad. I lose sight of this all the time and it doesn’t do anyone any good, and I think if we’re being honest others do too, and it all comes from being insecure about our own abilities and what others, whether it’s a coach or spectators, etc…, think about us.
Friday was a much better day and even though I’m sure there will be more bad days at some point, I’m trying to stay zen. Until we lose in Hagebau again that is…
Here’s the main reason: My focus was misplaced. I don’t mean focus as far as concentrating on the game. I was most certainly focused on the task at hand. But specifically, I was focusing on things that were of absolutely no value to me at the time.
Let me explain the way practice was structured that day. Morning training consisted of a warm up game called Hagebau, a game based on the principles of soccer and volleyball, which has become just as competitive as anything else we do down here. This day, the “young” team, made up of the younger players on the team, killed the old and set the negative tone for what would be a terrible day for me. Afterwards we did a bit of straight setter training and a few light drills afterward. The night training, and I count this as the worst of the two, was basically a competitive practice with scrimmage-like drills taking up all of the two hours.
The thing that worried me most about playing so poorly on this day was the fact that I had a good feeling going into the day. I’ve felt an improvement in my game over the last few weeks, and felt that I had been training well, doing my job and working hard to get better every single day. My serving felt stronger than it had in a long while, my hands felt light like I could do almost anything with the ball I wanted to. In short, I felt strong. So, going into the day, I was full of confidence, I knew that I was improving and I was looking forward to getting a chance to continue.
But somewhere along the way, my priorities got mixed up. Instead of going into that night competitive training with the mindset that I was going to keep improving, focus on the aspects of my game that needed work and just work hard, I came in thinking only about winning. Now, winning is absolutely one of the most important parts of playing sports. Anyone who says different is not being honest with themselves or anyone around them. But, focusing on winning, especially while playing, is a complete and utter waste of time.
The concept is nothing profound. I don’t claim that what I’m saying is innovative or deep. However, I do believe that it is something we lose sight of all the time.
For example, when I walked into the gym on Thursday night, I had already had a full training earlier in the day where I didn’t feel very good about my game. Like I said, my legs were slow, my hands didn’t feel very good, I didn’t feel like I could make solid connection with the ball. I knew all of these things, I felt them somewhere in the back of my mind but when I got to training and I saw that we were going to have a competitive game like practice I immediately started thinking about winning each drill. We warmed up, did hitting lines and served. And I still didn’t feel good about my game, but I remember still thinking, when the games start, hopefully I’ll be able to switch it around.
What happened? The team I was on lost every single set that we played. Zero wins and five losses. And we switched around a lot so I brought the losses to both sides of the net. As a setter, I take a lot of responsibility for those losses. No one has a bigger influence on the outcome of a volleyball match than a setter.
The funny thing is, I spent the whole time worrying about the score, worrying about the refereeing, worrying about the difference in how hard the free balls were to my side of the net compared to their side of the net. Worrying about losing…
I finally realized afterward that these were the things that a loser would think about. These were the things that I hadn’t been spending my time on for the past two months.
So, what should I have been thinking about? Well, that’s the tough question. The more I think about it, and this is for me personally, the more I think that getting better and being a great player is based on working on your weaknesses all the time. More than that, it is identifying your weaknesses on any given day. Maybe today your legs are tired and that means that you have to work that much harder to make sure you move your feet and get to the position you need to be in. I have a tendency to drop my hands when I set and not take the ball as high as I should (something I did all of Thursday without doing anything about it) and I have to remind myself all the time to take the ball high. We all have lots of things that we have to work on and it is a constant struggle with yourself to keep working on those things. But the only way to get better is to focus on them and correct them and continue to develop as a player.
Second, I think all great players have the ability to drop all of their insecurities when they get on the court. This is directly related to focus because once you drop that insecurity you are free to just play the game. All of a sudden, winning doesn’t reflect positively or negatively on the player because it is what we can call an “outcome goal”. We all know that winning is not 100% dependent on how well we play, there are several factors that influence the outcome of every match or game. Luck, weather, opponent’s ability, refereeing, teammates, these are all things that can make even the best performance a losing one. Without insecurity, a player can play without distraction, the only thing that matters is their performance and knowing inside their heart that they have done all that they could do to help their team. They can be courageous and they can play without pressure because the only important pressure comes from inside, and usually, a player who plays this way wins. Once you forget about winning, you generally win and that, for me, is a zen-like state.
