It’s nice to see more boys participating in volleyball at Nationals!!!

Bill Kauffman, USA Volleyball, June 30, 2010

Photo: Courtesy of Austin Sports Commission

Austin Convention Center

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 30, 2010) – The USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championships, held July 2-9 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, will draw teams from 25 States and two countries with their own volleyball federations (Canada and Puerto Rico). Continue Reading

AAU, ESPN, Disney, Wide World of Sports, whatever you want to call this volleyball tournament, they did a great job hosting this past weekend. The tournament was also to be combine with or was the nationals for the JVA, but I didn’t notice any JVA promotional material throughout the tournament. It was a four day tournament, which I believe was at least a day too lengthy, but I’m sure Disney has to do it’s best to generate as much revenue as possible. Making this an extended tournament does a nice job with having the parents spend extra dinero. Continue Reading

After I “Liked” NPR on facebook, I thought it was a sign of old age.  I remember my parents (specifically my father jamming out to the band Chicago played over the Pioneer speakers that were so big they were also used as end tables) watching PBS on Channel 11 (pre-cable) while growing up in the suburbs of Chicago.  I was bored to tears, but my Atari was also spliced into the same television, so I had no choice but suffer, watch, and listen. Continue Reading

Courage

1. “Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.” – Tom Krause

There are no guarantees in life. Even the false security of having a house, a family and money in the bank will pass. The only constant in life is change. The sooner we can accept that, the smoother life will be.

2. “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” – Sven Goran Eriksson

We all fear failure. It’s a learned habit. It is said that the only fears we are born with are the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises, the rest is learned. There’s nothing wrong with failure. In fact, if you never fail, you will never grow. Continue Reading

Dean Smith, famed University of North Carolina basketball coach, created the concept of a cauldron.  The cauldron is a system in which a player is graded in practices and matches. Points are awarded for a player’s performances in drills and the number of times his team wins in scrimmages. Anson Dorrance, the great University of North Carolina Women’s Soccer Coach, talks about it in his book Training Soccer Champions.   Many elite USA Volleyball Coaches recommend this book and it is where volleyball grasped the idea of creating a volleyball cauldron. Continue Reading

Winthrop University does a pretty cool thing…  the university designates a common book, a book all students, faculty, and staff read.  This year’s book, Make the Impossible Possible, is a life story about Bill Strickland.  The first chapter, From the Ghetto to Harvard Business School, sums up what the book is all about, but the meat in the middle is worth the read. Continue Reading

It’s a great time to buy BP stock!  Not because I believe in the company.  Not because the company made a profit of $16.9 BILLION last year.  Not because of the charming CEO, Tony Heyward earned $6 million last year (despite profits dropping 45%).  But because I believe in the disgracefully myopic American public.  Pitifully, Americans know how to forget best. Continue Reading