2005-07-27 - 12:43 p.m.

The Weak Third Sport

I was a three sport athlete in high school.

Now before you think that this is a sports entry, or a good old days entry, let me just say its not.

This is about my third sport.

Some people did baseball. Others did lacross. Even more did track. I took another path.

Volleyball.

Let me give you highlight to our record in our final two years of playing. 1-29. I believe we were 1 win and 29 losses, because we played 15 games a year.

We sucked.

Other teams would just jump up and spike the balls on our heads repeatedly as we cried and suffered and pulled up our knee pads.

We joined the team off a half joke as a dorky soccer player told his underclassman dork friend to try out. Literally they entire team looked like a Dungeon and Dragons party.

Let me give you a breakdown of our team.

1) Center � He Lick Dick, and Chewbacca.

a) Kyle was this kinda gothic kid who would get pumped up by listening to the Marlin Manson �Sweet Dreams� song. He was not that tall, and was somewhat awkward and would chump a ball instead of spiking it. Picture what would happen if Napoleon Dynamite tried to spike a volleyball, and then add acme.
b) Chewbacca wasn�t the most talented kid, he wasn�t the brightest kid, but he was nice. You never quiet knew what he was talking about�but he always smiled at the end which made you smile in return. He was the biggest kid on the Team at like 6�0�, and this plus his glazed over demeanor and unholy roar made gave him the name Chewbacca. He�s a cop now.

2) Setters � Shank, and Unclepumpkin.

a) When you�ve got a name like Shank, you know you�re a winner. Not the weakness of the team shank was a decent setter who was the coach�s favorite. He was really tiny though, and were it not for his hands skill he would have been cut. Ironically after High School he grew to like 6�5�.
b) Unclepumkin was good at setting and the best server on the team. He got no respect. Then again the team went 1-29.

3) Strong Side � Varsity and Dana.

a) Varsity was a defensive specialist. He was good at bumping, and his offense was steady. He wouldn�t hit it hard, but he wouldn�t hit it out. They usually returned his hits with devastating spikes.
b) Dana hated the name Dana. This is because it�s a girl name. I wasn�t a fan of Dana�s game, seeing as I can only remember his slamming the ball out everytime he hit it. He was our all star.

4) Bench � Gump, Asian Kid, The Day, DeYoung?

A) I wasn�t good. I was serviceable. I was tall enough and short enough to stick anywhere on our team. I would bump more consistently than the two centers, and I wouldn�t make a huge mental mistake. Beyond that, I was worthless.
B) Asian Kid was like me, but taller, and hence more useful.
C) If Day was on this team, I�d be shocked.
D) DeYoung was the backup setter. I�m not sure he was on the team.

In soccer we ran 5 miles and had practice. In Volleyball we ran seven laps. None of us were over 6�0� tall. For our serves we had four styles.

The Jump �yeah right� serve.
The Normal Serve.
The Fairy Serve were one foot comes off the ground and you sky the ball like a fairy.
The Black Fist of Power serve where you punch the ball.

I have fond memories of this game because we were all friends, but all the good times happened off the court, and none of them on. This was my third sport.

Random Memories

1) I was a line judge and I called a ball out, that was in, and I changed my call benefiting my team. The opposing team member got in my face, and the crowd booed. It was awesome and a skanky move on my part.

2) Our Friend who tried out and didn�t make it has bruises all over his arm the next day.

3) My greatest asset to the team was selling Candy Bars to get New T-Shirts. I think I outsold the rest of the team.

4) The coach once brought us into the huddle for a rally speech and it ended with �I guess go play.� We were fired up.

5) The coach started with two people blocking. Then she moved to one guy blocking and everyone else trying to bump it. Then she didn�t even want that because if the kid did block it, it usually dropped to the ground in front of him. Finally everyone was trying to bump it to the setter, and as a final resort, she just told us to bump it over the net. (inbounds).

6) I quit my senior year because sitting in a chair watching the Disney afternoon was better for my ego.

before - After

7 comments so far