Saturday, December 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Status
Okay, here's the deal. I haven't exactly been burning up the blog lately, mostly because I'm not sure if I have that much to say. So, things will probably be pretty up and down around here for the foreseeable future. I might get excited and post like crazy or I might not post again for a substantial amount of time. Or, another option, I might post a little bit here and a little bit there.
Mostly, I feel like I've said most of what I'd like to say at this point. And match reports aren't necessarily the most exciting things in the world. Hopefully, everyone has enjoyed the blog so far and maybe at some point it will be a source of more entertainment, but for now, I'm just putting out the reservation that things might go dormant for long periods of time...
Mostly, I feel like I've said most of what I'd like to say at this point. And match reports aren't necessarily the most exciting things in the world. Hopefully, everyone has enjoyed the blog so far and maybe at some point it will be a source of more entertainment, but for now, I'm just putting out the reservation that things might go dormant for long periods of time...
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Triumphant Return
I figure that the beginning of September marks the unofficial beginning of the volleyball season. And since this blog has been on life support for far too long, I thought it was time to try and breathe some new life into it.
I've had a really interesting summer as far as volleyball goes. But since there isn't anything worse than talking about recent history, I won't spend any time revisiting it, with the exception of one thing...
At the beginning of August, I had the chance to visit the KidsVolley camp at VK Hjallese on the Southside of Odense. When I got the invitation to come by and spend time working with the kids, I was a little nervous about accepting, I knew very little about KidsVolley and didn't really have an idea as to what they would find interesting or fun to do. In the end, I couldn't say no, and as it turns out, it was one of the best volleyball/social experiences I've had in some time.
I don't want to make it seem like this was a huge production, in fact it was the opposite. I showed up at the camp, was greeted by the always positive Aase Bechsgaard, who had sketched out a rough schedule, and Dorthe Windeleff who was helping as well, and then we started. Even though many of them had been to last year's Pokal final, none of them really knew who I was (not surprising when you play on a team with Shaun and Geo).
So, we started with a small introduction, told a little bit about our experience in volleyball and explained what kinds of opportunities there were in the world of volleyball. After this, we spent a little time playing pepper, setting and showing off. I got the chance to warm up the old shoulder and hit some balls on a KidsVolley net, etc... Finally, Dorthe and I played short matches against all the different levels of KidsVolley players at the camp. Everything from age 6 to 13-15 I believe. We got a chance to learn the rules for each level and to experience the game from on the court. Once we were done, we signed some autographs and took a picture. About two hours in all.
The kids seemed to have a great time, and all of them were better than I had imagined. They were obviously excited to have the chance to meet some real volleyball "stars" and it didn't really matter that they had no idea who we were beforehand. It's not news that KidsVolley has been an incredible success, and that the future of volleyball looks positive, but for me it was a special experience.
I wanted to share my visit to VK Hjallese because the more I thought about it afterwards, the more obvious it was to me that it should be happening in every KidsVolley club in the country. As I said before, the kids didn't really know who I was when I came. Sometimes I forget in the small world of volleyball Denmark that there are lots and lots of people who play who don't really keep up with the elite division. That includes almost every KidsVolley player that doesn't play in one of the big elite clubs. The more they get exposed to the Elite level players, the more role models they have to look up to and the more they see what higher level volleyball looks like, the more I think they will be engaged with the sport. If nothing else, it can be a fun experience for younger players to meet someone who is at the top of the sport. I know when I was younger, a big part of my attraction to the sport came from watching the older players play. I simply wanted to be like them.
Clearly, the practice program that I described earlier could be easily copied. I know that I'm not even close to being one of the most interesting players to meet in the league. If the kids think that watching me hit is exciting, then I would love to see what they would do if Kristian Knudsen, Geovan Santos, Mads Ditlevsen or Shaun Powell showed up at their training one day and put on a little show. I don't know if there are other KidsVolley clubs out there that would find it interesting to have an Elite player come by their practice but I would bet there are...
The bottom line is that I really had a good time getting out and meeting what will hopefully be the next generation of volleyball players. I think the kids enjoyed it as well, and I'd love to hear if there are other clubs out there that have done the same thing...
I've had a really interesting summer as far as volleyball goes. But since there isn't anything worse than talking about recent history, I won't spend any time revisiting it, with the exception of one thing...
At the beginning of August, I had the chance to visit the KidsVolley camp at VK Hjallese on the Southside of Odense. When I got the invitation to come by and spend time working with the kids, I was a little nervous about accepting, I knew very little about KidsVolley and didn't really have an idea as to what they would find interesting or fun to do. In the end, I couldn't say no, and as it turns out, it was one of the best volleyball/social experiences I've had in some time.
I don't want to make it seem like this was a huge production, in fact it was the opposite. I showed up at the camp, was greeted by the always positive Aase Bechsgaard, who had sketched out a rough schedule, and Dorthe Windeleff who was helping as well, and then we started. Even though many of them had been to last year's Pokal final, none of them really knew who I was (not surprising when you play on a team with Shaun and Geo).
So, we started with a small introduction, told a little bit about our experience in volleyball and explained what kinds of opportunities there were in the world of volleyball. After this, we spent a little time playing pepper, setting and showing off. I got the chance to warm up the old shoulder and hit some balls on a KidsVolley net, etc... Finally, Dorthe and I played short matches against all the different levels of KidsVolley players at the camp. Everything from age 6 to 13-15 I believe. We got a chance to learn the rules for each level and to experience the game from on the court. Once we were done, we signed some autographs and took a picture. About two hours in all.
The kids seemed to have a great time, and all of them were better than I had imagined. They were obviously excited to have the chance to meet some real volleyball "stars" and it didn't really matter that they had no idea who we were beforehand. It's not news that KidsVolley has been an incredible success, and that the future of volleyball looks positive, but for me it was a special experience.
I wanted to share my visit to VK Hjallese because the more I thought about it afterwards, the more obvious it was to me that it should be happening in every KidsVolley club in the country. As I said before, the kids didn't really know who I was when I came. Sometimes I forget in the small world of volleyball Denmark that there are lots and lots of people who play who don't really keep up with the elite division. That includes almost every KidsVolley player that doesn't play in one of the big elite clubs. The more they get exposed to the Elite level players, the more role models they have to look up to and the more they see what higher level volleyball looks like, the more I think they will be engaged with the sport. If nothing else, it can be a fun experience for younger players to meet someone who is at the top of the sport. I know when I was younger, a big part of my attraction to the sport came from watching the older players play. I simply wanted to be like them.
Clearly, the practice program that I described earlier could be easily copied. I know that I'm not even close to being one of the most interesting players to meet in the league. If the kids think that watching me hit is exciting, then I would love to see what they would do if Kristian Knudsen, Geovan Santos, Mads Ditlevsen or Shaun Powell showed up at their training one day and put on a little show. I don't know if there are other KidsVolley clubs out there that would find it interesting to have an Elite player come by their practice but I would bet there are...
The bottom line is that I really had a good time getting out and meeting what will hopefully be the next generation of volleyball players. I think the kids enjoyed it as well, and I'd love to hear if there are other clubs out there that have done the same thing...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Oh the Anger.
Someone's BITTER........
http://www.aalborg-hik.dk/ny.php?id=975
What's the point of taking a little shot like that? Factually, I guess it is correct, but the argument behind the statement doesn't really hold up. Marienlyst has two former national team players who played on the team as recently as last Summer. Of course, the total would be higher if not for certain problems this year. But, just because some of the guys have been injured or need to spend time with their families or just don't want to play with the national team this year, that doesn't mean that they aren't going to in the future or aren't national team caliber players. I think Aalborg knows a lot about players deciding not to play for the national team for lots of different reasons.
Did anyone tell Svend that there were two foreigners on his team this year?
Anyways, I got a little chuckle out of this, just thought I would share.
http://www.aalborg-hik.dk/ny.php?id=975
What's the point of taking a little shot like that? Factually, I guess it is correct, but the argument behind the statement doesn't really hold up. Marienlyst has two former national team players who played on the team as recently as last Summer. Of course, the total would be higher if not for certain problems this year. But, just because some of the guys have been injured or need to spend time with their families or just don't want to play with the national team this year, that doesn't mean that they aren't going to in the future or aren't national team caliber players. I think Aalborg knows a lot about players deciding not to play for the national team for lots of different reasons.
Did anyone tell Svend that there were two foreigners on his team this year?
Anyways, I got a little chuckle out of this, just thought I would share.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Gold 2008.
Some random thoughts from the 2007-2008 season:
The first thing that I want to say is that volleyball has developed in Denmark. The difference in level of play from 2002 when I got here is easily measurable. Even compared to two years ago, the league has gotten better from the bottom up. I think that was obvious from the openness of both semi finals. It's also obvious from my perspective on the court. Years ago, there were consistent blowouts, the top teams didn't have to really put pressure on the worse teams to get them to fall apart, and the result was a lot of matches that ended 25-12, 25-14, 25-18. There was an obvious cut off line between the "good" teams and the "bad" teams and there was very little excitement as to who was going to be left standing at the end of the year. Now, things are more difficult. A lot more teams are competitive and winning isn't always a given. There must be several reasons for the development of volleyball in Denmark but I'll let others try to figure them out. I just wanted to note that we're hopefully moving in the right direction.
We're also tremendously good at backing each other up and giving each other positive feedback. I'm talking to most of the "blog community" which has flourished in the last couple of years. And great, we should generally be positive. But, at some point, people are going to need to be thicker skinned. When you have your own blog or forum, the whole idea is to publicly trumpet your opinions. When someone comments on your opinion, or viewpoint, it is their prerogative to offer their own viewpoint or feeling. If that feeling is negative, it is in my opinion, ridiculous to attack that person. Attack their arguments but not them. That doesn't mean that people should constantly throw around negative feelings towards each other, but let's all try to deal with things with a little more perspective. I only say this because I feel like people have gotten a little chippy with each other at different points of the season, and in my opinion those people need to relax a little bit. If someone thinks your product is poor, then prove to them it is not, don't just automatically shut down and start name calling. Then again, I do enjoy reading from the sidelines, so maybe everyone should just keep it up...
