But I learned an answer to one question. How do you rebound from giving a winless team their first win of the season at your house? Simple. You give an undefeated team their first defeat of the season at your house.
With that, here's a pop quiz to put it all in perspective.
You're Kim Sowder. The night before the game with Florida, you make a decision regarding who you want to start in the circle. Bridgette Pagano was money in the first game against St. John's, but Brooke Turner couldn't get any help from the rest of your lineup in the second game. What do you do?
A. Start Bridgette in hopes that she can get it done against the high-flying Gators.
B. Start Turner, but let the players have fun, because you expect the Gators to bring out the mercy rule.
C. Start Turner, and keep in mind of her ability to rebound, as well as her ability to win big games (i.e. San Diego, Hawaii).
If you chose C, that's what the real Kim Sowder did. This was the first time I saw a match go to the ISF tiebreaker rule. ISF is the International Softball Federation, and the rule dictates that to start the 10th inning, a runner will be on second. Turner was fantastic, striking out 16, and in the tiebreaker inning, they got the winning run home, and then-undefeated, #5-ranked Florida, fell to Long Beach State, 2-1.
That's TWO sports our women have the upper hand on against UF. And that's the first time I flung my shirt into the air at that complex. This is going to bring monster confidence as they head to Vegas for a tourney there this weekend. And in that game, my Chipotle free burrito coupon regenerated. Actually, I won a new won after winning my first scavenger hunt at the Softball Complex. Mystery solved.
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I went over and said hello to some of the new guys on the Long Beach City College men's volleyball team. I like #6 on the squad, Casey Bennett from Redondo Beach. He has a very good arm, and nice power to boot. Interesting thing about the gym the Viking play in (which has been renovated with new bleachers and a new surface, to go with repainted walls (the banners have been relocated, too, so that you know why the men have historically performed better than the women; obviously it's the reverse, if not same success on both sides, at Long Beach State). And the roof is so close, that balls tend to hit onto the roof, and when you are trying to set and spike, you mess up because the digs are too high. It's a bit crazier than the Walter Pyramid, because some of the more impossible digs are possible here. It's a smaller facility, and the court looks smaller. You get to do a bit more, given the lack of space. At the Pyramid, you can see where the ball is going. You would have to set like Hercules to make it touch the roof there.
There are some other good players there on this year's edition, including: Chuck Chamberlain, Antwain Aguillard, Dane Mulligan, Joe Strotman, Casey Landel, Bojan Vucicevic, Tyler Jenkins, Justin Flake, Brandon Anaya, Dan Saldana, and Tyler Mullen.
We ended up sweeping Orange Coast in three.
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On the bus back home, I found out that I was the only passenger aboard. No one else got on, no one else got off. It's like I was riding an taxi disguised as a bus. That probably is the first time I've gone through that on Long Beach Transit.
Thus, it's been a funny day. But then again, my mood is where I want to be when tomorrow comes.
