X: 1st in division 1 / Først i førstedivisjon

On the weekend, my volleyball team seized gold in division 1. We went undefeated 10-0 in the regular league play, and won 2 of 3 so-called ranking tournaments.

The season finale breeds reflection and evaluation. Why spend the countless hours traveling to play a brief match or two in some city far away from Oslo? I do not how much of my life I have spent getting inside some sports arena to fight for some abstract points received based on where a single volleyball winds up in regards to some lines and a net. From the outside, this probably appears all awkward. From inside though there is something about the joy of sports, willingness of training, competitive attitude and great companionship which keeps us going. But we will not move up to the premier/elite division, as we technically should, as this will require even more money, time and sacrifices.

Nonetheless. As soon as a knee injury settles, I will spend some time giving the sport handball a go. I have never played it outside physical exercise in school, but believe this is something I in many ways are better crafted to do than both volleyball and soccer, as I run fast with a decent stamina and have better skills with my hands than feet. The coming weeks will tell.

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I helga ble førstelaget til OSI volleyball seriemestere i 1. divisjon. Vi trengte å komme til kvartfinalen i rankingturneringen i Førde før å innkassere gullet. Det klarte vi, selv om vi tapte de neste tre kampene. Statistikken viser likevel at vi er ubeseiret i seriespillet og har triumfert øverst i 2 av 3 rankingturneringer. Det er en stor ting for et studentlag - selv om vi ikke har noen (heltids)studenter igjen stallen på 14.
Ved sesongslutt, med en sliten kropp og mindre krefter, går det noen eksistensielle tanker gjennom bevisstheten; Hvorfor driver man med dette? Hvorfor bruker 60 timer for å spille fem kamper a 1 time? Og man er ikke inne på banen hele tida heller. Hva med vanlig seriespille der man bruker minst to døgn på å spille én, toppen to kamper? Hvor mye tid, penger og krefter har jeg ikke brukt i mitt liv på å komme meg inn i en idrettshall for å sloss om noen figurative poeng som gis avhengig av hvor en liten ball havner i forhold til noen streker på gulver og et nett som deler banen i to. Utenfra kan dette fortone seg nokså snodig. Innenfra er det noe med idrettsglede, treningsvillighet, konkurranseinstinkt og fellesskap som holder en i gang. Men vi har ikke tenkt å rykke opp, som vi også hadde muligheten til i fjor med andreplassen. Til det blir det for mye penger, reising og ofring i forhold til hva vi allerede legger ned i volleyballen.
Likevel. Nå etter sesongslutt vil jeg bruke noen treninger til å teste ut håndball. Mest for å prøve en idrett jeg tror jeg på sett og vis er skapt til å spille, men aldri har forsøkt.

E: 2nd in 1st division

We won the final ranking tournament. If the team we beat in the semi final, Åsheim, had lost the bronze final, we would have won the entire division. We are not serious, rich and possibly not good enough to do decent in the big league, but fun to know we had the opportunity.

This is my Norwegian tournament report (written as a poem) and the story written by the national volleyball forum Volleymedia.no.

X: Volleyball win & loss/Får-i-Koll

Tomorrow the volleyball season of 2007-08 will come to an end. We are currently playing the very last ranking tournament. We are in the semifinal. No matter what happens, we will finish second in the league after all points have been added up, despite crappy league play. If we win, and Åsheim, which we will play in the semis, finishes fourth, we will win the entire 1. division.

Wednesday the fellows lost (without me) against Spirit Lørenskog (1-3). Sunday we won 3-2 versus Koll.

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Les den engelske versjonen over for detaljer. Vi vant søndag mot Koll og tapte onsdag mot Spirit Lørenskog. Klikke på lagnavnene for kampreferat.

Jeg spilte ikke så mye mot Koll og heller ikke all verden i dagens del av rankingturneringen. Dette til tross for at jeg selv føler meg bra i slag og har gjort gode innhopp. Men nå er det én dag igjen av sesongen, og nå er det viktigste hvordan laget gjør det totalt.

Tenk at vi kan vinne førstedivisjon i morgen, til tross for en ganske dårlig sesong i serien.

X: Volleyball win/Skolerte gjestene

Friday was time for a 3-0 volleyball win (25-19, 25-11, 25-20), the first match for me in weeks. I came in halfway through the second game, and finished the match as an outside hitter.

Norwegian match report here.

We have played so NOT good this season and won only 3 of 10 regular matches. The humorous part is that due to our performances in the league tournaments and the way the points are calculated, we could potentially win the entire division if we win the final tournament.