That brings me to my next point. I was at the two finals that were played in Fortuna and I, of course, was at all of the semi-finals and finals that we played in. Every match was an incredible experience. The crowds were great and it made for a special feeling on the court. I can't imagine someone seeing one of those matches and not coming away with a little more interest in the sport. But, I also read the war of words between the Holte supporters and the Fortuna staff about where they were given seats, etc... That was an inane debate. Holte fans did an amazing job of showing support and beating on drums for hours at a time, Fortuna did a great job of setting up a nice arrangement. Who cares where someone was sitting. We weren't in an arena that seats 15,000 people. I'm pretty sure that everyone could see the match pretty well from.......their courtside seats. Overall though, it's been nice to see the level of fan support. Hopefully a bunch of kids have something to look forward to for the future.
Being one ball away from getting the boot from the playoffs and then to be able to rally and win convincingly in the final was a great feeling. I don't know exactly what happened, but something certainly changed when we won that last ball in the fourth set of our second semi-final vs. Gentofte. We were a different team from that point. And to play HIK in the finals instead of Middelfart was also a big deal for us. Straight volleyball-style it was a much better match up for us, so it seems that everything worked out perfectly in the end.
We switched over to the all Shaun Powell offense two times in the playoffs and both times he carried us. I'm really glad that he ended up getting recognized as the year's best opposite. I thought Ryan was very good for Middelfart, but there is no doubt if we were on the school yard picking sides, I would take Shaun instead of him every time. The 4th and 5th set against Gentofte in semi 2 was one of the best performances I've been apart of. I don't have the stats but he was given every sideout ball and most of the point scoring opportunities for those two sets and I would guess that he made one or two errors and was stopped three or four times, the rest were kills. It was impressive to say the least.
I'll probably write something about the rest of the year's best at some point but not now. I've already blabbered too much. It feels good to win gold. It's definitely a different feeling when you've been favored all year to do it, but not in a negative way. It's just different. And I'll take being favored every time as opposed to the other possibilities. Hopefully next year won't be any different.
The first thing that I want to say is that volleyball has developed in Denmark. The difference in level of play from 2002 when I got here is easily measurable. Even compared to two years ago, the league has gotten better from the bottom up. I think that was obvious from the openness of both semi finals. It's also obvious from my perspective on the court. Years ago, there were consistent blowouts, the top teams didn't have to really put pressure on the worse teams to get them to fall apart, and the result was a lot of matches that ended 25-12, 25-14, 25-18. There was an obvious cut off line between the "good" teams and the "bad" teams and there was very little excitement as to who was going to be left standing at the end of the year. Now, things are more difficult. A lot more teams are competitive and winning isn't always a given. There must be several reasons for the development of volleyball in Denmark but I'll let others try to figure them out. I just wanted to note that we're hopefully moving in the right direction.
We're also tremendously good at backing each other up and giving each other positive feedback. I'm talking to most of the "blog community" which has flourished in the last couple of years. And great, we should generally be positive. But, at some point, people are going to need to be thicker skinned. When you have your own blog or forum, the whole idea is to publicly trumpet your opinions. When someone comments on your opinion, or viewpoint, it is their prerogative to offer their own viewpoint or feeling. If that feeling is negative, it is in my opinion, ridiculous to attack that person. Attack their arguments but not them. That doesn't mean that people should constantly throw around negative feelings towards each other, but let's all try to deal with things with a little more perspective. I only say this because I feel like people have gotten a little chippy with each other at different points of the season, and in my opinion those people need to relax a little bit. If someone thinks your product is poor, then prove to them it is not, don't just automatically shut down and start name calling. Then again, I do enjoy reading from the sidelines, so maybe everyone should just keep it up...
That brings me to my next point. I was at the two finals that were played in Fortuna and I, of course, was at all of the semi-finals and finals that we played in. Every match was an incredible experience. The crowds were great and it made for a special feeling on the court. I can't imagine someone seeing one of those matches and not coming away with a little more interest in the sport. But, I also read the war of words between the Holte supporters and the Fortuna staff about where they were given seats, etc... That was an inane debate. Holte fans did an amazing job of showing support and beating on drums for hours at a time, Fortuna did a great job of setting up a nice arrangement. Who cares where someone was sitting. We weren't in an arena that seats 15,000 people. I'm pretty sure that everyone could see the match pretty well from.......their courtside seats. Overall though, it's been nice to see the level of fan support. Hopefully a bunch of kids have something to look forward to for the future.
Being one ball away from getting the boot from the playoffs and then to be able to rally and win convincingly in the final was a great feeling. I don't know exactly what happened, but something certainly changed when we won that last ball in the fourth set of our second semi-final vs. Gentofte. We were a different team from that point. And to play HIK in the finals instead of Middelfart was also a big deal for us. Straight volleyball-style it was a much better match up for us, so it seems that everything worked out perfectly in the end.
We switched over to the all Shaun Powell offense two times in the playoffs and both times he carried us. I'm really glad that he ended up getting recognized as the year's best opposite. I thought Ryan was very good for Middelfart, but there is no doubt if we were on the school yard picking sides, I would take Shaun instead of him every time. The 4th and 5th set against Gentofte in semi 2 was one of the best performances I've been apart of. I don't have the stats but he was given every sideout ball and most of the point scoring opportunities for those two sets and I would guess that he made one or two errors and was stopped three or four times, the rest were kills. It was impressive to say the least.
I'll probably write something about the rest of the year's best at some point but not now. I've already blabbered too much. It feels good to win gold. It's definitely a different feeling when you've been favored all year to do it, but not in a negative way. It's just different. And I'll take being favored every time as opposed to the other possibilities. Hopefully next year won't be any different.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
One Step Away
When we left for Aalborg yesterday, we felt good. We felt good about the way that we played our third semi final match against Gentofte. We felt good about the way that we were able to respond to the pressure of being the favorites. And most importantly, we felt good about getting the chance to play in a final.
All that positive energy allowed us to play a very solid first final. Our passing was really consistent and that allowed us to get into an early groove. We sided out well and made it difficult for Aalborg to win points in their own serve. It's a perfect scenario when playing an away game, it doesn't allow the crowd, or, by extension, the home team to get too excited. Not that the crowd wasn't alive or loud, but there simply weren't enough opportunities to go crazy. I would argue that against a team like HIK that means a lot. As soon as they get on a roll blocking, you know you are in trouble and the momentum is almost impossible to stop.
In a short post after the game on his blog Joakim Larsen declared it the best match that either team has played all year before replacing the post with a little more detail. It's hard to tell how the match looked from outside the court but a few different people told me that it was well played. I'm not sure if I'm ready to say it was our best match of the year, but it was definitely a good one. I think that we missed a few opportunities to really blow the game open, especially in the first and second sets. But that's all subjective so there is no point in saying more about it.
The most important thing for us is that we came home with a win. With two chances now to win gold at home we're not taking anything for granted. But, we also played all season to have the advantage we have now and hopefully that will translate into a win for us.
It feels like forever until Thursday and match number 2...
All that positive energy allowed us to play a very solid first final. Our passing was really consistent and that allowed us to get into an early groove. We sided out well and made it difficult for Aalborg to win points in their own serve. It's a perfect scenario when playing an away game, it doesn't allow the crowd, or, by extension, the home team to get too excited. Not that the crowd wasn't alive or loud, but there simply weren't enough opportunities to go crazy. I would argue that against a team like HIK that means a lot. As soon as they get on a roll blocking, you know you are in trouble and the momentum is almost impossible to stop.
In a short post after the game on his blog Joakim Larsen declared it the best match that either team has played all year before replacing the post with a little more detail. It's hard to tell how the match looked from outside the court but a few different people told me that it was well played. I'm not sure if I'm ready to say it was our best match of the year, but it was definitely a good one. I think that we missed a few opportunities to really blow the game open, especially in the first and second sets. But that's all subjective so there is no point in saying more about it.
The most important thing for us is that we came home with a win. With two chances now to win gold at home we're not taking anything for granted. But, we also played all season to have the advantage we have now and hopefully that will translate into a win for us.
It feels like forever until Thursday and match number 2...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Bronze - Meaningless?
I went to Middelfart last night to see the bronze medal match between Middelfart and Gentofte. I've got a few random thoughts from watching.
1. Thanks to Middelfart for letting us come in for free. I don't know if it is a rule (It was at some point), but we really should let other elite volleyball players into our matches without paying.
2. There should absolutely be a rule about referee stands and their closeness to the court. Middelfart's referee stand is by far the worst, there are two legs that sit probably 50cm from the sidelines. They are right where a player trying to hit a set that travels slightly too far outside of the court would land. I saw three different situations last night where players were centimeters from ruining their legs/ankles/knees. I didn't think it was a big deal until three other people noticed the exact same thing.
3. There is little question in my mind that the semi-final matchups worked out perfectly for us in Marienlyst. Middelfart gave us problems all year and the physical nature of their play definitely didn't give them as much of an advantage against HIK as it would have against us or Gentofte. Time and time again, when they needed an important side out or to score an important point, they would just set a high ball to the opposite and let his height do the work. Gentofte didn't really have an answer for it and that was the biggest difference in the match.
4. It took me awhile but I've finally decided what I think about Gentofte. My take is that they are the team that is the most able to score points and put pressure on other teams by actually "playing volleyball". I know that sounds ridiculous, but let me explain. What I mean is that they can play defense and turn that defense into points. They don't rely on powerful serving, and while they are a capable blocking team, they usually don't dominate at the net. What sets them apart, as far as I've seen, is that they have a knack for making plays. The ball that you think is down is almost never down. They cover extremely well and they are usually in the correct spot. While a lot of mens teams rely on their serving or their blocking to create point opportunities, Gentofte is good at creating those point opportunities even when the other team is passing well and running an in-system offense. And it makes for exciting volleyball........usually.
5. I have to give credit to Middelfart for playing at a high level to end the season. A lot of teams would have just packed it up and not really cared about the bronze medals, but Middelfart was concentrated and solid. So, congratulations, that third place is actually very important looking ahead to next year.
And that brings me to my last point. This is difficult for me to discuss because I'm coming from a place of biased ignorance. But, I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about the end of the season and how to kind of spruce things up. I've got a few ideas that I want to use this space to unpack a little bit.
First, I think that the playoffs need to expand. If it is only going to be the top four teams that make the playoffs (which is correct in my mind) then the series should be turned into best of five format. Take a little bit more time to play them and pack a few more "quality" matches into the schedule. It's best for everyone.
Second, and I've talked about doing this a million times before, it could be really cool to set something up with Sweden. The format could work in many different ways:
The two champions could meet a few days after each country's finals are finished. Say, the weekend after both are done. It would be one match and it could alternate between Malmo and Copenhagen. An Oresund series if you will. Make it an arrangement with women's and men's teams playing like the pokal final. Minimal work to get it set up and I think that people would enjoy watching it. Am I totally overestimating the rivalry between Sweden and Denmark? Do people care at all? I think it would be fun.
