Heinrich Schliemann III
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Post by Heinrich Schliemann III on May 4, 2003 10:46:12 GMT -5
Notes and observations, right off the plane from CA:
First of all, Lewis is good. Meyer is good (best player in the gym), the Brazilians are good, Stuntz is good. This wasn't a fluke.
Second, we have to get better athletes playing ball in this country and our better athletes playing better ball. Both setters, two of the three best hitters in the gym and one of the liberos in the championship match were from Brazil. I presume that if they were good enough in Brazil, they would be signed up and playing pro/club ball in Brazil and not playing college ball here. Bad sign internationally. And please don't complain about them taking American's roster spots. The on-court results these coaches need for their programs are in place to win, period. Not necessarily win with American citizens. There seem to be two possible courses of action: complain that they are taking roster spots, or develop the talent so those roster spots are filled.
Third, don't whine about Lewis cheating. The NCAA has done a thorough investigation of they program and found absolutely nothing. Note that I have absolutely nothing to do with Lewis Univ. or it's program, and actually live three states away. The crying from the rest of the MIVA is tiresome and old. Get bigger/better players, recruit different, train harder, improve your skills, demand more from the people around you. Do something other than exhibit your jealousy that they are doing something better than you in Romeoville, IL. Your persistent crying about this is, well, as annoying as BYU crying about calls and non-calls.
Finally, this weekend settles the debate as far as I am concerned. The LBC is the best team in the country!
Cheers--
Heinrich
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Post by 10FOOT on May 4, 2003 12:30:31 GMT -5
Dear Heinrich,
I understand you are the only person to actually pick Lewis to win the NCAA on this site. Good pick!
The issue of Brazilians, Puerto Ricans, etc. who are 25+ years of age, have played pro ball in their respective countries for several years and then compete against 19 & 20+ year old 'U.S. kids' is absurd. Imagine a kid leaving high school (i.e. Lebron James) who plays in the NBA for 4 years and then is able to return to Duke, Arizona, etc. to play in a college B-ball program? As conservative as the NCAA is on recruiting issues, the policy of allowing 'pro players' in VB is wrong. I do understand that the NCAA is now imposing a new policy next year that dictates college eligbility will be limited to 6 years following high school graduation. Has this policy been confirmed? Has anyone seen a statement from the NCAA?
I say give the coaches restrictive guidelines on who and how they can recruit.
Want to improve and increase Men's Volleyball interest in the U.S?..... get USA Volleyball, NCAA, High School Systems and AAU all on the same page to collectively get more involved with youth programs (target 10-15 year olds for 'introductory clinics' to promote the sport to kids. Imagine 100 kids watching the Lewis-BYU match)? There is no 'global vision' in the sport of VB that looks at growth and opportunity. IT TAKES A VISION, A PLAN, A FINANCIAL PARTNER AND A LOVE OF THE SPORT.
Also, ask the NCAA why wasn't there an 'intro VB youth clinic' in Long Beach this weekend at the NCAA tournament to get more kids involved?
Solicit colleges to expand programs as currently there are only 25+ Men's D-1 programs in the country versus 300+ for women...more programs mean more scholarships = more kids who are attracted to the sport. With more opportunity for advancement past high school, you would see more kids involved. The big problem is youth volleyball at the Club Level is somewhat of an expensive sport for some families...why do we not see more minorities involved in Club volleyball programs? COST.
By the way, the LBC is the best 'Club' in the country (not just 'Team') and will repeat as National Champions.
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Post by sweetieVBfan on May 4, 2003 12:30:35 GMT -5
amen to that.