So, that’s where I’m at right now, trying to lose all of my insecurities. Trying to take what the coaches tell me without saying, “But….” Because they don’t want to hear an excuse and an excuse only holds me back from my goals. When I make a mistake, the goal is to correct that mistake and do it right next time, not to get angry at my hitter for not putting the ball away so that I don’t look bad. I lose sight of this all the time and it doesn’t do anyone any good, and I think if we’re being honest others do too, and it all comes from being insecure about our own abilities and what others, whether it’s a coach or spectators, etc…, think about us.
Friday was a much better day and even though I’m sure there will be more bad days at some point, I’m trying to stay zen. Until we lose in Hagebau again that is…
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
*GOLD*
As the remaining tendrils of cigar smoke and the boozy haze in my brain recede, I realize, I've had little time to reflect on what has been a unique season. Thinking back to August and the beginning, all sorts of thoughts come to mind. It's been bumpy along the way. From somersaults to a gimpy shoulder to coming back from the dead in Gentofte, somehow we managed to do what I can quite honestly say, didn't seem probable at many times, win the Danish Championship for a second time in a row.
Without getting too deep into everything, I just want to say that personally, I'm incredibly proud of the accomplishment. I'm proud of the way this team had a knack for winning close matches. I'm proud that we got better as the season went along. And I'm proud that we won a league that was more competitive than it has been in a long time. So, Fellas, congratulations on a fantastic season! It's been an absolute pleasure.
For me, it's kind of a weird feeling. I've been in Denmark for several years now, and I love it. But, and I know this isn't a big surprise, I've decided to sign a contract in Germany with Wuppertal for next season, so my time here is over (at least for the moment). I'm going to continue with the blog next season, so I hope some of you will keep reading, I don't know if there will be anything too interesting to report, but I guess we'll find out!
But now, it's time to get on a plane and find my way home for a little while. That means the blog is going to be off for a couple months, I might post every once in awhile if I feel like saying something or if I play in a couple AVP tournaments... But I doubt it. Laying around in the sun, on the beach, takes up a lot of time. I'll be back in the middle of June, possibly playing in one or two tournaments on the Fanta Tour, definitely hanging around and watching some, and generally enjoying the wonderful Danish summer.
Ses!
Without getting too deep into everything, I just want to say that personally, I'm incredibly proud of the accomplishment. I'm proud of the way this team had a knack for winning close matches. I'm proud that we got better as the season went along. And I'm proud that we won a league that was more competitive than it has been in a long time. So, Fellas, congratulations on a fantastic season! It's been an absolute pleasure.
For me, it's kind of a weird feeling. I've been in Denmark for several years now, and I love it. But, and I know this isn't a big surprise, I've decided to sign a contract in Germany with Wuppertal for next season, so my time here is over (at least for the moment). I'm going to continue with the blog next season, so I hope some of you will keep reading, I don't know if there will be anything too interesting to report, but I guess we'll find out!
But now, it's time to get on a plane and find my way home for a little while. That means the blog is going to be off for a couple months, I might post every once in awhile if I feel like saying something or if I play in a couple AVP tournaments... But I doubt it. Laying around in the sun, on the beach, takes up a lot of time. I'll be back in the middle of June, possibly playing in one or two tournaments on the Fanta Tour, definitely hanging around and watching some, and generally enjoying the wonderful Danish summer.
Ses!
Monday, April 03, 2006
After heart attack comes the finals...
I don't need to tell everyone all the same stuff that everyone else already has. The match was ridiculous and I'm still not positive that we won. I'm still waiting for someone to come to me and say that the match isn't over and that we need to go back to Copenhagen to play the rest of it. We essentially lost (down 24-21 with Jacob passing) and won (Toke blocking at 14-12) before actually winning the match. It was a great experience, one that I will remember for a long time, but I'm not entirely sure that I could take it if I had to do it again, say...tomorrow. Luckily, we're in the finals and we can now focus on getting ready for Friday.
