Day 10: Honesty is the Best Policy

I'm really enjoying sharing my stories with you guys because I believe it's the result of the multiple texts I've been receiving which detail the good deeds of my friends :) Glad you guys have been up to some good.

This weekend I was in Anaheim (near LA) for a 3 day volleyball tournament. Volleyball games get pretty intense- the refs always have to be on their toes or they'll be called out within seconds. Gyms are usually packed for these tournaments with players, coaches, parents, grandma, grandpa, aunt, cousin, boyfriend..... etc. Well when it comes to reffing calls- they all have their own agenda. I have never witnessed a game where there wasn't at least one controversy over a call. (Basic Volleyball Rules- Just in case you're interested)

So one of the days, we had an absolutely ridiculous ref. He wasn't calling touches off the block which consequently was destroying us point-wise. Just as we started to forget how horrible a ref he was, he'd make a horrible call and remind us. Frustrating? I think so.

Well unfortunately, our ref didn't get any better and we really had no benefits from the experience but it reminded me of something extremely similar that happened AT Harker!

I wasn't able to attend as many boys' volleyball games as I felt I should have last year, but I believe this story took place during our own Harker boys volleyball tournament in the Blackford gym. Harker was playing Bellarmine in a pretty intense (from what I heard) game. Volleyball, during tournaments, is usually best out of 3 games- First 2 games are scored to 25 and the last game; to 15. You must win by 2 so sometimes these numbers are higher than the standard (I've seen games go to 30..) But anyways after losing the first game, Harker was pushing hard during the second game in hopes to take the match to 3. A call was made during the final points of the game in Bellarmine's favor. But just as soon as the Harker boys' faces dropped because of the loss, they also gained hope.

A blocker from Bellarmine made his way to the ref to admit a touch on the ball- ultimately handing over the point back to Harker. Now, Bellarmine won in the end anyways, but what he did is not common in competitive sports. Dan Molin loved this story so I'm sure if you want better details from someone who was right in the action, feel free to shoot him an email.

So in volleyball, they always say 'offense wins games- defense wins championships.'
Life obviously doesn't revolve around volleyball, but it is a game- you can't cheat life.