HCLT TOP 1000

Oi, Afonso, que bom que a TV portuguesa dá espaço ao voleibol. Espero que isso ajude a popularizar o esporte por aí. Conheço tanto o Tiago Violas quanto o Nuno Pinheiro – Bernardinho é fã do Nuno. Lembro bem do Mundial 2002 e da grande surpresa que foi Portugal terminar no top 8 – João José foi o melhor bloqueador do torneio. Não sabia sobre a demissão do Juan Diaz. O que houve? Alguma briga entre ele e a federação? Quem são os nomes cotados pra assumir o cargo? De qualquer forma, fico feliz de ver o Nuno Pinheiro de volta à seleção. Como o Tiago também é talentoso, Portugal está muito bem servido de levantadores (vocês dizem “passadores”). Sim, os atacantes não são coxos (hahaha), gosto do Hugo Gaspar. Boa sorte pra Portugal na Liga Mundial.

A liga portuguesa é transmitida ao vivo em todas as fases ou somente a fase final? Tem boa audiência? Sempre que vejo equipes portuguesas, uma coisa me chama a atenção: Portugal tem bons levantadores, o maior problema está nos atacantes de ponta. Mesmo quando o bloqueio está quebrado eles estouram na defesa, dando ao adversário a chance de contra-atacar. Claro que isso acontece às vezes com times mais fortes, mas é constante nas equipes portuguesas. Aqui no v-m há um filme do Tiago Violas que mostra bem isso – várias vezes ele deixa os atacantes sem bloqueio ou quase, mesmo assim eles não marcam.

Roninho, have you heard of a hockey team called “Toronto Maple Leafs”? They probably have the best fans in the world. I’m kidding, but I tell you why I called them “best fans”. That team hasn’t won a title since 1967, they became a joke in the NHL, but fans still pack the ACC, their gym in Toronto. Wow, 45 years and the fans are still there! I heard a lot of bad stories about Skra fans – drunk uncles, fights with other supporters… My evil friend Zyta always tells me Resovia fans are great, but when you write such things you sound pretty much like those unbearable Polaco kids – once you’re a Resovia fan, it’s a biased opinion. You know, Polaco kids see their NT failing to win in every tournament, but keep behaving like they have a top squad. lol As for the music, please… This Polaco version of “Go West” is annoying as the original – I guess you know the original is a gay disco song. I can’t help but remember the Polaco version of Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”, a horrendous version they played till exhaustion in the 2011 WL finals – John and George rolling over in their graves, Paul and Ringo almost killing themselves.

Ciao amica mia, il tuo portoghese è eccellente, così come il gioco di Sheilla.

Wilfredo, I thought you lived in the States. Where exactly do you live in Canada?

Fantastic set? C’mon… It was the opponent’s MB fault. That middle must be Mozdzonek’s sister, so lazy. There’s nothing special about that set – neither quick nor creative, simply ordinary. I watched this clip expecting some move Takeshita’s or Venturini’s style, maybe some trick like Kun Feng used to do, but no… Please!

This is not a headshot.

Of course it’s true, Champion! Didn’t you believe me? Maybe Chrison should create a history section.

With unlimited spiking and serving. ;-)

No, no gods and lions back then. It was 1957 and vball was important in Iron Curtain countries. FIVB wanted it to go big, but the sport wasn’t part of the Olympic programme. The Bulgarians organized an exhibition tournament in Sofia that was crucial to convince IOC about vball greatness. IOC representatives were mesmerized. In the next IOC meeting, that same year, they decided to include vball in the Games, starting in 1964. You may ask, “If we had an edition in 1960, why not put vball there, we had enough time and things were less complicated those years?” True, but Bulgaria needed a rest for Matey, Vlado, Aleksiev, Todorov, Zhekov… You know Bulgarian players get tired and fatigued like no one else. ;-)

Zyta, Zyta… My all-time favourite Pole (sorry, Glinka and Kubiak)… That “vball connaisseur” was a little touch of evilness that only really mean people can think of. You’re making me look like an angel. Remember all those evil jokes we made in Gdansk? Can’t wait to meet you in Sofia for F6… hahahahaha Hey, be grateful. Thanks to Bulgaria vball became an Olympic sport. They put a lot of pressure on FIVB and IOC. I believe you know that famous story. Champion, your last sentence is just perfect. ;-)

Champion, I understand your frustration with Aleksiev, he’s surely not NT material, but I should endorse Pesazi opinion on Zhekov. More than hitters, Bulgaria needs a decent setter. We already discussed about Zhekov’s limitations. Okay, I’m sure Bulgaria doesn’t have anyone better than him right now, and I must say Zhekov gives his best, but you can’t rely on a guy who struggle to keep his starter position on his club. Italy improved as some players reached maturity, Travica among them. Russia wouldn’t be the same without Grankin and Butko. Poland knows Zagumny is old and Zygadlo shouldn’t call himself a setter, but they have Fabian Drzyzga – I bet 10,000 drzyzgas that Fabian will be the NT coach’s choice for the next Olympic cycle. I have no idea if Bulgarians have a name to replace Zhekov, but I assume your federation is doing something.

