Entering schedules for Ron

Good times this past week. I've been inputting DII schedules (Heartland, Lonestar and MAIC conferences) for the Kern site and now there are DIII schedules to be done. I hope I didn't screw up Texas Vinyl Flooring's schedule; it was a little confusing.

The in-laws sold their house (on the market for one day), so there's also been some heavy lifting. Literal heavy lifting, mind you, which is my least favorite kind of heavy lifting. Somehow, in the middle of the Nebraska-Minnesota match last night, a huge black metal file cabinet appeared in the back of a trailer in our alley. I missed most of game 3 wrestling with it (no big loss there given how awful game 3 was) and it then spent the night in our backyard. Today, every time I look out the kitchen window, I am startled by its presence, something right out of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Why am I bringing this up? Because I have a creaky neck from staring at the monitor, sore biceps from where the damned cabinet (now on our back porch) dug into them, and a huge letdown from the quality of play at the AVCA tournament.

I'm in a foul mood. Beware of blog(ger).

The problem with foot faults

Well, it's obvious, isn't it? It is not the foot's fault. It's the person attached to the foot's fault.

Which brings up net faults. Has the net done something wrong? Of course not. "Oh, excuse me for getting in the way of your fingers!" Like blaming the toaster for zapping you when you stick a fork into it to dislodge that damned bagel. (Do not try this, by the way. I know it's tempting, but trust me.)

And what's with all the blame in volleyball anyhow? Rotation faults, service errors, blocking errors, attack errors, passing errors, illegal attacks ... the list goes on and on. There's too much fingerpointing, metaphorically, and whistle-blowing, literally. How's a player supposed to feel good about herself?

The problem with ball carts

The balls at the bottom require stooping for retrieval. Who wants to stoop? You could get the shallow ball cart, but they don't hold as many.

Has anyone invented a ball cart that has an interior under tension? You put ten balls in, it sags to allow another ten. You take ten balls out, it pushes the first ten toward the top? It's tricky, I know. Volleyballs don't weigh much. But there are smart people out there!

Or maybe a foot pedal mechanism?

It's a gold mine, I tell you. Build a better ball cart and the world will beat a path to your doorstep. (Of course, if you already have a sidewalk, that could be annoying.)

The problem with intersquad scrimmages

Not the place for the glass half empty, crud floating in that half-filled glass, guy. For every kill, you can lament the fact it was not blocked or dug; every block or dig, you can rag on the poor attack. Every pass is the result of an ineffective serve; every ace the consequence of poor passing.

It's like playing yourself in chess. One man's checkmate is another man's ... well, checkmate.

I am against projecting too much about a season's potential from an intersquad scrimmage or scrimmages. I am also against playing solitaire chess. I also don't like liver (just as long as we're setting the record straight).

Pre-season ranking

Read it and weep. Or just weep. I'm not picky.


1 Washington
2 Penn State
3 Texas
4 California
5 Florida
6 Nebraska
7 Minnesota
8 Illinois
9 Stanford
10 Hawaii
11 Iowa State
12 UCLA
13 USC
14 San Diego
15 Utah
16 Oregon
17 Kentucky
18 Michigan
19 Long Beach State
20 Wichita State
21 St. Louis
22 Colorado State
23 Purdue
24 Baylor
25 Arizona
26 UCI
27 Pepperdine
28 St. Mary's
29 Texas A&M
30 Cal Poly
HM Kansas State
HM Santa Clara

OK, just about there

I'd worry that I was boring my readers if I actually thought I had any readers, but since I do not suffer from that delusion, I soldier on.

Since I last posted, three "Bigs" have published their pre-season picks, although one of them has inexplicably misplaced 5 of its schools. I am sure they will be found in time for the season, but it is still awfully careless.

Anyhow, the Big 12 has picked Texas, Nebraska and Iowa State as its top 3 teams, followed by Texas A&M, Baylor and Kansas State. I am slightly surprised that TAMU is ahead of Baylor and a little more surprised that KSU has fallen so far out of favor, but they did lose a large chunk of their team (if I may use the term "chunk" without offending). Missouri at #8 is another eye-opener. Maybe.

The Big 10 has Penn State (of course), Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Purdue as their top 6, with only the Badgers spot bucking conventional wisdom, if there is actually any conventional wisdom in this field. The other 5 schools are a mystery, but we presume they are practicing, working hard, and will field teams this fall, even if the conference has forgotten all about them.

