To not like volleyball is understandable. To some people, it may just not be their thing. But to not respect it is another thing altogether.  To not appreciate the craft, dedication and brilliance of the better players and teams in the world is a travesty. In this article, I try to explain why I feel volleyball is the Rodney Dangerfield of the sporting world.

Basketball players and fans tend to thoroughly enjoy a good alley-oop slam dunk. The act itself, when done right, takes the breath out of people who watch it. The players grimmace and smirk as they return to the other half of the court and the opposing team tries their best to shrug it off and bring the ball in again.

The alley-oop slam dunk happens over 200 times in a 5-set volleyball match. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. There is no goal tending and the basket is 30 feet by 30 feet. In the big picture, Basketball and Volleyball are sister sports; A layup is an attack approach, a rebound is a volleyball block attempt, etc. Every muscle used to jump in basketball is the same used in volleyball, albeit volleyball players don’t wear bricks on their feet. Continue Reading