JUST Say No Way. Made-for-TV volleyball
is too X-TremeIt's the slogan for the newly formed F.A.C.T. (Fans Against Changes due to Television). The group had considered calling itself F.A.T.S.O. (Fans Against TV Sell-Outs), but it might have offended those who are calorie challenged.
The impetus behind this grass-roots ohana is the insidious changes being suggested for the sport of volleyball. Some 200 fans came out to witness Saturday's exhibition between the Hawaii and Nebraska women's teams, won by the Lady Huskers, 62-51 and 58-47.
Most left the Stan Sheriff Center confused. And that included the coaches and players.
Change is good. But not wholesale changes so drastic that you don't recognize the game.
Quarters. Halftime. Two-point kills. A 14-minute clock that runs only when the ball is in play. Rally scoring the entire match.
All this in the name of money and marketing. The powers that be figure the only way volleyball will survive is to sell out to TV, with a format that can be neatly packaged into a two-hour time slot.
I don't think the sponsors will buy it. I know the fans won't.
Witness what happened to the NCAA women's championship matches the past few seasons. Besides being delayed a week and buried between badminton and bowling, the networks chopped it into an hour-long program, nearly a third of which was devoted to pregame and postgame hype.
THE networks HAD a two-hour match and still cut it to 60 minutes. What's to guarantee that, despite these new changes, TV won't do it again?
Sure, the sport needs to change, and I concede that rally scoring is here to stay. Basketball got a much-needed infusion of excitement when it added the shot clock and 3-point line.
There's merit to the '2-ball' -- a kill worth two points when made from behind the 10-foot line. Even though it wasn't used Saturday, another proposal rewards an ace serve with two points.
But lose the running clock and restore a point cap. The beauty of volleyball, especially in the women's collegiate game, has been the possibilities for rallies and comebacks.
Without a point cap, a team loses the chance to catch up and win. They simply run out of time.
Consider what happened Saturday. In the "Speed Ball" third game, using a three-minute clock, the Wahine rallied to 10-9 and were a two-point kill away from taking the lead.
But there was about six seconds left. All Nebraska needed was one time-consuming rally before the Huskers ended it, 11-9, on a kill by Megan Korver.
This format cuts out the sport's heart and soul, penalizing good defense and long rallies. It's conceivable a team could be in a position to let the ball drop rather than keep it in play so as to stop the clock and get a chance for a two-point kill on the next serve.
WHAT do you do then? Institute an infield fly rule for volleyball? The ball HAS to be played or it's an automatic point?
Maybe the sport-ruiners, I mean rule-changers, haven't gone far enough. Why not add points for technical and artistic merit?
Imagine the following broadcast exchange:
"Great dig there, Chris. I'd give it 2, but let's see what the judges think."
"Oooh, a 1.2 from the East Manoa judge. I hate this solo block voting, don't you?"
"Well, Charlie, down by 10, it's a five-possession game. All they need is five big scores, either aces or 2-balls."
"I agree. But do they have time? There's just 15 seconds on the clock. Who can they go to for a buzzer-beater?"
My friends from F.A.C.T. hope the powers that be will come to their senses. The world doesn't need another X-Treme sport.
We got game.
It's called volleyball.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.