The 99 Rumble Win - The Ultimate Sporting Achievement of my lifetime
The day was hot & humid. We brought the shelter (thank goodness) and we were well stocked with refreshments but we did not bring enough to last throughout a 16 hour day of volleyball madness. Our first match in pool play put us against a good team that hustled. We won our first match 11-6 but then struggled some in the second and wound up losing 11-7. At the time we thought this team was clearly our main competition on the net and we were happy that we had them on points. (One point) We were pretty down after our loss but little did we know it would be our last one of the day.
We were team 4 on a 5 team net so our schedule was less than good. We played, sat 2 matches, played and then sat another 2 matches. Our second match was against a team that featured one player that was a good hitter and one player that was clearly weaker in all areas. I consistently served the weaker player. So much so that the better hitter started trying to cheat over much like co-ed. The twist to this match is they served me a lot. So much so that I started to feel really, really wiped out. The first match we coasted, by the end of the second I was totally out of gas. We won the second match as well but it was closer than it should have been and we did not play very well in either match. I was worried because I had never felt that bad before. In this case, the 2 match rest was well needed.
After some well needed food and drink as well as a dip in the pool we had match number three. This match was against some older guys that had very questionable hands and were in my book as clear B players with a twist. The one guy on their team had a roundhouse serve that was very hard to pass if it wasn't right at you. The first match went well. We won 11-1 or 11-2. The second match was a different story. We did not play well and made lots of unforced errors. I believe at one time we may have been down 9-6. Luckily I got some decent serves in at the end to save us. A loss there would have been pretty disheartening. The player with the tough serve also had a very awkward hit that was tough to read but came at you hard enough that it was a challenging dig. At this point we were 5-1 and had another 2 game rest coming up.
Our last match in pool play was for first place. We were 5-1 and we were playing an older team that was 6-0. Not only were they 6-0, but in those 6 games they outscored their opponents 66-3!!!!! I have never seen such lopsided victories as long as I have been playing volleyball. Their previous 4 matches were all 11-0 shutouts! The team featured a tall guy that could hit short, long, hard and soft. The other guy was just a good hustler that was also a nice defensive player. We were very concerned about how we would handle all of their shots. Both matches were long but somehow we managed to win them both. We just sort of persevered and made some good serves and shots when we had to. Those wins gave us first on the net and set the tone for what was to come.
Playoffs were next and in true Rumble fashion, we waited over 2 hours till the seedings were announced. It was a pain to sit through, but it was good in a way cause it helped me to get a second wind. When the seedings were announced we got very interesting news. Not only did we get a bye for the first round, the team we would have played in the second round forfeited (I guess they had to be somewhere) The good news was this meant we were three rounds deep in the playoffs without even standing up. The bad news was that meant we sat for another hour as we waited for the playoff games to finish.
FINALLY we got to start our first playoff game. I was very stiff and so was Rich. Our opponents came to our net and immediately began a pre-game inspection. First the net was too low so we raised it, then the back lines weren't able to be seen so we picked em up and then they wanted to play with their ball so we did. We repaid their annoying antics with an 11-0 beating that ended with their one player hitting the net, yelling a nasty obscenity at the top of his lungs and then booting his volleyball across the street. He followed this by sitting dejectedly on his cooler for about 15 minutes. Sucks to be them. We played well and got more balls than we had all day. The momentum had started.
Our next match was against 2 guys that had drove Rich crazy in a Sports Volleyball event last year. (In that event we pretty much assumed we would crush everyone and somehow lost) This team was smart and good. The one guy's daughters offered us 5 bucks to beat them because they wanted to go home. :) In the beginning we sided out a lot and things stayed close. Then we started getting some balls and Rich made some nice serves to get us some points. We closed them out 11-2 and let the girls keep their money. It was getting dark.
