The Other Side of the Story

Lanna Schurr wasn’t the leading server or the leading digger or the leading hitter for her high school volleyball team. She was never quoted in newspapers, coaches never focused on blocking her, and even her own teammates and coaches sometimes winced at her unorthodox mechanics. But that’s what made that night four years ago so special for her.

It was the biggest volleyball match of their lives. They had played together for 8 years, and now as seniors, it was time to prove that they belonged among the ranks of the undefeated. They hadn’t lost a single game in the post-season, going 9-0 to this point.

New London would be their biggest test to date. They were taller, better known, ranked much higher, and the match would take place only 10 minutes from their high school.

“I think that’s what made us even more excited. Everyone expected us to fall on our faces. Our coach read us this newspaper article. It was a preview for the match. They had us picked to loose in 3 games, said we weren’t explosive enough,” Schurr said.

Lanna was kind of an implant into this senior class. She had been with the team for six years and had very close friendships among the group, but those two years of club volleyball before Lanna’s family moved to Calamus in the 7th grade had always made her feel like an outsider.

“It was hard sometimes. It was like they just knew where each other would be on the court, or how high they needed their sets, or how to seal blocks together perfectly,” Schurr said.

As the team graduated from middle school and joined the ranks of the Varsity, Lanna continued to develop as a player. Soon she had won her position as the second outside hitter. The biggest start of her life came in the Regional Championship against New London.

“I remember before the match started we were doing hitting lines and I was swinging really hard,” Schurr said. “My coach came up to me and told me that I had to swing that hard in the game. I was so afraid to make mistakes though.”

The Warriors won the toss and elected to serve first, sending their schools all time ace leader to the line. Mason racked up a few early points before New London was able to return the serve. After a long rally Lanna got a quick set outside and swung like she had in warm ups.

“I was going for the cross court angle shot, but I was being too aggressive. I was sure the ball had sailed long, “Schurr said.

The line judge lowered her arms and pointed her hands down signaling in.

“That first hit was what gave me the confidence I needed that night. I did like my coach had said. I was the most aggressive I had ever been, and it really paid off,” Schurr said.

Lanna would go on to be aggressive the entire night. She had a career high 9 kills for the match. But more importantly she took the focus off of the Warriors All-State middle blocker, Megan Jacobi. New London was forced to double block Jacobi in the middle, instead of the dreaded triple block.

They never knew when a quick set might go outside to #3.

The warriors would go on to win the match in straight sets, continuing their unbeaten streak. Lanna Schurr was asked for an interview by a local sports reporter.

“It was so weird. They never wanted to talk to me. More than anything I felt like I had finally contributed,” Schurr said.

Four years later, Lanna remembers this match and this night as the best sporting memory of her life. But it wasn’t about the newspaper article, or swinging hard, or even winning the match. After all, the Warriors would lose the next match, stopping their journey for a state tournament birth, one game short.

“For me, I think that night was a little different. Even though we only played one more match together. I finally had my own identity on the team. “

Should Michael Jordan Coach the Bulls?

Nothing seems more enticing to me than Michael Jordan suiting up as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Jeez...how amazing would it be if he could bring a championship back to Chicago as a Coach this time. I would just love it if my kids had the opportunity to see Jordan in action like I had the honor to. Even if it doesn't happen for another 10 years or so, this would just be magical. On the other hand, a disappointing outcome would tarnish Jordan's legacy. Here is my question.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE JORDAN AS THE HEAD COACH OF THE CHICAGO BULLS?

IS THE OUTCOME OF NOT BEING SUCCESSFUL TOO MUCH TO RISK FOR THE JORDAN LEGACY OR WOULD THE OUTCOME OF A CHAMPIONSHIP BE ENOUGH OF AN INCENTIVE TO TAKE THE RISK?

Somebody Get that Giant Boulder Off Romo's Shoulders

Sunday's 14-10 Cowboys victory over divisional rival, Washington showed some new revelations about this Dallas squad. I have to admit I was extremely nervous before, during and after the game. Nervous before, because I wasn't sure Romo would look like himself. Nervous during, because Romo wasn't looking like himself. And nervous after, because Romo completed only one pass in the final series of the game and didn't look like himself.

Give him one more week and I think he will look like himself, but in the meantime it seems like another hero has taken this team on his back. Not only did Marion Barber look like a beast in the fourth quarter, rushing for 63 yards and totally over 100 yards for only the third time this season, he supplied the "heart and soul" that this team had been looking for all season.

Barber has carried the ball 196 times this season, ranking him 5th in total carries in the NFL. I would guess that this standing might go up quite a bit in the final 6 games of the season. Barber has emerged as the dependable, reliable, consistent back that the Cowboys needed him to be. And more importantly his success last night allowed a rusty Tony Romo to ease back into the game.

With Romo back and Barber finally being given the opportunity to carry this team down the stretch, anything is possible. Throw in a healthy Terence Newman and a recovered Jason Witten, and the possibilities for this team are endless. This rather large hiccup in their season might be just when they needed to find themselves.

