Volleyball Part Deux (Can you believe it?)
Trip Start
Aug 06, 2008
1
48
61
Trip End
May 17, 2009
Kazan, Russian Federation
Thursday, November 13, 2008
volleyball. I know it sounds kind
of crazy for a truly Americanized sports lover like myself. I mean for goodness
sake, I TAPE football games and swear everyone to secrecy when it comes to my
one true love like football.... However, volleyball, oddly enough has been ever
so slowly penetrating my truly (until now) faithful heart.
Today
we went to a game like no other.
They were playing a team from Paris, France, so everything was totally
different and a bit more polished then usual. The real volleyball floor was down, the scoreboard was in
English and they had English-speaking commentators. The crowd was huge and the cheerleaders were.... well they
were just as bad and if possible, were worse then usual. It was the closest game that we had
been to in a while so it was edge of the seat exciting and we finally won after
three sets but barely.
As
a side note, I would like to say that Hope was on the edge of her seat, but for
different reasons... the French team had not one bad looking guy on it. She was drooling. Somewhere in the middle of the game she
said something to the effect of, "we should have studied abroad in
France." I have to agree; they
were not bad looking at all.
Anyway,
how in the world to get onto these rabbit trails? At the end of the game, Hope saw the French guy that she had
been drooling over, make his way go over to a fan and sign his autograph. So
she went to get one as well and dragged me along so I could take her pic with
him. He was a massive fellow and actually very friendly. Since we were already on the court, we
decided to wait for the two American players from Kazan to pass us by and
yelled over to them in English.
Stanley, the MVP from the Olympics, was the first to come over. "Well," he said," it is
odd to hear an English voice. Where are you guys from and why are you here in
Kazan?" We told him that we were students and he knew the University that
we are attending. He was amazingly
sweet and I liked him quite a bit.
He then took a pic with Hope and signed our programs. While we were talking, he told us that
he liked Kazan okay but, "it isn't home." I knew what he was saying. I feel the same way.
Ball,
the captain of the volleyball team, came over next. "wow," he said. "You guys have an amazing American accent for
Russians." We started to
laugh and he was curious as to where we were from. We told him and he talked with us for a pretty long
while. We know all about his
tattoos, his wife and children. He
has played European volleyball for 13 years all over and Kazan for three. "When are you guys leaving Russia?"
he asked us. We told him and then
he invited us to go out with him after the game next week. He was super cool.
Also,
earlier this week, I met this guy named Phil Luckett. He is a referee for the NFL and refereed the 31st Super
Bowl. We met through church and he
is here to do mission work. He
teaches a series of Bible lessons and also teaches Russian children the art of
American football (which he uses that opportunity to spread the Word as
well.) He is an amazing man. He is very genuine and I only found out
about his career by looking up his name on the Internet. (Apparently he has made some very
controversial calls).
I
can't believe that this city has so many sport connections and that I am able
to write more than one blog about them.
It is crazy to me. How in the World does one come to Russia to meet two
American Olympic champions AND an NFL referee? I swear, I'm not making this up.
