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volleyball: the quest begins
So I was hoping to find a volleyball game here in SF to join while I'm around for the weeks since I can't find a weekend one convenient in Seattle (plus am always busy). I did a websearch and found that there are are volleyball things at the Embarcadero YMCA, which is conveniently a 15-minute walk or so from work (it is, infact, next to Perry's, which is where I went with Cioj and Shantybones and Belgica for lunch a few weeks back, which reminded me that we should do that again sometime).
The thing is, their site listed 3 volleyball times -- a Tuesday night "skills workshop", a Wednesday night "int/adv open court", and a Saturday "reverse co-ed" session, where the net is women's height but men can play, they just can't spike from in front of the 10-foot line.
Well, to me, I figured the Wednesday night was probably my best bet, since I mean, I'm not a beginner (hell, I started playing volleyball in 1989. No, really), and I can't go this Saturday anyway, nor most Saturdays.
But I show up at the YMCA and sign in for a day pass, which costs $15. I didn't have a lock, so I had to put my stuff in a locker outside the locker rooms, oddly (they have a few general-use lockers there). The people were pretty nice at the desk and all, and the locker rooms are big and clean.
I go upstairs to the 3rd floor, where the gym is that people play volleyball in... but it's 6:20pm and it doesn't "start" until 6:30, and apparently not really until 7. I should have expected that but it never hurts to show up early. So a gym staffer named Ron shows me around the 3rd floor weight room to waste a few minutes. One thing that's pretty amazing is that this YMCA is basically ON THE WATERFRONT. So the view from the treadmills and other cardio machines is basically of the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island and all. It's really gorgeous out there.
Eventually the organizer, Sharon, shows up. She's a relatively small Asian lady who apparently coached (coaches?) Stanford women's volleyball. She takes one look at me and is like "...uhh...my Wednesday sessions are pretty competitive. You know your rotations? Ever play a 5-1? 6-2?" I kinda stumble through trying to define those but it's clear I've forgotten a lot of that stuff. They apparently aren't fooling around on these Wednesday ones, it's not a team game, just pickup, but they actually play formations and everything. WTF. (I'm used to just everyone doing 6-6 or whatever you want to call it when it's just front middle sets.)
She sets up the net and then says she'll work with me for a few minutes and see what she thinks. We warm up and do some tossing and bumping and setting and whatever, and she tries to get into a pepper pattern, only it's just not working, my hits at her aren't very good and she keeps hitting into the ground about 6 feet in front of me so I'm not picking them up.
So basically after about 10-15 minutes of this she says "So, I mean, you're not a total beginner, sure, and I guess I could let you play tonight, but you would be by far the weakest player on the court, and I'm not sure I trust you to know where you're supposed to be. Why don't you come to Tuesday night's session next week and use that to start getting the rust off?"
Yeah.
She said Tuesday night's classes aren't actually total beginner sessions, they work on these rotations and formations and do other drills, and then play for an hour or hour and a half, and it's a lot more laidback than the crazy Wednesdays.
So, that kind of sucked, and I didn't get to play volleyball for real. Instead, I figured, what the heck, I paid the day fee for the gym and it's got a nice view, so I spend like 30 minutes lifting weights and idly running on a treadmill while I stare out the window and think.
I guess this means I could at least go to Berkeley juggling next week with my coworker that invited me... he said they meet on Wednesdays, so I was kinda sad about that. See, there's always got to be a light in there somewhere?
I ended up walking up Nob Hill with one of my coworkers, Auston, who likes Bemani and lives near here, so we're hoping to make a trek out to somewhere to play some Bemani this weekend, yay. The only downside of the walk is that OMG MY LEGS ARE NOW TOTALLY TRULY KILLING ME OWWWWWWW.
Oh, and because I skipped dinner at work I walked along Polk St. looking for somewhere good for dinner and actually got, of all things, Japanese food, at a place called Sushi Rock. I had a tonkatsu/tempura/cali-roll dinner for like $12, which isn't bad at all, and it was tasty. Though I don't think anyone at the place was actually Japanese, which was a little odd. Shrug.
The thing is, their site listed 3 volleyball times -- a Tuesday night "skills workshop", a Wednesday night "int/adv open court", and a Saturday "reverse co-ed" session, where the net is women's height but men can play, they just can't spike from in front of the 10-foot line.
Well, to me, I figured the Wednesday night was probably my best bet, since I mean, I'm not a beginner (hell, I started playing volleyball in 1989. No, really), and I can't go this Saturday anyway, nor most Saturdays.
But I show up at the YMCA and sign in for a day pass, which costs $15. I didn't have a lock, so I had to put my stuff in a locker outside the locker rooms, oddly (they have a few general-use lockers there). The people were pretty nice at the desk and all, and the locker rooms are big and clean.
I go upstairs to the 3rd floor, where the gym is that people play volleyball in... but it's 6:20pm and it doesn't "start" until 6:30, and apparently not really until 7. I should have expected that but it never hurts to show up early. So a gym staffer named Ron shows me around the 3rd floor weight room to waste a few minutes. One thing that's pretty amazing is that this YMCA is basically ON THE WATERFRONT. So the view from the treadmills and other cardio machines is basically of the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island and all. It's really gorgeous out there.
Eventually the organizer, Sharon, shows up. She's a relatively small Asian lady who apparently coached (coaches?) Stanford women's volleyball. She takes one look at me and is like "...uhh...my Wednesday sessions are pretty competitive. You know your rotations? Ever play a 5-1? 6-2?" I kinda stumble through trying to define those but it's clear I've forgotten a lot of that stuff. They apparently aren't fooling around on these Wednesday ones, it's not a team game, just pickup, but they actually play formations and everything. WTF. (I'm used to just everyone doing 6-6 or whatever you want to call it when it's just front middle sets.)
She sets up the net and then says she'll work with me for a few minutes and see what she thinks. We warm up and do some tossing and bumping and setting and whatever, and she tries to get into a pepper pattern, only it's just not working, my hits at her aren't very good and she keeps hitting into the ground about 6 feet in front of me so I'm not picking them up.
So basically after about 10-15 minutes of this she says "So, I mean, you're not a total beginner, sure, and I guess I could let you play tonight, but you would be by far the weakest player on the court, and I'm not sure I trust you to know where you're supposed to be. Why don't you come to Tuesday night's session next week and use that to start getting the rust off?"
Yeah.
She said Tuesday night's classes aren't actually total beginner sessions, they work on these rotations and formations and do other drills, and then play for an hour or hour and a half, and it's a lot more laidback than the crazy Wednesdays.
So, that kind of sucked, and I didn't get to play volleyball for real. Instead, I figured, what the heck, I paid the day fee for the gym and it's got a nice view, so I spend like 30 minutes lifting weights and idly running on a treadmill while I stare out the window and think.
I guess this means I could at least go to Berkeley juggling next week with my coworker that invited me... he said they meet on Wednesdays, so I was kinda sad about that. See, there's always got to be a light in there somewhere?
I ended up walking up Nob Hill with one of my coworkers, Auston, who likes Bemani and lives near here, so we're hoping to make a trek out to somewhere to play some Bemani this weekend, yay. The only downside of the walk is that OMG MY LEGS ARE NOW TOTALLY TRULY KILLING ME OWWWWWWW.
Oh, and because I skipped dinner at work I walked along Polk St. looking for somewhere good for dinner and actually got, of all things, Japanese food, at a place called Sushi Rock. I had a tonkatsu/tempura/cali-roll dinner for like $12, which isn't bad at all, and it was tasty. Though I don't think anyone at the place was actually Japanese, which was a little odd. Shrug.