Team Rules--what do you put in??

Before anything else...the list of recent volleyball stuff:

Coaches--Don't Get "Cute"

What Does a VB Player Look Like?

Perspective and Beating a Final Four Team

Things I've Learned from Coaching Volleyball (Okay, this is about six months old...)

 

Anyways, I belong to a forum for coaches, and one of the things that's been discussed a whole bunch lately has been "What rule does your team have for _______________?"  It got me thinking...and thinking means blogging.

 

For perspective--I'm a libertarian at heart--I don't want government regulation and laws burying me.  No matter what Washington DC thinks, you can not legislate every situation.  The best you can do are guidelines...which also leave you room to judge each individual situation on its own merits, and that's important, too, when you are dealing with young people!

 

So--what do I put in the Lincoln Land rules?  I'm glad you asked.   There are two answers below--the short, Reader's Digest version, and then the complete rules.  The complete rules aren't actually complete--I removed certain things like phone numbers and so on.

 

Our rules contain:

1. Coach contact information
2. Our goals and priorities for the coming season (The priority order NEVER changes.  It goes family, school, volleyball in that order.)
3. School alcohol/drug policy
4. Dealing with absences (unexcused and excused)
5. Playing time philosophy, ethics, sportsmanship
6. Expectations of players not on the court
7. Quotes from coaches and athletes from various sports regarding #5 and #6
8. Academic policies, including class attendance and grade checks.
9. End of Season meetings with athletes
10. Spring/Out of Season Practice
11. Cell Phone Use, Social Media
12. Fundraising Obligations
13. Policy regarding drama
14. Pre-match 30-minute protocol
15. "Tiebreakers"...something I found that is similar (to me) to Wooden's Pyramid of Success.

Not officially part of the rules, but we also include our schedule for the next season, our travel itinerary, and a summer conditioning program,  This past year, I also added in some of USA Volleyball's list of cues/requirements for each position--great checklists for players to understand their jobs out on the court!

 

So did I miss anything?  If so, let me know.  One of the important things about rules is that they are 'living'.  We do not have the same rules each year.  I listen to suggestions and ways to improve them and sometimes incorporate those changes in to our rulebook.  If players are on board and can help make the rules, they are far more likely to respect and follow them.

 

Now for the long version:

 

 

 

LINCOLN LAND VOLLEYBALL RULES

OFFICE PHONE:

OFFICE EMAIL:

TEAM GOALS: Goals are important. But they must also be realistic. Set goals for what will make for a good season. Write your goals down—the superstition is that dreams cannot become reality until they’ve been written down. Once written, put them in an envelope and seal it. You will need three individual goals for your self and three goals that you think will be important for our team’s success. At the end of the year, open the envelope—were you successful? Was the team?

PRIORITIES: 1. Family 2. School 3. Volleyball 4. Everything else

YOU are responsible for using your best judgment regarding what to do. YOU must balance volleyball with schoolwork. If YOU are unable to balance life, being a student, YOUR responsibilities as an athlete, consider whether YOU should be part of our team—great success requires great commitment.

ALCOHOL/DRUG POLICY: AS PER THE ATHLETIC CODE. Players consuming alcohol within 24hrs of a sanctioned volleyball event (practice, match, or tournament) will be dismissed from the team. NO EXCEPTIONS.

ABSENCE FROM PRACTICE: An unexcused absence from practice will result in a player not playing in the next match.  Being late for practice will result in a player not playing in the next game.  EXCEPTION: Sophomores visiting colleges during spring—presuming they’ve informed the coaches in advance.

 ABSENCE/TARDINESS FROM OTHER VOLLEYBALL EVENTS:  Absence from other mandatory events (such as concessions duty) will be punished accordingly, REGARDLESS of whether it is an ‘excused’ absence or not:

1^st offense:  Offender will make up the concessions day and take an additional duty shift.

2^nd offense:  Offender will make up the concessions day, take an additional shift, and will be required to do three additional hours in the fitness center (6-7am…the time is NOT negotiable).

3^rd offense: Meeting with athletic director and dismissal from the team.

HINTS REGARDING PLAYING TIME, ETC: If this needs to be discussed, do so in private with the coaching staff. The staff will not discuss this with parents or relatives—ever.

