The Home Opener

The gym goes pitch-black, the team is huddled up in a storage room, Vildan Basic comes over the microphone, his voice booming with anxiety to call each player to floor in front of 500 screaming VVK fans, pounding on the walls, the seats, the drums they've brought with them. The spotlight beams across the gym and pics up each player as they come bursting through a black, fake velvet curtain, arms waiving to the crowd. "AND NOW THE STARTING LINE-UP FOR YOUR CHICAGO BULLS!" No joke! And I'm #23 out of North Carolina, called last, with greatest anticipation from the crowd. "Please welcome in his first home match here in Vingaker, all the way from California in the USandA, wearing number 14, PAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUULLLL GEEEEEEEOOOOOORRGGGGGEEE!!!!

I just sort of made up that last part about what Vildan actually said as he introduced me. All I know is that it was really long, and in Swedish. The whole introduction thing was obviously a little outrageous - killing the lights and spotlighting each of us as we enter the floor - but it was really quite a lot of fun.

The opponent was Hylte, a regular in the finals of our league, the Elite Series. They sport 2 or 3 Swedish National Team members and an attitude that goes right along with it. There is ill-blood between Vingaker and Hylte, and with our newly-heightened position in the rankings, things were escalated.

The first set was exciting. There was a LOT of energy in the gym, Swedes coming out of the woodwork to support their local Volleyboll Klub. There was also an inordinate amount of nervous energy amongst the team. All the Swedish guys hold these Hylte guys so high that they overlooked the fact that we are indeed a competitive team ourselves and managed to trail the first set only by 2 the entire time. Me? Yes, I was a bit nervous, wanting to perform well for the Vingaker crowd, but worse was the stomach ache I had going into the match. No, not from the nerves, but a combination of dehydration, poor diet, and lack of sleep. Regardless, my first touch in the game was a HUGE THUNDERCLAMP (block) on the leagues number one hitter Urban Anderssson (does it get more Swedish than that?). The crowd went nuts and I was fired up. Still, our team maintained a scared, doubtful mentality that caused us to lose the first game 25-20.

Set #2 was quite the opposite from set 1. I finally got into a rhythm and started putting some balls away. They had a huge block, most of the guys my size or taller. Our middles were pretty ineffective, but Taric stepped up nicely and played the best I've seen from him thus far. We had a great game-plan on this team, and once we started following it, we ROCKED! We ripped off some great serves and dug a few balls, playing smart, disciplined volleyball. Hylte is the type of team to implode, pointing fingers and getting angry. We used this to our advantage and stole set 2 25-21.

Set #3 was more of the same. We kept a level head and thundered balls off their huge block. I continued to get better as the match went on, first hitting a ball cross-court almost inside the 3 meter line, which made everyone on our side of the net stop and give me a sort of bewildered look coupled with "fifan" (FEE-fahn). No one knows the direct translation, but most of the guys think it means "oh sh!t" or "holy f*ck." Apparently I hit it pretty hard. I don't really remember because I then went back to the service line and RIPPED a jump serve that skipped off their passer's arms into the wall before I had barely landed. I had never served a ball so hard. It was nice to hear the crowd was on my side - "PPPAAAAUUUULLL GEOOOOOORGE" (pronounced "YOURge"). We won 25-18.

We jumped out a big lead in Set 4. Our other outside hitter Linus Froberg chiseled 4 aces, at least 2 consecutively, and then 2 more to start the game. I think we were up 6-1 or so and maintained a good lead til about 16 when they tied it up........and it all went to hell. I mentioned these guys carried an "attitude" with them - UNDERSTATEMENT! We're talking some of the biggest @$$holes in all of Sweden. One guy in particular just loved to yap away across the net. Our game plan had been to stay away, let our playing do the talking. Unfortunately, we're a young team, inexperienced and immature, so this jerk eventually got the best of one guy, then 2 more. The badgering back and forth was repeatedly interrupted by the referee calling the captains to his stand - somehow always managing to place blame on the Vingaker players.

From there on out it was a BATTLE. I got 90 percent of the balls and buried each of them as we fought our way up to 25-25. We switched advantages at least 4 times. We had match point I think six times total. I had one ball set low on the outside - I got stuffed....BIG TIME....right in the face. It was awesome. HAHAHA. I thought I had lost my contact, but learned the lesson long ago - "don't rub it, don't let them know they've hurt you." I laughed it off because really, it was a HUGE block. Regardless, I put the very next set to the floor. I was having a blast as the crowd rose to its feet, then sat, then rose again each time we had match point. Volleyball hadn't been that fun in who knows how long.

We should have won in the fourth - we COULD have won in the fourth - obviously by now you know, we lost in the fourth, 34-32. Actually, the referee blew the game for us. They had a HUGE net coming down from a block in the middle. It would have given us another match point. I about lost it, Dave threw a sh!t-fit, and the crowd went NUTS! It was the worse no-call at such a pivotal point ever! The ref later stated "it was away from the play and of no consequence to the game." Please.

It's okay though, right? Game 5, no problem, right? WRONG! They jumped out to a 5-1 lead that just about stupefied our team. I got just about every ball with two guys camping out on me the whole time. My shoulder is now resenting each swing I took earlier tonight. I was bringing some serious heat. We switched sides at 8, but Hylte took a slight advantage when we received not one, but two yellow cards arguing yet another horrific no-call. Hylte had the refs in their pocket and their was nothing we could do. We were trailing 10-5 all of a sudden and you've never seen such confusion, frustration, and defeat in the eyes of a team. No matter how many more balls I was able to put away, no matter what I said, there was no coming back, and we lost the final set 15-9. It was a sad day for all Vingaker.

After the match I received a nice ovation when given the award for MVP for the match. I got a nice backpack with some goodies inside as a gift from one of our sponsors. However, you wouldn't believe the overall depression in the crowd after the match. I looked into the stands and found heads resting heavy on hands resting heavy on knees. All the little kids that Dave and I have been coaching in the local elementary schools were so sad. Winning is everything here in Sweden. I tried to spin it so the guys would see it's early in the season and it's better to lose now. We actually played poorly and almost beat a top-2 team, but that wasn't good enough. Sad. Sad. Sad.

Regardless, I was actually able to take a moment during the match and say "wow, I'm having a lot of fun." It's more fun to win than to lose, but tonight was everything I came to Sweden for. I received a lot of congratulations from the guys on the bench and the guys on our lower, Division 1 team. "You're the man, George." "Not good enough," I'd respond. But amidst everything else, I'm had a blast tonight and I hope I can continue to play at a decent level to keep up the fun.

You can check out the league website over here for all the latest news if you wish. Obviously it's all in Swedish, but you'll figure it out. If you go to www.volleyboll.se you can search around. Sometimes there are headlines with "Vingaker" in the title, but what will probably interest you most is if you click "Elitserien Herr" in the right-hand column. That will take you to the Elite Series page which lists all the latest results of all the matches. We're currently in 5th, but all the teams are just starting to get moving. It says Hylte is in 5th too, but they're far better than at least 3 of the teams currently above. You can click on any of the matches to get a report about the game. If you click on Vingaker - Hylte from tonight you'll see my name and that I had 26 points on one ace, 3 blocks, and 22 kills.

There is also some video online, which I'll have to find for you, but I'm not sure where it is now. You can translate webpages or text at http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=Swedish&to=English I've been using it pretty regularly, but it doesn't always work.

Okay, sorry so long, and sorry no pictures. I took my video camera to the gym tonight but didn't get any footage. Next time!