Pesazi, he's a valuable player, but very immature. Spiridonov once gave an interview saying only Giba plays better than him – so humble. Nobody can deny his talent, but that behaviour…

Funny one, Zyta! I heard Cubans built him a statue in Havana. ;-)

Wiseguy, it’s not a shame, we all know Spiridonov is crazy, Russian vball is much bigger than that. Unfortunately, scenes like that are getting common in vball all over the world. When William Morgan created this sport he had in mind an activity where any kind of confrontation should be avoided. Times have changed! I’ve seen some awful brawls, like Sanchez (Cuba) slapping Shatunov (Russia) in the face, or some Dutch guys trying to punch Ron Zwerver (their mate) during an Olympic final. The Cuban girls once ended in a police station, and Karen Kemner (USA) lost her temper and grabbed a Cuban by the shirt after the opponent showed her middle finger – Kemner was stopped by both teams, otherwise she’d had punched the Cuban. Athletes are forgetting their manners…

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeFIOz0V4OE. Ramirez vs. Picci is an old rivalry.

Pesazi, he goes over the top.

Zyta, nice comparison. ;-)

@Vatreni: Acupuncture.

Basil, I don’t agree with you, I think Russia finally reached Brazil. Alekno, after a failed tenure, decided to copy some elements of the Brazilian game, found two excellent setters and made some good use of very talented hitters. Obviously our internal issues also helped the opponents. I hope to see Brazil vs. Russia in the final match in London. I really like this Russian team. If Bernardinho could ignore his differences with Ricardo and call him (I know it’s not easy), I’d say the gold is ours, but with the inconstant duo Bruno-Marlon I bet on Russia. Bruno was the responsible for the loss in the 2011 WL final, he made several stupid mistakes and is not reliable. Another important aspect is the atmosphere – I think it’s great in the Russian group, while things are not so well among Brazilians (Bernardinho and Sergio quarrel was just a sample). Bernardinho wanted to leave in 2010, but the president of Brazilian federation made him stay till London Games. I believe he’s counting every single minute to stay with his women’s team, a project he has been involved with since 1997.

Italian league is the BEST in the world by far. Period. A1 is freaking awesome, thanks to that league vball started to grow in western countries. Brazilian and Russian leagues are very good, both at same level, but there’s nothing like A1. Polish league? I prefer the Turkish. If weren’t for the financial crisis, the Greek league would be more interesting and competitive than the Polaco competition. Obviously the Polish league can’t be that good, they don’t have enough money to attract the main players. Last year, the most well paid Polaco player was Zagumny, but he made only 300,000 euros – I know this is a lot for Polish standards. Teams from Italy, Russia and Brazil pay much more to a lot of players. It’s impossible to raise the level without money. I saw lots of matches and the Polish teams make too many silly mistakes, have poor defense, and the game variation seems a challenge. Basil, teams in Brazil don’t give importance to club competitions outside the country. When Sesi went to Dubai, they were focusing on the competitions here, for several reasons. An important aspect is that teams here are more balanced – Sesi won Superliga last year, but was just eliminated in quarterfinals this season. In other leagues you see just two or three squads fighting for the title. Just as an example that we give little or no importance to international club competitions, on the women’s world championships Unilever would represent Brazil, but they didn’t have any interest, so the runner-up, Sollys/Osasco, was invited, but sent only subs to Dubai, still grabbing a bronze medal. I gave some links or key words to google and watch Superliga to a few girls here, I can send those to you guys, too. There’s an Internet channel called “Esporte Interativo”, but I think they only stream to South America – Zyta tried it once and couldn’t watch it in UK. Some links take you to TV broadcast, but as the TV channels discover, they take those links down – they do it constantly. :-( Vatreni, that team where Grbic played, coached by Ricardo Navajas, one of the best coaches I have ever seen, was fantastic. The name of that team was Suzano (not Susan) – it’s the name of a city. Grbic and Navajas were a great duo. They were fighting all the time, but became great friends. Immediately after winning the gold in Sydney, Vlad Grbic gave an interview in Portuguese (he speaks so well) thanking Navajas for everything. Their discussions during timeouts were simply hilarious.

@Champion: Perhaps the end of the road for him. @Zyta: Change it! Don't forget to change the flag. ;-)