USA/NCAA/Men: Fight at the Outrigger weigh-in?
L. Ravi Narasimhan
Ratledge has become the new Nihipali; both in terms of going off
against the 'Bows with 40+ kills and as the new <ahem> Hawaii crowd favorite
after a pregame incident. Is the normally calm, rational (and not
just for a Bruin) Ed the new bad boy of volleyball?
Can anyone who was there comment on what actually went down? Woozie?
--- Oski
What'cha gonna do when they come for you?
---
Ravi Narasimhan
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA
http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~oski
L. Ravi Narasimhan
[ Pregame incidents ]
Sorry to hear about what happened. Are the prematch warmups under the
control of the officials or are they supposed to be self-policed?
> disingenuous at best. The Bruins were not only arrogant and
> inconsiderate (as usual), but reckless. There was no reason why they
> couldn't wait a few minutes for the UH players to finish stretching.
> They still had 30 minutes to practice their serves. However, what
> else would you expect from the Uncouth Children of Los Angeles? UCLA
> takes the prize as the most ill-mannered team in America. Is it any
> wonder they get booed consistently in Hawai`i?
Well, I doubt they care very much. The quoted UCLA philosophy is
winning above all else.
http://www.fansonly.com/schools/ucla/sports/m-volley/mtt/ucla-m-volley-scates.html
--- Oski
The Thrilla in Manoa
Woozie
<os...@planck.physics.ucla.edu> wrote:
>Ok, word out of Hawaii is that UCLA's quiet, unassuming (really)
>Ratledge has become the new Nihipali; both in terms of going off
>against the 'Bows with 40+ kills and as the new <ahem> Hawaii crowd favorite
>after a pregame incident. Is the normally calm, rational (and not
>just for a Bruin) Ed the new bad boy of volleyball?
>
>Can anyone who was there comment on what actually went down? Woozie?
It wasn't just Ratledge. It was half the UCLA team. During the
beginning of the more than 30-minute warm-up period, the Bruins
insisted on practicing serving while the Rainbows were stretching on
the court. As a result, the Bruins who were practicing their jump
serve came dangerously close to stepping on or kicking the players who
were stretching. Ratledge first told UH setter Stefan Krejci to move
and when he didn't, Ratledge served anyway and stepped on Krejci's
hand in the process. His later excuse that it was an accident was
disingenuous at best. The Bruins were not only arrogant and
inconsiderate (as usual), but reckless. There was no reason why they
couldn't wait a few minutes for the UH players to finish stretching.
They still had 30 minutes to practice their serves. However, what
else would you expect from the Uncouth Children of Los Angeles? UCLA
takes the prize as the most ill-mannered team in America. Is it any
wonder they get booed consistently in Hawai`i?
Woozie
*** Go Bows! ***
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Home of the Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine
L. Ravi Narasimhan
> >Well, I doubt they care very much. The quoted UCLA philosophy is
> >winning above all else.
[ reference supplied to the statement ]
> Now, isn't that pathetic. Al Scates' legacy will be that he produced
> great athletes, but lousy human beings. What kind of teacher does
> that make him? There's a lot more that he needs to teach and that his
> players need to learn.
Your points are well-taken. What surprises me about this whole
incident is the specific Bruin involved; Ed Ratledge. I don't know
him well, but I've interacted with him during his Long Beach State
career and occasionally see him on campus in Westwood. This is
absolutely, positively the last guy from whom I would have ever expected any
kind of unsportsmanlike behavior. I'd hate to think that he's been
co-opted.
--- Oski
Ed tu, Brute?
cruis...@webtv.net
i have ever watched.Hawaii sure had its chances to wiin even sweep but
then this is UCLA its like their destined to win, but nonetheles it was
a good game. Coming from Hawaii we enjoy good volleyball even if Hawaii
loses. But UCLA displayed disrespect for the host University of Hawaii,
it's fans and the sponser of the tournament Outrigger Hotels by
displaying arrogance on and off the court. I hope Al teaches his
athletes that winning aint everything and that when winning dont be
cocky in celebration of the win. Al Scates sets the standards in
volleyball but when it comes to manners he has a long way to go. Can't
wait til the rematch in March. I know UCLA will be ready, and I can
guarantee you Hawaii will be too. Hopefully Al student coach Fred
Robbins from Hawaii will instruct the players to respect the "aina".By
the way Al Happy anniversary. Are your players respectful enough to tell
you that. CAN'T WAIT TILL MARCH
Ken Tsuhako
the usually mellow Hawaii crowd. Al Scates may have won seventeen
national titles, but he is at the bottom for instilling good
sportsmanship among his players. I hope that Mike Wilton invites a
different MPSF team to the tournament, and limits Ucla to a single match
during their bi-annual visit. This will cut Scates golf time in the
islands, seems that he is more concerned about tee times than
sportsmanship when his teams are here.