* Our object is to play as a team and win.
* Do not set your personal goals around playing time—develop goals around improving yourself.
* Challenge yourself each day to improve.
* If you don’t give 100% in practice, you will not get the opportunity to give 100% in a game.
* You can lead from the bench as well as on the court—be loud, cheer, high five teammates.
*If you are part of “drama”, you’ll have time to think about it while doing stats.

In the end, we are all responsible for our own decisions, the good and the bad. This means we are also responsible for the consequences of those decisions. MAKE SURE TO THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!!!

ETHICS: Ethics are the rules we strive to live by or help us improve what we do. What LLCC wants is:

1 – You must be willing to work harder than anyone else every day of practice.
2 – Everyone has a role on the team and contributes in some fashion. It may not be your dream position, but you must accept that the coaching staff is interested in the TEAM’s success.
3 – We need you to work hard to do what the coaches ask. 
4 – Treat your teammates, coaches, fans, and opponents with respect (officials, too).
5 – The TEAM comes first.

EVALUATING A WINNER

1. Are you coachable? Are you willing to listen to criticism and realize it meant to improve your abilities?
2. Do you want to win? Does losing bother you? Do you want the ball in your hands at game point every time?
3. Are you mentally tough? Can you play through soreness or being tired? Can you pay attention to little details such as where the weak digger is while the ball is in play?
4. Do you work as hard in practice as you do in a game?
5. Will you make sacrifices for the better of the program? Practice, daily weightlifting, and off-season individual work require great dedication.
6. Are you willing to work on the areas that are your weakest or do you prefer just to work on your strengths?
7. Can you handle being an athlete and a student at the same time?
8. Do you make excuses for not doing what you are supposed to be doing to help the team?

THE BENCH: A RESERVE’S ROLE

One of the areas a coach has a problem with is the bench and its role. Volleyball teams put six players on the court at a time, yet there are up to 15 players on the roster. Doing the math, this means there are six to nine players on the bench at any one time. In most cases, if you didn’t think you were good enough, you would’ve quit the sport long ago. That causes a problem: everyone wants to play, but the coach’s job is to select a lineup and do everything possible to win. Thus, challenges are created for players AND coaches to deal with.

The bench is vital throughout the season. The bench sees playing time when possible, usually with a large lead or deficit. The bench is also used to alter the tempo of a game so players on the bench MUST be ready to go on a second’s notice and know who they are going in for, where they are on the court, and what is going on.

In summary:
1 – The non-starters challenge starters every day in practice so we are prepared for tough matches, rivals, and ranked teams.

2 – You are ready to enter a game at any instant. Long-term success comes from the bench’s ability to perform this critical role.
3 – You must strive to improve yourself. This challenges your teammates to get better themselves. This way THE TEAM benefits.
4 – You are not expected to be satisfied not being in the match—no one ever is. But you are expected to maintain a ‘professional’ attitude. We win together, we lose together—AS A TEAM.

SPORTSMANSHIP GUIDELINES

The Player:
She lives clean and plays hard. She plays for the love of the game.
She wins without boasting, loses without excuses, and never, ever quits.
She never forgets she represents LLCC at all times, whether on the court or off.

The Coach:
He inspires players to enjoy the game and have a desire to succeed.

He teaches it is better to lose fairly within the spirit of the rules instead of cheating to win.
He strives to be the role model he wants his players to become.

The Official:
She knows the rules.

She is fair and firm. She is consistent.
She treats the players and coaches with respect and demands similar treatment.
She knows the game is for the players and doesn’t take the spotlight from them.

Mike Hebert (Head VB Coach, Minnesota, retired): “I [have] learned it isn’t enough to tell a frustrated spiker ‘Just jump higher….’ Nor is it enough to muster a pained expression and implore your team during a time-out to ‘CONCENTRATE!!!’ as if that magic word can propel players from a 5-20 deficit to win a game. I learned that giving in to the urge to express feelings of disgust when players are performing poorly NEVER succeeds as a catalyst for improved performance.” (And now you know why I rarely yell…)

Nadia Comenieci (1^st gymnast to score a 10.0): “Practicing hard made everything easy. That was my secret. It is why I win.”

Wayne Gretzky (greatest hockey player ever): “The greatest compliment ever paid me was when someone said I worked hard every day, that I never ever dogged it.”

