Post Mortem: Our Volleyball Season

In our championship game this afternoon, we lost to erstwhile leader, St. Clements. We lost 2 straight matches, both in straight sets each. Our boys placed second.

Kudos to St. Clements. They came out with guns blazing. They appeared to be more determined to win the championship, and it showed in both matches. Overall, they were more consistent and their movements were more fluid. And I cannot take that away from them.

However, let me share with you some conditions prevailing at that time and certain events and instances that have taken place. And I will let you come up with your own conclusions.

St. Clements was hot, literally and figuratively. To get to the finals, they had to play 2 games that same Sunday afternoon. Our first meeting was their 3rd game. Meantime, our kids were coming in cold, and most likely, full from lunch. Twenty minutes, or even thirty minutes of warm up will not get you to the same level as having played for almost 2 hours, or even a full hour.

I purposely requested the players to come in at least 45 minutes before game time so we can warm up a little longer. Doing a couple of quick runs and some jumping jacks will suffice, just to get the blood pumping. I was concerned when one of our key players didn't arrive not until 20 minutes before the game. And by the way he looked and how he performed during the on-court warm up, his mind wasn't in the game. I already had a bad feeling that he will not perform as he did in past games. Something was bothering him, and that would affect the outcome of our game.

And it did. His serves were inconsistent. His kills were all over the place. He was plain frustrated. During a time out, he wanted to be taken out because he felt he wasn't doing well and was letting the team down. I had to convince him to regroup and refocus, and start fresh. It lasted for a bit, but was never sustained. My gut told me he was bothered by something. Whatever it was, I wouldn't know, and don't intend on knowing.

Officiating was horrible, too, to say the least. They lacked the know-how and common protocol of officiating. They were consistently horrible all throughout the season. They may be high school volleyball players who may know how to play the game, but officiating it is way out of their league. For a championship game, I was expecting better caliber officiating -- someone more knowledgeable and more experienced, especially in situations like we had. What made me cringe was the fact that these "officials" were paid. I don't care how big or small the fee was, but I expected them to do a decent job. The fact that they agreed to officiate, it carried with it a certain level of responsibility, which, to me, was amiss. Heck, I spent 3 months training these kids, and I didn't get paid for it. So what are they complaining about?

We were jinxed, too. The two tournament officials chided me to make it a St. Joseph sweep (Our 5/6 boys team won their division because their opponent conceded. There were only 2 teams in their division.). Then, I was informed that our school principal has approved of the kids wearing of the championship shirts (given to winners in each division) in school on Monday, even before we played our game on Sunday. Talk about a major jinx !!!

I don't want to make any excuses. St. Clements did play well, and we didn't do as well as we did when we played them in the semifinals. But if you were at both games and saw how we led in 3 of the 4 sets, eventually losing in the end of each (like the Golden State Warriors always do - ouch!!!), you would say that we had a good chance of turning it around, despite the odds.

Overall, it was a good season. I am happy to see the boys improve their skill and knowledge of the game, particularly for the 2 boys who never played this sport competitively. Their parents were complimentary, and shared how much their sons enjoyed their experience. As a coach, it was music to my ears.

It was a good run, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I would like to thank the parents for trusting me with their boys, and to all our supporters who came and watched our games. And to Coach Rich for sharing his insights and knowledge, and for helping me make this season a memorable one.

Although I fell a little bit short of bringing the championship back to St. Joseph, as I did when I started coaching the 7/8 boys team 7 years ago, I am proud to say that St. Joseph is still a force to reckon with in CYO boys indoor volleyball in the Oakland diocese.

I end the season with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that this may be my last. Seriously, it's time to retire.

Ole' !!!

Another 22 Miles

I took another bike ride on the Alameda Creek Trail. This time I was with my wife and son on their brand-spanking new bikes. It was the first true test of these newly-acquired machines.

We all woke up quite early than we normally did on a Saturday because we planned on hitting the road just after 9am. I got up earlier and checked all the bikes, particularly the tire pressures. I readied the water bottles as well, and made coffee, too. After all the rituals -- coffee, light breakfast, getting dressed, etc, etc, etc -- we were all set to go.

I pulled the car out of the garage, parked it, and mounted the bike rack. That was when trouble started. For almost 45 minutes, I couldn't figure out how to mount all 3 bikes on a rack that was suppose to handle -- 3 bikes. It just didn't fit no matter what I did. I had mounted and dismounted, and arranged and rearranged the bikes, to no avail. I was frustrated and irritated. The sun was getting hotter, I was sweating, and we haven't even left the house.

