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Post by My2Sense on Dec 12, 2003 11:31:16 GMT -5
OK Rollshot people, we're waiting for you to restart the site after this long period of reflection. How 'bout it?
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Post by VBJunkie on Dec 12, 2003 11:46:18 GMT -5
I second that... I was the biggest rollshot Junkie...
it was great...
I'll eve help out with stories from the midwest!
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Post by CaliforniaVBfan on Dec 17, 2003 4:27:11 GMT -5
Yes, Wolfgang, you are the greatest. I'll help. The least you can do is to keep your writing skills polished and publish some good stuff on this forum, but Rollshot is the best. I'll even pay for a subscription. Your e-magazine was at least as good as VBmag. Here is my pledge: $30/year. Anybody else? Cheers  |
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Post by vballmom on Dec 17, 2003 10:59:54 GMT -5
I would pay too if he covered some Men's college teams too ;D
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Post by My2Sense on Dec 17, 2003 14:05:33 GMT -5
I'm in!  So, when's the first edition? |
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Post by vb on Dec 17, 2003 16:44:42 GMT -5
I didn't think I was this much of a newbie....but what was Rollshot....what will the new Rollshot be?
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Post by FanOfStanford on Dec 21, 2003 2:26:16 GMT -5
I didn't think I was this much of a newbie....but what was Rollshot....what will the new Rollshot be? Oh Rollshot was the funnest, most unabashed, e-magazine ever. Its conservatism was just to the right of DshingisKhan. Rollshot covered boys and girls teams, mostly College and Highschool, some National. I can't remember much of beach. It included biographies, stories, jokes, cartoons, bits of trivia, you name it. Once you started reading it, it became addictive. At the end, the authors burned out, lot of work for the love of it, and Wolfgang (a contributor on this forum) wrote a pretty lengthy, sad and funny, multi-part goodbye anecdote. Rollshot can't be described, it had to be experienced. I can't believe we already experience newbie-ism with regard to Rollshot, it hasn't been that long that it shut down. Wolfgang, if you read this, can you put some of the articles on some server and get them accessible on the Internet again- for old time sake. ;D |
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Post by BearClause on Dec 22, 2003 1:53:10 GMT -5
I didn't think I was this much of a newbie....but what was Rollshot....what will the new Rollshot be? I found an archived Rollshot article that's been archived at a high school website. The subject was a player from that school. (BTW - the links don't work.) www.greenhill.org/athletics/media/WEBS/Rollshot_com.htmIt's typical Rollshot.com. The article starts with a quote from "The Tao of Poo", and goes through the player's embrace of Eastern philosophies. Rollshot was more about volleyball personalities than the game itself. Here's the beginning of one more archived piece from Rollshot (the link to Rollshot no longer works): themwc.ocsn.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/112102aac.htmlTo this day there are conspiracy theories that Rollshot was a one-man operation (with Wolfgang that one man). Wolfgang is a regular on the women's VB board here, and he's not talking. In another thread, he said something about Rollshot not coming back because, "that itch has been scratched". The best part was the multi-part story just before demise of Rollshot.com. It purported to explain how Rollshot got started, the characters involved, and how the operation was run. It didn't quite explain why Rollshot.com was over. Soon afterwards, somebody on Volleytalk started posting under the handle "rollshot", with the board moderator stating that he'd shared messages with this person, and believed him to be one of the people involved in producing Rollshot. Later on, the handle "rollshot" disappeared, to be replaced with "Wolfgang". If I recall - Wolfgang was one of the characters described in that multi-part story. He says it's a moniker he used because he's a Mozart fan. |
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 26, 2003 2:04:12 GMT -5
I posted this on the women's board. ------------------------------------------------- I have received many emails and IMs inquiring about the status of rollshot.com, that tiny little hobby that mushroomed into something so big I freaked out. Here's where I stand on it: 1. I think about it every month about reviving it. It really doesn't take that much effort to do so. Sign up with a host server and start uploading pages. Money isn't an obstacle. 2. However... and this is a big "However," the thrill is gone. The itch has been scratched, and another itch hasn't reappeared. Sure it was fun for awhile but it became a drag. 3. The time and effort spent on researching, interviewing, and writing the articles far exceed the pleasure I get from the process. 