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Sand Shrewd…: GC Volleyball Recap

Why I like volleyball:

• It is truly a team sport. You are really relying on the total quality of your team, top to bottom. Therefore winning is that much sweeter as you are not the only one in control. (last line is debatable)
• It is associated with SUN, beaches, sand, summer
• When you kill a ball, there is an invigorating feeling of self worth and total domination. The flip side is missing a spike completely. Giving you a feeling of helpless abandonment to your team and self.
• You can usually play when you are older
• You can dive and not really get hurt
• Wild rallies exponentially get more exciting as the play drags on

If you know me at all, you probably know that I play A LOT of volleyball. When there is sun out, one of the first things I want to do is play some ball. I am still fairly new to the game. This is probably my 6th summer of some consistency in playing. I guess 6 years cant really be considered new.

At first AKA the rookie stage (age 19, 2005): I was the guy who couldn't pass a ball for the life of me. I would be the one that no one picked and just stood there waiting to be called onto a side. I would hit people in the head. I would hit the ball into the net. I would hit the ball out of bounds. I couldn't serve. I couldn't dig. I couldn't set. I couldn't spike. After a couple points of better opponents picking on me, I would be 'covered' by a better player to my left. And my right. Obviously you have to have your best players covering the weakest link. I was worthless. A body to fill in a gap, unwanted by experienced players.

Year 2 AKA summer #2 AKA the Sophomore Slump (age 20, 2006): By the end of the first summer, you kind of get to a point where you've made some points here and there with no consistency. You get the feeling that you can do this. That winning is fun. So you go out there, expectations high, to get your dreams crushed again. Realizing you are horrible at volleyball!! Passes going left and right. By the end of my second summer, I wouldn't be the worst volleyball player, but I was the second to last guy that usually joined the better (winning) team. (again going back to the weakest link theory) That summer I was in NYC for 6 weeks so I didn't play as much. Kind of like a suspension for being so bad.

Year 3 AKA the Potential (age 21, 2007): Just like in the NBA, you know around year 3 how special or what kind of career that player is going to have. The rookie year is just a dive into 82 games (compared to 30+ in college), media, lifestyle changes, endorsements, you name it. The first year is just a zoo where you are just doing what comes at you. The sophomore year you have a bit more of a grasp on what is going on but you still have no idea what is going on when things happen. By about the third year, your game should shape up (in GMs eyes). If not, you are considered a bust or at the very best a good sixth man. Year 3  is like a team drafting on potential. I would join good teams with no track record. 'Just that they had seen my face out at a lot of volleyball games so they think I must be good' feeling. I would still probably carry the most unforced errors on the team.

The Rings: Just like any sporting event. there are championships. What I consider the championships for GC volleyball are 1. dominating GC Camp free time (meaning your team has the longest winning streak/play time on king's court) 2. The Great Big Get Together GC + YP volleyball tournament. #1 is kind of a regular season championship to #2 the real championship. It works out as GC Camp is early August and then TGBGT is a couple weeks after.

Breakthrough: Year 3 I had breakthrough! I played well at GC Camp with Fetu. Still a horrible swinger. By now a somewhat decent setter. Passing is still eh. This was probably my best chance to beat YPs team with Vanessa. Contested, close game. We lost but I still looked forward to next year. I had a taste, kind of like Dwight or LeBron, of what the Finals was like.

Year 4 AKA Development (age 22, 2008): I really tried to focus on my passing and setting skills. I was still afraid to 'swing for the fences' because everytime I did so I would hit it out or in the net. Two words you never want to hear. That year was also the Great Big Wet Together AKA the Flood. Year 4 coincided with my free after college graduation 'what the heck am I going to do' summer, which allowed me to play lots and lots of volleyball. Yes I know I should have been applying more. I became better and better at volleyball. I could somewhat pass, somewhat set, somewhat hit. Not that I do those well now.

Year 5 AKA Stardom - unfulfilled (age 23, 2009): Year 5 had a shocking turn of events. I would be put in a position to lead teams. This from not being able to do anything productive a year or two earlier was like Rashard Lewis getting a max contract for being the best player on a horrible Sonics team. I remember one game where we were winning 24 to 20 and we lost 27-25. I had 3 opportunities to win the game for us and totally blew it. One swing out, one swing in the net, one super weak hit. Years 3, 4, 5 had trips to the Finals. All coming up empty handed. Year 5 saw P Judahs team stacked with Fetu, Zach, Elizabeth, P Malouff & Kravitz. Arguably one of the most formidable teams created.

Year 6 AKA the Schrew(d) (age 24, 2010): Being around midpoint, I am evaluating the first half of a short summer. Don't you think to yourself, I will never be like that person or do that thing I really hate. I had those thoughts when I first starting playing volleyball. Yet some years later, I am doing the exact same thing I said you would never do years earlier? I think I have turned into a volleyball monster. One who has a short tolerance for mistakes. One who avoids the worst players. One who belittles noobs. But when I think back to my game just some 5 years ago, I was that guy that didn't know how to play...

I felt the urge to write this post after a play yesterday: Our team was up 14 points and cruising. The other team scored three points and I interrupt to say I want to set X player. Totally uncalled for. Total slap to the other teams face. You don't do that when you are up. That is like scoring another touchdown from the five yard line with your team up 42 and 1 minute left on the clock. The next day, today, i get a text: You are a shrewd volleyball player Peter.

Shrewd: mischievous, abusive, severe, hard, marked by clever discerning awareness and hardheaded acumen <shrewd common sense>

Some synonyms for shrewd are:

• sagacious suggests wisdom, penetration, and farsightedness <sagacious investors got in on the ground floor>.
• perspicacious implies unusual power to see through and understand what is puzzling or hidden <a perspicacious counselor saw through the child's facade>.
• astute suggests shrewdness, perspicacity, and diplomatic skill <an astute player of party politics>.

I would much rather be astute than shrewd. I write this because I care more about who I am becoming than the 'rings' of satisfaction. We all have a choice. I am sorry to my fellow volleyballers that I have shrewd'ed. I need to clean up my shrewd act before I get screwed...

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