I'm glad that we finally got to play a match where both teams could say afterward that they played at a high level. I'm sure it doesn't make up for losing, but with the way that Gentofte played yesterday, it has to take some of the sting out of it. When you perform the way you want to and your opponent does the same it is hard to be too down about losing. And obviously, there was very little that separated us from each other yesterday, one ball goes the other way and we're going back to Marienlyst to play again tomorrow.
As far as what happened after the match, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, things were intense and I have said before that I personally have no problem with trash talking. If you really think about it, yesterday's match was probably one of the best in a long time in Denmark, it was also one of the most "talkative" matches I have been a part of since being here. If nothing else, the talking contributed to the intensity of the volleyball. So, in that sense, I loved it.
On the other hand (And please remember this is just my feeling on the subject), in my mind, there is a certain art to trash talking. The people who are really good at it have a way of making it entertaining, funny, cool and effective. Rarely does it get personal and rarely does it have to do with anything more than the sport at hand. I mean otherwise, you're not really trash talking, you're just talking shit about someone to their face. And I think what got out of hand yesterday is that a lot of things were said that would NEVER be said off the court and to someone's face. From both sides.
Obviously there is no need to get physical about it, but let's just remember there is no need to keep talking after the match is over. And this isn't to sound like a "tough guy" but if you do persist on talking after the match then you have to also be willing to stand by what you say, it was intense and that meant that any number of reactions could have occurred. I didn't hear what was said, and I honestly don't know who started the whole thing, I'd imagine both sides are guilty, so let's just put it all behind us and stop taking everything so personally.
Hats off to Gentofte and to the crowd yesterday, thanks for making the match a classic. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened in a third and deciding match...
I'm glad that we finally got to play a match where both teams could say afterward that they played at a high level. I'm sure it doesn't make up for losing, but with the way that Gentofte played yesterday, it has to take some of the sting out of it. When you perform the way you want to and your opponent does the same it is hard to be too down about losing. And obviously, there was very little that separated us from each other yesterday, one ball goes the other way and we're going back to Marienlyst to play again tomorrow.
As far as what happened after the match, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, things were intense and I have said before that I personally have no problem with trash talking. If you really think about it, yesterday's match was probably one of the best in a long time in Denmark, it was also one of the most "talkative" matches I have been a part of since being here. If nothing else, the talking contributed to the intensity of the volleyball. So, in that sense, I loved it.
On the other hand (And please remember this is just my feeling on the subject), in my mind, there is a certain art to trash talking. The people who are really good at it have a way of making it entertaining, funny, cool and effective. Rarely does it get personal and rarely does it have to do with anything more than the sport at hand. I mean otherwise, you're not really trash talking, you're just talking shit about someone to their face. And I think what got out of hand yesterday is that a lot of things were said that would NEVER be said off the court and to someone's face. From both sides.
Obviously there is no need to get physical about it, but let's just remember there is no need to keep talking after the match is over. And this isn't to sound like a "tough guy" but if you do persist on talking after the match then you have to also be willing to stand by what you say, it was intense and that meant that any number of reactions could have occurred. I didn't hear what was said, and I honestly don't know who started the whole thing, I'd imagine both sides are guilty, so let's just put it all behind us and stop taking everything so personally.
Hats off to Gentofte and to the crowd yesterday, thanks for making the match a classic. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened in a third and deciding match...
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Dumb Volleyball Ideas
Alright, I thought I would continue a little bit along the lines of the fluff piece. I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about volleyball in general, and what needs to be done to continue to make it a viable/marketable sport. The roundtable discussion on DK4 was interesting, if not slightly awkward, because of the different perspective everyone on the panel brought to the table. And the part where the journalist wasn’t paying attention was worth spending the time to see the show in itself. Anyways, I’ve always had some thoughts (some crazy, some not so crazy) about what kind of rule changes or possible additions would make the game more fun to watch. I thought I would list them here and if any one wants to comment or make some of their own suggestions I would love to hear what people have to say.