Thinking about it last night, something that would be even more fun would be to setup a kind of tournament that would culminate in the best teams playing each other right after season's end. Take the top three teams from each league and let them play a one day tournament in two pools separated by country. The winner of each pool gets to play the next day in the "finals". This would be interesting because the teams that get second and third in their league would have a kind of second chance to win a championship. It would also add interest in the bronze medal match as the fourth place team would be out of the running. A great example is Middelfart this year, they would have a second chance to prove how good of a team they are...
A third format could be an all-star competition. We tried to do this four years ago, an all-star team from the Danish Elite against the Danish national team. It was kind of fun, but it lacked any real excitement. What if we took an all-star team from the Danish elite and put them up against an all-star team from Sweden? Put a limit on the amount of foreigners that could be on the court and play.
I realize there are a lot of logistical problems with the scenarios presented here, but I think they could be overcome. If everyone was interested in the concept and made an honest effort to win this could be a great way to add some more quality volleyball matches to the schedule. It would also add some excitement to the end of the year and create an interesting showcase for fans if done correctly.
1. Thanks to Middelfart for letting us come in for free. I don't know if it is a rule (It was at some point), but we really should let other elite volleyball players into our matches without paying.
2. There should absolutely be a rule about referee stands and their closeness to the court. Middelfart's referee stand is by far the worst, there are two legs that sit probably 50cm from the sidelines. They are right where a player trying to hit a set that travels slightly too far outside of the court would land. I saw three different situations last night where players were centimeters from ruining their legs/ankles/knees. I didn't think it was a big deal until three other people noticed the exact same thing.
3. There is little question in my mind that the semi-final matchups worked out perfectly for us in Marienlyst. Middelfart gave us problems all year and the physical nature of their play definitely didn't give them as much of an advantage against HIK as it would have against us or Gentofte. Time and time again, when they needed an important side out or to score an important point, they would just set a high ball to the opposite and let his height do the work. Gentofte didn't really have an answer for it and that was the biggest difference in the match.
4. It took me awhile but I've finally decided what I think about Gentofte. My take is that they are the team that is the most able to score points and put pressure on other teams by actually "playing volleyball". I know that sounds ridiculous, but let me explain. What I mean is that they can play defense and turn that defense into points. They don't rely on powerful serving, and while they are a capable blocking team, they usually don't dominate at the net. What sets them apart, as far as I've seen, is that they have a knack for making plays. The ball that you think is down is almost never down. They cover extremely well and they are usually in the correct spot. While a lot of mens teams rely on their serving or their blocking to create point opportunities, Gentofte is good at creating those point opportunities even when the other team is passing well and running an in-system offense. And it makes for exciting volleyball........usually.
5. I have to give credit to Middelfart for playing at a high level to end the season. A lot of teams would have just packed it up and not really cared about the bronze medals, but Middelfart was concentrated and solid. So, congratulations, that third place is actually very important looking ahead to next year.
And that brings me to my last point. This is difficult for me to discuss because I'm coming from a place of biased ignorance. But, I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about the end of the season and how to kind of spruce things up. I've got a few ideas that I want to use this space to unpack a little bit.
First, I think that the playoffs need to expand. If it is only going to be the top four teams that make the playoffs (which is correct in my mind) then the series should be turned into best of five format. Take a little bit more time to play them and pack a few more "quality" matches into the schedule. It's best for everyone.
Second, and I've talked about doing this a million times before, it could be really cool to set something up with Sweden. The format could work in many different ways:
The two champions could meet a few days after each country's finals are finished. Say, the weekend after both are done. It would be one match and it could alternate between Malmo and Copenhagen. An Oresund series if you will. Make it an arrangement with women's and men's teams playing like the pokal final. Minimal work to get it set up and I think that people would enjoy watching it. Am I totally overestimating the rivalry between Sweden and Denmark? Do people care at all? I think it would be fun.
Thinking about it last night, something that would be even more fun would be to setup a kind of tournament that would culminate in the best teams playing each other right after season's end. Take the top three teams from each league and let them play a one day tournament in two pools separated by country. The winner of each pool gets to play the next day in the "finals". This would be interesting because the teams that get second and third in their league would have a kind of second chance to win a championship. It would also add interest in the bronze medal match as the fourth place team would be out of the running. A great example is Middelfart this year, they would have a second chance to prove how good of a team they are...
A third format could be an all-star competition. We tried to do this four years ago, an all-star team from the Danish Elite against the Danish national team. It was kind of fun, but it lacked any real excitement. What if we took an all-star team from the Danish elite and put them up against an all-star team from Sweden? Put a limit on the amount of foreigners that could be on the court and play.
I realize there are a lot of logistical problems with the scenarios presented here, but I think they could be overcome. If everyone was interested in the concept and made an honest effort to win this could be a great way to add some more quality volleyball matches to the schedule. It would also add some excitement to the end of the year and create an interesting showcase for fans if done correctly.
Monday, April 07, 2008
New Classics
What a playoff series. And from what I hear, that goes for both semis. When we got the message on Saturday, right after our match was over, that Middelfart and Aalborg were 2-2 and just beginning a fifth set, my first thought was how sad it was that we couldn't be there court side to see it. After all the drama that we went through in our first two matches against Gentofte it would have been nice to sit back and watch how other teams dealt with it. Without knowing too much about it, I have to take my hat off to Aalborg. I know how good I feel about being in the finals, but I can't imagine how they feel. Losing that first match at home 0-3 and not letting it stop them from coming back to win two grueling 5 set matches in Middelfart. Everyone else has said it already, but the difference in that team from the middle of the season to now is incredible. It's also amazing, in the current playoff system, how quickly that 1st place finish can be wiped away. Lose that first match and the entire regular season is washed away pretty much.
I also think it's significant to note that the difference in the two series came down to very few points. One sideout here or one point scored there and everything is different. From that viewpoint, any of the four teams could be in the finals right now. We were down a match ball in the fourth set of our second match and somehow figured out how to win anyways. I'd imagine that it was the same way in the other semi. I'm rambling a little bit, but the point is that these were all exciting matches, for players, fans and anyone else out there. And the intensity/emotion of the atmosphere has been incredible. It is these kinds of matches that get people excited about watching and playing volleyball. Hopefully the finals will be the same...............with maybe a little less drama surrounding the outcome...........
Anyways, all respect to Gentofte. They play good volleyball, they do the right things most of the time and they are always well prepared. Like I said to Sebastian after our match Saturday, their time is coming, if they stay together they are going to win a lot of gold medals. Luckily for us, it won't be this year.
As far as our team goes, I think that Saturday was a great match for us. It felt like we found ourselves again in that match. We remembered what we can do on the court and we did it, without nerves and without feeling any pressure. We played free and made few mistakes, all the while putting pressure on the other side of the net. If we can keep playing like that, we'll be tough to handle in the finals.
Congrats to Aalborg. Looking forward to seeing you guys on Sunday. And I'm not afraid to promise a better game than last time!
I also think it's significant to note that the difference in the two series came down to very few points. One sideout here or one point scored there and everything is different. From that viewpoint, any of the four teams could be in the finals right now. We were down a match ball in the fourth set of our second match and somehow figured out how to win anyways. I'd imagine that it was the same way in the other semi. I'm rambling a little bit, but the point is that these were all exciting matches, for players, fans and anyone else out there. And the intensity/emotion of the atmosphere has been incredible. It is these kinds of matches that get people excited about watching and playing volleyball. Hopefully the finals will be the same...............with maybe a little less drama surrounding the outcome...........
Anyways, all respect to Gentofte. They play good volleyball, they do the right things most of the time and they are always well prepared. Like I said to Sebastian after our match Saturday, their time is coming, if they stay together they are going to win a lot of gold medals. Luckily for us, it won't be this year.
As far as our team goes, I think that Saturday was a great match for us. It felt like we found ourselves again in that match. We remembered what we can do on the court and we did it, without nerves and without feeling any pressure. We played free and made few mistakes, all the while putting pressure on the other side of the net. If we can keep playing like that, we'll be tough to handle in the finals.
Congrats to Aalborg. Looking forward to seeing you guys on Sunday. And I'm not afraid to promise a better game than last time!
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Trouble before tonight's second semi...
Several Marienlyst players disqualified from tonight's semi-final against Gentofte.
Players looked at each other in disbelief as representatives from Elite Sport Danmark's newly formed Commission for Reform Against Portliness descended upon last night's training. With scales and calipers in hand they spent nearly two hours running the bewildered players through various tests of physical fitness.
Several players have been deemed unfit to participate in any further athletic activity. While the identities of these players are unknown at this point, sources close to the commission indicate that key players will not be able to play tonight. The future of these athletes will be determined in an upcoming hearing scheduled for the 4th of August. At the hearing, the players implicated will be given the chance to prove that they have never eaten at McDonald's or ingested anything containing ingredients that are identified by E numbers. Guilty athletes will be banished from all athletic activity immediately.
A spokesperson for the commission issued this statement: "As the organization responsible for Elite Athletics here in Denmark, we are engaged in all aspects of the culture. It recently came to our attention that supposed "elite" athletes have not respected their bodies enough to keep them in top physical condition. This disregard for elite sport cannot go unpunished. The rules clearly state that athletes should maintain an outwardly clean, trim appearance (editor's note: official rules state that body fat should never exceed 9% for men) and that their souls, conscience and inner being should be unblemished. No exceptions. These players must consider how their actions reflect on the community around them and in particular the kids that look up to them."
The Marienlyst players have not been reached for comment. Sports chief Jesper Hansen offered this comment, "It's an unfortunate situation, one that I clearly never had a problem with. We'll move forward though and hope that our remaining less heavy players can be successful tonight."
The newly formed Commission for Reform Against Portliness will continue to make unannounced checks throughout the country.
Players looked at each other in disbelief as representatives from Elite Sport Danmark's newly formed Commission for Reform Against Portliness descended upon last night's training. With scales and calipers in hand they spent nearly two hours running the bewildered players through various tests of physical fitness.
Several players have been deemed unfit to participate in any further athletic activity. While the identities of these players are unknown at this point, sources close to the commission indicate that key players will not be able to play tonight. The future of these athletes will be determined in an upcoming hearing scheduled for the 4th of August. At the hearing, the players implicated will be given the chance to prove that they have never eaten at McDonald's or ingested anything containing ingredients that are identified by E numbers. Guilty athletes will be banished from all athletic activity immediately.