Woozie
<os...@planck.physics.ucla.edu> wrote:
>Sorry to hear about what happened. Are the prematch warmups under the
>control of the officials or are they supposed to be self-policed?
They are self-policed. However, no team riles Hawai`i fans like UCLA.
This incident wouldn't be so reprehensible if it was just another
example of boorish behavior. It's also a matter of safety. After
all, you don't go around randomly dropping 200-pound weights in the
middle of a crowded room. Worse, Ratledge clearly KNEW that there
were risks. Otherwise, he wouldn't have told Krejci to move. If the
Bruins are so selfish or stupid to know better, then they have should
not be allowed to play at all since they pose an unreasonable hazard
to both themselves and others. I can't say that booing Ratledge was
the right thing to do, but I can say that it was justified.
It may be argued that the UH fans should not have limited their wrath
to Ratledge, but should boo the entire Bruin program. By either
encouraging or allowing such conduct without comment makes the UCLA
coaching staff, starting with Al Scates, accomplices. The players
have only four years of eligibility, but are part of the community at
large for their entire lives. If they haven't figured out by now that
disrespective guests are never welcome, then the booing will never
cease.
>Well, I doubt they care very much. The quoted UCLA philosophy is
>winning above all else.
Now, isn't that pathetic. Al Scates' legacy will be that he produced
great athletes, but lousy human beings. What kind of teacher does
that make him? There's a lot more that he needs to teach and that his
players need to learn.
Oddly enough, today I overheard a woman tell her young son that "good
manners never go out of style." You go, Mom!
BringItUSA
just invite LMU or UCSD instead. Better behaved players, a coach that would
never play golf on a road trip, and one great game too!
Good thinking...
In article <23042-38...@storefull-614.iap.bryant.webtv.net>,
KEN...@webtv.net wrote:
Tim Kelly
Bring It Promotions
www.bringitusa.com
L. Ravi Narasimhan
> Yeah, and UCLA doesn't draw much of a crowd in Hawaii either so why don't they
> just invite LMU or UCSD instead. Better behaved players, a coach that would
> never play golf on a road trip, and one great game too!
> Good thinking...
Come now TK, you can do better than that, a man with your education.
Plenty of MoPac schools that would draw well and put on a good match;
Beach, Pepp, $atanfjord, BYU, USC... Besides, UH could draw a crowd to a
scrimmage, American style marketing or no.
No angels in that bunch, necessarily, but certainly less pungent
than your Bruins.
--- Oski
Odor eaters
lurker@home
Woozie wrote in message <3893a4a...@news.aloha.net>...
>On Sat, 29 Jan 2000 13:57:59 -0800, "L. Ravi Narasimhan"
><os...@planck.physics.ucla.edu> wrote:
>
>>Ok, word out of Hawaii is that UCLA's quiet, unassuming (really)
>>Ratledge has become the new Nihipali; both in terms of going off
>>against the 'Bows with 40+ kills and as the new <ahem> Hawaii crowd
favorite
>>after a pregame incident. Is the normally calm, rational (and not
>>just for a Bruin) Ed the new bad boy of volleyball?
>>
>>Can anyone who was there comment on what actually went down? Woozie?
>It wasn't just Ratledge. It was half the UCLA team. During the
>beginning of the more than 30-minute warm-up period, the Bruins
>insisted on practicing serving while the Rainbows were stretching on
>the court. As a result, the Bruins who were practicing their jump
>serve came dangerously close to stepping on or kicking the players who
>were stretching. Ratledge first told UH setter Stefan Krejci to move
>and when he didn't, Ratledge served anyway and stepped on Krejci's
>hand in the process. His later excuse that it was an accident was
>disingenuous at best. The Bruins were not only arrogant and
>inconsiderate (as usual), but reckless. There was no reason why they
>couldn't wait a few minutes for the UH players to finish stretching.
>They still had 30 minutes to practice their serves. However, what
>else would you expect from the Uncouth Children of Los Angeles? UCLA
>takes the prize as the most ill-mannered team in America. Is it any
>wonder they get booed consistently in Hawai`i?
>*** Go Bows! ***
>University of Hawai`i at Manoa
>Home of the Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine
No worries Ravi, he's still wearing a white hat, although he'll have to
polish that red stain off one of his silver spurs....
Woozie's description is pretty close, but there are some things he left out.