Next was our semi-final match. This time our opponents were an older crafty player and real young athletic guy. They made an interesting duo. The older guy happened to say within my earshot to a team in the other semi-final match that he would see them in the finals. If he only knew. When we started the match it was really dark and getting darker fast. They jumped ahead 3-1. We were missing balls just because we couldn't see the damn things. I reverted back to my old time flat floater serve right over the net because that was the hardest place to see. Rich and I converted to night time vball mode and fought till were down 8-6. After I came back from chasing a ball we were greeted by one of the tournament guys that asked if we wanted to finish the match under the lights. I said "Well I can't see a fricking thing so hell yes!" We made the journey over to the lights. Not only did we get to play under the lights, but on center court no less!!!!!!!! It was great to play there and for a bit I was more thrilled about being there instead of playing the game. Once under the lights everything was different. It was much better than playing in the darkness but the lights were not great either. We dropped 2 points to our opponents after a few sideouts. I believe we were down either 10-6 our 10-7. Well Rich and I just kinda decided to play. I had not served well or consistently for the majority of the day. I started serving well. Rich was hustling his ass off. They served for game point for what seemed forever and we just kept siding them out. We battled back to 10-10. We stayed there for a bit and then they got another point on us to go up 11-10. Once again we faced several more game point serves from them and once again we held up. We had several mad, scrambling plays that we somehow managed to get down on their side. We tied it up 11-11. We held there and then got a point to go up 12-11. We were serving for the match. The last point of the match was a back and forth affair that ended up with Rich digging a ball that was sailing high up towards the net. I went up and poked at it. It went into the old guy's hands, bounced around and fell to the ground. We won! It was a great comeback and the other team couldn't believe it. The player I poked it off fell to his knees and stayed there for a bit. Rich and I were ecstatic. We thought it couldn't get any better than this. But it could.
We were in the finals. The team we were playing was a young, very talented team. I had seen them playing earlier and they looked like one of the best teams on the field. They had a real good chance to scout us as they watched the part of our semi-match under the lights. They had played another team from our area earlier in the playoffs and I witnessed them taunting and trash talking big time. As they warmed up they tried to do things like hit one's out of the middle and other crap like that. They had a large supporting cast of friends there as well. (We only had my devoted wife, Ali and Rich's girlfriend Chris) They warmed up for quite awhile but did not impress in practice. The kept hitting the tape or into the net. The match started and the fun began. We got up 1-0. Then we got up 2-0. After our second point their one player missed a hit and responded by fisting the ball off the court. He was an EXTREME hothead, swearing and just being an overall miserable sport. (this was also the guy that was doing the taunting in the earlier match) We got up 3-0 and then they got a point on a screwup of mine to make it 3-1. We switched sides and the entertainment began. I finally had my serve back. I was driving them deep making them make bad passes. They would try to kill everything and made all sorts of unforced errors. We hardly blocked at all. At about 7 or 8-1 The hothead once again unleashed, this time kicking the ball 2 courts down. I yelled "I'm not getting that..." The end was near. This guy was blinded by anger and we were just sticking the dagger in and turning it. The points came pretty easily. We would serve tough and they would not get a good whack at the ball which meant we could dig a few. If they blocked we would do a placement shot where the other guy wasn't. Finally it was 10-1. Their fans were silent, our opponents were dejected and weary from trying to return hard serves from both Rich and I. Almost every serve I hit was at hothead who was on the opposing right side of the court. So on our 3rd championship point I got another chance to close them out. Hothead's partner decided he would cheat towards the middle to see if he could help him out since all my serves were there. Right until the last second I was thinking I would just crush the serve and see if they can handle it. At the last second I thought to myself "Nah! This will be better!" I hit a flat floater that hit short and near the left boundary line. The guy didn't even try for it. Rich thought it hit the net or something was wrong because he made such a non-effort for the ball. When he realized what happened it was kinda surreal. We had won the whole damn thing! Not only did we win but we won 11-1 against a team that deserved to get spanked ! Rich was thrilled, I was thrilled, our women were thrilled and the other team was devastated. We saved our best game for last. I guess sometimes the good guys do win out. :)