The Big East, all 15 of 'em, will be led by Louisville, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, South Florida, St. John's and Marquette, or so say the coaches. Is it just me or has the Big East become a little too big? Quiet! I know I have become a little too big. That's not what I meant, wiseass(es).

So do these three polls persuade me to rearrange my own rankings, the one on which I have been so diligently working? I think so. I'm going to drop Kansas State to an Honorable Mention status and elevate the Aggies into the top 30. I will also put Wisconsin back on the radar, although not quite blipping as an HM. Purdue might slide a spot or two, but I'm keeping them above the Badgers. So there.

I have a feeling I won't be seeing anything from the ACC or the SEC this weekend. I'll just have to rely on my own judgment, something that has invariably let me down in the past. Oh, well. I am sure the world will keep spinning.

Meanwhile, time to read more about Nebraska's "fast offense." Nothing excites the VolleyTalkers more than speculation about programs willing to put the pedal to the metal.

This just in

The West Coast Conference picks:

1 -- San Diego
2 -- Pepperdine
3 -- St. Marys
4 -- Santa Clara

This was exactly how I picked them! I know I'm impressed.


Correction: Turns out I actually had ranked St. Marys ahead of Pepperdine. I am less impressed with myself now (not that I was ever really all that impressed).


Volleyball magazine has also released their top 20 poll, probably in their "Girls of the Pac Ten" issue:

1. Penn State
2. Texas
3. Nebraska
4. Washington
5. Stanford
6. Cal
7. Hawai‘i
8. Minnesota
9. Florida
10. UCLA
11. Iowa State
12. USC
13. Illinois
14. Oregon
15. Michigan
16. San Diego
17. (tied) Wichita State
17. (tied) Saint Louis
19. Utah
20. Santa Clara

Others Receiving Votes: Purdue, Pepperdine, Cal Poly, Kansas State, Kentucky, Long Beach State, Wisconsin, Colorado State, Louisville, Texas A&M, Duke

Finally: I must give serious consideration to UCI over Cal Poly in the Top 30 or ignore the coaches' input. What to do?

The Lincoln Blogs

Someone once asked Abe Lincoln how long his legs were and he famously replied, “Long enough to touch the floor.” What a wiseass.

I wonder if he ended up with really poorly fitting pants. I hope so. I hope his calves were showing. Jerk.

Not that I would wish his ultimate fate on any man. Who wants to go to the theater and get shot in the head? One or the other maybe, but not both.

But if it has to be both, I suppose it really does need to be in that order. Who wants to go to the theater after being shot in the head? I mean, it’d have to be a really good show, right?

What’s this have to with volleyball, you ask? Well, I’ll be coming to that, eventually.

Lincoln. They put the guy on the penny! Man, talk about disrespect. Better to not have a coin at all than to be on the penny. But that’s what you get when you’re a wiseass.

I can see the guy in a restaurant.

“What can I getcha, Abe?”

“Depends on if you have a wagon or not.”

“Pardon?”

“You could get me a lot of stuff, if you had a wagon.”

Jerk.

What’s this have to do with volleyball, you ask again? Oh, you’ll see.

Kind of an ugly guy, that Lincoln. But people were uglier back then. Shorter, too, although Lincoln was supposedly eight-foot-three. Maybe I don’t have that exactly right, but I do recall that he was seen as a real freak in his day. Ugly and tall. And ruder than an old cuss with a boil on his butt.

How’d he get elected one might wonder. Well, no TV. Really good attack ads in the papers. Plus his opponent – Dewey, I think – was a squirrel.

“Who ya voting for?”

“Think I’m going to vote for the ugly giant with the bad-fitting pants.”

“But he’s so RUDE!”

“True. But I just can’t see voting for a squirrel.”

(That was another conversation from the diner, by the way. Case you were wondering.)

So, what does this have to do with volleyball!? Dammit!

You settle for things in Life. Sometimes rally-score – to 25! – is better than the alternative. Sometimes you just can't bring yourself to vote for the squirrel. Sometimes, although this is rare, one can even have a pleasant time at the theater. You don’t want to have to sit through Cats or be shot in the head, of course, but you might just find yourself entertained.

That’s what I’m hoping for this season – a little entertainment, no assassins.

The thirty teams (probably)

The WAC and the MWC have shared their findings. I had hoped for more, but I will blog rather than pursue the latest topic over at VolleyTalk – the absence of sex in Harry Potter World. Hmmm. That does sound interesting.