George Bernard Shaw (the only winner ever of a Pulitzer Prize AND Oscar): “When I was a young man I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. I didn't want to be a failure, so I did ten times more work.”

Derek Jeter (future Hall of Fame baseball player): “There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.”

Laird Hamilton (champion surfer and fashion model): “Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.”

George Halas (NFL founder, former NFL and MLB athlete): “Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.”—George Halas

Tom Landry (Hall of Fame football coach): “I didn’t believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on the field and be prepared to play a good game.”

Herschel Walker (Heisman winner, track/field all-American, Olympic bobsledder): “If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.”—Herschel Walker

Muhammad Ali (greatest boxer ever): “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”

Dan Gable (wrestled and coached 20+ national titles, Olympic champion considered the greatest wrestler of all-time): “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.”

ACADEMICS

Volleyball players are required to put five hours per week in the study room. This is a requirement of your scholarship.  Failure to put in your five hours means you are ineligible to play until the missed hours have been made up. If you miss your required hours two consecutive weeks, you will be suspended for one month. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!!!

After each grade check, if you have ANY unexcused absences or ANY grades that are a C- or lower, volleyball players will be required to spend an additional two hours/week in study tables.

In addition, class attendance is mandatory.  This will be checked randomly by the academic advisor as well as by various LLCC coaches.  Attendance is a requirement of your scholarship.  Missing class will result in suspension and a calisthenics penalty.  Missing more than once for any reason other than illness or family emergency will be grounds for dismissal from the team.

If you are ill and unable to attend class, you should contact the athletic office immediately. 

You may also email me, but I will only relay the information onwards at my convenience.  It is YOUR responsibility to inform the athletic department administration! You must contact the Athletics office immediately—NO LATER THAN 10 A.M.

 Grade sheets are handed out at different points each semester.  These are to be returned by the day listed on the sheet.  If there are no grades in a class, the instructor should put “No Grades Yet” in the grade area.  Late grade sheets will be penalized—by a combination of suspension, conditioning, or added concessions hours.

 

END OF SEASON

At the conclusion of the fall season, individual meetings are held with freshmen to discuss the season as well as status for next season. These are scheduled for during the week, normally in the evening.

IMPORTANT:

At the end of season, an equipment inventory for each player will be taken. Players are responsible for presenting all gear they’ve been issued. Missing gear will require reimbursement by the player. You will reimburse the team 50% of the retail value of the missing items.

SPRING PRACTICE

Spring practice is no different than fall in terms of playing time or responsibilities. The only exceptions will be assignments for manning the concessions stand during home tournaments (if any) and if there are logistics issues regarding travel for away tournaments (size of van, etc). Outside employment is not an excuse for absence from practice or events. Starting after Spring Break, you MUST leave the hours of 2-7pm open.

OTHER RULES

CELL PHONES: 
Cell phones should not be brought into the gym or else they must be turned off during practice or a match.  These should be left in your room, locker, or vehicle.   If a phone goes off in practice or is in use at a prohibited time, everyone else on the TEAM will run THREE suicides—TURN THE PHONE OFF!!!

Cell phones should not be used in the last thirty minutes of a bus trip on the way TO a match. Cell phones are not restricted after we are done playing for a day.

SOCIAL NETWORKS: 

This is your responsibility.  Any information regarding improper behavior on your page can and will be used against you.  In addition, you will add the coaches to your pages (whether Facebook, Instagram, or whatever).

FUNDRAISING:

All players are required to participate in events designed to help finance the volleyball program. This includes .... Helping in these ways means players do not have any other fundraising obligations such as selling signs, advertisements, or serve-a-thons.

Players MAY choose to fundraise via ads, selling signs, or simply paying cash.... In such a case, a player is required to raise THREE BILLION DOLLARS in lieu of other work.  This is required of scholarship AND walk-on players. Failure to do so can result in the loss of scholarship or having a ‘hold’ placed on your grades until the situation is fixed.

 

ATTITUDE/DRAMA:

If you cannot keep disruptive issues in check, you will find your playing time reduced. If that does not correct the issue or you are being negative for other reasons, you will face dismissal from the team. THIS IS YOUR WARNING!!!! If a problem persists, you will be removed from the team.

