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Post by zenyada on Dec 22, 2014 8:28:30 GMT -5
Sorry I confused you with a weak attempt at humor trying to acknowledge the Lennon-McCartney reference ("John McCartney") This Beatles line is considered by some to be the Beatles greatest lyrical work and is from the song "The End" on the classic Abbey Road album. I have absolutely no clue who John McCartney the musician is. But I'll look him up as a self imposed penalty for weak humor. Apparently not as weak an attempt as mine -- I was attempting to engage in a bit of fun at what I assumed was a typo, but my little joke obviously was small indeed. To my knowledge there is no "John McCartney the "Almost a Beatle.". Though I wish there were. LOL...saved me a frustrating google query. |
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Post by vbkid111 on Dec 22, 2014 8:46:04 GMT -5
All very classy reps of PSU. And Rose's "love-hate" reference in describing what he thought Micha's view of their relationship was I thought honest and interesting. Seems maintaining just the right level of "creative tension" is part of Rose's success formula. After the Stanford match, she rejects his high-five offered, and instead shakes his hand, in the press conference. Wish for them it could have felt more like a love fest. Or, am I reading too much into it? In a quick interview with Hancock after she walked out of the arena and into the tunnels, she was asked to comment on "coach" and his impact. She said that RR told her when she chose PSU that "you're going to end up hating me." She smiled and said something like, "I didn't end up hating him. Sometimes I was like, 'Why are you saying that to me,' but he was just trying to make me better, to bring things out in me. I never could be the player I am today without coach." (I couldn't find the actual interview, but I think that's pretty close.) To have someone on a fairly regular basis call you out on personal weaknesses, inability to strive hard enough for something, or deficiencies in one's game--either in the private confines of his office or in the public arena of a practice (or press conference via not-so-subtle oblique comments)--can be a very painful and sometimes embarrassing experience. And many could not handle it. BUT, if a player understands that the comments are coming from honest assessment and, for the most part, have behind them a deep & consistent motivation to make her the best player/teammate she can be, then many WILL take it. When it comes to the adults who teach them, kids learn quickly to read and judge the INTENT behind one's actions/words much more than the actions/words themselves, and with RR the intent is almost always pure, never personally vindictive or petty. That's in part why kids will run through three walls for him...or push weighted sleds back and forth across the floor of Rec Hall until they puke. (Something else Hancock mentioned she would "miss" now that she won't be going back to another PSU practice.) (On a funny note, Russ, who is never one to be very demonstrative or cheerleader-like in a match, let alone show much emotion at all, actually was caught applauding one of his player's digs earlier in the tourney against Dayton. He actually sat there and clapped. Kind of funny.) |
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Post by zenyada on Dec 22, 2014 9:04:37 GMT -5
All very classy reps of PSU. And Rose's "love-hate" reference in describing what he thought Micha's view of their relationship was I thought honest and interesting. Seems maintaining just the right level of "creative tension" is part of Rose's success formula. After the Stanford match, she rejects his high-five offered, and instead shakes his hand, in the press conference. Wish for them it could have felt more like a love fest. Or, am I reading too much into it? Every new RR recruit absolutely knows what they are in for if they choose to come to PSU and play for RR. They sign up for it or they go elsewhere. They get tough love and four years of challenge with no sugarcoating. What they also get and see modeled is LOYALTY. Just look at the press conference where RR mentions its JoePa's birthday and Curley and Spanier who were huge supporters of RR. Many would not mention these people as there is nothing to gain from them as they are no longer in power and there is a lot to lose associating your self with an old administration rightfully or wrongfully convicted in the court of public opinion. He did it because he is LOYAL even if it comes at a cost. RR knew that PSU's RPI would take a big hit if he scheduled a tournament featuring four of his former players who now coach at schools who are not RPI builders. It's the 50 th year celebration of women's sports at PSU and RR is a huge supporter of all the women's sports not just VB. He did it any way because he is LOYAL and loves and is loved by people who know him. Talk to players who played for him and they pretty much say similar things. I'm not saying he's the only coach that players love or anything like that. There are lots of good men and women modeling the right way to approach life. He's one of them and that combined with a incredible work ethic and a command of the toolkit of his profession leads to this point in time. Outcomes are without question outstanding but the process has been even more remarkable. For me,the exchanges left a bit of a taste in my mouth where I would have preferred that for seniors, particularly Micha, he could been more effusive in recognizing her contribitions. |