A spokesperson for the commission issued this statement: "As the organization responsible for Elite Athletics here in Denmark, we are engaged in all aspects of the culture. It recently came to our attention that supposed "elite" athletes have not respected their bodies enough to keep them in top physical condition. This disregard for elite sport cannot go unpunished. The rules clearly state that athletes should maintain an outwardly clean, trim appearance (editor's note: official rules state that body fat should never exceed 9% for men) and that their souls, conscience and inner being should be unblemished. No exceptions. These players must consider how their actions reflect on the community around them and in particular the kids that look up to them."
The Marienlyst players have not been reached for comment. Sports chief Jesper Hansen offered this comment, "It's an unfortunate situation, one that I clearly never had a problem with. We'll move forward though and hope that our remaining less heavy players can be successful tonight."
The newly formed Commission for Reform Against Portliness will continue to make unannounced checks throughout the country.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Finally.
I'm so excited for the next week of volleyball. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. I think we're in for a week of really good volleyball. Four teams, all with something to prove and only two get to go to the finals. I think the match-ups are perfect and I'll use this space to explain why:
HIK - Middelfart
From the drama standpoint, you've got Aalborg with a chip on their shoulder from all this weirdness around arranging their home match. No matter how much people blame it on the TSG and deny it being personal between the teams, I can't imagine that the players don't have a little edge to them. Putting aside judgment as to who is in the right here, I think we can all agree that Aalborg's press releases have been a little venomous... In any case, I can't imagine a scenario where this match doesn't have a lot of emotion in it.
From the volleyball standpoint, both teams are playing incredibly well right now. Neither has lost in a long time (though HIK has played more "meaningful" opponents in the last month and half) so they are clearly both doing the right thing on the court. Both teams are physical, power teams that can control games with good blocking. Ryan Vandenburg has been hitting over the top all year long, putting a lot of balls away and carrying a huge load for Middelfart's offense. Will he be able to, straight physically, dominate against the larger HIK block? Can Aalborg play defense behind their block? How will each team react to the pressure of playing a semi-final? Will Aalborg be able to scrape together a big crowd at 9pm? (By the way, I think a 9pm Saturday start time is perfect, sets up perfectly for the rest of the night...) I haven't seen Middelfart play in over a month so I am slightly biased towards HIK after playing them recently, but I think this series has the potential to be an absolute classic. I'm still hoping that I'll get the chance to see them play one of their matches against each other.
From the spectator standpoint, you're guaranteed to see exciting power volleyball. You're going to see a lot of big blocks, and you're going to see a lot of strong attacking. This is going to be real classic men's volleyball.
Marienlyst - Gentofte
Drama: Two teams that know each other really well. Geo and Søe coming back to Gentofte and playing for the other team. The only men's team from Copenhagen still in the playoffs vs. the only team that has beaten them in Copenhagen this year. Besides all that, we've got a history of playing great semi-final matches against each other.
Volleyball: Less physical than Aalborg and Middelfart. We've got experience and some really explosive players, Gentofte has talent, youth and an obvious star in Jonas, who will have the best day? This game might be decided by who can step up at the net and get more blocks/touches and play disciplined defense. Can we stop Gentofte's outsides if they get hot? Who will be able to serve consistently? All of these questions are real basic volleyball difference makers. The team that plays the best, most consistent volleyball is going to win. Not that I think Middelfart and Aalborg play unorthodox, but they have the ability to do other things physically if they make some mistakes, Gentofte and Us have to play really good all around volleyball to be successful. It's going to be really competitive and really exciting. Hopefully the volleyball will look good.
Fans: Out of anywhere else, I think Gentofte has great fan support. I love to hear the Galas making noise, home crowds should have a little edge to them and they definitely supply that edge. I hope that we see all the familiar faces from Copenhagen since this is the only men's semi taking place there. I think everyone will see a good, technical match featuring two teams that have had a lot of success in the past several years. Only one of the two teams that have won the last three championships is going to still be around after this.
I can't remember being this excited about the semi-finals ever. I really think that this week is going to be one of the best weeks that I've experienced in Danish Volleyball. I hope that everyone else is just as excited as I am. It will be good to see you all out at the games. I know I'm going to have fun playing in them, hopefully all the spectators will enjoy watching them just as much...
HIK - Middelfart
From the drama standpoint, you've got Aalborg with a chip on their shoulder from all this weirdness around arranging their home match. No matter how much people blame it on the TSG and deny it being personal between the teams, I can't imagine that the players don't have a little edge to them. Putting aside judgment as to who is in the right here, I think we can all agree that Aalborg's press releases have been a little venomous... In any case, I can't imagine a scenario where this match doesn't have a lot of emotion in it.
From the volleyball standpoint, both teams are playing incredibly well right now. Neither has lost in a long time (though HIK has played more "meaningful" opponents in the last month and half) so they are clearly both doing the right thing on the court. Both teams are physical, power teams that can control games with good blocking. Ryan Vandenburg has been hitting over the top all year long, putting a lot of balls away and carrying a huge load for Middelfart's offense. Will he be able to, straight physically, dominate against the larger HIK block? Can Aalborg play defense behind their block? How will each team react to the pressure of playing a semi-final? Will Aalborg be able to scrape together a big crowd at 9pm? (By the way, I think a 9pm Saturday start time is perfect, sets up perfectly for the rest of the night...) I haven't seen Middelfart play in over a month so I am slightly biased towards HIK after playing them recently, but I think this series has the potential to be an absolute classic. I'm still hoping that I'll get the chance to see them play one of their matches against each other.
From the spectator standpoint, you're guaranteed to see exciting power volleyball. You're going to see a lot of big blocks, and you're going to see a lot of strong attacking. This is going to be real classic men's volleyball.
Marienlyst - Gentofte
Drama: Two teams that know each other really well. Geo and Søe coming back to Gentofte and playing for the other team. The only men's team from Copenhagen still in the playoffs vs. the only team that has beaten them in Copenhagen this year. Besides all that, we've got a history of playing great semi-final matches against each other.
Volleyball: Less physical than Aalborg and Middelfart. We've got experience and some really explosive players, Gentofte has talent, youth and an obvious star in Jonas, who will have the best day? This game might be decided by who can step up at the net and get more blocks/touches and play disciplined defense. Can we stop Gentofte's outsides if they get hot? Who will be able to serve consistently? All of these questions are real basic volleyball difference makers. The team that plays the best, most consistent volleyball is going to win. Not that I think Middelfart and Aalborg play unorthodox, but they have the ability to do other things physically if they make some mistakes, Gentofte and Us have to play really good all around volleyball to be successful. It's going to be really competitive and really exciting. Hopefully the volleyball will look good.
Fans: Out of anywhere else, I think Gentofte has great fan support. I love to hear the Galas making noise, home crowds should have a little edge to them and they definitely supply that edge. I hope that we see all the familiar faces from Copenhagen since this is the only men's semi taking place there. I think everyone will see a good, technical match featuring two teams that have had a lot of success in the past several years. Only one of the two teams that have won the last three championships is going to still be around after this.
I can't remember being this excited about the semi-finals ever. I really think that this week is going to be one of the best weeks that I've experienced in Danish Volleyball. I hope that everyone else is just as excited as I am. It will be good to see you all out at the games. I know I'm going to have fun playing in them, hopefully all the spectators will enjoy watching them just as much...
Friday, March 21, 2008
Status
I'm not going to spend any real time describing yesterday's game because, frankly, nothing interesting happened. If you want to read about something interesting and exciting go to Olafsen's Volley and read about his teams' big quarterfinal win.
The scores in our match speak for themselves. 18-17-18. We took a beating. Luckily, this game meant nothing to us as far as the final standings. But I have to hand it to HIK, they played a great match. Their block, serve, passing and attacking was much improved compared to earlier in the season. They were running an extremely quick ball to the outside and generally made up for any mistakes on their side with really solid blocking. They are going to be a difficult out in the playoffs if they continue to play like they did yesterday.
Yesterday's result means that we play Gentofte in the semis. I'm not really sure that I want to go back to Kildeskovshallen for another playoff match. We've had our difficulties there over the years and Gentofte has always been dangerous at home.
I think the semi-final match-ups are really interesting this year. You've got two really physical teams in HIK and Middelfart on one side and two teams that are a little bit more technically oriented in Us and Gentofte on the other.
HIK and Middelfart have won and lost to each other this year and they both carry long winning streaks into their series, so it should be really competitive. It will be interesting to see if HIK's middles can contain Ryan on the right side. And if Middelfart can't get as much production out of the opposite as they have all year, how will they react? Also, who will be able to serve well and consistently put pressure on the other team's passers? I hope that I'll get a chance to get over to Middelfart and see at least one match between these two...
We've beaten Gentofte every time we've played this year, but only one of those wins was convincing. We have a tradition for playing really tight matches against each other and I don't see any reason why this year will be any different. Hopefully, we'll be able to play better than we have the last week and find our way back to top form.
It's been a really long regular season and it's great to see the playoffs coming around the corner. It's also positive to see the quality of the top four teams. I don't think I can remember a year (maybe my first year in Denmark 2002-03) where there were four teams that were this good in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the hot teams fare, and if we can live up to the favorite role that we've had on our backs all year.
The scores in our match speak for themselves. 18-17-18. We took a beating. Luckily, this game meant nothing to us as far as the final standings. But I have to hand it to HIK, they played a great match. Their block, serve, passing and attacking was much improved compared to earlier in the season. They were running an extremely quick ball to the outside and generally made up for any mistakes on their side with really solid blocking. They are going to be a difficult out in the playoffs if they continue to play like they did yesterday.
Yesterday's result means that we play Gentofte in the semis. I'm not really sure that I want to go back to Kildeskovshallen for another playoff match. We've had our difficulties there over the years and Gentofte has always been dangerous at home.
I think the semi-final match-ups are really interesting this year. You've got two really physical teams in HIK and Middelfart on one side and two teams that are a little bit more technically oriented in Us and Gentofte on the other.
HIK and Middelfart have won and lost to each other this year and they both carry long winning streaks into their series, so it should be really competitive. It will be interesting to see if HIK's middles can contain Ryan on the right side. And if Middelfart can't get as much production out of the opposite as they have all year, how will they react? Also, who will be able to serve well and consistently put pressure on the other team's passers? I hope that I'll get a chance to get over to Middelfart and see at least one match between these two...
