I want to bump, set and spike … but I can’t.
Why?
Because De Anza College doesn’t have a men’sintercollegiate volleyball team.
Reason?
They don’t have enough money.
How much money do they need?
If it comes down to me washing down your Chrysler Escalade on thecorner of the street for $4, I will do it.
If I must go door-to-door and sell cookies (no, not in a Girl Scoutuniform), I will do it.
If it comes down to setting up a telethon, I will do it.
As I cover the women’s volleyball games, I imagine myselfsometimes playing at the collegiate level, and no, not in those hotlittle pants that the women’s teams looks so good in.
You might respond by saying go to another school.
My answer?
I can’t leave De Anza College. It’s my black hole. Asmuch as I try to get away, it sucks me back.
The women’s team is already a force to be reckoned with.
Imagine if we had a men’s volleyball team.
I have a mean spike. My serves are so accurate and pinpointed thatit makes the United States Army missile system look like a toy. Mysets range from high-low to behind-the-back pass. So call me adiverse setter.
The talent is there. Just look at Dawnis Guevera’s afternoonvolleyball class.
Talent is bottled up in that class.
I want to open that bottle of pop and see what fizzes out.
Even if the talent wasn’t there, we could build it and theywill come. Sound like an excerpt from “Field ofDreams?”
Well, it is.
I want to be the Kevin Costner of the men’s volleyball team.I want to build it, and I’m already there.
Other students will play the role of the inquisitive neighbors:they might look at me funny. But it’s something that needs tobe done.
I’ll run into an obstacle if this goes through. According toTitle IX, there must be a balance of men’s and women’ssports teams.
My answer?
Take away the football team.
Don’t get me wrong. Football can be vital to an athleticsprogram, especially since De Anza won the national championshiptitle in ‘79. Note the emphasis on “can.”
The football team is not producing. They haven’t beenproducing. And I doubt they will produce.
As I type this column, I am in great fear for my rear because theAthletics department supports the football program. StartingMonday, when this issue comes out, I will begin wearing my trackshoes.
Why, you may ask?
Because if I see a football player, I’m going to run for it.I’m 5’9, 195 lbs., nowhere close to a frustrated,6’4, 280 lb. linebacker who’s ready to tackle me likeyou’ve never seen before.
But hey, it’s my journalistic duty. I’m willing to gettackled, hear an earful from the coaches, and constantly watch myback, if it means that a men’s volleyball team could existhere at De Anza College.
It’s time to build a program that bumps, sets and spikesbetter than we pass, rush and tackle.