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Post by Phaedrus on Dec 22, 2014 9:40:31 GMT -5
Every new RR recruit absolutely knows what they are in for if they choose to come to PSU and play for RR. They sign up for it or they go elsewhere. They get tough love and four years of challenge with no sugarcoating. What they also get and see modeled is LOYALTY. Just look at the press conference where RR mentions its JoePa's birthday and Curley and Spanier who were huge supporters of RR. Many would not mention these people as there is nothing to gain from them as they are no longer in power and there is a lot to lose associating your self with an old administration rightfully or wrongfully convicted in the court of public opinion. He did it because he is LOYAL even if it comes at a cost. RR knew that PSU's RPI would take a big hit if he scheduled a tournament featuring four of his former players who now coach at schools who are not RPI builders. It's the 50 th year celebration of women's sports at PSU and RR is a huge supporter of all the women's sports not just VB. He did it any way because he is LOYAL and loves and is loved by people who know him. Talk to players who played for him and they pretty much say similar things. I'm not saying he's the only coach that players love or anything like that. There are lots of good men and women modeling the right way to approach life. He's one of them and that combined with a incredible work ethic and a command of the toolkit of his profession leads to this point in time. Outcomes are without question outstanding but the process has been even more remarkable. For me,the exchanges left a bit of a taste in my mouth where I would have preferred that for seniors, particularly Micha, he could been more effusive in recognizing her contribitions. Does he really need to? He loves all of his players all the time, beyond the confines of our small volleyball world. Does a few throw away lines to a press that is mostly ignorant to the quality of what the player are accomplishing really matter all that much? In the end, it is the relationship between coach and player that matters, that will survive long past the ephemeral nature of the media. |
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Post by zenyada on Dec 22, 2014 10:36:07 GMT -5
For me,the exchanges left a bit of a taste in my mouth where I would have preferred that for seniors, particularly Micha, he could been more effusive in recognizing her contribitions. Does he really need to? He loves all of his players all the time, beyond the confines of our small volleyball world. Does a few throw away lines to a press that is mostly ignorant to the quality of what the player are accomplishing really matter all that much? In the end, it is the relationship between coach and player that matters, that will survive long past the ephemeral nature of the media. No,your right. As a RR admirer, my reaction was more in the vain of missing her play. I dont want to nitpick a grwat coach, but if I was his wife I might say "you got 7, its ok to relax and not fear complacency for a moment (hers or his), but celebrate the greatness of a player, she's gone, you're not". |
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Post by Phillytom on Dec 22, 2014 11:55:34 GMT -5
He HAS been effusive about her. You can't look at one set of comments. He's been commenting about Hancock for 4 years to anyone who would listen. Everyone associated with PSU volleyball knows what she has meant to the team. There's never been any lack of appreciation of Hancock by anyone who actually watched PSU and paid attention. You can see in 10 minutes what kind of special setter Hancock is and what she does for PSU's hitters. The problem is all the people who didn't see PSU play or weren't paying attention, including a lot of B1G fans and insiders who were blinded by the supernova of Carlini hype. They're the ones who did Hancock a disservice as well as the 7 Wisconsin seniors who had a lot to do with that program's revival. It's a team game. Carlini is not the team. Hancock is not the team. Penn State won the title again because MANY players on that team turned out to be difference-makers when it was their time to make a difference. Every new RR recruit absolutely knows what they are in for if they choose to