Some ideas that I have seen myself or heard about:
In between sets in the States there is generally some kind of crowd competition similar to what you would see on the Fanta tour. This is almost always some form of serve competition. At my school in the States, there was this big wooden sign that had a hole (about the size of a basketball) cut out of it. One person would be chosen at each match to try and serve the ball through the hole. I never saw anyone actually do it, but it was always fun to watch them try.
They also used to run a competition where six contestants would basically have a serve competition. They would serve at a marked area on the court with the people who could not hit the area being eliminated. The area would get smaller and smaller in each round and eventually only one person would be left. That person would get a prize.
Chad Grimm told me that in Belgium they used to have a contest where they would suspend an envelope from the ceiling, somewhere around 4 meters (forgive my metric system measurement) from the ground. The envelope had cash in it and one player from each team would take turns trying to jump up and grab it. I guess this one is only exciting if you have two players who can jump really high, but I still think it would be fun to see. Think for example, Geo Santos and Paw Harder trying to out jump each other for 500 kroners. I think it would be fun to watch.
Here are my ideas:
I’ve always thought that a hitting competition would be fun for fans to see. Some kind of bouncing contest besides the un-official warm up bouncing contests that we all have before every match. At the finals, we could let anyone who wanted to compete get a chance to see who could bounce the ball the highest (without touching the net, you know who I’m talking about). Crowd applause could decide the winner. It would be kind of like the dunk contest for volleyball.
In the States about two years ago, they experimented with making volleyball into a timed sport. That means, they had two teams play each other for one hour and just kept adding up the points. I think the final scores were usually around 100 – 85, 90 – 92, etc… Needless to say, it was a dumb idea. It was dumb because it worked the excitement out of the game. First of all, it is nearly impossible to go on a fifteen point run in volleyball, so, if your team was behind there was little chance that you were going to come back. Second of all, if the two teams managed to stay close there was really only the last couple of minutes that were exciting. I mean, who cares about a kill to make the score 7-5 when you know there is still an hour to go? Dumb idea. But I do think that volleyball scoring needs to be changed.
Personally, I think that the current system to 25 makes everything much less exciting. It is the same general principle as above, who cares about a play that makes the score 9-8? Unless you are a real hard core volleyball fan, the only time you get excited is when the score is 21-21 and the set is about to be decided. The answer? Tennis scoring. Play several mini games to 4 or 5 (this could even use the old scoring rules, remember when scoring a block or defensive point really mattered?) and those games add up to win a set. Still best out of 5 sets wins the match. Yes, the rally scoring system helps event promoters predict how long a match will take, and yes it hasn’t had a huge impact on the game in general. But, it could still use some tweaking. Think about it the opposite way, if tennis all of a sudden changed to our scoring system, it would be a lot less exciting.
Thirdly, a screening of SIDEOUT before every home Marienlyst match, projected on the gym wall.
Those are my dumb volleyball ideas!
Some ideas that I have seen myself or heard about:
In between sets in the States there is generally some kind of crowd competition similar to what you would see on the Fanta tour. This is almost always some form of serve competition. At my school in the States, there was this big wooden sign that had a hole (about the size of a basketball) cut out of it. One person would be chosen at each match to try and serve the ball through the hole. I never saw anyone actually do it, but it was always fun to watch them try.
They also used to run a competition where six contestants would basically have a serve competition. They would serve at a marked area on the court with the people who could not hit the area being eliminated. The area would get smaller and smaller in each round and eventually only one person would be left. That person would get a prize.
Chad Grimm told me that in Belgium they used to have a contest where they would suspend an envelope from the ceiling, somewhere around 4 meters (forgive my metric system measurement) from the ground. The envelope had cash in it and one player from each team would take turns trying to jump up and grab it. I guess this one is only exciting if you have two players who can jump really high, but I still think it would be fun to see. Think for example, Geo Santos and Paw Harder trying to out jump each other for 500 kroners. I think it would be fun to watch.
