Tigers and Bobcats, oh my!
Last night I got to travel over to the next town and watch my niece play volleyball with her high school varsity team. This was my first time seeing her play this season and it will actually probably be my only time since this was one of their last home games of the season.
I was supposed to go watch her a couple of weeks ago, but I had just been diagnosed with Covid and while I was feeling a bit better, @mrsbozz and I decided it wouldn't be a good idea to go out and expose a bunch of other people.
Unfortunately, they were beat in straight sets by another local team. My wife had a feeling it was going to go this way. Despite the outcome, they still had some really good volleys and a lot of fantastic saves and spikes. It was just fun to watch my niece out doing what she loves even if the results weren't that great.
In the second and third sets my niece wore a different color jersey than the rest of her team. That minor color jersey is usually reserved for a player in the "libero" position. In this case, since the team was wearing their home white jerseys with blue minor colors, the Libero jersey was blue. In away games it would be the opposite.
The Libero player is a unique position and the off color jersey helps the official recognize that player and keep track of their movements to ensure they don't do anything they aren't supposed to.
For example, Libero players can't ever serve the ball. They also can't spike the ball or play in the front row. This position designation was implemented in 1996. According to the Internet, the whole point of introducing this position was to improve defense and make rallies last longer.
It kind of makes sense that my niece would be in that position since she is one of the shortest players on the team. Genetics can be a bitch sometimes.
Another term you might here in volleyball is that a team is "in system". That basically just means that all of the key players are in their most opportune positions. As players dive and move around to hit balls, sometimes teams can become out of system. One of the Libero's biggest jobs is to pass the ball in a way that helps keep the team in system. Again, according to the Internet, for this reason the Libero is usually one of the best passers on the team.
Before we headed to the game, we spent a little bit of time at home watching the Detroit Tigers win their second game of a five game series against the Cleveland Guardians. These games are part of the American League Division Series and after watching them lose the first game to the Guardians down in Ohio, it has been awesome to see them win game 2 (also in Ohio) and game 3 down in Detroit.
They play again today down in Detroit and my hope is that they can earn the win to clinch the series and move on to the next round of the playoffs. I'm actually a bit surprised to see the Tigers in the playoffs. I didn't realize they were that good this season. Especially since YouTube TV and Fox Sports decided to get in a pissing match and I haven't been able to watch any of their games this summer.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
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