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Post by IdahoBoy on Aug 17, 2004 20:33:06 GMT -5
BTW, I enjoy all your postings about the libero position, and agree with you there.  Bah! He doesn't even know what he's arguing about via the libero! |
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Post by sammy on Aug 17, 2004 20:34:36 GMT -5
I find it interesting listening to the new ideas on how to make indoor volleyball more fan friendly.
Five years ago, the rules were dramatically changed justified that it would make the game better for TV (rally scoring, looser ball handling rules, that stupid colored ball, etc). Well guess what people? Indoor volleyball was a great game before the changes, and still is. However face it, it's a niche sport like softball and slightly better than field hockey and lacrosse.
No matter how you change it, it doesn't come across very well on TV. Let's appreciate it for what it is....and could we please go back to the old rules, since no one's watching anyway?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2004 20:37:21 GMT -5
Sir Ruffda, most of the top women AVP players had excellent collegiate careers, and were the top athletes with an all-around game. Your example has two of the top collegiate players ever. That they excelled quickly at the beach game is no surprise. Your beef is with the marketing. I don't agree that it has anything to do with the popularity of the indoor game. They are different sports. BTW, I enjoy all your postings about the libero position, and agree with you there. Well, I have to be right every once in a while. Right? ;D I don't think my post was well-written. But I, for one, was surprised that May-Walsh, as good as they are, were able to dominate all the experienced teams on the AVP and FIVB. I just watched what NBC showed of their match versus the Dutch team. Does anyone HIT the ball in the women's game? Nothing but shots after shots after shots. I just don't find that very interesting, as an avid VB fan. I miss the power of the indoor game. I think the dimensions of indoor VB perfectly fit the women's game. The Beach court just seems too big. Anyhow. I know there are lots of true fans of the Beach game, who truly appreciate the sport. I just don't think that's who NBC is targetting. And I just wish I didn't have this sinking feeling that it's not good for the overall advancement of the sport of VB. |
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Post by IdahoBoy on Aug 17, 2004 20:57:24 GMT -5
Does anyone HIT the ball in the women's game? Nothing but shots after shots after shots. No, they don't hit. Not until the semi-finals or finals, and then it's rare. This is where BBob should chime in with "they are wussies." Right? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2004 21:17:04 GMT -5
I despair! I need someone, someone other than The Idahoser, to talk me off the ledge.
The mini-people are back. Emotionally and physically abused freaks. A circus, without the elephant s***.
Why oh why does gymnastics warrant so much air time? Why oh why is it popular? I know the women soak it up, like the figure skating, but WHY?
Meanwhile, a truly GREAT sport like volleyball, a sport that is so much better than women's basketball or softball, get's Nadia. Where is the justice?
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Post by Vball818 on Aug 17, 2004 21:30:28 GMT -5
I despair! I need someone, someone other than The Idahoser, to talk me off the ledge. The mini-people are back. Emotionally and physically abused freaks. A circus, without the elephant s***. Why oh why does gymnastics warrant so much air time? Why oh why is it popular? I know the women soak it up, like the figure skating, but WHY? Meanwhile, a truly GREAT sport like volleyball, a sport that is so much better than women's basketball or softball, get's Nadia. Where is the justice? I agree with you Ruffda. So much time on gymnastics(I *itched about rhythmic gymanstics in another post). Makes me scream. I wrote and kvetced to the networks but it does no good. All those marketing and sales people in the ad industry and the sales people at the TV networks have loads of info from their focus groups that the women viewers will watch gymnastics and since NBC paid tons of money to get the rights to broadcast these Olympics they gotta get the right viewers to get their money back. It's business Ruffda. |
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Post by IdahoBoy on Aug 17, 2004 21:30:35 GMT -5