4. I'm a flake. A genius, yes, but a flake.  I kid you not about the genius part. My 4th grade teacher told me I was a very "special" student and my mother said a " D" in my report card meant I was " damn smart". Except for the practice of law, I have never done any one thing for more than 4 years. 5. Even if I revived rollshot.com, the odds of Hawaii winning the national championship in women's volleyball in 2004 is greater than rollshot.com surviving past 1.5 years. 6. I burn out easily. 7. Or I get bored easily. 8. rollshot.com hampers my vacation plans. Several times in 2001, I uploaded articles from various cities and take it from me, it was not fun mixing work with pleasure. 9. People without any sense of humor just don't "get" rollshot.com. 10. I'm a happier person when I'm not involved in rollshot.com. 11. This part is important. Rollshot.com was a free site. No one paid anything. However, parents and SIDs expect rollshot.com to write the most glowing articles about their children and athletes, as if I was hired as their publicist and they were my clients. It doesn't work that way and no one understands this. I write what I want to write for volleyball entertainment. No agenda. It's a hurdle that's difficult to overcome. 12. There's nothing worse than a stupid SID or a pushy volleyball parent. Yes, I'm still bitter about Becky Christensen from 3rd grade and I can never get over it. So, I take it out on the world. 13. The only thing that motivates me to reactivate rollshot.com again is the very reason why I started it in the first place: the lack of good volleyball articles that I would like to read. If no one was going to write them, I might as well. So, Merry Christmas. |
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Post by CaliforniaVBfan on Dec 26, 2003 4:36:00 GMT -5
Hi Wolfgang, I am glad to know that you are still out there. A few good contributions on this forum from you would warm all of our hearts. Just write when you feel like it, you have a lot of supporters out there.
Reflecting on the demise of Rollshot.com, I would like to share a few disturbing observations. There is something self-destructive about volleyball.
Here is Wolfgang: He put together a most valued and supportive VB e-publication and what happens? He gets bashed by all sorts of people. Kudos were probably far and few between until he shut down. Now we cry. Let's support those who help the sport along
And here are other attempts of extinction: First the beach business squabble a few years ago, which almost destroyed beach VB and with that put out the fire of the indoor game. No sooner did VB get a lift and the press began to pick it up again, the Hawaii championship drama unfolded. And now we are faced with the Lewis question.
Complicated rules and haphazardly administered player certification processes need fixing. Yanking championships from schools is not the answer unless truly willful acts can be proven. Although the players may be less than honest, the question remains: did the players actually lie or were the eligibility questions badly phrased? If the players lied, kick them out of the program, yank their graduation certificates, make them ineligible for future international competition, through the book at them if they deserve it, but for heavens sake, don't kill the sport and let the guilty player go off into the international sunset. I don't want to keep on beating up on Kostas, but here he is with his Hawaii degree which he got with a scholarship, and now playing professionally in Puerto Rico. What has he lost, other than a bit of bragging rights? In the meantime, the sport is damaged and the entire Hawaiian VB community is mourning. They are the most supportive VB fans the sport has anywhere. Does the NCAA really believe that Hawaii knowingly played an ineligible player of Kostas's status? C'mon, give them some credit!
Get the NCAA, FIVB and other organizations to see the light of positive publicity. Rules are needed to protect the sport (any sport) but lets administer them in a positive and proactive style and not in a punitive manner against those who want nothing more than to support the sport. We are burning our most active supporters, Hawaii, and we are beginning to bash BYU. Let the underdog "Lewis" live the limelight, make a positive example out of them, and not kill our own, struggling sport with jealousy and unnecessary squabbles.
What budding player or their parents want to get into a sport with nothing but trouble brewing and (men) scholarships scares, and no professional opportunities in the US? Without attracting young talent, no sport can succeed.
The VB ruling bodies must begin to get away from their narrow insistence to do things right (by the book) and begin to do the right thing (for the sport). With this I am in no way suggestion that cheating or dishonesty should go unpunished. I am simply saying to re-evaluate the direction and purpose of the punishments or sanctions and use them to protect the sport, not to destroy it.
Ok, I got a bit longwinded, but I had to get his off my chest.
