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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 26, 2004 2:10:05 GMT -5
Since they're all on one string your suggestion is as valid as most of your know it all impressions. Chill. Don't read mine if you don't like them. You don't like the stuff I write, this we know. Psst...lemme give you a hint...I started the thread. You could have skipped the whole thing. I didn't say I did not like what you post. Never said it. Go back and look. Your stuff is like a Spice Girls record...mildly amusing but no real substance. You, however, clearly said you don't like mine. Good gosh do you not keep track of stuff at all? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2004 8:38:03 GMT -5
From the LA Times:
On the U.S. match point at 16-15, the Greeks hit long and the U.S. team collapsed in celebration and disbelief. The Greek captain, Marios Gkiourdas, went after the floor referee, screaming that the U.S. had touched the net on the play and demanding justice. The Greek coach, Stylianos Prosalikas, confronted the other referee while the rest of his team collapsed on the court in various stages of disarray, some of them pulling on the net to stress their belief that there and been a foul. It took several minutes before enough calm could be achieved to allow the teams to shake hands and leave.
The high drama continued in the mixed zone, where athletes pass through to be interviewed by--or, in most cases, to ignore--the media seeking to question them. The Greek captain, Gkiordas, screamed at a Greek reporter and gestured angrily. Greek officials wrestled him away to, of all places, the main interview room, where the soap opera continued.
Gkiordas, apparently angry at one Greek reporter, bemoaned the lack of support for Greek volleyball said that all anybody in Greece would remember now was his team losing a 20-12 lead. "Our efforts are not appreciated," he said. "Now, the journalists get to write what they want, and we, the athletes who work so hard, are lost. It isn't fair."
The theme continued with Coach Prosalikas.
"Maybe when I get older," he said, "the memories of this will fade and I will be able to forget these difficult times. It is so unfair because this result will have such an affect on how people judge us. It will be decades before we recover from a defeat and the 20-12 lead we lost."
As demoralized as the Greeks were, the Americans were hardly touching the ground.
"I not only have I never played in anything like this before," said Palmdale's Ryan Millar, the former BYU star, "but I have never seen anything like it. You are down, 20-12, in a deciding set, you are dead. The word incredible doesn't even work. More like impossible."
Tom Hoff, the former Cal State Long Beach star, had a similar perspective.
"You spend four years of your life, training for about 10 hours of competition," he said. "And then, to be in a game like this in the Olympics, a game that will never be forgotten..."
Hoff had no words to finish.
Down the hall, there were more than enough, as the descendants of Aristotle, who once called tragedy "undeserved with regards to its harshness," were still agonizing.
Said Coach Prosalikas, "I looked forward so much to winning, but all I feel now is sadness."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2004 8:43:00 GMT -5
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Post by jbspaw on Aug 26, 2004 9:27:49 GMT -5
As for sacrifice, yes there is some. But that is true of any career. Wanna see real sacrifice? Talk to the servicemembers currently serving in Iraq. National Team members train harder than any other volleyball athletes in the U.S., that is true. But even at peak training that's 4-6 hours a day. Training six days a week, that is close to the same number of hours that anyone in the general public puts in working a fulltime job. And now that the National Team program is not year-round, these athletes are spending less than 6 months a year (even in Olympic years) at the OTC. The rest of the time they are free to go out and make money as professionals by signing overseas contracts. SoBB, I enjoy your opinions BECAUSE there different than mine, keep them comming. However, don't play the military card when we're talking about sports, compare apples to apples. LB has not been given his credit for dedication to the National team, remember after Seol, we had a very hard time getting the best players to play for the Nat. Team, because they were making a TON of cash overseas? Lloy was our highest profile player, not nessacerly the best, however he is in the top eight setters in the world. If Lloy was our weakest starter on the team, then I would be very happy, but not having an OH that can put away anything thrown outisde is one of our problems too. Great hiiters make setters look better, everyone talks about how good the Brazillian setters are, but look who they are setting. |
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 26, 2004 10:05:24 GMT -5
I cannot take credit for that, a friend sent me that link via email. |
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 26, 2004 10:24:56 GMT -5
SoBB, I enjoy your opinions BECAUSE there different than mine, keep them comming. However, don't play the military card when we're talking about sports, compare apples to apples. Enlighten me. I must be clueless. Tell me how different those types of sacrifices are. The original post to which my statement was directed talked about sacrifices and being away from family/friends for extended periods of time. I see that as being very similar in this case Please do not offer up revisionist history here. In between the gold medal in Seoul '88 and Ball joining the team in '94, there was Barcelona '92. Those National Teamers that left the program to go make big bucks overaseas? They all came back - Stork, Timmons, Ctvrtklik, Partie. There were also guys named Fortune, Ivie, Hilliard (who had a great Olympics in '92), and even this guy named Bob (Samuelson) who played in Barcelona.  As for the pro leagues taking athletes away from national team programs, every country has to deal with that now. The only countries who don't allow their athletes to play professionally in the off-season and maintain year-round regimens are Cuba and China, neither of which are contenders anymore in the men's game. As far as being one of the top eight setters in the world, FIVB stats are misleading. Besides, top teams in the world can only take 2 setters to the Olympics, and only one can play at a time. I'm sure countries like Italy, Brazil, SCG, Russia, etc. have guys chomping at the bit ready to take over for the Vermiglios, Ricardos/Mauricio Limas, Grbics, Khamuttskikhs, etc. when they step down. The key statistic? Out of the 8 teams which made the crossover round, Ball was the lowest rated setter statistically on the FIVB's Athens 2004 website. Since the FIVB yanked all the statistics from the teams which were eliminated after pool-play we won't even know if he was rated lower than #8 when all the setters in the tournament are considered. One of the top eight in the world? Yes, that's easy to claim - but remember that's 8 out of 8 setters considered. |
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Post by jbspaw on Aug 26, 2004 11:03:24 GMT -5
I don't know how to do the quote box, so I'll just referance.
about sacrifice, I meant don't judge anyone against the millitary overseas, their sacrifices are greater than we can understand( I was lucky while I was in the ARMY from 92 - 95 not to go to any conflicts).