30-MINUTE PRE-MATCH PROTOCOL

Before 30:00 USA HP Warmup #1 plus Bands

30:00 – 29:00 Dig Pepper with Partner—Tips

29:00 – 28:00 Dig Pepper—Normal

28:00 – 27:00 Dig Pepper–Baby Jumps

27:00 – 24:00 Shuttle Ball Control (Groups of 3 or 4 without two setters)

24:00 - 21:00   Serve Receive with  Toss (players as target/net)

**30:00 – 21:00 SETTERS AT THE NET working on set repetitions.
One setter completes sequence, then second.

21:00 – 19:00 Rest / Drinks   

19:00 – 15:00 Visiting Team 1^st Warmup on Court
15:00 – 11:00 Home Team 1^st Warmup on Court
11:00 – 6:00 Visiting Team 2^nd Warmup on Court
6:00 – 1:00 Home Team 2^nd Warmup on Court
1:00 – 0:00 Shag Balls / Huddle

First warmup: Serving and serve-receive.

Second warmup: Hitting and blocking

TIEBREAKERS

SPEED WINS.

This should be self-explanatory. Hustle on the court, in games, in practice. If you hustle to shag balls and other ‘grunt work’, then hustling during games will become automatic. You will play quicker and with speed comes more balls kept in play, more points, and more wins.

FACE TO FACE.

Don’t talk behind a teammate’s back. If you have something to say—good or bad—make sure to say it to their face. Even better, if you see something good done by a teammate, go out of your way to say something.

BIG PICTURE.

Remember that there is more going on than one day in practice, one match. No one on the team is going to play every point. Not everyone will start. The big picture is about growing up. It’s about commitment and work ethic and learning what will lead to success for you over the next four, five, or six decades. It’s about your education. If you get caught up in petty squabbles, you will be miserable and you will make others miserable and you will miss out on everything that is part of the big picture.

BE EASY.

No—not that way. Being easy refers to being easy to understand, being willing to communicate and listen—so that there are no chances for misunderstandings between you and someone else. Don’t turn someone away when they need to talk with you—listen and reflect on what they have to say. If this exists both ways, communication WILL be effective.

WIN IN THE BOX.

Success doesn’t require thinking ‘outside the box’. It requires success ‘in the box’. That means that the only thing on your mind during practice or matches is volleyball. You shouldn’t be thinking of why you are mad at Betty or if Jane’s comment was an insult or not. You shouldn’t be worried about Tina talking to your boyfriend. You HAVE to focus on volleyball. Teams that focus on what they are supposed to be doing win. Teams that bring in irrelevant stuff from ‘outside the box’ lose.

ASK.

I ask players regularly for their opinions. It doesn’t mean that is what we’ll do, but feedback is ABSOLUTELY important. The reverse is also true—if you have questions, ask. The cliché is true for the most part….there are no stupid questions.

CHANGE THE TIRE.

If you see a teammate with a flat tire on the interstate and no one around, you’d stop and help, or at least wait with them until the Highway Patrol arrived. You wouldn’t think twice about this. You don’t ignore them. This must be the same in the gym.  If there is a problem fix it. The three big parts of this are:

1 – Empathize. Can you understand the other person’s situation or are you caught up in ‘me, me, me’?

2 – If you made a mistake or said something inappropriate, admit it. Apologize. Then strive to not repeat the mistake.
3 – You must risk being taken advantage of by others for the sake of the team and its goals. Help someone get better even if they could be promoted to start over you, accept responsibility even if you risk being unpopular temporarily.

SMOOCHIES!

Do you appreciate your teammates? Have you told them that directly? Or are they left wondering what you are thinking as you whisper to someone else? Never, ever, discount the value of positive comments to teammates.

WOW!

Do it right every time. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Be dependable, be consistent. Don’t be afraid to do new things when asked—simply give 100% at everything you do. People not playing (coaches, fans, etc) notice when players do not give 100% all of the time. As you grow older, it will become more and more obvious who is and isn’t giving 100%. Make people go ‘WOW!’ when they watch you hustle.

THE ULTIMATE.

This is the tough one. It’s recommended you tattoo this somewhere on your bodyKNOW YOURSELF. On top of that, make sure others see the real you. If your teammates know you are struggling with confidence on your hitting, they will be more likely to offer encouragement. If you are having relationship issues, they will be less likely to make joking comments that unintentionally hurt—and lead to drama and poisoned personal relationships.