We've beaten Gentofte every time we've played this year, but only one of those wins was convincing. We have a tradition for playing really tight matches against each other and I don't see any reason why this year will be any different. Hopefully, we'll be able to play better than we have the last week and find our way back to top form.
It's been a really long regular season and it's great to see the playoffs coming around the corner. It's also positive to see the quality of the top four teams. I don't think I can remember a year (maybe my first year in Denmark 2002-03) where there were four teams that were this good in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the hot teams fare, and if we can live up to the favorite role that we've had on our backs all year.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Playoffs...Already?
I feel like it has been months since I played any serious volleyball. This might be because it actually has been about a month since I played. But more than that, I think I am just a little bit jealous. It seems like everyone else is getting ready to start the playoffs. Danish Basketball, Swedish Volleyball, German volleyball, Champions League is getting down to the final four, March Madness… I don’t know, I’m getting kind of antsy. We’ve still got two more games and after that, a solid ten or eleven days before the playoffs begin. It’s times like these that make me think we should have a more developed playoff schedule. Best of five perhaps? Maybe best of three semi final and then best of five final? Would this be too much or just the right amount?
Some other thoughts for this time of year:
With Aalborg’s win over Gentofte this weekend the whole playoff picture has kind of come into focus. It’s a really interesting development that puts my team in a really weird situation. Assuming that we can play well enough to stay in first place, we are going to play either Gentofte or Aalborg in the semis. We are also going to play them in our last two matches of the regular season. Gentofte this Saturday and then Aalborg next Thursday. If we win both, then we get Aalborg in the semis. If one of them beats us, then they will probably end up in third place. It’s also possible that we’ll play Aalborg next Thursday in a match that means nothing to us and might mean a lot to them.
Some people would also argue that we are in a position to decide who we want to play against in the semi finals. I think that talking about match-ups, etc… for the playoffs is kind of a waste of time and usually counter productive. I think that you have to just go into each match and try to play your best and win. No one ever got in trouble for playing as hard as they can every time. When you start talking about losing to Team A so that you can play Team B in a certain situation I think you end up creating more negatives than positives.
It might be easy for me to say this because Aalborg and Gentofte are both really good teams. We’ve had our problems with Gentofte, and Aalborg has really played well in their last six or seven matches. Who wants to play the hot team in the playoffs?
What’s even more weird, is that we haven’t really played in so long, I have no idea how good we are at the moment. It almost feels like we are starting a second part of the season from scratch right now. So, hopefully we’ll be able to step up and finish this season off well.
I know that the schedule was kind of thrown off at the beginning of the season because DHG pulled out of the Elite, but has anyone noticed that some teams have had more home games than others? Just for posterity’s sake let’s take a look. Gentofte for example, up until now, the best home team in the league with 7 wins and 1 loss and a set score of 23-4 (That means, besides the three sets they lost to Marienlyst, they have lost one set at home all year). At the end of the schedule they will have played an equal amount of matches home and away – 9 and 9. Important when you notice that their record is 3 wins and 6 losses away from Kildeskovshallen.
Aalborg, who is also much better at home at 7-2, will end the season with 10 home games and only 8 away games. This is a pretty big deal when you consider that Gentofte and Aalborg are battling to see where they will finish for the playoffs. If Aalborg had had one more away game would they have lost it? If Gentofte had had one more home game would they have won it? Just to be a bitch, I’ll also mention that Marienlyst will end the season with 8 home games and 10 away games – kind of unfair?
Lastly, I’ve read with great interest the couple of shots that people have taken at SK Aarhus in the last few weeks. I don’t really feel that it is up to people from the outside to judge what they are doing over there. I was a part of it for two years and I am really glad for the chance that I got to play there. What I do think is important to note, is that they have not done anything illegal or against the rules. There are no rules that forbid a certain amount of players or how often they can be switched out. So, they can do whatever they want as long as it is inside the rules. Do I think it is the best strategy for the future? Probably not, but in case no one else has noticed, SK has a solid portion of young players that have a good future in the Elite division. Supplementing with foreign players until the younger guys are ready to really step up isn’t the worst idea. Sending players home because they can’t make the playoffs? Well, I can’t really condone that.
A more important point though, and this relates to the above paragraphs, is the luck factor in when and how a team faces Aarhus. You could argue that they have been responsible for more tumult in the elite division this year than any other team. They’re kind of like going out to the bar with your one crazy, unpredictable friend. You might end up having the best night of your life, you also might end up getting into a fight and getting stabbed, and there’s no real way to know before you get out there.
Look at Gentofte, they played an Aarhus volley that no other team in the league played against. They had the bad luck of playing them when they had the services of a Tunisian, among other motivated foreigners, who were pretty good. If Gentofte got to play them again today, with the team they have right now, they would most likely win.
ASV got the opposite, they got to play an Aarhus volley that was in a transitional phase, with unmotivated and new foreigners that weren’t in playing shape yet. The result was a win for ASV, a win that has turned out to be a very important win for them in relation to staying in the elite next year.
Aarhus has been the wildcard of the league all year. There is no question that it was an advantage to play them at the right time this year and that’s directly due to the fact that they have switched out their team a couple of times this year. Kind of unfair? You tell me.
Good luck to those that are starting playoffs already. I can’t wait to join you. It’s going to be a while I guess.
Some other thoughts for this time of year:
With Aalborg’s win over Gentofte this weekend the whole playoff picture has kind of come into focus. It’s a really interesting development that puts my team in a really weird situation. Assuming that we can play well enough to stay in first place, we are going to play either Gentofte or Aalborg in the semis. We are also going to play them in our last two matches of the regular season. Gentofte this Saturday and then Aalborg next Thursday. If we win both, then we get Aalborg in the semis. If one of them beats us, then they will probably end up in third place. It’s also possible that we’ll play Aalborg next Thursday in a match that means nothing to us and might mean a lot to them.
Some people would also argue that we are in a position to decide who we want to play against in the semi finals. I think that talking about match-ups, etc… for the playoffs is kind of a waste of time and usually counter productive. I think that you have to just go into each match and try to play your best and win. No one ever got in trouble for playing as hard as they can every time. When you start talking about losing to Team A so that you can play Team B in a certain situation I think you end up creating more negatives than positives.
It might be easy for me to say this because Aalborg and Gentofte are both really good teams. We’ve had our problems with Gentofte, and Aalborg has really played well in their last six or seven matches. Who wants to play the hot team in the playoffs?
What’s even more weird, is that we haven’t really played in so long, I have no idea how good we are at the moment. It almost feels like we are starting a second part of the season from scratch right now. So, hopefully we’ll be able to step up and finish this season off well.
I know that the schedule was kind of thrown off at the beginning of the season because DHG pulled out of the Elite, but has anyone noticed that some teams have had more home games than others? Just for posterity’s sake let’s take a look. Gentofte for example, up until now, the best home team in the league with 7 wins and 1 loss and a set score of 23-4 (That means, besides the three sets they lost to Marienlyst, they have lost one set at home all year). At the end of the schedule they will have played an equal amount of matches home and away – 9 and 9. Important when you notice that their record is 3 wins and 6 losses away from Kildeskovshallen.
Aalborg, who is also much better at home at 7-2, will end the season with 10 home games and only 8 away games. This is a pretty big deal when you consider that Gentofte and Aalborg are battling to see where they will finish for the playoffs. If Aalborg had had one more away game would they have lost it? If Gentofte had had one more home game would they have won it? Just to be a bitch, I’ll also mention that Marienlyst will end the season with 8 home games and 10 away games – kind of unfair?
Lastly, I’ve read with great interest the couple of shots that people have taken at SK Aarhus in the last few weeks. I don’t really feel that it is up to people from the outside to judge what they are doing over there. I was a part of it for two years and I am really glad for the chance that I got to play there. What I do think is important to note, is that they have not done anything illegal or against the rules. There are no rules that forbid a certain amount of players or how often they can be switched out. So, they can do whatever they want as long as it is inside the rules. Do I think it is the best strategy for the future? Probably not, but in case no one else has noticed, SK has a solid portion of young players that have a good future in the Elite division. Supplementing with foreign players until the younger guys are ready to really step up isn’t the worst idea. Sending players home because they can’t make the playoffs? Well, I can’t really condone that.
A more important point though, and this relates to the above paragraphs, is the luck factor in when and how a team faces Aarhus. You could argue that they have been responsible for more tumult in the elite division this year than any other team. They’re kind of like going out to the bar with your one crazy, unpredictable friend. You might end up having the best night of your life, you also might end up getting into a fight and getting stabbed, and there’s no real way to know before you get out there.
Look at Gentofte, they played an Aarhus volley that no other team in the league played against. They had the bad luck of playing them when they had the services of a Tunisian, among other motivated foreigners, who were pretty good. If Gentofte got to play them again today, with the team they have right now, they would most likely win.
ASV got the opposite, they got to play an Aarhus volley that was in a transitional phase, with unmotivated and new foreigners that weren’t in playing shape yet. The result was a win for ASV, a win that has turned out to be a very important win for them in relation to staying in the elite next year.
Aarhus has been the wildcard of the league all year. There is no question that it was an advantage to play them at the right time this year and that’s directly due to the fact that they have switched out their team a couple of times this year. Kind of unfair? You tell me.
Good luck to those that are starting playoffs already. I can’t wait to join you. It’s going to be a while I guess.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Underachievers?
We've lost two matches all year. In both of those matches we've been fairly handicapped in that we've had to play without key players. Whether or not we would have lost those matches with our full lineup is not really the point of this post. All I'm saying is that, so far this season, by the most obvious marker - wins and losses - we've been pretty successful. But, as I read the match reports from all the different teams that we've played this year, it becomes fairly clear that there is a disconnect between our record and our performance on the court. I started thinking about this last weekend when I read this article about our match against Gentofte. When Dickens, the newly retired libero from Aarhus, basically reiterated Peter Borglund's feelings after our match on Saturday I decided I would write about it.
With few exceptions, other teams and impartial observers that I have talked with have been unimpressed with our play on the court. Other teams have expressed a general feeling that they've had the chance to beat us but haven't quite been able to get the job done. In other words, they've been close enough that the match was theirs to win or lose. I won't list all of them here, but if you look at the match reports from our side and opposing teams throughout the season you'll see a lot of discrepancies. Sometimes it's hard to reconcile those differences. History is absolutely influenced by the historian and truth in history does seem to be difficult to achieve...