come to PSU and play for RR. They sign up for it or they go elsewhere. They get tough love and four years of challenge with no sugarcoating. What they also get and see modeled is LOYALTY. Just look at the press conference where RR mentions its JoePa's birthday and Curley and Spanier who were huge supporters of RR. Many would not mention these people as there is nothing to gain from them as they are no longer in power and there is a lot to lose associating your self with an old administration rightfully or wrongfully convicted in the court of public opinion. He did it because he is LOYAL even if it comes at a cost. RR knew that PSU's RPI would take a big hit if he scheduled a tournament featuring four of his former players who now coach at schools who are not RPI builders. It's the 50 th year celebration of women's sports at PSU and RR is a huge supporter of all the women's sports not just VB. He did it any way because he is LOYAL and loves and is loved by people who know him. Talk to players who played for him and they pretty much say similar things. I'm not saying he's the only coach that players love or anything like that. There are lots of good men and women modeling the right way to approach life. He's one of them and that combined with a incredible work ethic and a command of the toolkit of his profession leads to this point in time. Outcomes are without question outstanding but the process has been even more remarkable. For me,the exchanges left a bit of a taste in my mouth where I would have preferred that for seniors, particularly Micha, he could been more effusive in recognizing her contribitions. |
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Post by jarredk on Dec 22, 2014 12:32:03 GMT -5
He HAS been effusive about her. You can't look at one set of comments. He's been commenting about Hancock for 4 years to anyone who would listen. Everyone associated with PSU volleyball knows what she has meant to the team. There's never been any lack of appreciation of Hancock by anyone who actually watched PSU and paid attention. You can see in 10 minutes what kind of special setter Hancock is and what she does for PSU's hitters. The problem is all the people who didn't see PSU play or weren't paying attention, including a lot of B1G fans and insiders who were blinded by the supernova of Carlini hype. They're the ones who did Hancock a disservice as well as the 7 Wisconsin seniors who had a lot to do with that program's revival. It's a team game. Carlini is not the team. Hancock is not the team. Penn State won the title again because MANY players on that team turned out to be difference-makers when it was their time to make a difference. For me,the exchanges left a bit of a taste in my mouth where I would have preferred that for seniors, particularly Micha, he could been more effusive in recognizing her contribitions. Agree. There were a few bright spots as far as PSU's future that I noticed from watching both the Stanford and BYU games. 1. I felt Hancock, although very good from a pure setting perspective (she was really great with the behind the back sets), was very non-Hancocky. Her service game was pretty much a non-factor (from either an ace perspective or simply putting the other team out-of-system), she had 1 kill and hit at a -.125 pace in the BYU game (was that her worst game of the year in that stat?), she only had 1 block assist in each game (although, admittedly, she's not a huge blocking presence she typically gets a couple more than that), and she only had 6.5 and 2.5 points in the 2 matches, respectively (which is below her season average). Despite that, they won. Now I'm not trying to turn this into a Hancock can be easily replaced thread (she clearly cannot), but the team's performance despite her lack thereof certainly bodes well. 2. Courtney. The transcending feature of almost every PSU championship has been the presence of a senior leader despite the loss of prior senior All Americans. In 2008 you had Fawcett/Harmotto. In 2009 you had Hodge/Glass. In 2010 you had Brown/Wilson. 2013 Deja/Slay/Scott. 2014 Micha/Dom/Grant. The tournament was Courtney's coming out party for that role. 3. All American hitters and a superb pass/receive game return. Washington/Whitney/Frantti/Courtney/Lee. 2 returning All-Americans and 3 others that, if they play like they are capable (or in Washington's case, have enough sets) are certainly in the running for those honors. PSU will likely (again) have the best side-out game in the country. And, while I don't want to diminish the importance of setting (which is certainly an unknown at this point), the entire offense (including good setting) starts with pass/receive. Courtney and both Pierce sisters have excelled at that. I'm not saying this will translate into another championship (there are simply so many intangibles that go into that), but the pieces will be there. |
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