Henry, 1972 --Remembering history and watching it repeat....

I'm not sure why--maybe because my mom's birthday would've been this past Monday--but something last night sent me thinking back.  Then again, maybe it was the Mustang and the news that Heartland Classics sent the car off to the exhaust shop for a new exhaust system, meaning it's almost done.

No--what actually started it was a conversation with the cashier at the gas station in Strasburg.  They had a couple customers pour slushees and get out food and found out, those aren't acceptable with Link cards--for good reason.  But instead of putting stuff back, it got left in a corner and caused a mess.  So I told them and they were able to clean it up.  Later, at the Casey's in Taylorville, I stopped for a tea and to use the restroom and someone had not flushed, left the seat down, and sprayed half the bathroom.  I told the guy and they had to clean it again.

When I was a kid, the first job I had was working for my dad in his warehouse.  I realize now some of the work I was given was 'make work'--or it was stuff that needed to get done, but there was never enough time to do it....including scraping tar off the office floor and cleaning the roofers' bathroom...which is quite possibly the worst thing I've ever done in my life, and a good motivator for keeping my grades up.

Anyways...THAT got me thinking.

When I was little, my dad had a guy who supervised his warehouse, did some light work.  His name was Henry, but I don't think I ever knew his last name.  Henry should've retired long before 1972.  I think he'd worked for Economy Roofing going back to the beginning with my grandfather and his brother, Don, in 1926.  Yup--he'd been there 46 years at that point, but that's not what I remember about him really.

What I remember was that he was born in 1878 and joined ER when he was nearly 50.  Do the math and you'd see he was managing the warehouse as a 94 year old.  Of course, I also know now my dad may have kept him because of loyalty--belief in ethics/integrity/loyalty in business was important to him.  And still--that's not the biggie.

You see, what I remember is that Henry was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, that he'd fought in the Philippines as a young man.   Here we are in 2015 and I have a memory, relatively fresh in my mind, of a man born at the end of Reconstruction, alive when men like William Sherman walked the streets of America, who fought in the last "big" war of the 19th century.  I remember him--and his war two centuries ago.

And that got me thinking--what really changes?  We went to the Philippines to toss out the Spanish, same with Cuba and Puerto Rico.  The war was defended in the papers (Hearst especially) as necessary for American security and prosperity and sent men into a guerilla war in the Philippines and suffocated an indigenous rebellion in Cuba--basically installing despots that ruled Cuba until Castro led his communist rebellion, creating an American enemy where that had never been necessary.  Puerto Rico?  Well, it's still a commonwealth, sort of free, sort of a possession.

Look at today.  A war in Iraq to defend our security (and assure prosperity via oil) that's gone on far longer than the government said it would.  Did Henry think about the Philippines the same way soldiers today think about their tours in combat zones?  Did he accept it and enjoy it--a glorious experience, romanticize it?  I don't have answers.  Only questions.  What did he think of Vietnam?

Seventy or eighty years from now--will there be a little boy who meets an old Iraqi or Afghan vet and has a memory, just a single image, that sticks with him into the 22nd century?

Memories on my mom's birthday

My mom would've been 69 today.  I posted something on my Facebook account and had a couple friends post what they remembered about her and times when we were young, and I thought, "Why not put some more of those in a blog?"