Here are my ideas:
I’ve always thought that a hitting competition would be fun for fans to see. Some kind of bouncing contest besides the un-official warm up bouncing contests that we all have before every match. At the finals, we could let anyone who wanted to compete get a chance to see who could bounce the ball the highest (without touching the net, you know who I’m talking about). Crowd applause could decide the winner. It would be kind of like the dunk contest for volleyball.
In the States about two years ago, they experimented with making volleyball into a timed sport. That means, they had two teams play each other for one hour and just kept adding up the points. I think the final scores were usually around 100 – 85, 90 – 92, etc… Needless to say, it was a dumb idea. It was dumb because it worked the excitement out of the game. First of all, it is nearly impossible to go on a fifteen point run in volleyball, so, if your team was behind there was little chance that you were going to come back. Second of all, if the two teams managed to stay close there was really only the last couple of minutes that were exciting. I mean, who cares about a kill to make the score 7-5 when you know there is still an hour to go? Dumb idea. But I do think that volleyball scoring needs to be changed.
Personally, I think that the current system to 25 makes everything much less exciting. It is the same general principle as above, who cares about a play that makes the score 9-8? Unless you are a real hard core volleyball fan, the only time you get excited is when the score is 21-21 and the set is about to be decided. The answer? Tennis scoring. Play several mini games to 4 or 5 (this could even use the old scoring rules, remember when scoring a block or defensive point really mattered?) and those games add up to win a set. Still best out of 5 sets wins the match. Yes, the rally scoring system helps event promoters predict how long a match will take, and yes it hasn’t had a huge impact on the game in general. But, it could still use some tweaking. Think about it the opposite way, if tennis all of a sudden changed to our scoring system, it would be a lot less exciting.
Thirdly, a screening of SIDEOUT before every home Marienlyst match, projected on the gym wall.
Those are my dumb volleyball ideas!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
SIDEOUT!
With the recent release of Cloud 9 on DVD, the genre of volleyball movies has grown by about 150%. Math has never been my strong suit but what I’m trying to say is that there are not many volleyball related movies out there. With the other “serious discussions” going on right now about foreign players, etc… I thought I would recognize the greatest volleyball movie ever to be made. This may not be saying much, but without further ado, I bring you – SIDEOUT.
The movie stars C. Thomas Howell as young Monroe Clark, just out of college he gets a job at his uncle’s real estate company in Southern California. It should be noted here, that SIDEOUT came out in 1990 and is therefore one of the last of the great 80’s style movies. As proof of this, Monroe’s uncle is played by the great Terry Kiser, (Otherwise known as Bernie from the Weekend at Bernie’s series.) and Melrose Place star Courtney Thorne-Smith plays Monroe’s love interest. Anyways, Monroe, who has never played a day of beach volleyball in his life, gets hooked on the sport. Eventually teaming up with an ex-pro/deadbeat named Zack Barnes, played by the immortal lefty Peter Horton, who Monroe is supposed to evict for his Uncle’s company. Not surprisingly, Monroe and Zack end up shooting it out with the pro tour’s top teams in the grand final, eventually facing off with the world’s number 1 (Played by Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos). I’ll let you guess what happens in the end, but without giving anything away, the last play is really something to experience.
The best way for me to describe this movie is The Karate Kid in a volleyball setting. The sheer improbability of everything that takes place only makes it that much more delicious in the end.
Along the way we are treated to several 80’s movie moments. Fluorescent colors permeate almost every scene, cheesy music montages accompany us through training sequences, love sequences, and of course Southern California sequences (women in thong bikinis on roller skates, etc… Which I can guarantee never happens except in the movies).
C. Thomas Howell as Monroe Clark gives a true pantheon performance as a young midewesterner learning the ways of the beach. A poor man’s Tom Cruise (think volleyball scene in Top Gun) he utters the line, “I used to play a little six-man back in Milwaukee” with absolute confidence. By the end of the film you believe that even though he looks unorthodox on the court, he just might be the greatest player to ever play the game.