The bike rack, like all other bike racks, was designed to carry a bike with a top tube (horizontal bar on the top of the bike frame) that is horizontal. Anything less than horizontal would cause a problem because the alignment of the handle bars of one bike and the wheels of the next bike will interfere and will not fit. This is why the manufacturer suggests to mount the bikes oppositely so the handle bar and wheels align. So, if you mount a non-horizontal top tube on the rack (the top tube slopes down from the stem to the seat tube), the rear tire gets elevated and interferes with the handle bar of the other bike. The only solution is to use a bike frame adapter bar that is mounted around the stem (beneath the handle bar) on one end and the seat post (underneath the saddle) on the other, to simulate a horizontal top tube.

After all the wrangling and hair-pulling, I decided to mount the 2 bikes on the rack, utilizing the innermost and outermost spots, while I dismantled my bike and tucked the frame in the trunk and both wheels at the back seat. Only then were we able to leave. Whew!!!

Once at the trail, getting the bikes off and assembling mine was fast. Within a few minutes, we were rolling. It was my wife's first ride on the trail. Although it was mostly flat, the only warning we gave where the dips under the roads and bridges, especially the first one, as the road curves. Quite tricky. Even I got scared. But the rest was easy. We rode at different paces. My son dashed off and couldn't be held back. He just had a lot of energy and stamina that I couldn't match. He really enjoyed the ride that he often forgot to stop at designated rest points along the trail. I had to do catch up to make sure he did as he was told. Meantime, my wife would go on her regular, consistent pace that worked for her. And she did just fine.

After 11+ miles and the end of the trail, we took a brief stop to rest, stretch, and have a few sips of water. We were half way, but we started to get hungry. So we needed to get back as quickly as we could. We agreed to only have one stop, at 6 miles out. Then, it was the final stretch back to the parking lot.

As expected, my son pulled away, and I had to catch up, leaving my wife at her comfortable pace. She didn't really lag behind, but she was steady. After a brief stop at mile 6, we got back to the car in under an hour -- faster that when we started out. I guess hunger was a good motivation.

Loading the bikes was much faster. We were out of there after about 15 minutes. We dropped off the bike, changed clothes, and headed out to lunch -- a very well deserved lunch. It was almost 2:45pm. By the time we got back to the house, it was about 4pm. My son was singing at the 5:30pm mass, but I was so tired to even get up from my lounging chair. I stayed behind while both wife and son heard mass.

It was a good ride. Better than my first one. My wife liked it, and my son just loved it. He had a blast. My wife's main complaints were a sore butt and a sunburn. I already had them even before the ride.

Semifinals Results

This evening our 7/8 boys volleyball team played their semifinals match against league-leading St. Clements at All Saints. It was a must-win game, which would give the team one more win for the championship on Sunday.

I was a little surprised that there was hardly any competition from St. Clements. For placing first in the standings, I was expecting a tough battle. In the first set, we led by as much as 8 points, and the closest they ever came was within 2.

In the second set, it was pretty much the same. In both sets, we maintained a steady 5-point margin. We won in straight sets, 2-0. With this, we await who will emerge as our opponent for the championship, as St. Clements moves to the loser's bracket. They do have a chance to go back up and play on Sunday in the finals.

For now, we wait, as we savor this victory. We will find out whether or not waiting on the sides (as we will be doing) would be a good thing, versus having to play 2 straight games to make it to the finals, and 2 additional games to win the championship (as St. Clements would need to do).

We'll find out soon. Go Cougars !!!

Our VB Playoff Scenario

With two playoff dates left, it is important that we WIN our game on Friday against St. Clements.  And this is why.

If we win, we go to the championship on Sunday, undefeated, playing at 3pm.

If we lose, we move to the loser's bracket and will need to work ourselves up. The first match on Sunday would be against the winner of the St. Leander-All Saints match at 1pm. We then play either St. Felicitas or the winner of the Holy Spirit-St. Bede game at 2pm. Next is the championship match against St. Clements at 3pm. Since this is a double-elimination playoff, we need to beat St. Clements twice, with the second match immediately following at 4pm.

That is a total of FOUR (4)  games on Sunday afternoon, assuming we lose on Friday. That is FOUR (4) hours of volleyball. If we lose a game on Sunday, we go home.

This is why it is important that we win on Friday against St. Clements.

Let's take this all the way, boys. Go Cougars !!!