1. I miss her homemade potato salad.  Julie and Brigitte have tried--but it isn't the same.
2. I miss harassing her about eating bacon grease sandwiches.
3. I miss the 12:01am call on my birthday and how she'd sing to me.
4. I didn't appreciate enough her willingness to have 4-8 teenage boys over on Fridays or Saturdays in the basement, playing loud music, being loud and playing games--and graciously buying pizza and pop.
5. I loved that when we visited Davenport, she still got excited when we got together and did stuff at The House.
6. I loved that she was always wanting to know how my friends were doing--not out of nosiness, but because she cared--but that sounds unfair towards their parents and that isn't the intent because my friends' parents all care about me and the other friends as well.
7. I loved that after my parents' divorce, they still were a united front when dealing with the incompetent administration at my high school (the original Satan's School on Earth, now renamed Rivermont).  Having taught, I've seen that many divorced couples don't do that for their children.
8. I loved that if my mom made a mistake, she owned up to it...except for the fact that she never ever ever punished my sister as harshly as she punished me.
9. I remember going into Taco John's with her when I was 19, placing the order, and having the worker assume it was 'to go'.  Oh, no.  It was just us....of course, those were the days when I had a metabolism!
10. Oh the arguments about her giving the kids ice cream three meals/day when they were in Davenport on vacation. 
11. I remember Julie was so nervous the first time she met my parents.  My mom saw her pull up in the car, when she got up to the house, she opened the door and gave Julie a big hug and treated her like family right away.
12. I miss arguing with my mom.  Nice, big arguments--loud, raucous.  And the best thing?  When it was done, it was done--you don't carry it in to the next argument, you don't take it out on someone else.
13. My mom always worked extra hours on holidays like Christmas, so that once we were in college, we celebrated at weird times.  What she never told anyone was that she took that extra OT money and bought presents for kids and patients at the hospital.  Everyone talks about giving--but to know that she did this and avoided ANY attention for doing it made me so proud of her.
14. I miss watching horror movies with her--the more gore the better.  I watched one this weekend (No One Lives) and I know she would've loved it/laughed hysterically.
15. I remember watching Borat with her and needing to pause the movie when she peed her pants.
16. For her last birthday, I drove up to the Quad Cities, bought her a movie (The Departed...she liked gangster movies, too) and Steak and Shake, and spent that evening just talking and watching the movie.
17. I think she loved her grandchildren more than she did anyone else.
18. Until she died, I don't think I realized how much she was hurt/saddened when my grandparents died.  I get that now.
19. I always liked that if my friends came over, once we were over 18, she'd treat them as equals.  I loved that my mom didn't give a crap how rich you were, what your job was--she judged you on how you treated her, the family, and people in general.
20. My mom was always proud of her strength.  As a nurse, she was able to lift 250+lb patients without assistance.  And her skill--she never, not once, had to try a second time with a needle on a patient.  Twenty or more years--perfect record.  I dare you to find a nurse that good.
21. I remember my 21st birthday, right after my Dad had died really.  The best gift--she handed me the keys to her car and said, "Have a good day".  That car was a 25th anniversary edition Mustang convertible.  Me and Erik Johnson drove that all over the place.  Of course, I also let his little sister Patty go for a ride in it, too.
22. I remember singing to the 8-track of Elton John on the way to/from school as a little kid.
23. Never compromise your values for anyone.  Pity people who think money can buy everything.  No better advice ever.

It still sucks four years down the road--but I think some of what bothers me is how much gets forgotten, the small stories.  Do her friends still think of her?  That doesn't really matter-- I think about her every day.  So does my sister, and no one truly dies until all memory of them are forgotten, and I'll try to make sure that never happens.

Sing a Song of Cthulhu

Aye Cthulhu!

(Not written by John Denver)

 

To sail in your dreams from a long-forgot ocean,

Rising to life in a wild raging storm

The fruits of a sacrificed life and their dying,

To return once again to dreamlands unknown

The tentacles in motion, the torso still growing,

At last I know what I don't understand.

 

Aye Cthulhu! In R'yleh you're dreaming,

Of cultists who worship,

The stories they tell

Aye Cthulhu! They sing to your spirit,

Wishing you'd rise from the oceans which swell

 

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'yleh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Ai! Ai! Cthulhu in R'yleh!

 

Your brothers, the Old Ones, they sleep there beside you

In far away space, awaiting the day

When they are summoned to this our world

To devour the land and swallow the sea

As told in the Celaeno Fragments

We are not the Beatles and can't let it be.

 

Aye Cthulhu! In R'yleh you're dreaming,

Of cultists who worship,

The stories they tell

Aye Cthulhu! They sing to your spirit,

Wishing you'd rise from the oceans which swell

 

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'yleh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Ai! Ai! Cthulhu in R'yleh!

 

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'yleh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Ai! Ai! Cthulhu in R'yleh!

 

Volleyball and Pete Carroll

Well, Super Bowl XLIX (which looks like Mueslix to me...) is over and for followers of American football, it had an ending that will remain famous/infamous for a good long while and in the Internet age, means the creation of a bunch of memes like:

(List of good plays to call for Seattle at the end of the game)

 

or

 

 

Pete Carroll spent a ton of time Sunday night defending the decision and why it was smart to throw the ball and waste a down, and he's still catching grief for it today--probably will until he reaches another Super Bowl.