I despair! I need someone, someone other than The Idahoser, to talk me off the ledge. The mini-people are back. Emotionally and physically abused freaks. A circus, without the elephant s***. Why oh why does gymnastics warrant so much air time? Why oh why is it popular? I know the women soak it up, like the figure skating, but WHY? Meanwhile, a truly GREAT sport like volleyball, a sport that is so much better than women's basketball or softball, get's Nadia. Where is the justice? I thought Nadia was a gymnast... As far as just having me to debate your useless points with, it's the Olympics right now... most people are busy with that. |
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Aug 17, 2004 21:43:23 GMT -5
This is where BBob should chime in with "they are wussies." Right? Poor Idawuss, forever scarred into a life of puppy adulation over women volleyball players, all because he got hit in the chest by one while playing on the beach. For the record, there are a handful of very athletically gifted, skilled, and talented women's beach players out there, and then there are hordes of wannabees who play the occasional tournament for some pocket cash prize money. If you doubt that, go watch a qualifier for a women's event - you will see all kinds of body shapes and ability levels. |
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Post by roofed! on Aug 17, 2004 23:59:57 GMT -5
Why oh why does gymnastics warrant so much air time? Why oh why is it popular? I know the women soak it up, like the figure skating, but WHY? Meanwhile, a truly GREAT sport like volleyball, a sport that is so much better than women's basketball or softball, get's Nadia. Where is the justice? Part of the attraction of gymnastics is watching all those gymnasts doing nearly impossible somersaults and twists, and being graceful while doing that. Plus normally there are lots of human drama involved that draw in the audience like gymnasts coming back from near career-ending injuries. Plus, lots of cold war undercurrents that still permeate the sport -- the main gymnastic powers, aside from the US, are communist or former communist countries such as Russia, Romania and China. Throw in a temperamental diva like Svetlana Khorkina, and you get a rating blockbuster. If indoor volleyball can get more drama involved, such as smacking the face of MBs across the net, or something like Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan type, then the ratings for indoor volleyball will shoot up. Already as it is, the judges are reining in the trash-talking. I would like to see more trash-talking (in international vb), plus some shoving and kicking at the net! |
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Post by Curious on Aug 18, 2004 0:29:00 GMT -5
Part of the attraction of gymnastics is watching all those gymnasts doing nearly impossible somersaults and twists, and being graceful while doing that. Plus normally there are lots of human drama involved that draw in the audience like gymnasts coming back from near career-ending injuries. Plus, lots of cold war undercurrents that still permeate the sport -- the main gymnastic powers, aside from the US, are communist or former communist countries such as Russia, Romania and China. Throw in a temperamental diva like Svetlana Khorkina, and you get a rating blockbuster. If indoor volleyball can get more drama involved, such as smacking the face of MBs across the net, or something like Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan type, then the ratings for indoor volleyball will shoot up. Already as it is, the judges are reining in the trash-talking. I would like to see more trash-talking (in international vb), plus some shoving and kicking at the net! You're preaching to the choir on the gymnastics stuff. One would think that what would be popular would be sports one could relate to. There is probably not a single male or female over the age of 20 who hasn't made an attempt at hitting a volleyball over a net. Contrast that to the number of people, male or female, who have tried an iron cross, triple dumaflachet off the vaulting horse, or double lumshavak dismount from the parallel bars. Enough of my rant. Regards |
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Post by roofed! on Aug 18, 2004 0:42:15 GMT -5
There is probably not a single male or female over the age of 20 who hasn't made an attempt at hitting a volleyball over a net. Contrast that to the number of people, male or female, who have tried an iron cross, triple dumaflachet off the vaulting horse, or double lumshavak dismount from the parallel bars. And that is precisely why more tv viewers (who are mostly couch potatoes) are in awed of the gymnasts, and keep on tuning into the sport. They made all those iron crosses and arabian somersaults look so easy. And who could forget the charms of Mary Lou Retton. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2004 1:36:11 GMT -5
And who could forget the charms of Mary Lou Retton. Gag. There is no more drama in gymnastics than there is in any other sport. But NBC chooses to play it up. 3 hours they took to televise 30 minutes, tops, of "action." |