Judge atheletes against athletes.
We'll agree to disagree about Lloy, however the basic point is have a little respect for the person for representing his country for so long, wheather you think his is good or not. As much as I dislike Allen Iverson, I give him props for busting his ass for my entertainment value.
The stats are misleading, and I wasn't using them to judge any player, looking at them it shows the argintine(SP) setter ranked 2nd, and while he is a very good setter, is useless in the front row.
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Post by roofed! on Aug 26, 2004 11:07:10 GMT -5
Do you think Beal will keep Suxho for the semifinal match or will he revert back to Ball? Suxho seems to have great connections with the hitters, especially in setting the middles.
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 26, 2004 12:00:26 GMT -5
I don't know how to do the quote box, so I'll just referance. about sacrifice, I meant don't judge anyone against the millitary overseas, their sacrifices are greater than we can understand( I was lucky while I was in the ARMY from 92 - 95 not to go to any conflicts). Judge atheletes against athletes. Point taken. I will not compare this anymore. Short of a complete turnaround on his part, I will never have respect for Ball. Since he arrived on the National Team, he has done nothing short of take what was a shining legacy of our men's National Team and distort it for his own personal gain. Young and immature when he arrived, he should have listened and learned instead of jumping out there and doing the "Look at me!" things he did. Sure, it's all water under the bridge. But, even today, there is nothing in anything that Ball is doing in these Olympics that has demonstrated to me that he has changed all that much, both in his performances on court, or his demeanor off-court or his ego. Nice job dissing the Brazilians after that pool-play match, Lloy. You should learn a little bit more about how to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. I suggest reading some of Wooden's books so you can get a clue. The comparison you made to Iverson is spot-on though. Both have similiar personalities and approaches to their respective sports. We don't need more Iversons/Balls, we need more Jordans/Duncans/Robinsons. |
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Post by vballguy2001 on Aug 26, 2004 20:31:33 GMT -5
I know there is a lot of talk about Lloy Ball and how he is getting a lot of criticism. I thank Lloy Ball for staying around for so long, but I think there is a better setter on this squad. So it is time to pass the torch. So lets pass it.
Suxho looks like he fits in better with this team. He made Barnett look like a steady outside hitter. I think Barnett hit his best balls in the olympics off of Suxho sets. Millar and Hoff connected better with him, and the team looks as if they respond to him better.
Thanks Lloy, now let Donald play.
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Post by midwestfan on Aug 26, 2004 22:30:13 GMT -5
I know there is a lot of talk about Lloy Ball and how he is getting a lot of criticism. I thank Lloy Ball for staying around for so long, but I think there is a better setter on this squad. So it is time to pass the torch. So lets pass it. Suxho looks like he fits in better with this team. He made Barnett look like a steady outside hitter. I think Barnett hit his best balls in the olympics off of Suxho sets. Millar and Hoff connected better with him, and the team looks as if they respond to him better. Thanks Lloy, now let Donald play. Thank you! I can live with that. |
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Post by Vball818 on Aug 26, 2004 23:58:29 GMT -5
Wow. The National Team reads stuff on the Internet? NO WAY! Damn...and all this time I've been holding back.... Heh-heh. Anyway, Dodd alluded to something similiar in the broadcast when Ball came in to serve. Talked about how people were criticizing Ball and stuff. To my knowledge, the only place that happens is on the 'net. The mainstream media for years has hyped Ball (i.e. the old VB Monthly, VB Mag in all its versions, USA Today, etc.etc.). The 'net, all the way back to the days when RSV was the meeting place, was where the grassroots pulse of the volleyball community existed. VT has somewhat ascended into the title of 'net meeting place for the community today. SoBB - high five to you for criticizng the captain of the men's team...Mr. Ball. Anyone who is a public figure ought to know they'll be heavily scrutinized, right? Love reading your remarks about the setter. I wasn't too thrilled when I heard that he was coming back to set for the team...actually kinda surprised because I thought he hanged up his shoes after how awful they played in Atlanta and in Sydney. I just didn't want a repeat and it almost was in this Olympics in pool play. I support Team USA whoever is on the team. We all have favorites on the team and LB was not one of them - not because of his attitude or he's from the midwest he just...I dunno wasn't my type to get excited about. As a setter he's good but I don't think he's that good like DUSTY DVORAK or JEFF STORK. Anyway if you're gonna jab LB - keep on doing it. I like reading it. Makes me laugh. Now, if you still want to read more about their five game victory over Greece here are some articles to read: www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~32465~2359126,00.html www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/other/la-sp-olyvolley26aug26,1,5407672.story?coll=la-olympics-other the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Aug/26/sp/sp02a.html |
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