Final Game of the Season

My chauffer polished off about two liters of Blue Raspberry, Mad Dog 20/20, so I decided to give him the night off.  As a result, I made it to the games on time.  

Our final opponent for the season, at least before the big tournament, was the Richardson North Vikings, and the B Team started off the evening looking pretty good.  Their first game was a painful back and forth battle that ended with a narrow victory for the Vikings.  

The B Team’s second game didn’t start off much better, and the Lady Chargers quickly found themselves down 15 to 4.  However, in true Lady Charger spirit, these girls rallied and brought the score back to 21/16.  

In the end, our Lady Chargers weren’t able to swing things fully back and they lost the second game 25 to 16. 

The A team’s had a hard time finding their groove in the first game.  Points and plays that in recent games would have never happened, seemed to be popping up all over the place.  The Vikings weren’t playing better than the Lady Chargers, but the Lady Chargers kept giving them point after point.  

A timeout was called and the score was Vikings 11, Lady Chargers 7.  

I was sitting there with my spirits going in the pooper when I had this thought…Every comeback begins with a single point. 

After the timeout the Lady Chargers tied the score at 12 to 12 and never looked back.  The final score ended up Lady Chargers 25, Vikings 15.  

It seemed their final match of the season was going to go their way.  

Call it overconfidence, call it the luck of the draw, call it whatever you like…but in the end you have to call it a poor ending to an otherwise magnificent night.  

That’s right, the Vikings somehow managed to win game two and game three.  

What I do know is that the eight grade Lady Chargers from Forest Meadow Jr. High are a talented group of girls who play hard and pour everything they have into each and every game.  Combine that with a couple coaches whose philosophy of leadership is, “Show respect and you get respect,” and you get a group of girls who are winners…no matter what the scoreboard says.  

Coach Owens and Coach Ogden took a group of girls with skills at all levels of the game and taught them how to focus and work as a team.  

Thank you Coach Owens and Coach Ogden.  Thank you for allowing our girls to call you coaches and role models and leaders, but thank you most of all for allowing them call you friends.  

I’ve had a good time writing about these games and am sad the season is over.  Thanks for reading my weekly report of the FMJH, Lady Chargers Volleyball adventures!

 

Author’s Note:

And what about our crazy, mumbling dad?  He showed up again…and I tried to talk with him.  However, it became clear rather quickly that he’s not all there.  

First, he couldn’t sit still.  He would sit on one side of the net and then switch to the other.  Sure the girls change sides for each game, but his movements were more than that.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but take it from a guy who has worked with more than his fair share of students with ADHD this guy needs more, or maybe stronger medication.   

Second, and this was possibly even more disturbing that his odd movement behaviors.  The times I was able to pin him down for a few seconds and speak it was odd, because he didn’t really speak in complete sentences.  He would open his mouth and spew out little phrases and parts of sentences.  It was as if he was trying really hard to make some kind of really profound statement, but just couldn’t pull it together.  

In the end, I’m not sure if or when I’ll ever see this guy again.  The good news is he doesn’t seem to be any kind of real danger to anyone or himself.  At least he didn’t seem to be.  I only hope that in someway he’ll be able to get the help he so desperately needs.  

A Breath of Fresh Air!

Luckily, my driver didn’t have quite so much to drink this week and I made it to the gym in time to see both the A and B team’s games.  (I'm probably gonna have to fire the bum!) 

The Eighth Grade Lady Chargers were in top form Thursday night!  Both the A team and the B team won their games against the Falcons from Long Middle School, but each team had a very different plan of attack. 

The B team took control of the evening by winning the first game 25 to 21.  The B team’s overall strategy is very similar to the boy who catches a bug.  While he fully intends to kill the bug, and could with one quick stomp of his foot, he pulls off the wings, then the legs, and watches as the poor creature squirms and suffers a slow and painful death. 

The Lady Chargers B team playfully allowed their opponents to win the second game just to get their hopes up…not unlike the boy with the bug who pulls off one leg and allows the bug to limp around trying to escape, before ripping off the next leg. 

The B team’s third game was more of the same with the score staying about even until Long Middle School scored their 20^th point.  At that point the legless, squirming bug lost its appeal and the Lady Chargers put the Falcons out of their misery 25 to 20. 

The A team took a totally different approach.  Unlike the boy who enjoys watching his victims squirm, the A team has the “Bugs are gross, so let’s get rid of them” philosophy of extermination.  