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Post by doctordubya on Aug 18, 2004 8:06:00 GMT -5
Does anyone HIT the ball in the women's game? Nothing but shots after shots after shots. I just don't find that very interesting, as an avid VB fan. I miss the power of the indoor game. I agree with this wholeheartedly. I play volleyball and so know that beach is a great game to play, and that all the lobs and dinks are actually quite hard to execute well. But on TV women's beach just looks BORING. I bet there are plenty of non-fans, whose experience of volleyball is pattycake stuff at a family reunion, who watch a women's beach player make a lob shot into the corner and say 'I could do that'. And they'd be right - not very consistently, maybe, but they could do it. That just reinforces the general view that beach volleyball is an amusing form of entertainment involving women in bikinis. I live in England, and I can tell you that from a TV perspective, beach volleyball has harmed the indoor game. The BBC (who have exclusive rights to the Olympics on terrestial TV here) have shown the entirety of two beach matches so far, and clips from a few more games. They have not shown one single rally of indoor ball. Now, the BBC never show much volleyball, but by this stage they have usually shown highlights from a couple of indoor matches (generally involving the host nation). My conclusion is that coverage for the beach matches is being provided instead of indoor matches. |
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Aug 18, 2004 12:26:11 GMT -5
I bet there are plenty of non-fans, whose experience of volleyball is pattycake stuff at a family reunion, who watch a women's beach player make a lob shot into the corner and say 'I could do that'. For me, its more like "why don't they just do that every time? There's only two people on the court, why do they keep just hitting it right at one of them?" As for gymnastics, I have no problem with the coverage there. What those little girls can do is amazing. There is more to life than bigger, stronger, and faster, which is why gymnastics are such a draw (although when you see it in person (and I have), you especially realize how much they are all freaks of nature - you watch them warm up and it all looks so easy until you realize that, damn, she's doing a hand stand. Hand stands are hard. OTOH, you also don't grasp just how little these girls are. I swear that girl from Romania last night was under 3 feet tall. Sletvana is absolutely huge by gymnast standards, and she is 5'4". Few of her teammates even get up to her shoulders). Also keep in mind that volleyball goes through a much longer preliminary stage than gymnastics. Last night was the team competition for the gold medal in gymnastics. Its not fair to compare that with pool play. Lastly, Ruffda has asked a very important question that I haven't seen anyone address. How popular would the beach sport be if they were in outfits like the indoor teams? This is my problem with the beach, as well. They don't sell the volleyball, they sell the skin. Too bad, too, because I know how hard sand volleyball is, and that they can do it is just amazing. So why focus on the window dressing? |
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Post by islandgirl on Aug 18, 2004 12:27:40 GMT -5
And that is precisely why more tv viewers (who are mostly couch potatoes) are in awed of the gymnasts, and keep on tuning into the sport. They made all those iron crosses and arabian somersaults look so easy. And who could forget the charms of Mary Lou Retton. I have to admit it's pretty impressive watching them flip flop all over. Most people wouldn't be able to walk across that four inch beam. I can think of worse things to watch... I turned to one of the other NBC channels and actually sat through a few minutes of ping pong..er..excuse me, I think the proper term is "table tennis."  Now, I know, I know, it takes skill, dedication, blah blah blah, to be a great ping pong player and they could ping pong circles around me in their sleep, etc. but can anyone really put them in the same category as far as athletic ability as those gymnasts? or decathlon athletes? Just saying... As for beach volleyball being more popular-- if a person knows nothing about volleyball, it's easier to follow for one thing but the bottom line is the bikini factor. |
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Now, I know, I know, it takes skill, dedication, blah blah blah, to be a great ping pong player and they could ping pong circles around me in their sleep, etc. but can anyone really put them in the same category as far as athletic ability as those gymnasts? or decathlon athletes? Just saying...