By gregor on Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:08:50 GMT

The AFP has released a very cool Volleyball animation with detailed explanations about rules, tactics, number of players, fouls…

 

By gregor on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:36:53 GMT

You take stats of all your games, all your players, all your opponents. Good for you ! But really, who cares ?  That is, unless you do something useful with all that data, just collecting it won’t do you (or your team) any good.  I’ve seen too many a coach indulging in this long and painful process of taking note of each pass, each set, spike, block of their players just to find out that all this data stays hidden at the back of their drawer and never gets analyzed, much less divulged to the team.

I’ve always seen that as a CYA (Cover Your Ass) strategy. We’re in sports, we take stats. That’s what we do. That’s part of the game. 

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in stats. I believe in analysis. But as a mean to an end. Sometimes showing a player a simple number of their real effectiveness can go a long way in the perception they have of themselves. “I know you think you’re doing good but take a look at your stats: you have an average of 68% of perfect passing. I think you can do a lot better, don’t you agree ? So let’s work on that…” And there you go.

Meaningful info about your opponents can come in the simplest form: “Number 7 hits diagonal 80% of the time when she’s in position 4, and hits line 90% of the time when in position 2.”

Now replace that with: “Number 7 hits most of the time diagonal when in 4 and line when in 2.”

Admittedly not as precise as the first one but does it make such a difference ? If you’re coaching a national team in the Olympics, and your players are advanced enough to make use of that information, it probably will. Because 8 times out of 10 is different from 9 times out of 10, and this single point could cost you a medal.

But for most coaches out there, and (again) for most players, a simple trend expressed in understandable English (or insert_your_language_here) is usually enough. “Look at the setter, every time she lowers her elbows, she sets in the middle.” Your middle blocker doesn’t need to know that it is actually only 94.37 % of the time. Their job is to make a choice (to commit in the middle or to go to the wing) in a very short time. By recognizing this pattern and telling them to commit in the middle every time they see it, you take out of their way a big chunk of the uncertainty that makes it so difficult to block the middle hitter . And if they are right only 95% of the time, well that’s a pretty impressive return on investment.

Taking stats, and analyzing it is a time consuming process. So unless you have enough time and knowledge yourself (or have a committed assistant to help you) to collect that data, to transform that raw data into meaningful information, and then to deliver that information...

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By gregor on Tue, 27 May 2008 12:15:32 GMT

I used to play Volleyball, but now I'm a geek. And most of my friends and family aren't as savvy as I am when it comes to Internet or computers, so I often find myself talking about something I think everybody knows about, just to find out that it ain't true. Especially when it comes to software and online services.

So I decided to share this (old) news with you too. You can get 5 Go of free online storage ! Actually you could get more than that if you wanted to... but first thing first.



What is online storage ? Think of online storage as an additional hard drive located in the cloud, that you access through your Internet browser. It is perfect for backup, sharing your files with others or extending your personal storage capacity.

 

Why should I care ? Well online storage has a lot of advantages:

since it is "in the cloud", it is accessible from anywhere (Home, office, School, hotel...). You don't need to carry your USB stick with you anywhere you go, your data is always accessible. Your data is secured by online storage services providers : backed-up, stored on redundant, highly available array of disks. Your data is somewhere else, so if anything should happen to your computer (stolen, broken, infected...), your data is safe. The storage space is extensible to virtually infinite capacity. Most online storage services providers offer a free plan, or very competitive prices. There is really no good reason NOT to use it. I personally use two of them: Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) and Windows Live SkyDrive.

S3 is a professional solution aimed at businesses and is more scalable, powerful and difficult to use than the customer focused ones. There is no free plan but they charge 0.15 USD per Go plus bandwidth so it makes it  a very cheap and reliable solution for businesses, from startups to Fortune 100.

Windows Live SkyDrive is aimed at the average Internet user, comes with as much as 5Go of storage (1Go = 1000 Mo = 1 000 000 Ko) and is totally free. While 5 Go are enough for most people, you should check other solutions, should you need more storage power.

What I like about SkyDrive is its simplicity and effectiveness. You decide who can access the file you want to upload (Only you, your friends, or everybody) and voila! 









...

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By gregor on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:06:44 GMT

The Independent comments on the latest events around the Olympic flame and goes back to the roots of this tradition.

By Andy McSmith Tuesday, 8 April 2008

There is a two-word answer to those who think the Olympic torch is a symbol of harmony between nations that should be kept apart from politics – Adolf Hitler.

The ceremony played out on the streets of Paris yesterday did not originate in ancient Greece, nor even in the 19th century, when the Olympic movement was revived. The entire ritual, with its pagan overtones, was devised by a German named Dr Carl Diem, who ran the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Although he was not a Nazi, and was appointed to run the Olympics before the Nazis came to power, Diem adapted very quickly to the new regime, and ended the war as a fanatical military commander exhorting teenage Germans to die like Spartans rather than accept defeat. Thousands did, but not Diem, who lived to be 80.

He sold to Josef Goebbels – in charge of media coverage of the Games – the idea that 3,422 young Aryan runners should carry burning torches along the 3,422km route from the Temple of Hera on Mount Olympus to the stadium in Berlin.

It was his idea that the flame should be lit under the supervision of a High Priestess, using mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays, and passed from torch to torch along the way, so that when it arrived in the Berlin stadium it would have a quasi-sacred purity.

The concept could hardly fail to appeal to the Nazis, who loved pagan mythology, and saw ancient Greece as an Aryan forerunner of the Third Reich. The ancient Greeks believed that fire was of divine origin, and kept perpetual flames burning in their temples.

In Olympia, where the ancient games were held, the flame burnt permanently on the altar of the goddess Hestia. In Athens, athletes used to run relay races carrying burning torches, in honour of certain gods.

But the ancient Games were proclaimed by messengers wearing olive crowns, a symbol of the sacred truce which guaranteed that athletes could travel to and from Olympus safely. There were no torch relays associated with the ancient Olympics until Hitler.

 

Continue at source - The Independent



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By gregor on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:10:44 GMT

I've stumbled upon Reid's personal site and I thought I would share it with you. Reid is a member of the US Olympic team and currently plays in the Russian league for Novosibirsk. Reid's site is great for an insight on what it's like to be a professional Volleyball player. Check some of the videos where he talks about Italy to see what I mean.

At only 30, Reid already has an impressive record as a Globetrotter. Quite logical since there is no men's professional championship in the US (yet !?), American players have to go abroad to make a living. But it looks like this is a trend amongst professional players lately. Even when living in a country that has a strong (and wealthy) championship, lots of players decide to hit the road and sign contracts in a foreign country. Some might say that greed is the reason, but I don't think it is the only one. Although one wants to consider a 50 % rise in salary, not everyone can make it to the Russian league. And still, year after year you see more players taking a shot at playing abroad. My guess is that it is not always driven by the perspective of higher wages.

What do you think ?

 Reid Priddy - Professional Volleyball Player & Olympian

By gregor on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:38:14 GMT

A few months ago I got a call from a former team mate. I hadn't spoken to the guy in more than 12 years. Out of the blue, without even introducing himself first, he started to sing "the bare necessities" (see embedded video below).

Nobody had called me Baloo since I last saw him so it was pretty easy to figure out who this was. And although I'm glad this nickname didn't follow me ever after, at that very moment, while holding the phone, I must admit it felt pretty good.