An Olympic Moment...

As many of you know, I spent many a year playing volleyball... and so today as I was watching the American women earn a silver medal against Brazil in indoor volleyball, I took a moment to reflect. To reflect on the fact that I, yes I, once stuff blocked this girl




You can read all about her impressive stats and see her volleyball resume if you click on this link:
http://www.usavolleyball.org/National/profiles/women/KimGlassProfile.asp


You see, Kim grew up in Lancaster, PA and I grew up in Lebanon, PA. She played for Conestoga Valley High School, and I played for Cedar Crest High School. She played Junior Olympics for Synergy, and I played for NorLanco. And so we met one fateful day at a tournament at Penn State University. I remember it like it was yesterday. Her team crushed mine. BUT - I really did get to stuff block her in the second game of the match. In HS she used to play middle, and she was just destroying us with her quick sets. The girl can hit a 1' ball inside the ten-foot line. So, by the second game coach had me just camp out in the middle of the net next to our middle hitter, so we could put a double block on her. I had several touches on her hits, but she was strong enough to hit through me, and tall enough to hit over me when her sets were higher. So I can't even describe to you how awesome it was when the pass came to the setter who was standing just to my left, which meant that her set for Kim was lined up directly over my head. I just reached up my hands, hit my pike position, and WHAM-O, Kim got rejected, ball went straight back down to the floor, and I started screaming my head off. It was awesome, and given the hype surrounding this girl (she was considered in the top 10 volleyball recruits for D-I colleges that year, and ended up with a full ride to U. Arizona where she dominated...) any time anybody blocked, dug, or aced Kim, it was a major reason to celebrate. And so I did. And that is something I will brag about until I die.

Although BLOCKING Kim was a major accomplishment for me, I also had the privilege of playing WITH her, on the Blue Mountain Region Team at the Keystone State Games. Let me just say that watching her pound the crap out of the ball is a lot more fun when you're on the same side of the net as her. Watching from the other side of the net as she pounds the ball into your face is not so fun.

And so that's my Olympic moment. I felt for her when they were targeting her on the serve today, but honestly she's come a long way. She never played back row in high school, and was a middle hitter. Then she was moved to an outside hitter, and worked her butt of to become a better defensive player in the back row. Gotta give a girl some props. Watching the volleyball these past few weeks has literally made me ACHE to be on the court. Given my current "condition", as Sara would call it, that just ain't happening. But just you wait, I'll be back on the court in a few months, and maybe, just maybe, you'll see me in the Red, White and Blue in London, 2012, baby.

Nah, just kidding. That won't happen. But I still like to play:)