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Post by Charlie on May 4, 2003 13:31:18 GMT -5
...I do understand that the NCAA is now imposing a new policy next year that dictates college eligbility will be limited to 6 years following high school graduation. Has this policy been confirmed? Has anyone seen a statement from the NCAA? Solicit colleges to expand programs as currently there are only 25+ Men's D-1 programs in the country versus 300+ for women... The big problem is youth volleyball at the Club Level is somewhat of an expensive sport for some families... Re NCAA: Don't know about the six-year thing, but a coach told me the other day that there is a new rule that says anyone who played with any pro team is not eligible, whether or not they got paid (used to be OK if they didn't get paid - something that the NCAA had no formal way of verifying). Re soliciting men's programs: I've done that with two different universities. It's a non-starter because of Title IX, even if you can get past the issue of funding a new program. Re boys club: It's not as simple as high fees. The fees are basically the same for boys and girls. I'm involved with club volleyball, and there are many girls and few boys. It seems to be getting even harder to get boys to play club. For girls, volleyball can easily be a primary sport. For boys, this is less so. They often play other sports, and the expense and time-commitment to club volleyball is just not worth it, given that there just aren't scholarships to be had. The original post said we have to get better athletes playing volleyball. But the opportunities for the better athletes are much greater in a number of other sports. That's just the way it is right now. |
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Post by Anonymous Beachman on May 4, 2003 13:49:51 GMT -5
There are new rules in place that will make it impossible for a re-creation of the current Lewis player-age situation. Obviously current teams and players are grandfathered!
Some good observations, however, in this thread about the state of US Men's VB. Take today's Los Angeles Times, for instance. Found the article on yesterday's match "buried" way back in the sports section. Not a areal article, just an add-on insert about 6"X4" in size. Pretty pathetic, but not surprising since the Los Angeles papers NEVER EVER give any press to VB, not even when one of the LA Schools wins, ie. USC, UCLA(men), etc.
The Long Beach Press-Telegram, on the other hand, had stories all week, with lots of great pictures and very prominent coverage. No surprise to us Long Beach folks here!
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Post by SC1 on May 4, 2003 14:46:41 GMT -5
I remember going to Hawaii for a match last year. They had articles running in 2 newspapers all week. Interviews on like 3 or 4 different news stations. That the kind of coverage we NEED here.
P.S. Why does Hawaii need so many news stations? Just curious...
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guest
Junior High
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Post by guest on May 4, 2003 16:47:09 GMT -5
P.S. Why does Hawaii need so many news stations? Just curious... 3 of them are on major stations such as NBC, CBS, and ABC. Not sure on how those stations are runned in your area, but, that's how they are in Hawaii. Hope that helped some. I should add that the WB station (K5 here, the station they show UH's home games and matches) and Channel 8 here in Hawaii are sister stations to NBC Channel 2. |
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Post by g string on May 4, 2003 17:32:09 GMT -5
Heinrich,
I absolutely agree with you on the fact that Mens volleyball in general is lacking in star US players...and your right train harder stop your complaining and get to work...but on the other hand, there needs to be somekind of developmental part in the sport for boys in general...to often there are misconceptions with boys playing volleyball...often boys that play volleyball are often called faggots because the sport entails primarily to women in the eyes of society...These misconception need to break down....this years match showed much this sport can be played by both sexes and not given a faggotory remark to guys that play them....In generall this is one of the most expensive sports to play in the club level....
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Post by gstring on May 4, 2003 17:39:19 GMT -5
i am finally a member
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Post by Ms X on May 4, 2003 18:11:38 GMT -5
And to baptize you...YOU should have thought of a better name, not one that I wear ALL the time. |
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Post by 007 on May 4, 2003 19:09:54 GMT -5
Some people wear em.....I EAT EM! ;D
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on May 4, 2003 21:43:11 GMT -5
Well 007, you know what they say, You are what you eat ;D.
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Post by V on May 4, 2003 22:36:32 GMT -5
Well 007, you know what they say, You are what you eat ;D.  |
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Post by gstring on May 5, 2003 1:34:00 GMT -5
i guess if you are what you eat then...my girlfriend eats it so i guess who ever eats it is a lesbian
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Post by VBCrusin on May 5, 2003 1:36:26 GMT -5
Hey Heinrich... You'll be happy to know that we will have our 2004 T.V.P. Contests for the entire season, AND we will be including the key MIVA & EIVA matches. ;D Congrats on being the only one to choose Lewis to win it all...I look forward to your choices next year...please enter each week. You would have finished higher, if you posted more predictions. I believe that this year was the turning point for the MIVA in getting respect. It's GREAT for the game. Until next year...  |
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