Somebody

7 Game Season Ahead

Today marks the beginning of preparation week for the Dallas Cowboy's second season. Every game from here on out is due or die for Dallas, and this week's practice will set the tone for the remainder of the season.

With all of the bye weeks out of the way for NFC East teams, the standings should begin to take shape. Although they are currently sitting in last place in the conference, they have the same record as the third place team and are only one game behind the second place team which happens to be the Washington Redskins.

The Cowboys will play the Redskins next week in Washington. With the opportunity to jump to 6-4 (the same record that the Redskins would then have).

I am not saying that Dallas will make the playoffs, but I do believe that they have s shot. It sounds cliche, but they are truly in control of their own destiny. With the return of key players on both sides of the ball next week, Dallas will have the opportunity to play like the team everyone originally thought they would be.

Let's take it week by week, but these last 7 games will each be a determining factor the ending result of the Cowboys' ultimate fate this season. The most important factor will not be how many touchdown catches T.O has, how many yards Romo will throw for, or the impact that the return of Terence Newman will have on the defense.

The deciding factor will be emergence of a member of this team that doesn't show up on stat sheets. I'm not sure where it's hiding, but Jerry Jones should put out an APB for the "heart and soul" of the Dallas Cowboys.

Glog: Steelers vs. Colts

9:20 on the clock in the 1st quarter: Mewelde Moore just scored the first points of the game on a 2 yard run. The Steelers moved the ball at will against the Colts.

Sorry about the late start on this Glog. I can't stop watching highlight reels form last nights 24-23 win over #3 Penn State. Wow that was fun! I have especially enjoyed ESPN blogger Adam Rittenberg's last dozen or so posts, all about the Hawkeyes big win.

Payton just took the field for the first time and threw an incompletion. I just can't help but feeling a little less excited when Panning drops back in the pocket. He just hasn't been the same this year. I'm not sure if his leg injury is still bothering him or not. Heck, maybe he's just having a bad season (bad compared to "Manning" standards),

Reggie Wayne just helped him out big time though. Manning under threw a long pass that the defender tipped in to Wayne's arms, then he made a great move to get past another defender to jog into the end zone.

The game is now all tied at 7-7.
The commentators are discussing the Steelers great defense this season and suggest that Troy Polamalu might take home defensive player of the year awards. A picture of him appeared, and I must say his beard is getting a little out of control. Kinda starting to look like the dead wizard from Lord of the Rings. Creepy!

Game back. Melwelde Moore continues to get the ball for the Steelers. He now has 6 rushes and 17 yards in only their second possession. Big Ben was just brought down on 3rd and long, and nearly fumbled. The ball will go back to that unpredictalbe Colt's offense.

As the refs. meet to discuss a holding penalty on the return team, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep concern that I have just found a maroon "Temple" stocking cap in my bed. I did not stay at my apartment last night, but apparently some dirty boy did enjoy my fabullous pillow top. This very serious allegation will be taken up with my roomates at a later date.

6 minutes left on the clock in the 1st now. Joseph Adai lost a yard and Peyton pass incomplete to Dalass Clark. I wonder if he had a chance to watch the big Iowa game last night. As he hauls in the first down pass this time, I wonder if he and Bob Sanders have considered donating a couple mil. to the football complex project here at Iowa. We still ned $11 million folks. Checks can be made payable to Gary Barta.

Manning has just been sacked for the first time in 119 drop backs. What a stat!
I would also like to metnion that the Colt's are my second favorite team in the NFL, after the Cowboys of course. I just love what Dallas Clark and Bob Sanders have done for the Iowa football program. Commercial break now...

Immediate Response: Cowboys vs. Giants

Things are unraveling quickly for the Dallas Cowboys. Just off a blow-out loss of 34-14 handed down by the Divisional foe NY Giants at the Meadowlands in week 9, the Cowboys will limp into their bye week, at 5-4. Not exactly the anticipated record at this point in the season. Sitting in last place in the NFC East, the Cowboys have a pretty tall hill to climb. Especially because it no longer looks like the NFL Beast's will get both wild card spots.

Even with the return of quarterback Tony Romo, the Cowboys will be digging themselves out of quite the hole with only 7 games remaining. And let's be honest, they weren't exactly playing great when Romo was at the healm either.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. There are plenty of criticisms to go around this week for the Cowboys. So let's take a look at some of the worst parts of this game.

* Marion Barber looked human today with only 54 yards on 19 carries. Without Romo, the Cowboys have looked more and more 1 dimmensional, but recently that 1 dimmension hasn't even been working. Obviously Romo's right arm is a little bit more threatening than Brad Johnson's and Brooks Bollinger's combined, but that O-line needs to step up and make some holes.

* I could not be more happy to (hopefully) never have to talk about Brad Johnson or Brooks Bollinger again. Neither reached over 100 yards passing, but then again neither had more than 9 attempts either.

* The Dallas Offensive Line needs some immediate help. Clearly, Romo probaly would have been able to scramble better than Bollinger and Johnson and the Giants D-Line is far above average, but they just didn't look good out there today.

*At least Owens got a TD reception...the last thing we need is a restless T.O.