I can't speak for other teams, there clearly have been matches this year where we were in danger of losing, but I have to ask: how can a team that lost 3-0 call the match close? Can we even put a number on dominance? For example, if one team wins 25-22 and another team wins 25-19 is there a real difference in those two wins? Can a team that loses 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16 claim that they had all the chances in the world? Is one team better if their record is 15-5 but they're set score is better than another team that finished the season 19-1?
This isn't to pick on Matt, as this is how he felt and that is totally valid. But look at his recollection of their most recent match against us here. The fifth paragraph is especially telling. It was their drop in intensity that allowed us to get back in the match and take over from there. You can imagine that I had a different take on things.
So, to my point. Are we underachieving? Or is this a phenomenon of too high expectations?
In order to be dominant does a team have to blow out every team they play against? I don't think so. I don't think it hurts. But I think that a win is a win. If the number one team in the league beats the last place team in the league 3-2 it is still going to count in the standings. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but I don't necessarily think it is the worst thing in the world. We all know there are teams that tend to play to their opposition's level and clearly in a perfect world this would not happen. But, this is what makes sports interesting isn't it? Are we one of those teams? Maybe. Does that mean we're not as good as we think we are? I don't know. I guess the jury is still out.
With few exceptions, other teams and impartial observers that I have talked with have been unimpressed with our play on the court. Other teams have expressed a general feeling that they've had the chance to beat us but haven't quite been able to get the job done. In other words, they've been close enough that the match was theirs to win or lose. I won't list all of them here, but if you look at the match reports from our side and opposing teams throughout the season you'll see a lot of discrepancies. Sometimes it's hard to reconcile those differences. History is absolutely influenced by the historian and truth in history does seem to be difficult to achieve...
I can't speak for other teams, there clearly have been matches this year where we were in danger of losing, but I have to ask: how can a team that lost 3-0 call the match close? Can we even put a number on dominance? For example, if one team wins 25-22 and another team wins 25-19 is there a real difference in those two wins? Can a team that loses 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16 claim that they had all the chances in the world? Is one team better if their record is 15-5 but they're set score is better than another team that finished the season 19-1?
This isn't to pick on Matt, as this is how he felt and that is totally valid. But look at his recollection of their most recent match against us here. The fifth paragraph is especially telling. It was their drop in intensity that allowed us to get back in the match and take over from there. You can imagine that I had a different take on things.
So, to my point. Are we underachieving? Or is this a phenomenon of too high expectations?
In order to be dominant does a team have to blow out every team they play against? I don't think so. I don't think it hurts. But I think that a win is a win. If the number one team in the league beats the last place team in the league 3-2 it is still going to count in the standings. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but I don't necessarily think it is the worst thing in the world. We all know there are teams that tend to play to their opposition's level and clearly in a perfect world this would not happen. But, this is what makes sports interesting isn't it? Are we one of those teams? Maybe. Does that mean we're not as good as we think we are? I don't know. I guess the jury is still out.
Monday, February 18, 2008
A really long, scattered post.
I've been hesitant to write anything about the current situation with our team and the Daniel. I didn't want to comment because in some ways the whole subject is so sensitive. I also, out of respect to Daniel, wanted to wait and hear what he and the club had to say before making any statement of my own. At times like these, I don't know if it is a good or bad thing to have a blog like this one. On one hand, it is nice to have a forum where I can express my feelings and an outlet for all the thoughts that swim around in my head every day, on the other hand, it might not be necessary for others to know how I feel about this.
First thing's first, anything I say about Daniel specifically assumes that the B-sample will also come back positive. Of course, there is always the chance that something got contaminated, but history has proven that this is almost never the case. No matter what I write below, I do believe that Daniel should be punished. I do, however, believe that the punishment should fit the crime and in this case I don't think it does. But I think that will be pretty clear...
Second, I want to state from the beginning that I don't consider this to be a "Doping" case. For me, the term "Doping" connotes someone trying to get a competitive advantage by taking performance enhancing substances. I can't imagine anyone making the argument that this is the case here. Yes, cocaine could hypothetically boost performance in a match, but I just don't buy that someone would choose to use it in this way. It's just not a feasible or believable scenario. No matter what you think about the case, this is the key to everything. Intentionally trying to cheat vs. making a mistake.
So, if it's not "doping", what is it? Well, and I guess this is where I might get in trouble, in my mind it isn't really anything. I think it IS a dumb mistake. And people who claim that it doesn't matter if it was intentional or unintentional - the people who believe rules are rules - are missing the point. I'll be the first to say that anyone who tries to get an advantage on someone else in sports by taking performance enhancing drugs deserves to be punished heavily. However, this is not what happened here. We're not talking about cheating here. We're talking about someone who made a mistake. And as it stands now, someone who is going to pay an incredibly high price for that mistake. There is a HUGE difference between making a mistake and intentionally seeking a chemical advantage. I think we're all paranoid right now because of the prevalence of steroids, human growth hormone and other similar drugs in the sports world. That's why I've been disappointed in the sensational "Doping" headlines that have been flashed across national newspapers and tv screens. It's not right. And it's definitely not "doping".
People have made the argument that it is necessary to protect the integrity of the sports world, that we don't want volleyball to be seen as "dirty". I agree, we don't want that. But how far are we willing to go to uphold that "clean" image? Is it really fair to end someone's career for one mistake?
But, what about the kids? Surely, we don't want to set the wrong example for them, right? True, we don't want to set the wrong example for kids. And no one should make the argument that cocaine is good for you. However, I would argue that it is just as important to show children that there are support systems in place to help them when they make mistakes. Stigmatizing someone and turning your back on them because of one stupid thing that they did is not the way to breed a safe "clean" environment for the future. Yes, sports are about fair play and hard work, but at their best, they are also about teamwork and the way that one player's positive aspects make up for another player's deficiencies. I know that this is an idealistic and perhaps optimistic way of looking at things, but I'm not sure people understand that by casting off our "problem" athletes, we set an example that is just as bad as those that choose to cheat.
Make no mistake, this case is all about societal stigma. It's a matter of what we, as a society, have decided is okay and what is not. Cocaine is attached to all sorts of negative mental images for us. Rightly so. But as far as doping goes, it should not. Is there anyone out there who believes that someone should be given a two year suspension for smoking hash? What about tobacco? What about drinking beer? What about eating French hot dogs? Team Danmark Menu anybody? Cocaine and hash sit right next to each other on the list of banned substances, does that make them equal? Does that make hash equal to HGH or steroids? It's such a pathetic system. We're regulating what our athletes can and can't do in their PRIVATE lives in the name of keeping sports "clean". And I think it's a farce. We do all these things because we want to set a "good" example and the concept just doesn't make sense.
And before people go crazy. No, I don't think that kids should do drugs. No, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to do drugs. But you know what? I also don't think it's a good idea for people to eat fast food and smoke cigarettes. But they do. It's an ancient argument, but no one has ever satisfactorily argued the case as to why cigarettes, booze and fast food are legal and party drugs are not. What does being an athlete have to do with any of this? When did it become taboo for an athlete to drink a beer and eat a Big Mac? Why can't we teach people to make informed decisions instead of just blacklisting whatever is bad for them?
In order to make all of this more clear, let me explain my understanding of what has happened to Daniel.
1. He made a terrible choice (that clearly did not have anything to do with volleyball) and did something that was against the rules.
2. He got caught.
3. His future as a very good volleyball player has essentially been taken away from him.
4. People feel this is justified as a deterrent/warning to anyone else.
Why is this a good deterrent? The rules were there beforehand and they obviously didn't stop anyone from doing anything in this case. There are numerous current examples of athletes being caught for "doping" and obviously this didn't stop anyone from doing anything. The bottom line is that most people need to experience something for themselves before they can relate to it. People need to think about the extreme nature of the punishment before they judge Daniel. It's not just two years away from the sport. It's two years away from anything physical. No weight lifting. No beach volleyball. Nothing. It's a death sentence for a relatively young career and I can't bring myself to believe that this is justified in any way. It's not about cheating. It's about a mistake. I can't say it enough, a mistake. Yes, a dumb mistake, and a dangerous one at that, but it was not a conscious attempt to cheat. This isn't going to stop anyone from snorting cocaine in the future. If anyone thinks that, they're crazy.
I've always wondered why so called "party" drugs are included in athletic drug testing. It seems to me an unlucky circumstance that they stay in the system longer than other more "accepted" drugs like caffeine, alcohol and tobacco. All of which affect the human system in some way or another, by the way. As was brought to our attention by William on his blog, the metabolites that the body produces to ingest the drug can stay in your system for up to a month. So, why are we testing for those metabolites? Why aren't we testing for the actual drug which stays in your system for 1-3 days? It seems to me that if you want to prevent someone from getting an unfair advantage you'd want to stop them from using the drugs DURING a game - not look as far into their past as possible.
It's funny, this method of testing has actually made the sport look dirtier instead of cleaner. They looked as far as they could into his body history and found something that shouldn't be there. There is absolutely no evidence that he used it to boost his performance. Most indicators point to recreational use, possibly a mistake, possibly the product of someone else slipping something into a drink. But the end result is that the sport looks worse than it did before. For no good reason. The notion, however, that volleyball will be thought of as a "dirty" sport because of this is totally insane. I've played several different sports and I've experienced lots of negatives/positives in each. Just because someone tested positive for a drug doesn't really change my feelings about that sport. Any parent who would be afraid to let their child go to KIDSvolley because of this is daft.
I have another major problem with the system. Why was this made public? Why are we looking for bad publicity for volleyball and adding to the embarrassment of a semi-amateur athlete? I don't understand it. Daniel doesn't make a living from playing volleyball. Why is he being judged as if he does?
Okay, after all that. I'm not afraid to say that I'm possibly more angry with Daniel than almost anyone else. If for nothing else, our team needs him, and he let us down. But, he has apologized and he's taken the negative attention and the punishment like a man. He should be suspended and there should be major consequences. But, two years, essentially ending his career isn't acceptable. It's not an acceptable signal to send to our youth. One strike and you're out isn't right. And I don't know where the line is, three months, six months, maybe a year... Set up a time frame that allows for counseling or whatever else is necessary but let him come back and show that you can make an error and still be productive afterwards. If he tests positive again then he has shown contempt for the sport and for everyone who participates in it, including himself and obviously would deserve a more substantial punishment. But the first positive test does not warrant such a strong response.
