Direct Hitts by Shari Hittesdorf

Green Bay winning the SuperBowl, Connecuticut (Men’s) and Texas A&M (Women’s) NCAA hoops titles, Dallas the NBA championship, and just last week the St. Louis pulling off the comeback of all time, the underdogs prevailed.

How can you not believe there is gonna be one more Friday night!?!

I am confident St. Mary’s will pull off a mighty upset Friday night in the Section 2A Championship game.

The stage is set, the perfect storm is brewing.

New Ulm Cathedral is defending state champs and the state’s number one ranked team in the Class A polls. The Hounds are undefeated and have blown away most of their opponents during the regular season including thumping the Knights. Yep, St. Mary’s doesn’t have a prayer!

That’s exactly why I have my state press pass already ordered. I REALLY DO!

On November 11th I’ll be at my old alma mater, Southwest Minnesota State University, watching the Section 2A champion Knights battle the Section 3A winners, which will be either Adrian or Wabasso.

I’m believing! Can you say Packers, Huskies, Aggies, Mavericks, Cardinals and yes, Knights! 2011, the year of the underdogs.

It’s great to see that this community has taken the time to study all the issues concerning the upcoming Sleepy Eye Schools Referendum vote which will take place Nov. 8. It is obvious by the meeting I just attended that everyone understands the consequences of a yes and a no vote. And because they have been enlighten I’m sure they will be casting a “YES”.

Through articles posted on Sleepy Eye ONLINE and in the newspaper and through recent mailings, voters have been educated and completely understand that without an operating referendum this community will be facing a crisis.

You ask how do I KNOW every voter understands this issue, well, it’s pretty obvious – there were a whole nine people in attendance at the information meeting Thursday night to explain the referendum issues. Four school board members, two people with the press. That leave THREE people who just didn’t quite yet get how important the passage of this is. All the other people of the community surely understand things, they get it or why else wouldn’t there have been more folks in attendance. After all, there was no ball games, World Series hadn’t started yet, nope, nothing else keeping them away.

Have you picked up on my sarcasm yet!?!

You know, there is a consensus around the community that this referendum won’t pass because of the “St. Mary’s People.” I just don’t buy that.  I argue that people who really do understand this issue, understand a “YES” vote is a positive thing for EVERYONE even those who don’t have kids in the school system anymore. A “YES” vote is a show of support for this community. A “YES” vote means you care about the kids. A “YES” vote means you care about jobs for our citizens.

A “YES” vote is an investment, not a payment! If you haven’t figured that out yet, then maybe you really don’t get it yet!

VIEW SLIDE PRESENTATION FROM MEETING>>>

I know rally scoring in volleyball at the high school level has been around for several years but I have never been able to grasp the concept of why this exciting game is scored in this manner.

For those of you not familiar with rally scoring, a point is scored EVERY TIME the ball is put in play. Missed served, other team gets a point. Mess up a spike, other team gets a point, doesn’t matter if your team was serving or not. Even if it’s the final point of the match, if you can’t get the ball over the net on your team’s serve, game over!  A way too high percentage of the points scored in a match are unearned.

I hate to do this to you but…when I played and even when I coached the game, the server was a vital part of winning or losing a match. You could only earn a point if your team was serving. Somebody on the team received credit for every point scored. Yes it’s true, you could get a point if the other team made an unforced error, but at least one good thing had to happen on the play, you had to get the ball over the net on the serve!

Alright, as long as I’m on the subject of volleyball, a sport I coached for six seasons, I’d like to give credit where credit is due. The hitters and setters may get all the credit (and the stats) but it’s the back row players, the ones who can strategically place the ball on a bump, that really make the difference. Just like the offensive line in football, they are the heart and soul of a good offense. At least now those back row specialist get some recognition, there was no such thing as a dig in my glory days. Ask any setter, and I was one, a good setup starts with a good bump. And a kill rarely happens without a good set.

And one more thing, when did that word “kill” come into play. In this day and age of political correctness, I’m amazed the Minnesota State High School League hasn’t put a kabosh on it. Ace spike, that’s what it used to be called, in the good old days!

Bump, set, spike!

Despite all the changes, volleyball still is a great sport. And when you’ve got some hard hitting, power blocking teams going at it, it’s especially exciting. High School Playoffs are just around the corner, get out and enjoy a match!