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Det ble nokså enkelt 3-0 over Topp Volley Norge på fredag. En noe seig start, og førstesettseier med noen få poeng, ble til stor sifre i de følgende to. Jeg kom inn midtveis i andre sett og gjorde en brukbar match, i alle fall på siste poenget. At jeg ikke fikk starte, ei heller på liberoplass, er jeg ikke helt enig i. Selv om jeg er noe redusert grunnet manglende trening og litt sykdom etter Mali-turen, har jeg prestert greit de siste ukene. Men når treneren har fått mandat til å ta ut og rotere på laget slik han ønsker, er det han som bestemmer.

Les kampreferatet her.

Vi har hatt en elendig sesong med bare 3 seiere på 10 forsøk i vanlig seriespill. Men på grunn av god innsats i serieturneringene og tilsvarende dårlig oppmøte eller resultat for mostanderne, har vi en teoretisk sjanse for å vinne hele serien ved seier i siste turnering i Lier i starten av mars. Se artikkel på Volleymedia.no for detaljer og forklaring.

Volleyball: Reis(te) og røk

The first match of the season winded up with another loss. Unbelievable really, with the qualities found in the team, but once again we failed in the end. Mosjøen won 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 15-25, 25-15) at home.

Read the match report in Norwegian if you like.

Personally I was away most of the week, and with an upset stomach at practice on the night before and on match day. Still I did not find my own effort too bad.

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Årets første kamp ble dessverre ikke årets første seier. Kampreferatet fra to dager med reise og 31 timer i Mosjøen leses her.

Undertegnede var bortreist uka i forveien, var magesyk på fredagstreningen og litt ut på kampdagen. Likevel var ikke innsatsen av håpløs karakter, selv om grunntenningen ikke holdte helt mål.

X: Volleyball loss/Ikke helt som adventet

The final volleyball match for the year (not the season) ended with a bitter 2-3 loss against the division group leader Akim. I got to play outside till halfway through the second game before being swapped.

Match report, on the close battle, can be studied (in Norwegian) here.

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Nok en gang skulle OSI tape for puljeleder Askim. Undertegnede spilte første 1,5 sett, uten å gjøre det fremragende, men samtidig ikke håpløst på kanten. Jeg er ikke nødvendigvis helt fornøyd med ikke å komme innpå igjen når det buttet i mot med høyere feilprosent senere i kampen enn det jeg presterte, men det var uansett en underholdende kamp med mye liv.

Kampreferatet leses her.

E: Another volleyball loss

5 losses in 7 season matches is horrible. Other than a second place in a league tournament a few weeks ago, there has been very many almost-but-not-good-enough games. I cannot remember a worse beginning of the seeason with OSI before. Saturday we lost 1-3 against Kolbotn.

Personlly I did not get to play until close to halfway in the fouth and final game. For the 20 points or so I was on the court, I had very good passing and no mistakes in offense. Sadly, it was not enough to alter the outcome.

My match report in Norwegian here.

Krakilsk nederlag

Det endte håpløst dårlig i gårdagens midtukekamp mot Spirit Lørenskog i 1. divisjon herrer, avdeling 1. Jeg var svært så innstilt, men samtidig ikke helt til stede. Jeg manglet også roen i kroppen til å stå så støtt i forsvar som jeg ønsket.

Det korte kamprefereratet er i alle fall her.

X: Silver play/sølvspill

We became second this weekend at the volleyball ranking tournament in Sandnes, close to the west coast city of Stavanger. I played a couple of the five matches, and am satisfied with my own outside hitting. It was nice combining a social volleyball weekend with a few journalistic tasks for work at the nearby town of Vigrestad. This gave me the opportunity to walk through downtown Stavanger, for the first time in my life, before returning home Monday night. A much viewworthy city, it is.

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Vi ble nummer 2. Jeg spilte første kamp og semifinalen, og er tilfreds med innsatsen. Turneringsreferat her. Helga var for øvrig fin med sosial volleyballtur kombinert med skriveoppdrag for Agenda 3:16 på Vigrestad. I tillegg fikk jeg mandag sjansen for første å trave rundt i Stavanger sentrum – en svært flott en by.

E: Cup champion impossililty

Only one win in two qualifying matches ain’t good enough to repeat last year’s advancement to the Norwegian volleyball cup quarter final. We met good teams yesterday, but did not play to the maximum of our ability.

The match report (Kvartfestivalen avblåst) on how we beat Koll and lost to Askim, is (as usual) in Norwegian.