The point is that we should be supporting and not blacklisting. We all have an interest in making sure our athletes are clean, but we also have an interest in helping them when they can't live up to our expectations. Athletes are only human and they don't deserve to be treated as examples.
First thing's first, anything I say about Daniel specifically assumes that the B-sample will also come back positive. Of course, there is always the chance that something got contaminated, but history has proven that this is almost never the case. No matter what I write below, I do believe that Daniel should be punished. I do, however, believe that the punishment should fit the crime and in this case I don't think it does. But I think that will be pretty clear...
Second, I want to state from the beginning that I don't consider this to be a "Doping" case. For me, the term "Doping" connotes someone trying to get a competitive advantage by taking performance enhancing substances. I can't imagine anyone making the argument that this is the case here. Yes, cocaine could hypothetically boost performance in a match, but I just don't buy that someone would choose to use it in this way. It's just not a feasible or believable scenario. No matter what you think about the case, this is the key to everything. Intentionally trying to cheat vs. making a mistake.
So, if it's not "doping", what is it? Well, and I guess this is where I might get in trouble, in my mind it isn't really anything. I think it IS a dumb mistake. And people who claim that it doesn't matter if it was intentional or unintentional - the people who believe rules are rules - are missing the point. I'll be the first to say that anyone who tries to get an advantage on someone else in sports by taking performance enhancing drugs deserves to be punished heavily. However, this is not what happened here. We're not talking about cheating here. We're talking about someone who made a mistake. And as it stands now, someone who is going to pay an incredibly high price for that mistake. There is a HUGE difference between making a mistake and intentionally seeking a chemical advantage. I think we're all paranoid right now because of the prevalence of steroids, human growth hormone and other similar drugs in the sports world. That's why I've been disappointed in the sensational "Doping" headlines that have been flashed across national newspapers and tv screens. It's not right. And it's definitely not "doping".
People have made the argument that it is necessary to protect the integrity of the sports world, that we don't want volleyball to be seen as "dirty". I agree, we don't want that. But how far are we willing to go to uphold that "clean" image? Is it really fair to end someone's career for one mistake?
But, what about the kids? Surely, we don't want to set the wrong example for them, right? True, we don't want to set the wrong example for kids. And no one should make the argument that cocaine is good for you. However, I would argue that it is just as important to show children that there are support systems in place to help them when they make mistakes. Stigmatizing someone and turning your back on them because of one stupid thing that they did is not the way to breed a safe "clean" environment for the future. Yes, sports are about fair play and hard work, but at their best, they are also about teamwork and the way that one player's positive aspects make up for another player's deficiencies. I know that this is an idealistic and perhaps optimistic way of looking at things, but I'm not sure people understand that by casting off our "problem" athletes, we set an example that is just as bad as those that choose to cheat.
Make no mistake, this case is all about societal stigma. It's a matter of what we, as a society, have decided is okay and what is not. Cocaine is attached to all sorts of negative mental images for us. Rightly so. But as far as doping goes, it should not. Is there anyone out there who believes that someone should be given a two year suspension for smoking hash? What about tobacco? What about drinking beer? What about eating French hot dogs? Team Danmark Menu anybody? Cocaine and hash sit right next to each other on the list of banned substances, does that make them equal? Does that make hash equal to HGH or steroids? It's such a pathetic system. We're regulating what our athletes can and can't do in their PRIVATE lives in the name of keeping sports "clean". And I think it's a farce. We do all these things because we want to set a "good" example and the concept just doesn't make sense.
And before people go crazy. No, I don't think that kids should do drugs. No, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to do drugs. But you know what? I also don't think it's a good idea for people to eat fast food and smoke cigarettes. But they do. It's an ancient argument, but no one has ever satisfactorily argued the case as to why cigarettes, booze and fast food are legal and party drugs are not. What does being an athlete have to do with any of this? When did it become taboo for an athlete to drink a beer and eat a Big Mac? Why can't we teach people to make informed decisions instead of just blacklisting whatever is bad for them?
In order to make all of this more clear, let me explain my understanding of what has happened to Daniel.
1. He made a terrible choice (that clearly did not have anything to do with volleyball) and did something that was against the rules.
2. He got caught.
3. His future as a very good volleyball player has essentially been taken away from him.
4. People feel this is justified as a deterrent/warning to anyone else.
Why is this a good deterrent? The rules were there beforehand and they obviously didn't stop anyone from doing anything in this case. There are numerous current examples of athletes being caught for "doping" and obviously this didn't stop anyone from doing anything. The bottom line is that most people need to experience something for themselves before they can relate to it. People need to think about the extreme nature of the punishment before they judge Daniel. It's not just two years away from the sport. It's two years away from anything physical. No weight lifting. No beach volleyball. Nothing. It's a death sentence for a relatively young career and I can't bring myself to believe that this is justified in any way. It's not about cheating. It's about a mistake. I can't say it enough, a mistake. Yes, a dumb mistake, and a dangerous one at that, but it was not a conscious attempt to cheat. This isn't going to stop anyone from snorting cocaine in the future. If anyone thinks that, they're crazy.
I've always wondered why so called "party" drugs are included in athletic drug testing. It seems to me an unlucky circumstance that they stay in the system longer than other more "accepted" drugs like caffeine, alcohol and tobacco. All of which affect the human system in some way or another, by the way. As was brought to our attention by William on his blog, the metabolites that the body produces to ingest the drug can stay in your system for up to a month. So, why are we testing for those metabolites? Why aren't we testing for the actual drug which stays in your system for 1-3 days? It seems to me that if you want to prevent someone from getting an unfair advantage you'd want to stop them from using the drugs DURING a game - not look as far into their past as possible.
It's funny, this method of testing has actually made the sport look dirtier instead of cleaner. They looked as far as they could into his body history and found something that shouldn't be there. There is absolutely no evidence that he used it to boost his performance. Most indicators point to recreational use, possibly a mistake, possibly the product of someone else slipping something into a drink. But the end result is that the sport looks worse than it did before. For no good reason. The notion, however, that volleyball will be thought of as a "dirty" sport because of this is totally insane. I've played several different sports and I've experienced lots of negatives/positives in each. Just because someone tested positive for a drug doesn't really change my feelings about that sport. Any parent who would be afraid to let their child go to KIDSvolley because of this is daft.
I have another major problem with the system. Why was this made public? Why are we looking for bad publicity for volleyball and adding to the embarrassment of a semi-amateur athlete? I don't understand it. Daniel doesn't make a living from playing volleyball. Why is he being judged as if he does?
Okay, after all that. I'm not afraid to say that I'm possibly more angry with Daniel than almost anyone else. If for nothing else, our team needs him, and he let us down. But, he has apologized and he's taken the negative attention and the punishment like a man. He should be suspended and there should be major consequences. But, two years, essentially ending his career isn't acceptable. It's not an acceptable signal to send to our youth. One strike and you're out isn't right. And I don't know where the line is, three months, six months, maybe a year... Set up a time frame that allows for counseling or whatever else is necessary but let him come back and show that you can make an error and still be productive afterwards. If he tests positive again then he has shown contempt for the sport and for everyone who participates in it, including himself and obviously would deserve a more substantial punishment. But the first positive test does not warrant such a strong response.
The point is that we should be supporting and not blacklisting. We all have an interest in making sure our athletes are clean, but we also have an interest in helping them when they can't live up to our expectations. Athletes are only human and they don't deserve to be treated as examples.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
New School/Old School!
I thought I would pass along a few things I found interesting:
I don't know if anyone out there would find this interesting, but for comparison's sake, there are some good quality videos from the boys "18 and Under" level at the most recent US national championships at a site called: www.middlehitter.com. There is a bar running across the top of the page and in the sub-menu under "Video" there is a listing for USAV Junior. Click on 2007 JO Open Championship and let the video load.
Admittedly, these are some of the best players in the country, but I think it is worth a look if there is anyone out there wondering what the difference in level is between Danish/European youth players/teams and those that come from the American system. I understand there are differences in why/how much/how youth sports are built up in the US and Europe, but it might be interesting for some out there to see what kind of level these kids are playing at. I personally think it is pretty impressive. It's also interesting to see the different styles of play. The orange team is from St. Louis (A team from the middle of the country) and they play a more typical, international style. Faster offense, more big, physical players and strong jump serves. The team in white is from the Pacific Palisades (A west coast team close to Malibu that I actually played for a long time ago when I was 16) they play a little bit more relaxed, slower tempo, smaller more ball control oriented players with a better feel for the game. In the US, the west coast has long dominated the volleyball scene, but, in recent years, the balance of power has slowly been shifting. I'm not sure, but this has to be one of the first times that a team from "back east" has won a Junior Olympic national volleyball championship.
I understand this may not interest everyone who reads this blog, but it interests me...
The other thing that I found FASCINATING was a little higher up on the video list, under the FIVB heading. 1981 Cuba vs. USA in the Canada Cup. Download the big file if you can, about 260mb but it is a complete set.
I don't really know how to feel about seeing something like this. I'm not sure if modern volleyball is even the same game anymore. It's just a whole different sport. If you don't feel like watching it on your own, I'll run you through some of the things I thought about while watching, in bullet form:
- It wasn't just Cuba that ran combinations on every play. The US did it also. Was the opposite just not that good/important back then?
-Could they run combinations on every play because they didn't know how to jump serve yet?
-But, then again, the middles were also passing at this point, so they couldn't expect perfect passing all the time right...right?
-Even if they weren't jump serving, those hook/windmill float serves look pretty nasty...
-With a really good hitter, is it better to just set high balls to the outside? The Cubans seemed pretty effective with their outsides.
-Didn't we switch to the colored ball because it was easier to see for the referees to call bad sets and for people watching on television to be able to see the ball? Well, it is easier to see the white ball than the colored ball, and since international referees pretty much don't ever call a bad set anymore, why did we switch?
-If you watch long enough, you'll see Tim Hovland standing in the US huddle during a timeout with an actual glass of water. Not plastic and not a bottle, but an actual glass of water which he then hands to the trainer to be cleaned after the time out.
-The tempo of the game is quicker. I don't mean the volleyball, I mean the time in between plays is shorter. Players run back to the service line and serve quickly. As a result, the game moves faster for the fans watching.
-Everyone plays defense. I miss this aspect of the game.
-I'd give a substantial amount of money to get one of those long sleeved, red, Cuba jerseys. Those things are nice!