Cheers
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 26, 2003 15:13:00 GMT -5
Reflecting on the demise of Rollshot.com, I would like to share a few disturbing observations. There is something self-destructive about volleyball. Here is Wolfgang: He put together a most valued and supportive VB e-publication and what happens? He gets bashed by all sorts of people. Kudos were probably far and few between until he shut down. Now we cry. Let's support those who help the sport along Actually, I received very little criticism while rollshot.com was alive and kicking. The criticisms came when I announced the site would shut down. Then, shortly thereafter, the criticisms died down. But you're generally right about the self-destructive tendencies of many people in volleyball. |
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 26, 2003 15:14:47 GMT -5
If I recall - Wolfgang was one of the characters described in that multi-part story. He says it's a moniker he used because he's a Mozart fan. Mozart and wolves. Don't forget the wolves. |
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Post by Beachy on Dec 28, 2003 1:38:04 GMT -5
To those that think volleyball is being destroyed by bad publicity.....think again. There was one statement that I agreed with about developing the sport at the younger levels. The sport of volleyball is growing and growing every year in the club levels. Both boys and girls teams increase in number every year. I would call this a success. It may depend on how you calculate the success of a sport. I do not think volleyball is successful because of the numerous scholies available. (there are so few for the men's side, yet boys keep playing in record numbers). I do not think the amount of tv time is a good indicator either. ( Obviously, because there isn't any for volleyball) And yet our sport keeps growing.
Also, regards to bad publicity....in the words of some Hollywood showman that I don't know...there is no such thing as bad publicity. I have read more articles in my major newspaper regarding the revival of the AVP and on any other volleyball news item for this last year. USC wins a back to back title and they get 2 paragraphs. They should have squabbled.
oops now I am long winded AND off topic......
regards to Rollshot.....as a parent of a player who was profiled, great article but it was about an interesting person who also happened to play volleyball.....as were all the articles. that is what made it interesting....loved the article on the burnout girl. Thanks for the memories.
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 28, 2003 13:57:54 GMT -5
Also, regards to bad publicity....in the words of some Hollywood showman that I don't know...there is no such thing as bad publicity. I have read more articles in my major newspaper regarding the revival of the AVP and on any other volleyball news item for this last year. USC wins a back to back title and they get 2 paragraphs. They should have squabbled. oops now I am long winded AND off topic...... regards to Rollshot.....as a parent of a player who was profiled, great article but it was about an interesting person who also happened to play volleyball.....as were all the articles. that is what made it interesting....loved the article on the burnout girl. Thanks for the memories. Regarding bad publicity, the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding affair that was supposedly "bad" for figure skating was actually the best thing to happen to figure skating. Also, Beachy's son/daughter = ?? burnout girl = Elizabeth Gower |
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 28, 2003 14:21:11 GMT -5
Actually, I have some ideas for a new version of rollshot.com. It was my mission to come up with a new idea every week since the shutdown so that in the event I revive it, however remote that may be, I will have a fresh site. After a year of hibernation, I now have about 52 ideas. No disclosures on what those ideas are because I don't want any riff-raff ingrates who have no ounce of creativity in their cranium stealing them from me, but a few of those ideas involve regular continuing features on: 1. Assistant coaches 2. chains and tracking shots 3. Short Cut 4. donkey honkey 5. lists of buffoons 6. The UnFab50 7. The Worst of... 8. Water breaks 9. Insider's view of The Maze 10. The Top 250 catechisms And less on... 1. players with idiot parents (yes, I'm perfectly happy to penalize a good player for having idiot parents) 2. players associated with idiot SIDs (see parenthetical for #1 above) 3. boring players 4. idiot players 5. prep players because I hate to say this but it disturbs me to glorify 16- and 17- year olds. And more on... 1. coaches 2. assistant coaches 3. USA Volleyball with Doug Beal and Toshi Yoshida 4. Men's volleyball 5. Volleyball Players I would like to date and what that date may be like... Yes, all related to volleyball. |
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I kid you not about the genius part. My 4th grade teacher told me I was a very "special" student and my mother said a " D" in my report card meant I was " damn smart". Except for the practice of law, I have never done any one thing for more than 4 years.