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Post by newbeach on Oct 21, 2022 15:24:40 GMT -5
Shocker. I wonder what took Brandie and MHP so long to commit unless it had to come through Canada. I am also not convinced there is a clear #1 team between these 2. There goes any flicker of hope for the McNamara's. the McNamaras have settled into their place in the game, which is where you would expect two 5'9" players to be in the modern game. They are lower end to middle of the Challenge circuit. Even if Pavan had retired, wouldn't have made any difference to CAN2. Pavs was never planning on retiring. It's unfortunate the McNamaras insist on sticking together. I wonder if they are going to consider a change, at least after June 2024?
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Post by KO7 on Oct 21, 2022 15:31:14 GMT -5
Oh man I loved the Brandie and Sophie dynamic, and their potential. I understand if Brandie wants to *win now* though. I’m sure Sophie is feeling like a jilted lover, they were so tight and travelled together to tournaments even when Sophie was injured and sitting out 😔.
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Post by moderndaycoach on Oct 21, 2022 15:44:02 GMT -5
Oh man I loved the Brandie and Sophie dynamic, and their potential. I understand if Brandie wants to *win now* though. I’m sure Sophie is feeling like a jilted lover, they were so tight and travelled together to tournaments even when Sophie was injured and sitting out 😔. Totally in the same boat, but Sophie has an opportunity to learn and experience place with Pavs and hopefully Pavs respects the fact she is not a top dog anymore and takes her under her wing for the good of Canadian volleyball.
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Post by dunninla3 on Oct 21, 2022 16:12:06 GMT -5
the McNamaras have settled into their place in the game, which is where you would expect two 5'9" players to be in the modern game. They are lower end to middle of the Challenge circuit. Even if Pavan had retired, wouldn't have made any difference to CAN2. Pavs was never planning on retiring. It's unfortunate the McNamaras insist on sticking together. I wonder if they are going to consider a change, at least after June 2024? I wonder if they can even afford to travel the world while taking home an ave of $1,000 each per tournament playing volleyball. Does the Canadian Federation pay their travel as USA does for its top teams? Do they have to pay hotel and dining expenses the day after they are eliminated from a tournament the way USA players do If their parents are supporting this venture, that's fine. Their choice. If credit cards and 2nd mortgages are involved, that would be a disaster.
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Post by ajm on Oct 21, 2022 16:36:53 GMT -5
Oh man I loved the Brandie and Sophie dynamic, and their potential. I understand if Brandie wants to *win now* though. I’m sure Sophie is feeling like a jilted lover, they were so tight and travelled together to tournaments even when Sophie was injured and sitting out 😔. I really wonder whether the injury affected their eventual plans to split. It was a fluke injury where Sophie appeared to get her thumb caught in the net on a follow through in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Elite 16 against Carol/Barbara, whom they had beaten a month earlier in Gstaad. They were coming off a 2nd at World Champs and a 5th in Gstaad. Clearly Sophie wasn't the same after the injury or upon her return to the Paris Elite 16, where they failed to break pool. And in retrospect, the whole charade of Sophie following Brandie around to AVP events feels like a desperate attempt to avoid the breakup.
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Post by moderndaycoach on Oct 21, 2022 16:39:56 GMT -5
Oh man I loved the Brandie and Sophie dynamic, and their potential. I understand if Brandie wants to *win now* though. I’m sure Sophie is feeling like a jilted lover, they were so tight and travelled together to tournaments even when Sophie was injured and sitting out 😔. I really wonder whether the injury affected their eventual plans to split. It was a fluke injury where Sophie appeared to get her thumb caught in the net on a follow through in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Elite 16 against Carol/Barbara, whom they had beaten a month earlier in Gstaad. They were coming off a 2nd at World Champs and a 5th in Gstaad. Clearly Sophie wasn't the same after the injury or upon her return to the Paris Elite 16, where they failed to break pool. And in retrospect, the whole charade of Sophie following Brandie around to AVP events feels like a desperate attempt to avoid the breakup. I don't think it matters, Mel is a far better defender than Sophie and even though I would have loved to see them stay together, this is the obvious correct choice. I will agree with you her walking around Chicago following Brandie felt like a high school relationship where one knew they were moving on the and other was hanging on for any hope.
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Post by dunninla3 on Oct 21, 2022 16:41:01 GMT -5
I completely fail to understand the breakup of MHPavs. A year ago they won Silver at the World Tour Finals and took home $80,000. That was the last tourney of 2021.
This year they have averaged $12,000 earnings per tournament played, exactly the same as last year. Then they just won the Commonwealth Games over AUS.
