June 27, 2009
By Ann Killion
SAN JOSE — When U.S. volleyball team captain David
Lee heard the size of the crowd — 4,315 — at the
Event Center on Friday night, he was stunned.
"That's incredible," Lee said. "It's an awesome
turnout. I didn't expect it."
If you were looking for evidence of a post-Olympic momentum
boost for the gold-medal champions, Friday provided it. The
first of a two-night World League doubleheader at San Jose
State between China and the United States — the first
home match for the Americans since their tragedy-tinged run
in Beijing — drew a large and enthusiastic crowd.
One rooting for both teams.
"It felt like our home matches," said China's captain
Shen Qiong, whose team lost 3-0.
There were chants of "Chi-na" ringing through the
Event Center and a flurry of paper Chinese flags waving in
the stands. If you blurred your eyes and ignored the Stanford
band (which surely would have been detained at the Beijing
airport last summer), it almost felt like the 2008 Games.
That's fine by the U.S. team. Beijing was the site of the
biggest moment for American men's indoor volleyball in the
past two decades.
But shouldn't gold medalists expect to regularly be received
by large and enthusiastic crowds?
Not necessarily. For much of the past two decades U.S. volleyball
has labored in relative obscurity. The sport has been eclipsed
by its sexier sibling, beach volleyball, where the bigger
money and greater exposure resides. In addition, there are
fewer NCAA Division I men's programs, dwindling the talent
pool.
The global superpowers were other teams, like Russia and
Brazil.
But all that changed last summer in an improbable gold-medal
journey. The U.S. team's run began the day after a horrifying
and fatal attack on Coach Hugh McCutcheon's in-laws at the
Drum Tower, a popular tourist destination in Beijing. McCutcheon's
father-in-law was stabbed to death and his mother-in-law critically
wounded. Their assailant jumped to his death. McCutcheon missed
his team's first three games, all victories, to be with his
family.
The story was so dramatic and surreal that it almost eclipsed
the end result. The U.S. team won the gold medal, defeating
top-ranked Brazil. It was the Americans' first gold medal
since the 1988 team, led by icon Karch Kiraly, won a repeat
gold in Seoul.
Now the challenge is to sustain that momentum.
"We have to have continued success," the new coach,
Alan Knipe, said. "From 1984 to 1988 there was continued
success."
This is a very different version of the U.S. team. McCutcheon
has moved over to head the women's team. Knipe, the former
coach at Long Beach State, replaced him. Several players from
the Olympic run have either retired or are taking a break.
There are plenty of new, young faces, such as Evan Patak,
who played at Foothill High in Pleasanton. The team came together
in recent weeks and went 3-1 to start World League play in
Europe.
"We have a new young team that is transitioning off
great success," said Clay Stanley, the MVP in Beijing.
If Friday was any indication, the great success of last summer
has put indoor volleyball back on the radar. The San Jose
Sports Authority did a great job of connecting with the Chinese-American
community, helped in part by San Jose City Council member
Kansen Chu. There were noisemakers and cheerleaders and a
multitude of female line dancers who provided entertainment
between sets. The Stanford band was there, invited for both
entertainment value and a connection to the team (backup setter
Kevin Hansen is a Stanford graduate and retired player Gabe
Gardner, also a Stanford alum, was in the stands).
For a post-Olympic year, when sports like volleyball often
get ignored, it was an impressive, enthusiastic turnout.
"It's Year One," Stanley said. "Four years
to go."
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