For the first three points, the A team’s first game started off looking like it was going to be one of those point for point trade off games.  You know the kind.  However, Colleen Livingston had an outstanding 12 serve run that quickly made the score Forest Meadow 13, Long Middle School 3.  That powerful run gave the Lady Chargers so much momentum they couldn’t fail.  As a matter of fact, Long only scored four more points for the entire game.  

Game one ended with the score, Lady Chargers 25, Long Middle School 7. 

The second game started didn’t start off quite so good.  Long had our Lady Chargers down 8 to 4, when sudden blast of energy swept in and the Chargers took control.  

Macy Atkinson took over with the team's second Power Serve Run and quickly took the score to Forest Meadow 15, Long Middle School 8.  

Once again, the Lady Chargers shifted to their, “Quick! Squash him fast!” philosophy and held the Falcons to only four more points.  The game ended with a score of 25 to 12.  

All five games were good games.  Neither team had any really bad plays and there weren’t any questionable calls.  What everyone witnessed was some good, old-fashioned volleyball. It was a breath of fresh air! 

And a good time was had by all…

Except for that same tired dad who kept mumbling, “Smart Plays!“ and “Tourniquets were my idea!”   

Nobody understands anything he’s talking about, and everyone tries their best to ignore him...poor guy. 

 

You call it refereeing...I call it POOP!

Sadly, thanks to the sluggish driving habits of my chauffer, I missed not one, but both of the B teams volleyball games.  As a result, my report on these first two Lady Charger games will be second hand.  

The Lady Chargers of Forest Meadow played the Broncos of Barbara Bush Middle School.  This was a high-spirited game, and the parents I spoke with told me about two games where the girls played some great volleyball.  They played hard, they played well and they put everything they had into each and every bump, set and spike.  When he dust settled, the Lady Chargers may not have been the victors, but they’re still number one! 

The A team took the court with fire in their eyes and winning in their hearts.  They grabbed a quick two-point lead and jumped ahead with some serious momentum.  The score was Bush Middle School 5, Forest Meadow 6 and Forest Meadow had the serve.  The Lady Charges had the wind at their backs and they were on the move.  

Then it happened...  

After a Bush time out, the girls were all getting ready for the serve.  The platform referee blew his whistle and signaled that Forest Meadow had lost the serve.  The stunned players and spectators alike sat dumbfounded as they passed the ball over to the Broncos.  

As it turned out, the referee had decided, rather haphazardly, to suddenly enforce a five second rule.  We found out later that the players have exactly five seconds to serve the ball once the whistle blows.  Evidently “Stopwatch Willie,” the head referee at the game, had somehow managed to count to “Five Mississippi” in his tiny little head and then blown his whistle.  

I’m all for following the rules!  I mean, where would this great county of ours be without rules and consequences for those who didn’t follow them.  

Now I’m no lawyer, but in my book, if you’re going to start enforcing that kind of precedent, then it seems to me that you’re going to need something a wee bit more chronographically accurate than Stopwatch Willie counting to Five Mississippi each and every time someone is serving.  All I know is that I started timing girls on both teams, and I got to seven, eight and even eleven Mississippi on more than one occasion.  And that was with servers from both teams, but he never made that “Serving Time is Up” call again.  I wonder why? 

That seriously crappy call and the loss of the serve quickly deflated the spirit of the entire Forest Meadow team.  Don’t get me wrong; these girls still played some incredible volleyball! Even after the 'Bush Middle School Serve-Time Fiasco of 2008' (a name for this sad event in history that I hope will catch on) the game ended with the score, Bush Middle School 25, Forest Meadow 20.  

The second game was a disheartening uphill battle.  The second string had just sat by and watched the Bush Middle School Serve-Time Fiasco of 2008, as well several other examples incredibly poor of refereeing.  It was becoming painfully obvious that the two best players on the Broncos team stood on the sidelines and blew whistles! 

However, in true Lady Charger fashion, these girls faced their opponents head on and never looked back.  

From the beginning, it was easy to tell that our Lady Chargers were downtrodden, but those brave girls fought with everything they had.  After what felt like and eternity, the Lady Chargers found themselves down 23 to 10.  With only 2 more point to score, it looked like the game was over.  

Then it happened... 