For any volleyball fan, the movie has plenty of interesting cameos. As stated earlier, Stoklos and Smith play a major role in the film. There are also several other big names from the 80’s and early 90’s, including Steve Timmons, Ricci Luyties, etc… They all get to “act” at some point which only boosts the entertainment value even more.
Truly, this is the Citizen Kane of volleyball films. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Sadly, I may be the only person in all of Europe who has a copy.
Note: I have included the original cover artwork as well as the updated DVD artwork for the sake of balance. And after looking on Amazon.com, I was able to find a copy of the video tape for as low as 0.38 cents American. That is roughly 2-3 kroners. Value!
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Wuppertal Vs. Essen
Stepping out of the sponsor supplied Ford station wagon I am immediately aware of all the activity surrounding the small square gymnasium that squatted down before us. After everyone arrives and parks, a long line of players, coaches, team doctors and extra people like me make our way towards the gym, morphing into single file in order to make it through the one open door. Sidestepping a man carrying a large speaker I nod at the people setting up tables around the entrance and step inside the gym.
We are about an hour and a half early for the 19:30 match start, but there are several people already sitting in the stands. Essen, the opposing team, is spread out over the court, one player repeatedly throwing the ball up, tight to the net, and hitting it as hard as he can. Set to self, hit, run after ball, repeat. Most are stretching and laughing at each other’s jokes while others sit quietly in the chairs lined up for their team bench. The players who I have arrived with disappeared into one of the white tiled tunnels that run between the bleacher seats, leaving me to find my place in the stands.
They are expecting a full arena that night with talk of 1500 spectators. Looking around the small interior of the gym it occurs to me that there is no way 1500 people can fit in the tiny space. There is only one large tribune that faces the court, with additional chairs and benches that run all the way around the court. I guess there are enough places for about 500, but as more and more people show up and the game is still an hour away I start to realize that the club is unconcerned about the limited seating. People will find places to sit.
This is a real local rivalry. The two teams are only separated by 40 minutes of highway. While Wuppertal has been in the Bundesliga for years, Essen has just been promoted and it is fairly clear that they would like nothing more than to give Wuppertal their first loss of the season.
About 45 minutes until match start, seats are filling up, teams are starting to run in circles and stretch and the Wuppertal fan club has just arrived. A large man with dark facial hair and a half-open button down shirt walks in carrying a drum. His family is with him and as he sets down the drum his two children disappear from view, eclipsed by its massive size. Little do I know it at the time, but this will be the last twenty minutes I spend without the deep bass of the instrument echoing in my ears and chest.
The players are hitting warm-ups now and the gym is really starting to come alive. I look around and see that there are no seats left in the bleachers. There is a row of spectators standing in the back just above the last row of seats, likewise the other three walls are filling up fast. People are bringing in extra seats, standing behind the benches, kids are sitting two to a seat. I notice that the gym is full of all kinds of different people. Kids are running around in excitement, older gray haired gentlemen sit quietly with crossed arms, and stylish teens sit with their friends. Everyone can feel the pounding of the drummers, Wuppertal’s who have taken a spot in one of the corners, and Essen’s who sit just behind the referee stand. There is music coming from the speakers but it is almost impossible to hear.
The match begins and it is clear to see the players have a little bit of nervous energy to work out of their systems. The play is frantic at first. Each point brings chants of, “Bayer” (Wuppertal) or “Humann” (Essen). But eventually things settle down and there is some good volleyball. The crowd seems satisfied. Many people clap no matter who wins a point, as long as the point is well played.
Essen wins the first set and the house goes crazy. There is extra energy in the crowd now and as the teams switch sides it seems like the drumming gets even louder. People in the crowd are congratulating each other on a well played first set. The gray haired gentlemen have uncrossed their arms and are shaking hands with their friends on either side of them.
