Emotions spike on the court

Former Los Angeles Dodger Glenn Burke is credited with creating

the high five in the mid-1970s. The high five is an elevated version

of the hand slap exchanged by athletes to communicate celebration,

motivation, even consolation, for as long as I’ve witnessed

competition.

It can be argued that volleyball players were exchanging elevated

hand contact, most typically with both palms, long before the gesture

was seen on the baseball diamond.

Regardless, volleyball, with a stoppage of play after every rally,

is, arguably, the sport in which joy of competition can be best

displayed. This came to mind watching the Newport Harbor girls team

compete through the CIF Southern Section and CIF State playoffs the

last couple weeks.

In the Sailors’ season-ending loss to visiting Liberty of

Bakersfield in the Southern California Division II regional final

Dec. 3, the emotional gamut was on consistent display from players on

both teams.

The presence of a near-capacity crowd, including hundreds who made

the drive from Bakersfield, and the high stakes of the meeting

between section champions, seemed to amplify the emotion surrounding

every point.

Freed from the subjective stakes that drove most spectators to

either cheer or slump after every point, it was hard for me to watch

players converge into a leaping huddle of teammates after a

successful play, as their opponents tried to rally themselves after

the opposite result, without smiling.

From the first point to the last, a four-game, two-hour roller

coaster ride, emotion flowed from players, coaches and fans in

seemingly ever increasing outbursts.

Tears erupted from players on both teams after Liberty, the

deserving victor, clinched a trip to the state title match it won

four days later at Cypress College.

The match was clearly everything to those athletes and quite

something to those lucky enough to have seen it firsthand.

*

The CIF Southern Section enrollment-based divisions for boys and

girls basketball have been set. Newport Harbor’s boys and girls teams

will compete in Division II-AA, while the boys and girls teams from

Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and Estancia will compete in Division

III-A.

The boys and girls teams from Sage Hill, in somewhat of a

surprise, will compete in Division IV-A.

First-year Sage Hill boys coach Steve Keith qualified his

expectations of the Lightning this season by stating he was unsure

whether or not he’d ever seen a Division V game. He may not see one

this season, either.

*

After weeks or practice and months of offseason preparation, the

excitement of the season opener can be overwhelming for some prep

basketball players.

One Newport-Mesa player, who shall remain nameless, exhibited this

point in a humorous way. Told by the coach to substitute into a

contest, the player stood quickly and, while thinking he was removing

his warmup, peeled his game jersey over his head, leaving only a

white undershirt. Spectators, seeing this take place, quickly alerted

the player, who, grinning sheepishly, slipped the jersey back over

his head before reporting to the scorer’s table.

*

Is it just me or is Brian Song, a University High junior recently

named second-team All-Pacific Coast League in boys water polo,

playing the wrong fall sport?