Something sparked deep within our team and a charge began.  Great play after great play kept happening and point after point kept popping up on the scoreboard.  What started at Bush Middle School 23, Lady Chargers 10 miraculously changed to Bush 24, Forest Meadow 22.  The Charger fans couldn’t stay off their feet, and the Bronco fans couldn’t breathe.  

This group of Lady Chargers played with everything they had and the Bush Broncos were very aware they had played a superior team…a superior team who was having an off night. 

What can we say about the night's games?

 

Our Lady chargers might not have had the highest scores…but they were in no way outplayed!

Volleyball Tournament

Saturday was volleyball tournament day for several of the districts in and around Dallas, and the Forest Meadow Lady Chargers 8^th grade team burst through the gates excited and looking for victory!  

First in line for the beating of a lifetime was Blalack Middle School.  It didn’t take the Lady Chargers long to assert their dominance over this team.  A speedy 25 to 16 victory got everyone, players and fans alike, filled to the brim with excitement!  Even with the momentum, it took the Chargers three games to put this one in the win column.  But when it’s all over, people don’t ask, “How,” they only ask, “How much?” 

After winning our first game, the luck of the draw put us up against Westwood Jr. High. 

If you’ve been keeping up with the season, then you know that Westwood is our nemesis…and beating your nemesis always feels good.  

So, it goes without saying that everyone from the players and coaches all the way down to the super devoted Forest Meadow fans were hungry fora win! (There was even one dad wearing the coolest purple camouflage shorts! I think even Coach Owens liked them.) 

Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, because the Lady Chargers played some of the best volleyball this reporter has ever seen them play.  However, in the end, it would take more than a fiery desire to win, perfect teamwork and great plays to defeat our greatest foe.  It felt to me like we were too wound up.  We were too tight.  One thing I’ve learned after a lifetime of sports is you can’t play tight...you gotta play loose.  

Next up, Polk Middle School.  After winning the first game 25 to 13, the Lady Chargers didn’t give the girls from Polk enough credit, because they rallied and won the game two 25 to 21.  

The third game would prove to be exhausting for players and fans alike.  Game three is only to 15 points, and Polk managed to take a 9 to 4 lead.  The Chargers fought hard, scored five fast points and tied the score 9 to 9.  The next five points were difficult for everyone.  Both teams played hard, played well and showed us the true meaning of incredible volleyball!  After trading point for point to a score of 14 to 14, the Lady Chargers brought the score to Forest Meadow 15, Polk 14.  However, you have to win by at least two points.  Nobody was breathing and every heart in the gym was beating 1000 miles an hour, as the Chargers got ready to serve.  

I’m not sure how they did it, but somehow they managed to play the entire point in slow motion.  You can be sure that each and every girl played great volleyball, but in the end the Lady Chargers won 16 to 14.  

The Lady Chargers came excited and looking for victory and they left exhausted and winners! 

More Volleyball!

Forest Meadow’s eighth grade girls played some amazing volleyball last Thursday night!  We played against Parkhill, another of Richardson ISD’s exceptional volleyball schools.

The B Team led the charge with two great games.  Both were back and forth battles filled with impressive plays.  However, in the end, Parkhill pulled out two narrow wins.  25 to 23 and 25 to 21. 

The A Team burst onto the court in rare form with two quick unanswered points.  But both teams were hungry that night, and after those first two points the game was fierce battle.  It was easy to see that this game was going to be one for the record books!

The Lady Chargers had skillful play after skillful play, but Parkhill would rally and give as good as they got.  This wasn’t a game that was going to be won or lost on errors or bad serves.  Oh no, this was a death match…and there would be only one survivor.

With the score at Parkhill 13, Forest Meadow 10, Parkhill started to rally.  The Lady Chargers were in desperate need of a "tourniquet play." (Just a little phrase I coined that means a play to stop the bleeding, and help turn the tide in our direction)

Their tourniquet came in the form of two unbelievable diving saves.  Sadly, this reporter got so caught up in the excitement of moment that I didn’t remember to write down which girls made those amazing play.  However, it doesn’t matter whose arm or hand actually struck the ball, because this final rally was a true team effort. 

All four of the night’s volleyball games were exactly like that.  Fierce battles fought by teams with fire in their eyes, passion in their hearts and a true love of volleyball set deep in their soul.  

Ladies and gentlemen, this was one for the record books.  Because while in the end Parkhill had the most points…there were no losers!