January 30, 2004

Rol would be so proud of me...
Last night I played with the big guys.
My company has two teams in the Harrison Vball league: the A-team belongs to the expert league and the B-team belongs to the beginners league. If you know me, then you don't have to take a sec to figure out what team I belong to. But for those of you who don't know me, well I belong to the B-team and I'm probably one of the worst players in that league.

But last night, out of desperation, our captain asked if I can play both games. I thought it was a joke. She was just being funny. But she sent me a trace of emails between the A-team members and as it turns out they were short one woman and I was available so.....

Let me tell you. I was scared as shit. My games are usually at 7 PM and the A-team's games are usually at 6. Mon (also a B-team member but is actually very good) and I usually show up for the 6 PM game just to watch and cheer them on(and harass the opponent - oh yes, we've been glared at many a times because we're such hecklers!). I've seen how our A-team play. They are good and they are mean. So you can imagine how scared I was being asked to play with them. I'm afraid that if I make any mistake at all that they will all pounce on me like they pounce on the friggin ball. Or bounce me off the wall like they bounce the ball off the wall when they miss a shot. I was beyond terrified.

But I played it off.

So I went there, arrived quarter to 6 to get some warm up time. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. I asked for pointers from my buddy Todd (he's awesome at vball) and he was very helpful by telling me things like 'to help you remember not to do THAT, just think that it makes you look like you're jerking off'. Thanks Todd. Anyway, I had a poker face on the whole night. Everytime the ball was coming my way I had this urge to run away to avoid the embarassment of missing it, or hitting it the wrong way, or hitting myself with it - which I've done oh so many times.

The first set was very frustrating. I think the opposing team saw fear oozing from me because they kept giving me the ball. I think we were 8-3 at one point, us on the bottom. I had a few good hits and a few bad hits. Then it was time for me to serve. And I couldn't believe it. I was actually awesome. By the end of my serves we didn't only catch up but we were 12-8, us on top!!! Of course we won that set as well as the next, with me actually contributing to winning both sets.

After that game, I sat next to Todd who was watching from the sidelines (he didn't play) and said 'I did not have fun out there' and told him the whole truth about how terrified I was playing that game etc... He looked at me and said 'you're kidding? You were awesome tonight'. And that meant a lot coming from him coz I know he's good and he's one of those guys who tells me what he really thinks. Then the rest of the team came over telling me how well I played.

Only then was I able to smile and gloat.
Even though I played horribly on the second game. But let's not talk about that one.

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