-Somehow, I get the sense that these teams were more willing to experiment, and more able to make adjustments on the fly during the game. One of the outside hitters makes a dig on a shirt tip in position 2/3 area and can't get back outside to hit. So, the setter just sets the back row C to one of the middles who crushes it. I feel like in today's game the opposite is such a bigger factor, they hit so many garbage balls out of the back and front row that it effectively kill the creativity showcased by that one play. Not saying it's a bad thing, I just think it is interesting to see how much the opposite position has developed over the years.
-Is it just me, or do most of the Cubans look like Castro?
In any case, I was 1 year old when this match was played. I'm taken aback by the changes in the game during my lifetime. I'm not sure you could argue any other sport has developed as much in that time period...
And yes, that is Tom Selleck (#14) on the left side of that picture.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
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...
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...
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Revisiting the revisiting of the Pokal
As I said before, I had a chance to see the broadcast of the Pokal final the other day and I was very impressed. In fairness to DK 4, they used to do a pretty good job as well, but this was clearly an improvement. Mostly, I think the difference was in the details. The sideline reporters, the pre/post match interviews and the slightly better quality of the technical elements all combined to make the broadcast feel more like an "event" and less of an everyday occurrence. Of course, the solid crowd and the new Odense Idrœtshal also contributed to the excitement.
I thought the announcers did a good job. Admittedly, they said quite a few nice things about me so I might be slightly biased, but generally I think they hit the right level of explanation to analysis. There's obviously been a lot of discussion as of late and I think the most interesting has been in relation to the extent one should inject "expert analysis" into the conversation. As was named in one of the discussions, Handball commentators spend very little time explaining the most basic rules. As a foreigner who had never heard of the sport before I came to Denmark, I feel well qualified to comment on the positive and negative aspects of their approach. On one hand, it is extremely irritating to hear an announcer explain the same rules over and over again. I've experienced this with American commentators doing volleyball and beach volleyball for years now. You can only hear that teams can score on every play now so many times before you go crazy. On the other hand, to bring it back to handball, I still have very little understanding of the basic rules. I find the sport interesting and especially suspenseful, but a lot of the time I find myself frustrated because I don't know why a player is given a 2 minute suspension or why a player is given a penalty shot. So, I can imagine what it's like to be flipping through the channels and see a player with the wrong colored jersey on the volleyball court. It must be confusing. But then again, it might just cause them to sit and watch for a little bit longer while they try to figure it out, or even better, to call someone they know who plays volleyball and ask what the deal is.
I don't think that an expert should "dumb it down" for an audience that doesn't understand the game. Because it doesn't really make a difference. People are caught up in the game by emotion, drama, intensity, athleticism, humor, etc... All the things that make a great story, also things that the announcer can enhance or highlight through insightful analysis. The basic rules are minor details in the bigger picture. I enjoyed watching the EM Handball semi-finals just as much as everyone else and I know a lot more about the sport now than I did four years ago. The fact that I just found out that the defense can't stand inside the goalie area is really irrelevant...
I agree 100% with Morten Piil in that there MUST be more slow motion replays. It's absolutely the only way to see a lot of the really small, but extremely important, things that happen on a volleyball court. Small touches in the block, middles who jump early in block or flinch in the wrong direction, hitters who hit through tiny openings in the block, setters that hide their set direction until the last second... There are a million things to see in these slow motion replays. Personally, I found myself delighted the relatively few times a play was revisited in slow motion. Yes, yes, I know that this is very difficult in relation to volleyball. There is a limited amount of time to setup and execute these replays because no one wants to break the natural rhythm of the game. But, in relation to many other sports, basketball or football (soccer) are good examples, the game is fluid and yet they still find time for replays. I would argue that American football has a huge advantage in being able to show virtually all the replays necessary for each and every play due to the consistent breaks. I think the normal volley viewer could get so much more out of the game if there was a higher priority put on analysis of slow motion replay.
I would be extremely interested if anyone could explain how the whole slow motion replay system works. Do the announcers get to signal somehow to the producers that they would like to go back and see a certain point again? Or do the producers just automatically show some replays that they feel the announcers will want to look at? Of course, live vs. tape delay broadcast also makes a big difference... Can anyone explain why there aren't more replays in a volleyball match?
Overall though, TV2sport and the announcers did a really good job.
I wanted to talk more about something completely different, but as this post is already pretty long, I'll save it for another time...
I thought the announcers did a good job. Admittedly, they said quite a few nice things about me so I might be slightly biased, but generally I think they hit the right level of explanation to analysis. There's obviously been a lot of discussion as of late and I think the most interesting has been in relation to the extent one should inject "expert analysis" into the conversation. As was named in one of the discussions, Handball commentators spend very little time explaining the most basic rules. As a foreigner who had never heard of the sport before I came to Denmark, I feel well qualified to comment on the positive and negative aspects of their approach. On one hand, it is extremely irritating to hear an announcer explain the same rules over and over again. I've experienced this with American commentators doing volleyball and beach volleyball for years now. You can only hear that teams can score on every play now so many times before you go crazy. On the other hand, to bring it back to handball, I still have very little understanding of the basic rules. I find the sport interesting and especially suspenseful, but a lot of the time I find myself frustrated because I don't know why a player is given a 2 minute suspension or why a player is given a penalty shot. So, I can imagine what it's like to be flipping through the channels and see a player with the wrong colored jersey on the volleyball court. It must be confusing. But then again, it might just cause them to sit and watch for a little bit longer while they try to figure it out, or even better, to call someone they know who plays volleyball and ask what the deal is.
I don't think that an expert should "dumb it down" for an audience that doesn't understand the game. Because it doesn't really make a difference. People are caught up in the game by emotion, drama, intensity, athleticism, humor, etc... All the things that make a great story, also things that the announcer can enhance or highlight through insightful analysis. The basic rules are minor details in the bigger picture. I enjoyed watching the EM Handball semi-finals just as much as everyone else and I know a lot more about the sport now than I did four years ago. The fact that I just found out that the defense can't stand inside the goalie area is really irrelevant...
I agree 100% with Morten Piil in that there MUST be more slow motion replays. It's absolutely the only way to see a lot of the really small, but extremely important, things that happen on a volleyball court. Small touches in the block, middles who jump early in block or flinch in the wrong direction, hitters who hit through tiny openings in the block, setters that hide their set direction until the last second... There are a million things to see in these slow motion replays. Personally, I found myself delighted the relatively few times a play was revisited in slow motion. Yes, yes, I know that this is very difficult in relation to volleyball. There is a limited amount of time to setup and execute these replays because no one wants to break the natural rhythm of the game. But, in relation to many other sports, basketball or football (soccer) are good examples, the game is fluid and yet they still find time for replays. I would argue that American football has a huge advantage in being able to show virtually all the replays necessary for each and every play due to the consistent breaks. I think the normal volley viewer could get so much more out of the game if there was a higher priority put on analysis of slow motion replay.
I would be extremely interested if anyone could explain how the whole slow motion replay system works. Do the announcers get to signal somehow to the producers that they would like to go back and see a certain point again? Or do the producers just automatically show some replays that they feel the announcers will want to look at? Of course, live vs. tape delay broadcast also makes a big difference... Can anyone explain why there aren't more replays in a volleyball match?
Overall though, TV2sport and the announcers did a really good job.
I wanted to talk more about something completely different, but as this post is already pretty long, I'll save it for another time...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Aalborg...not in Aalborg for once.
It takes a solid 2.5 hours to drive to Aalborg from Odense. It's a drive that we've already had the pleasure of making a couple of times this year. And conceivably could be making two more times before the season is over.
Luckily, this weekend we got to play them at home.
I don't know if it was the unusual green floor in Hal 2, the setter change, the recent pokal title or the impending team Christmas dinner, but something had us playing well below our normal standard. To me it looked like the guys weren't really that motivated - there was little excitement or urgency in the things we were doing. We gave points away too easily and didn't do enough to score when we needed it. At the same time, for most of the first set we were close enough so as to not be too worried. It wasn't until late that Aalborg put together a run and pulled away from us. Unfortunately, no one looked very worried about losing the set.
The second opened where it ended, with Aalborg scoring points. At some point, the score was 5 or 6 to 1 and things looked bleak for us. But, here the game changed drastically. I think more than anything, we decided to inject a little more effort and emotion into our play and that, in turn, put more pressure on Aalborg. As the score indicates, after their early lead in the second set we essentially played them off the court. 74-45 speaks for itself.
I can't speak from their perspective, but I would definitely say that pressure was the key in the match. As soon as we were able to push them outside of their comfort zone - whether by serving tougher, receiving well against serves that in the first set would have resulted in bad passes or siding out at a much higher rate - they seemed to break down. And significantly, the emotion and fun swung from their side to ours.
Looking forward to at least one more trip up there at the end of the season!
The Christmas dinner afterwards was a success. Very hard to go wrong when you have lots of incredible food, beer, snaps and people. And of course aufguss.
In any case, I got a chance to watch the pokal final again and I have a few comments I'll post in the next couple of days.
Luckily, this weekend we got to play them at home.
I don't know if it was the unusual green floor in Hal 2, the setter change, the recent pokal title or the impending team Christmas dinner, but something had us playing well below our normal standard. To me it looked like the guys weren't really that motivated - there was little excitement or urgency in the things we were doing. We gave points away too easily and didn't do enough to score when we needed it. At the same time, for most of the first set we were close enough so as to not be too worried. It wasn't until late that Aalborg put together a run and pulled away from us. Unfortunately, no one looked very worried about losing the set.
The second opened where it ended, with Aalborg scoring points. At some point, the score was 5 or 6 to 1 and things looked bleak for us. But, here the game changed drastically. I think more than anything, we decided to inject a little more effort and emotion into our play and that, in turn, put more pressure on Aalborg. As the score indicates, after their early lead in the second set we essentially played them off the court. 74-45 speaks for itself.
I can't speak from their perspective, but I would definitely say that pressure was the key in the match. As soon as we were able to push them outside of their comfort zone - whether by serving tougher, receiving well against serves that in the first set would have resulted in bad passes or siding out at a much higher rate - they seemed to break down. And significantly, the emotion and fun swung from their side to ours.
Looking forward to at least one more trip up there at the end of the season!
The Christmas dinner afterwards was a success. Very hard to go wrong when you have lots of incredible food, beer, snaps and people. And of course aufguss.
In any case, I got a chance to watch the pokal final again and I have a few comments I'll post in the next couple of days.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
