MVP, J-A-C-K M-C-D-O-E-R, MVP!

so i've been hearing an awful lot of complaining about my lack of blogging, even though i blogged just last nite. most, if not all, of the criticism is coming from my volleyball teammates, so as you guessed it, the topic of this blog is devoted to the sport i love more than hockey and soccer combined (but not more than baseball, basketball, football, golf, tennis, ping pong, badmitton or horse racing individually), volleyball!

my wife and i play on a six-person coed team every wednesday or thursday nite throughout the spring, summer and fall at the shawnee mission beach volleyball facility. as you can tell from the picture above, this facility "has 18 sand volleyball courts complete with picnic tables and an intercom system on each court. the beach bar & grill seats over 150 guests inside and can accomodate another 300+ on their expansive 2 tier wrap around deck." it has leagues and tournaments "for everyone from the recreational player to the power player. "

our team, as you guessed it (that's two in a row), plays in the "recreational" league. "the spikers" consists of my wife and i, ryan and gina, and al and patty. you can follow our team, getting real-time scoring and up-to-date standings at http://www.smbv.com/smbv/standings-wednesday.asp. we're in the "8:15 6 Person Rec A" league. we're currently listed as 6-0, but i guess the standings aren't really that up-to-date since we suffered a crushing 1-2 defeat last nite. we were off to such a good start, but as has been the problem in the past, we fell apart late. either we win 3-0 or we win the first game, lose the hard-fought second game, and then get blown out in the third game since gina and i can't stop talking and/or laughing. but we've been champions once before, and we'll be champions again.

i, of course, was not actually on the team when we won the league championship. and i guess (now it's my turn) that this is as good a place as any to tell you about my triumphant rise from volleyball "alternate" to volleyball superstar.

i came from humble beginnings. i was still in law school, studying all of the time, and steph jointed "the strikers" so she didn't have to sit and watch me study every nite of the week. when it came time for me to join up, the team was full (and successful). i thus became the dreaded "alternate," riding the bench (in this case, the picnic table) for game after stinking game. i sat on that bench, though, just waiting for al, our captain, to put me in so that i could show him what i could do on the volleyball court. when the call finally came, however, it didn't turn out like i had planned. an "official" team member was injured and i'd have to fill in. we, of course, lost 0-3. i didn't call the ball (supposedly, in volleyball, you say "i go") and just wound up running into people. despite my performance, i was asked to fill in several other times, but it was always the same result, one loss after another.

as you can guess (third time's a charm), the story doesn't end there. i practiced and practiced. i even put up a volleyball net in my backyard (actually it's a badmitton/volleyball set, but what's the difference?). i got better and better with each passing day, and i finally made the team, no more "alternate" status, no more riding the picnic table. i beat out many qualified players at the try-out (a team member took a job in iowa) and the rest is history...

i am now the star player on "the spikers." i literally carry the team on my shoulders. i have withstood a volleyball to the groin and a devastating pinky finger injury to carry my team to victory. i am the MVP! and the pro tour is calling.