 

From the Patriots 1, time running out, Carroll chose to throw a ball, an inside slant that the defense jumped on, intercepted, and ended the game as a Patriots victory.  He's been criticized for not handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch (aka 'Beast Mode'), a giant running back who had already scored a touchdown and run for more than 100 yards on the day.  He'd even dragged a 350lb Patriots lineman (Vince Wilfork) behind him a couple of times.  Some of the computer geeks estimated Lynch's chance of scoring from the 1 to be near 80%--so he's got a 1/5 chance of failing.  He's going to get at least two tries, so probability suggests he's going to fail both times 1/5x5 times--1 in 25.  4%.  If I'm coaching, I'm taking the 96% chance of winning.

 

So what's this got to do with volleyball, Jim?  Fair question.

 

Carroll is known as a smart coach, a brilliant one.  He's won a collegiate national title and a Super Bowl.  And here with a 96% chance of winning--he goes the other way.  He got cute.  Not only did he not hand it off, he didn't let Wilson run, he didn't throw a fade to the corner (an almost impossible ball to intercept)--he ordered in a slant into the crowded middle of the field.  He. Got. Cute.

 

It got me thinking as I watched about that--you see coaches get cute all the time in sports, and volleyball's no different.

 

I saw a coach go up 21-5 in a volleyball match and decide to let her players start jump serving--not something they practiced much, but hey--it's 21-5, right?  Missed serve, run of a few points.  22-10.  Missed again.  23-16.  Missed another.  24-22.  Now it's panic mode, don't jump--"just get it in"...lollypop to the center of the court, sideout.  Three serves later--24-26.  The coach got mad at her players having blown such a big lead..they came out flustered, couldn't pass or hit or block, and lost the third game 25-11 (Illinois only plays best of three, and the deciding game is to 25, not 15...unless it's a tournament...stupid rules....)

 

Was that the players' fault?  Playing sound volleyball, they built a big lead--then got cute and blew it.

 

Three years ago (four?), my team was playing at a tournament and we got smeared in the first game (this is college, so 3/5)  We fall way behind in the second game, score a couple points and tells her players to stall...shoes start becoming untied, there's sweat on the floor that needs to be mopped up--she's trying to disrupt us--she wants a big win because we were ranked high and a dominating win against a ranked team always gets you noticed.  Instead, my players felt like they were being shown up and FINALLY decided to play.  Down 13-23, we won 26-24, then won the next game 25-20, then 25-10.  When we won?  The other coach made her players do sprints because they'd lost--never considering that they'd been smoking us until she got cute and made them start using stall tactics.

 

And, as always, I'm not an innocent, able to cast stones with no fear.  Uh uh.  I did it this past year and it cost us a match against a Top 3 team.  @#%@#$!!!!!

 

I used two primary lineups this year--those were sound volleyball things.  In this match, I used lineup #1 and we won 25-20, then lost 13-25.  I switched lineups to the alternate, we lost 13-25 again but the person I subbed in played well, so I stuck with the lineup and we won game 4, 25-18.  And then I went cute.

 

Usually, I'll either go with the same lineup for a game five, same starting spots and everything OR we'll start in the exact same spots we're in when game four ends.  I don't really worry about the other team and what they are doing--I always want us to focus on our side of the court.  So....we had one player who had hit really well so far in the match.  Instead of starting where MY players expected--we started with that hitter at left front (usually she started at middle back).  She'd ended the game at right front.

So out of nowhere, we are starting at a point we've never started a game at.  Strike one.  Doing that, I didn't think about my setting situation--she was starting at right front which meant she'd have to play defense immediately (another strike...) and it turns out that the great hitter had had two good games, two bad games hitting.  The most consistent was now in the back row--unable to affect the match right away.  Strike three.

 

Yeah, we lost.  10-15.  I didn't yell at the players though or anything.  I knew I pooched things about five points into the game, and spent most of the game being encouraging because they got down on themselves--even though it was a 100% coach screw up.  I got cute.

 

So now--I've got myself a little note in my computer (and I'll tape one to my desk)--going to have a meme of that Super Bowl: Don't Get Cute.