I was sitting in the stands after the Penn State/IPFW match, and saw the
whole thing develop. Here's what actually happened:
It was before the start of the actual warmup, and several UH players were
doing some stretching on the left side of the court. Ratledge was limbering
up his jump serve on the far right side (same side of the net), while two or
three UCLA players (Thatcher, Komer and one other guy) were doing a little
hitting from the other side, just working the angle away from the UH players
to get loose. Krejci must have felt a sudden surge of that Aloha Spirit,
because he left the group of UH playrers, crossed the court and sat down at
the extreme corner, 10-15 feet from the nearest UH player, and exactly in
the way of Ratledge's approach and of the balls that the UCLA players were
hitting. He then started stretching, or pretending to stretch, and refused
to move when the hitters asked him to. They continued to hit, but you could
see they were affected by his presence, and taking something off the ball.
Each time Ratledge would try to serve, Krejci would lean back and drop his
arm back behind himself, clearly trying to interfere. After completely
balking a serve, Ratledge talked to him, obviously asking him to adjust his
position a little, and even went to a spot a few feet a way, gestured,
talked, even knelt down and patted the floor -- all very polite, as you
would expect Ratledge to be. Krejci said something with a sneer on his face
and jerked his head to the side. Ratledge gave a sort of open-armed shrug,
shaking his head a little but still talking, and went back to his starting
spot. Krejci pointedly ignored him. As Ratledge started his toss, Krejci
leaned back again and dropped his arm back, as before. This time, Ratledge
completed the serve, and landed with the toe of his left foot on Krejci's
hand. He quickly dropped his right foot, looking like he was trying to get
his weight off the left. The rest is history.
I didn't see anyone else come close to "stepping on" or "kicking" anybody.
Krejci has been played as an innocent victim here, but he was no such thing.
He went out of his way to play a pissy little head game on the UCLA players,
and in so doing he caused the incident. I guess he had the right to leave
the group of UH players and move to that critical spot if he wanted to, but
it was blatantly apparent that he was doing it in order to interfere with
them. Woozie's words describe it best: Arrogant, inconsiderate and reckless.
In his arrogant, inconsiderate recklessness, Krejci ran into somebody who
was not in a mood to back down. There was an ill-mannered team down on the
court, but it wasn't UCLA. There was at least one "uncouth child" down
there, but he wasn't wearing blue.
I'll probably run into Ratledge one of these days, but I think I won't even
ask him whether it was intentional. Frankly, I hope it was. Ratledge is too
polite, and I have a feeling he's been run-over a lot because of it. He
certainly was over at Long Beach. I hope he has decided to draw the line.
Rudeness gets rudeness, and Krejci earned it in spades. That kind of
passive-aggressive crapmanship has no place on a volleyball court, and
certainly not at a high-class tournament in a place that preens itself about
its hospitality.
art...@my-deja.com
I smell a Rat-ledge Lurker-ing behind that post, or at least
another "Bruin" to show just how much more arrogant they really can
get. I love it!
Artemas
Go Bows!
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Ravi Narasimhan
[ Say it ain't so! ]
>No worries Ravi, he's still wearing a white hat, although he'll have to
>polish that red stain off one of his silver spurs....
[ Detailed explanation ]
That certainly sounds more like the Ed R. I've seen over the last three
years. _If_ that is the way it happened, my earlier comments were premature
and way out of line. Absent a videotape, there is no way to know so I'm
just going to leave it at that.
>I'll probably run into Ratledge one of these days, but I think I won't even
>ask him whether it was intentional. Frankly, I hope it was. Ratledge is too
>polite, and I have a feeling he's been run-over a lot because of it. He
>certainly was over at Long Beach.
Dunno about that.
--- Oski
Rainforest crunch
--
Ravi Narasimhan
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA
http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~oski
cruis...@webtv.net
pua...@my-deja.com
I'm a fanatical Hawaii fan and I was at the game
and yeah, I booed Ratledge because it's tradition
to find some UCLA player to boo at. Our favorite
target of the past, Nihipali, loved it, fed off
it and we (the fans) knew it. Every time he
played at the Stanley, he owned us. It was
absolute fun booing him and then have him look at
us like "ha ha" after a thundering kill. Oh the
joy of a good love-hate relationship!
Ratledge was loads of fun to boo too because we
knew he could handle it. In fact, the guy was
thriving and good for him. It made the match
even more exciting. Besides, if it wasn't him,
it would have been someone else.
As far as the pre-match incident, if Ratledge had
asked Krejci to move then it may have been the
second time Krejci would have moved so he was
probably already annoyed. It really doesn't
matter because UCLA always does rude things.
It's sort of expected. This UH team with so many
newcomers didn't realize that it is part of
UCLA's gamesmanship. They need to learn how to
not let it get to them.
Any way, there's another view point of someone
who was there to add to the mix. And by the way,
it was a great match; well worth the nine f*cking
dollars for upper level seats. (Hey, UH, how
about a price break! The price of a UH
volleyball game...now there's a scandal!)
In article <3893a4a...@news.aloha.net>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.