Trip Wrapup

The trip lasted one more day than we thought.  We missed our United connection in Chicago, and most of us stayed at a Chicago Airport Hotel.  We arrived on time at O’Hare, but spent ninety minutes in busses on the tarmac waiting for haz-mat teams to analyze a powdery substance found in a bathroom Kleenex box.  A flight attendant had sniffed the substance and reported feeling sick.

 The substance turned out to be benign.  Most of us returned to Lincoln Sunday morning, arriving at 9:30 a.m. So the first significant hic-cup on the entire journey was caused by a Kleenex box.

Saturday morning had started with a team meeting.  Players and coaches discussed the trip, the past, and this coming season at length.  At least, that’s what I suspect they discussed.  The contents of that meeting are known only by them.

Then a luncheon at the Hyatt, 54 stories above Shanghai.  The visiting smog did little to detract from the view.  Fifteen years ago that entire area east of the river was ag-land (a little local lingo for you).  Now it is home to dozens of skyscrapers and boulevards?even a sizable park and golf course.  It’s been an eventful fifteen years in Shanghai.

Then to the airport we took the Shanghai Maglev Train: the world’s fastest.  We approached speeds of 275 mph.  I could feel a few G-forces.  It would take some time for one’s stomach to become fully comfortable with these land speeds daily, but Magnetic Levitation Trains are the future. China is building another from Beijing to Shanghai, turning a twelve-hour overnight ride into a two hour morning sprint.  We could take the Maglev from Lincoln to Omaha in 30 minutes, including stops in Waverly, Ashland, Gretna, and Millard.  Lincoln to Chicago in three hours, including stops.  The implications are endless. 

The Q and her Q balls will be key in 2006.  Dani Mancuso, one of three seniors, drove down many a cue ball during Nebraska’s Asia matches (Q’s kills are called Q Balls, often landing in corner pockets.).  She plays with joy and may have one of the best Husker post-kill dances ever.  She’s right there with the Jen Saleaumua Samoan gig.

Dad Mike is a mortgage banker and loan officer, while Mom Billie helps deliver babies as a surgical scrub technician at Omaha’s Bergen Mercy Hospital.  Dani is the third of five and has about three hundred and twenty cousins.  Omaha finished the Qwest Center just in time to handle all the Mancuso relatives.

Dani won a volleyball title her freshman year at Omaha Gross, a team led by her older sister.  She was also a high jump and track star.  Dani’s scheduled to graduate right on time this May in communications.  Following Husker stardom, she is considering many possible careers, including the Foreign Service, tour leader for Outward Bound or the National Outdoor Leadership School, and Beach Volleyball.  She, Jen, and Christina Houghtelling are all bidding to become the first Huskers ever to play pro Beach Volleyball.

“I’ll do what it takes to get on the floor this year -- help at middle, whatever.  I know I can contribute, and that’s all I want to do.  Whatever the coaches need from me, I’ll do.  Starting part of freshman year and coming off the bench to help beat Notre Dame have been highlights, but I know as a team we’ll create many more this fall.”

The Q and Q balls will be key.

Other keys: finding one more great, Saleaumua-like passer, team health, and the one-setter or two-setter decision the coaches will agonize over all summer.

Trip challenges: Amanda Gates’ and Sarah Pavan’s ankle sprains.  Amanda played two days later, while Sarah is already walking around nicely.  Kleenex boxes.

Trip pluses: see previous blog entries.

Many thanks to the Match Club for your incomparable support of the great cause that is Nebraska Volleyball.  Thanks to Steve Wang, former UNL professor and now election overseer across the globe, for his handling of all China logistics-- no easy task.  This trip went smoothly.  Eliminate sniffing-inclined flight attendants and this trip went off without a hitch.  Thanks to Ron Hruska, the team’s bio-mechanical consultant.  His job is to keep the team healthy and maximize everyone’s range of motion.  Ron was easily the lowest-maintanence and most popular member of the travel party.  Thanks to Jolene, the Big 12’s tallest and best trainer.  Thanks to Jesse, Husker Vision’s latest rising star.  Thanks to Ben Boldt, the karaoke king.  Ask to hear his version of ?Mack the Knife’ before he leaves in 2007 to be an assistant coach somewhere.  Thanks to Jill, the Journal Star’s stud photographer.

Thanks to Shamus for getting my blog entries and audio reports on line.  Thanks to Shawn at Pinnacle for getting the audio reports on the air.

Thanks to the coaches for inviting and putting up with JB.  And to the players: play for the joy of it.  Great players, better people.

The University of San Diego, Coach Cook’s alma mater, arrives August 29.