Wuppertal makes a substitution to start the second set and it is just what I want to see: Peter Lyck in to play opposite. He joins Mads Ditlevsen who started in and now there are two Danes on the court, my old teammates, and they are both playing high level volleyball. Peter immediately contributes offensively and to my surprise defensively as well. It turns out to have an effect on the match as Wuppertal wins the next three sets and the match 3-1. They are still undefeated and it turns out that one day later they would be the only team left in the Bundesliga that has not lost a match.
The crowd seems satisfied. After the match is over, the kids take over the court and chaos ensues. Purple and yellow volleyballs are sent flying in all directions while the players mill about semi-aimlessly. A man with a microphone attempts to interview Jens Larsen but no one can hear anything that is said; too many balls bouncing and too many people talking excitedly to each other. The 850 spectators slowly file out, generally with smiles on their faces and for the first time in the last couple of hours the gym is not filled with drumming, chanting, clapping or screaming. It is hard to leave the game without feeling that it was an experience. I want to go again.
The Danes are doing really well down there. Just talking to them after the match it is obvious in their eyes and their expressions that they are enjoying themselves immensely. “It’s insane.” One of them says matter-of-factly and after the match, I’m inclined to agree.
We are about an hour and a half early for the 19:30 match start, but there are several people already sitting in the stands. Essen, the opposing team, is spread out over the court, one player repeatedly throwing the ball up, tight to the net, and hitting it as hard as he can. Set to self, hit, run after ball, repeat. Most are stretching and laughing at each other’s jokes while others sit quietly in the chairs lined up for their team bench. The players who I have arrived with disappeared into one of the white tiled tunnels that run between the bleacher seats, leaving me to find my place in the stands.
They are expecting a full arena that night with talk of 1500 spectators. Looking around the small interior of the gym it occurs to me that there is no way 1500 people can fit in the tiny space. There is only one large tribune that faces the court, with additional chairs and benches that run all the way around the court. I guess there are enough places for about 500, but as more and more people show up and the game is still an hour away I start to realize that the club is unconcerned about the limited seating. People will find places to sit.
This is a real local rivalry. The two teams are only separated by 40 minutes of highway. While Wuppertal has been in the Bundesliga for years, Essen has just been promoted and it is fairly clear that they would like nothing more than to give Wuppertal their first loss of the season.
About 45 minutes until match start, seats are filling up, teams are starting to run in circles and stretch and the Wuppertal fan club has just arrived. A large man with dark facial hair and a half-open button down shirt walks in carrying a drum. His family is with him and as he sets down the drum his two children disappear from view, eclipsed by its massive size. Little do I know it at the time, but this will be the last twenty minutes I spend without the deep bass of the instrument echoing in my ears and chest.
The players are hitting warm-ups now and the gym is really starting to come alive. I look around and see that there are no seats left in the bleachers. There is a row of spectators standing in the back just above the last row of seats, likewise the other three walls are filling up fast. People are bringing in extra seats, standing behind the benches, kids are sitting two to a seat. I notice that the gym is full of all kinds of different people. Kids are running around in excitement, older gray haired gentlemen sit quietly with crossed arms, and stylish teens sit with their friends. Everyone can feel the pounding of the drummers, Wuppertal’s who have taken a spot in one of the corners, and Essen’s who sit just behind the referee stand. There is music coming from the speakers but it is almost impossible to hear.
The match begins and it is clear to see the players have a little bit of nervous energy to work out of their systems. The play is frantic at first. Each point brings chants of, “Bayer” (Wuppertal) or “Humann” (Essen). But eventually things settle down and there is some good volleyball. The crowd seems satisfied. Many people clap no matter who wins a point, as long as the point is well played.
Essen wins the first set and the house goes crazy. There is extra energy in the crowd now and as the teams switch sides it seems like the drumming gets even louder. People in the crowd are congratulating each other on a well played first set. The gray haired gentlemen have uncrossed their arms and are shaking hands with their friends on either side of them.
Wuppertal makes a substitution to start the second set and it is just what I want to see: Peter Lyck in to play opposite. He joins Mads Ditlevsen who started in and now there are two Danes on the court, my old teammates, and they are both playing high level volleyball. Peter immediately contributes offensively and to my surprise defensively as well. It turns out to have an effect on the match as Wuppertal wins the next three sets and the match 3-1. They are still undefeated and it turns out that one day later they would be the only team left in the Bundesliga that has not lost a match.