The news from the WAC – Hawaii picked to win it all! – is not much help. NMSU was picked to finish second, but I’m tempted to write that off as leftovers from seasons past. I really don’t think they have what they need coming back to crack the top 30, but I will keep an eye on them. The conference probably only has the one top 30 team this year, but it will be interesting to see who joins the battle for second – and how good that team is.

Utah is the pick in the MWC, collecting twice as many first place votes as #2 CSU. New Mexico edges out BYU for #3. Interesting. I’m still looking at two in the top 30.

Here’s what I have as of this evening, still subject to fine-tuning:

1-12 -- same as before.
13 – USC. Been warned away from them, but I think there’s too much talent and Mick’s too good of a coach for them to be as disappointing as they were in 2008. Let's hope I'm wrong.
14 – San Diego. Everyone is back, as far as I can tell. Possible problem is that they weren’t that good in 2008. Certainly not as good as I thought they’d be. So. This could be way too high for the Toreoreos.
15 – Utah. Seems right to me. And bravo! for surviving the Salvo/Anderson smackdown.
16 – Oregon. Someone I trust says they have weapons to replace Maricic and that the ball control will still be there. Still, I couldn't put them above the Trojans.
17 – Kentucky. A daring pick, I think. Almost everyone back, good talent, a decent 2008 showing.
18 – Michigan. I’m giving them the edge for #4 in the Big Ten, at least to start the season. Purdue could easily be flopped into this position and the Wolverines into Purdue’s.
19 – Long Beach State. I’ve been predicting the 49ers will return to the top 10-15 for a couple of seasons now. I’m being more cautious this year, but still going with top 20.
20 – Wichita State. I still have no idea how good the Shockers are, but they have everyone except Broussard back from 2008's Dangerfield squad.

21 – Purdue. Could be really good, but probably not right out of the terminal.
22 – St. Louis. Another team I wish I knew more about. Possible shortcomings in the middle, but otherwise a decent facsimile of the 2008 team, which was pretty good.
23 – CSU. Fornstrom loss is big, I think. They still have Nelson. Minnesota kid, dontchaknow?
24 – KSU. Could be way too high or way too low. They lost a lot of players and I'm guessing way too high. They have, however, been consistently top 20, so I'm probably wrong.
25 – Arizona. Underrated in 2008 and most everyone is back.
26 – Cal Poly. Another huge disappointment for me in 2008, but there's still talent there and more coming in.
27 – Baylor. Very possible that they are better than KSU. Everyone back and they have a good recruiting class. Big 12 dark horse.
28 – St. Marys. Why do I bother trying to evaluate the WCC? Past performance is indicative of future problems, bet your farm on it.
29 – Pepperdine. Ditto.
30 – Santa Clara. Ditto.

The one team I am really tempted to find room for? I thought I had one, but darned if I can find it now. I did consider Missouri, NMSU, Oregon State, Dayton and possibly a team from the ACC, but, not too seriously. Right now, I think I have my 30 teams.

Now then, about Harry Potter ...

Man at Work

My project – building a 2009 pre-season ranking – has been put on hold. I have been waiting patiently for the various conferences to post their own pre-season predictions so I can lean a bit on the opinions of the coaches, but to date only the Big West and the Atlantic 10 have done so. Now, I could go ahead and continue to build in spite of the flimsy foundation, but I won’t. This is what I like to call Integrity of Purpose.

I have no idea what that means, but I like to call it that, just like I like to call my bathtub "The Shallow Abyss of Cleanliness".

I know there are literally one or two people out there who might care about this development and to them (or to him (or to her)) all I can say is GET OFF MY BACK!

Do you think the Italians, when they were building the Parthenon, took shortcuts, left out a column or two? Or that the Japanese, when they were constructing that Great Wall over there in China, kept right on going when they ran out of bricks? How about the Forty-Niners when they were building those pyramids out there in the deserts of Egypt? What would have happened if they didn't have any pointy blocks for the top? I suppose you think they would have just used a potted plant for that last bit? A sphinx maybe. Well, a sphinx would have been damned cool, but you see my point, pardon the pun. Don't you?

So here’s what we do know: The Big West coaches have picked Long Beach State, UCI and Cal Poly to finish one-two-three in their conference; and the Atlantic 10 coaches have picked St. Louis, Dayton and Xavier in theirs. That helps, but it’s not all that I need.

So we wait. Patiently, more or less.

I'm giving up discussing politics in Off-the-Net. I'm dedicating myself to pure entertainment. And unentertaining recipes.