Good Teammates

Our volleyball team has now accumulated six losses in six games, only one of which was even close. In reviewing the carnage I realize that our technique is bad, our motives are dubious, but the one, overriding factor in our ineptitude is a collective lack of teamwork.

Having played on several other sports teams in the past (some volleyball, some not) I've noticed that the most talented team does not always win, and contrary to what all the movies will tell you, it isn't always the team that "works the hardest" or "wants it the most". The teams that win are the teams that play well together.

At first, I wondered why a team comprised of six old farts could beat the pants off of a young, athletic team. They didn't move well, couldn't cover much ground; some had trouble just bending over. Physically, there was no contest. Soon enough I came to realize the old people didn't need to cover much ground. Where we, the young guns, were making spectacular plays to get the ball all over the court, they were keeping it simple. Each of them knew where the others could be expected to hit it. They were ready when it came their way. They talked to each other, encouraged each other. They congratulated each other on a job well done. They were more than a good team. They were good teammates.

The funny thing is, I've come across several teams that played this way. I've been on a few of them myself. As teammates we didn't always like each other, but we respected each other's abilities, we trusted each other. We knew each other. We started out calling for the ball on every chance, a good habit that kept us from running over each other, or worse, letting the ball drop untouched. Eventually, it became unnecessary, blindfolded, we could point out where anyone was.

I'm afraid this team will never play like that. I'm afraid we'll never get it. We don't call for the ball. We don't back each other up. We don't pass or set. We reach in front of our own teammates to hit it. We're afraid we'll make mistakes. When we do make mistakes, we feel the need to apologize. If we're going to win, we need to get away from these destructive habits. We just need to play together, as a unit. We need to be good teammates.

Cleaning

Well, my girlfriend is doing some "cleaning", and it got me thinking. Cleaning around here is a never-ending process. It seems that her idea of tidy doesn't mesh with mine.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

My girlfriend's idea of cleaning is a little different. Although her "cleaning" incorporates my "cleaning", she takes it to another level. Cleaning, for her, also entails moving things from places they don't belong. For her, cleaning is organization and reorganization. Very little regard is given to where things should be, rather her entire focus is on where they should not be.

This, perhaps, doesn't seem like a bad idea at first. However, one must ask, "How did these out-of-place things get out of place to begin with?"

When she gets something new she puts it someplace that isn't full. Often there is no objective reason to put it where she puts it at all. The first, and only reason to put things where she puts them is: nothing else was there already. Not only does this make it impossible for me to find things later, at times, she is unable to find them either.

The fact is, many things are out-of-place because no thought has been given to where they should be. In fact, an item is often assigned its "place of belonging" simply by not being moved from that place for a period of time. Similarly, things that are frequently move or used may never acquire a place to call their own.

A Place for Everything

My idea of cleaning is removing dirt, dust, and other transient matter from the surface of a fixed surface. For me there is a definite, permanent underlying organization which requires periodic maintenance.

When I get something new I try to find a place where it belongs. As a rule I try to keep like things together. I try to keep things with sympathetic purposes together. A stapler, for instance, can reasonably be expected to belong on a desk, the TV remote goes on the side table next to the couch where we watch TV, and pasta sauce goes next to pasta.

Survey 2008 Results

A List Apart has announced results for Survey 2008 , and belatedly I've gotten around to taking a look. I found that although the "typical" survey respondent didn't look anything like me, certain people I know bear a strong resemblance to him.

My Very Own Sports Analogy

And so the New Year rushes in, a bitter defeat for those anxious, reactionary types, and a saccharine reprieve for the happy procrastinator. With it comes a new opportunity to blog, and blog often. Well, maybe not often, but I've been tagged for "25 7 Things...", first by @dorisday129, and later @stuntbox, so I will, at least, blog now. It occurs to me that this is a post on social evolution begging to be written, but first thing's first.

How the Game is Played

• Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post, leaving their names and links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged.

Seven Points Later

1. I'm not "deeply religious" or "intensely spiritual", but I do firmly believe in God, and I pray every night before I go to sleep.
2. Sometimes I go to the movies alone. I didn't want any witnesses when I saw Glitter. There weren't any.
3. I hated football for the first 14 years of my life, and I chose to follow the Jets because they wear green.
4. I have spent at least an entire week at various points in my life subsisting on nothing but apple pie; peanut butter and jelly; oatmeal cream cookies; marshmallows.
5. I don't go to the doctor because I don't feel sick, and if there's something wrong, I don't want to know.
6. I was once sucker-punched by a girl in junior high. Before I could decide how to retaliate, she was dragged away by intervening school officials. I got on the bus and went home.
7. I used to love scrambled eggs with ketchup until one morning I had them for breakfast and the very smell made me nauseous. I realize now that eggs are only intended to be eaten in cakes.

Evening the Score

Blog, don't blog. Noodle, don't noodle; it's up to you. If your name appears below, you are formally invited to write a post, or a note, if you're so inclined.

• Melanie
• Jodi
• Joe
• Amber
• Chris
• Mike
• Laura

Season's Greetings

They are broken now. All broken by the promise of something that never was, but could only be through our own making. The tired greetings that we offered too early and too often fail us now. Instead, they sit on lips; grudging, old men unwilling to rise, rightfully retaining whatever dignity is left in dusty, unpopular expressions.

Making It Count

In 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. He dreamed that his children would "one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." He envisioned not only freedom and equality and racial tolerance, but of racial harmony as well. He fought to the last of his 39 years of life to see that dream come true.

In 1776 the founders of our nation had a dream. They anticipated a government "instituted among Men, deriving ... just powers from the consent of the governed". The fought an impossible war against the most powerful of adversaries in defense of their dream.

Now, 232 years after our forefathers declared us to be free, and 45 years after Dr. King pronounced his dream, people are hailing the election of Senator Barack Obama as the realization of that dream. There are many who believe that as President, Barack Obama will unify a nation of people who have vigorously celebrated their differences for so long, they may not remember how to appreciate their own similarities. There are some who believe that Barack Obama can single-handedly bring change to a government that does not always remember its root as, in the words of President Lincoln, "of the people, by the people, for the people."

An Historic Election

It was an historic election. 42 other men have held the august office of President of the United States of America, and in this sense yesterday's election is not outstanding. However, record 131 million people voted in 2008, around 64 percent of all eligible voters, and in this fact we may have something truly historic. 131 million people came together for the sole purpose of electing the next President, but whether one holds the belief in one man as the Symbol of Racial Equality or simply the conviction that "change starts at the top", the President is the wrong man for the job, as is any other single human being, be that person black or white, man or woman, young or old. Perhaps change does start from the top, but it is best effected from the foundation. We, the voters, the public, the constituents, the people are the foundation. We can change our government for the better.

Let us not look at this election as a defeat, nor next year's inauguration as a victory. Instead, let us view this changing-of-the-guard as an opportunity - an opportunity for "Government of the people, by the people, for the people."

Netflix and Linux

I'm a big fan of irony, so when I came across this story about Netflix's "Watch Now" player, I couldn't help but laugh. It seemed surprising to my that Netflix would opt for a multimedia platform that would exclude Mac users. I understand that most computer users have Windows PCs, but it is generally acknowledged that Macs are the multimedia PC of choice for just about everyone. The fact that the movie player developed by Roku for Netflix runs Linux suggests that a cross-platform player is possible, so one has to wonder why Netflix hasn't made its "Watch Now" service available to users of non-Win OSs