Jump-serving in the vineyard

The BYU basketball team fizzled out of the NCAA Tournament pretty quickly. And it's still a week or so until the Major League Baseball season gets underway. Sure, I still have the Jazz and the rest of the NBA, but clearly that's not enough for a fan like me. What could possible fill this short-term void?

How about...BYU men's volleyball! I recently attended a match in Provo with my friends Bryan and Wendy--my first time at the old Smith Fieldhouse in about five years. Back in the day I used to go to all the volleyball games. In 1999, my freshman year, the Ryan Millar-Ossie Antonetti-Rich Lambourne-Hector Lebron juggernaut led the Cougars to their first-ever national title. Going to those games was amazing.

I was on my mission when they won it all again in 2001. But in the six years I spent in Provo after returning home, I spent many a Friday or Saturday evening crammed into the Fieldhouse watching greats like Jeremiah Larsen, Luka Slabe, the legendary Carlos Moreno, and of course Victor "Bonesaw" Batista (no idea how that nickname was earned, but it sure was fun to shout) dominate the opposition, nabbing another national championship along the way (in 2004).

I've seen this year's iteration a few times on TV, and the team is very impressive. They're legitimate contenders to win another NCAA crown. But volleyball is definitely a sport that's more fun to see in person. Here are a few observations from the match I attended.

--I was there the night Cougar star Futi Tavana broke the school record for career blocks in the rally score era. The man is amazing.

--Speaking of rally scoring...I hate it. Part of what made the '99 season so exhilirating was that it was played under classic, play-to-15, only-score-on-your-serve rules. The NCAA switched to rally scoring in 2001, and while matches probably go much faster now, the potential for great drama has been significantly reduced. It bothers me that a game or even a match can end on a service error. In the "old days," if you fell behind 11-4 you still had a chance to come back. Big comebacks are almost impossible with rally scoring.

--While we're on the subject of things that aren't as good as they used to be...I was listening to one of the songs that got heavy play during timeouts and intermissions, and thought to myself, "did somebody put words to the old NBA on NBC theme?" Somebody did. And it's awful. Thanks for ruining one of my favorite childhood tunes, Nelly.

--I got a little program that included a photo roster of BYU's team. Two pictures stood out. First, we have Ryan Boyce. Yep, he's got a sweet 'stache. He didn't play in the match, but I spotted him on the sideline. He has more of a receding hairline than that picture indicates, and while 6'1" is tall to most people it's tiny in the volleyball world, so he looked like an old man that had stolen some warmups and snuck onto the sideline.

After recovering from the surprise of seeing Boyce, I continued scanning the pictures until this one stopped me in my tracks. My first thought was "he doesn't look like a volleyball player." Then I thought, "those sideburns don't look BYU-approved." But mostly, I just thought "what the heck is up with those glasses?" It turned out to be Giuseppe Vinci, an experienced assistant coach who I'm sure is an asset to the program. But I have no idea why he was pictured with the players, before the head coach. And I really have no idea what the deal is with the blue frames.

--BYU cruised to an easy straight-set victory, so the only real drama of the night came during the long intermission between games 2 and 3. The blimp was making its rounds, dropping coupons on the rabble below, when it lost power or something and literally crashed into the crowd. I was one section over from where it happened, so I was unable to help push it back into the air, or to rip the remaining coupons off of the dirigible as one enterprising young man did. All  could do was yell out "oh, the humanity!" I'm sure I wasn't the only one in the building who went Hindenburg, but it still got a good laugh from my friends.

That's about it...just some interesting observations I had, so I figured I'd share 'em. That reminds me...Sherem was the name of the first non-Lamanite villain in the Book of Mormon. Read about him as part of your preparation for this week's Sunday School lesson. Ok, ok, that may have been the worst segue ever. I admit it. It stunk. Like dung. But you know something? Dung helps olive trees to grow and thrive. Which is something else you'll read about as you get ready for class this week. Those who "serve" as teachers would really "dig" it if they saw a "spike" in the number of class members who came to class having read the scripture "block." All right, I'll stop now.