MHPavs is the best defender and blocker Canada has. I do not have high expectations for Pavovec b/c of Bukovec's sideout averageness. I do not have high hopes for Wilkerson/MHP because I think Pavan is more effective than Wilkerson. I could be wrong about that, and this year will be the test.
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Post by nonathleticperson on Oct 21, 2022 16:46:10 GMT -5
Pavan has been involved with two (one speculated) seemingly bitter break-ups. One as a rookie to the scene with Bansley, and then as a vet with MHP. I'm sad for Bukovec cause I think this is a dead-end pair. Pavan is visibly older and less athletic, and her setting is not her strong suit.
I can't help but imagine MHP was frustrated by not deciding to pair with Brandie and then seeing Pavan give up on any remotely long rally one year into the run to Paris.
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Post by tamz on Oct 21, 2022 16:48:24 GMT -5
From the outside, it definitely looks like at some point, MHPavs turned sour. Not sure why they held onto the partnership if they were having issues since last spring. Also why wait until now to break up? Why didn’t they partner up with their new partners at the beginning of the season?
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Post by nonathleticperson on Oct 21, 2022 16:50:50 GMT -5
From the outside, it definitely looks like at some point, MHPavs turned sour. Not sure why they held onto the partnership if they were having issues since last spring. Also why wait until now to break up? Why didn’t they partner up with their new partners at the beginning of the season? "Babe, we can work through this together. We're better together"
"Okay, I believe in you. Let's do this"
"Okay, maybe not, I'll get the divorce lawyer"
In walks the hot stud you went to university with.
End scene.
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Post by tamz on Oct 21, 2022 16:57:10 GMT -5
From the outside, it definitely looks like at some point, MHPavs turned sour. Not sure why they held onto the partnership if they were having issues since last spring. Also why wait until now to break up? Why didn’t they partner up with their new partners at the beginning of the season? "Babe, we can work through this together. We're better together"
"Okay, I believe in you. Let's do this"
"Okay, maybe not, I'll get the divorce lawyer"
In walks the hot stud you went to university with.
End scene.
Brandie has been available since Bansley retired.
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Post by ajm on Oct 21, 2022 17:04:58 GMT -5
Pavan has been involved with two (one speculated) seemingly bitter break-ups. One as a rookie to the scene with Bansley, and then as a vet with MHP. I'm sad for Bukovec cause I think this is a dead-end pair. Pavan is visibly older and less athletic, and her setting is not her strong suit. I can't help but imagine MHP was frustrated by not deciding to pair with Brandie and then seeing Pavan give up on any remotely long rally one year into the run to Paris. I actually think Pavan's setting is much better than Brandie's. But I agree that she's not as dynamic at age 36 as she was a few years ago, so Mel and Brandie probably made the right choice. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I wouldn't count Sarah/Sophie out of the race just yet. Clearly there's more to the MHP/Pavan split that hasn't been made public. Pavan wasn't shy about discussing her split with Heather, so maybe she'll be willing to talk about what happened with MHP and/or Scott Davenport. I do wonder how close they came to splitting after Tokyo and whether Sarah would've even considered Sophie a year ago.
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Post by ajm on Oct 21, 2022 17:16:51 GMT -5
"Babe, we can work through this together. We're better together"
"Okay, I believe in you. Let's do this"
"Okay, maybe not, I'll get the divorce lawyer"
In walks the hot stud you went to university with.
End scene.
Brandie has been available since Bansley retired. Right, and I also wonder whether Heather's retirement was actually forced by Brandie's decision to move on. Seems unlikely she would have gone back to Pavan even if she were available. And there really isn't another Canadian blocker at that level that she could have picked up. My guess is that Brandie and Mel have been discussing this for years (remember they were alternates in Rio 2016) and for whatever reason they didn't join up right after Toyko, but it was always the plan for the Paris cycle.
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Post by haze on Oct 21, 2022 17:40:36 GMT -5
Not sure if you guys know, but Pavan was kicked out of Nebraska's program back in her college days. There is a lot of disfunction out there in different avenues of volleyball where she is the centerpiece. I don't know the entire story, but sometimes in life when you're surrounded by @$$%*!*s, maybe you're the @$$%*!*.
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Post by tamz on Oct 21, 2022 17:47:39 GMT -5
Not sure if you guys know, but Pavan was kicked out of Nebraska's program back in her college days. There is a lot of disfunction out there in different avenues of volleyball where she is the centerpiece. I don't know the entire story, but sometimes in life when you're surrounded by @$$%*!*s, maybe you're the @$$%*!*. Wait, what? Didn’t she win NCAA titles with the Huskers? Jordan Larson’s teammate?
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