Ready to once again scrutinize the daily box scores. Ready to watch ESPN and TBS until my eyescried for mercy. Ready to plan my summer trips around which teams are playing where.
It didn't happen. I just can't get interested. I guess you can't rekindle an old romance if the spark is gone. And this spark was smothered in the ashes of the canceled 1994 World Series.
Which leaves me in search of other sporting interests. The NBA playoffs will carry me for awhile. Unlike baseball, basketball remains an exciting game that respects its traditions even in times of massive change and manages to keep its labor problems off the court.
I tried to get interested in volleyball but it didn't take. Don't get me wrong. The Rainbows' run for a national championship was exciting. They're fine young men and excellent athletes and God love 'em for thrilling an entire state, including me.
But ladies and gentlemen, start your word processors. I have a feeling that I'm about to inspiresome letters calling for my head:
Volleyball bores me. It's basically a one-play game - serve-dig-set-kill-sideout, serve-dig-set-kill-sideout - with a numbing scoring system that makes the endless repetition of sideouts inconsequential to the outcome of the game. The blocks, diving digs and missed kills that do matter are few and far between.
What if a football game consisted only of 20-yard slant passes up the middle? Complete it and you get a point. Miss and it's a sideout and the other team gets to try a 20-yard slant pass up the middle. Could you imagine watching two hours of that?
Any game can be interesting if you have a strong rooting interest in the outcome, as we did with the Bow volleyballers. It's just that with other sports, I savor every minute of the game leading to the outcome. With volleyball, I fidget and wish they would get to the outcome sooner.
During the Rainbows' run, I'd tune in about midway through the third set. I figured if it was going to be a three-set match, it was one-sided and I didn't miss much. If it was a close match, I could cut to the chase in the fourth set and tie-breaker without the hour and a half of sideouts that preceded.
People say this could put volleyball on the map nationally. Wilt Chamberlain predicted in the early 1970s that volleyball would become the next major sport. It hasn't happened except for beach volleyball, which is more about beer and naked bodies than sports.
vdc2 I think this has more to do with Hawaii's hunger for a winner in any sport. It reminds me of themania created by the UH "Fabulous Five" basketball team. Anybody who was around then remembers the names Bob Nash, John Penebacker, Al Davis, Jerome Freeman and Dwight Holiday.
And 25 years from now, we'll remember the names Yuval Katz, Eric Pichel, Aaron Wilton, Naveh Milo, Jason Ring, Rick Tune, Sivan Leoni and Kahinu Lee. We'll remember their great athletic skill and the great ride they gave us.
But don't look for the Special Events Arena to still be selling out for men's volleyball unless they fix the scoring system or an equally personable group of athletes is capturing the state's imagination by challenging for another national championship.