The crowd seems satisfied. After the match is over, the kids take over the court and chaos ensues. Purple and yellow volleyballs are sent flying in all directions while the players mill about semi-aimlessly. A man with a microphone attempts to interview Jens Larsen but no one can hear anything that is said; too many balls bouncing and too many people talking excitedly to each other. The 850 spectators slowly file out, generally with smiles on their faces and for the first time in the last couple of hours the gym is not filled with drumming, chanting, clapping or screaming. It is hard to leave the game without feeling that it was an experience. I want to go again.
The Danes are doing really well down there. Just talking to them after the match it is obvious in their eyes and their expressions that they are enjoying themselves immensely. “It’s insane.” One of them says matter-of-factly and after the match, I’m inclined to agree.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Trash Talking
Just a little while back on volleynet there was quite a bit of debate about how much room the players should have to complain/argue/debate/yell in a normal match. I’ve felt strongly about this for a long time so I thought I would take this chance to put my thoughts out there.
First, I want to say that I think trash-talking is not only good for the game of volleyball, but a positive factor in making it entertaining. I can’t even think of how many times I have been sitting, watching a boring game of volleyball, two teams efficiently siding out against each other, very little defense and not much enthusiasm from the crowd or the players themselves. When, all of a sudden someone will make a big stuff block, celebrate facing the opposing team and set off a string of emotions that changes the whole emotional landscape of the game. As a result, players begin diving after every ball, trying to hit each ball as steep and hard as possible (which we all know is the correct way to hit the ball) and yelling as loud as possible. This makes for exciting volleyball.
In the summer, Peter Lyø and I were playing Lunde/Kazsas and getting a beating. We lost the first set 21-12 and things were looking bleak. The volleyball was ugly. Then something subtle happened, in between points (and anyone who has played beach volleyball knows about this) instead of returning the ball exactly to Kim and Lars, Peter rolled it just far enough so that it was on their side of the court, forcing one of them to walk over and pick it up. Soon after, instead of just nicely giving us the ball back Kim kicked it hard into the far corner of center court forcing me to go over and pick it up. Now, this isn’t exactly trash talking, and there is no way to control that kind of behavior, but these two small things (mixed, I’m sure with lots of former experiences between Peter and Kim) were enough to change the entire direction of the match. Defense, Intensity and emotions all poured out on the court and the crowd got to see good volleyball. The match turned out to be one of the best and most fun that I played in last summer and it all started with one little roll of the ball. Maybe the above story is a bit of a stretch, but the point is that, in volleyball, emotion and intensity are major ingredients in making the product watchable. And if those things aren’t there, then a little trash talking can often get the juices flowing…
Of course there are limitations to how far players should be allowed to go. I’m not condoning anarchy where players can run over to the other side and pull each other’s pants off (Although that would be awesome). All I’m asking is that the referees sit on their yellow and red cards a bit more. Instead of giving someone a red card for saying a bad word under their breath with their back turned, we should be saving those cards for something serious.
I can’t really remember when it was that everyone decided that players should not be able to look to the other side of the court and celebrate. I mean really, what does this accomplish? I can understand at the younger levels, we aren’t out to embarrass children, etc… but at the Elite level we are all adults. It doesn’t make sense that after a big stuff block, probably one of the most emotional moments in our sport, we are REQUIRED to turn our backs and look only to our own team. The net’s separation of the court should not include the separation of our emotions. The most fun matches to watch are the ones where both teams are getting after each other. Only two or three years ago, the biggest regular season match of the year was the one between Marienlyst and DHG, not only was it two good teams matching up, it was two teams who had quite a bit of bad blood towards each other.
As fans we are drawn to these types of high intensity games. We want drama on the court, we want blood and we want to be entertained. When two teams are forced to control their emotions and forced to keep everything they do on their own side it makes for a sterile, dispassionate and ultimately boring game. I think we all need to loosen up a bit…bitch.
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