There is always next year :) Personally I loved being back on the court with the jersey on, as I have been injured and away for the first three this season. I played fair, but my ankle is holding me back a tad more than what I like, probably mainly mentally. I go to training as usual, but hope to be able to train without restrains soon.

E: Volleyday

PS: Norsk kampreferat fra 3-0-seier mot Mosjøen.

Saturday was a full-on volleyball day. It began around 10:30 am with being a part of arranging the practical tasks for the elite women team in the club. My team helps them, and the other way around.

At 2 pm the men’s game was happening. For the third consecutive game this season, I was unable to play. That is, my ankle has been good enough to train all week. But my coach would not let me play to prevent any worsening of the situation. I did not support that decision emotionally, but rationally I would have done the same for any of the players in the second division team I coach. While my team warmed up, I hit the gym. We beat the opponent Mosjøen 3-0 fairly easily, and I wrote the match report (in Norwegian).

After a few hours at home, it was the social aspect of the team’s turn to shine. The player Håkon invited the entire team to his apartment for a pre-party happening from around 7pm to closer to midnight. After lots of celebrating the win, fun, music and some good conversations, we left for the city. I had plan an early return as the pile of tasks for Sunday was big enough already, but winded up going out with my team, plus an additional bunch from the elite women’s team + a few others in the volleyball club. A few happy hours at the night club Süd-Öst (South East) was an amusing memory with dancing, laughing and a good atmosphere. I do not go out much these days, but after returning before 4am last night, I may reconsider that routine :)

E: De-ankled

After one week of volleyball absence, due to my one week up north, I was more than eager to get back at practice last night. After about 40 minutes I landed on an oncoming ball during spiking warm-up. Exactly how my ankle moved I do not really know, but that it touched the floor quickly and in a no-good fashion was obvious to me and anyone around me. I have had problems with my ankles in the past, but there has been years since I twisted any of them - as I have learned to “collapse” when my ankles have encountered real uneven surfaces.

But yesterday history caught up with me, as my scream proved. X-ray at the medical depot/central in the city fortunately did not show any fractures. I did, however, probably pull a few tendons beyond the already loose ligaments. The next couple of days I am using crutches, support bandage and need to keep my foot elevated above heart level. Furthermore I will need to wear an ankle support kit for a month to come.

I am mainly annoyed with losing out of the volleyball matches. I returned to late to play our opening match last weekend (which we lost 1-3), and was super eager to go play this weekend. Instead I will spend the weekend with the division 2 team I coach for their season opening. When I can actually go back to play volleyball myself, I do not know, but hope I can start in a couple of weeks.

I tried to avoid thinking about how things could have been different if only this or that, but it is not easy. I am fairly annoyed although there is noone to blame. Things could have been worse, and I will be all right again.

E: Great hostess during rainy volleyball finish

My Friday to Monday took place on Norway’s west coast, in the cosy, yet rain-drizzling city of Bergen.

The weekend contained more than volleyball, but the voyage was booked to represent OSI’s first men’s team in the very last matches of the season. The ranking tournament was a chance, at least in theory, of capturing the top trophy in the division. Instead we blew it against an opponent we would beat 9 out of 10 times (or more) in the pre-quarter final match. After leading 12-4 in the first game, an injury on the last outside hitter and a very odd starting line up are not reasons good enough to explain how we could lose 2-0. Something in our machinery shut out, and we failed to do anything right. A complete report of the tournament, where we finished seventh (after winning our two matches on Sunday 2-0), can be found here (in Norwegian): Best når det ikke gjelder. I do not care to be reminded of the sad completion and mediocre placement in a season, which started out really well, actually leading the whole thing through most of 2006.

Personally I am content with my own performance, and extremely happy with not feeling pain in my back. The treatment on Monday, the exercises and the bandage all probably contributed, in addition to thanking the Lord.

What I will remember is good times with my wonderful hostess Ingvill Aa. The girl is oddly enough a good friend although I had only met her once before this weekend – in a wedding two years ago (!). I was the best man of Marit, who Ingvill knows through Bible college. We spoke a bit that day, and have been in touch via e-mail ever since. When I mentioned I was coming, she offered me a place to stay. Few other people inspire me so much to reflection, philosophy and deep conversations, and these things endorse much of our communication. The topics ranged from everything to discussion meaning of life to personality analysis. Talking, walking, cooking, attending church and watching a movie was a fun contrast to the volleyball misery what results concern.

E: My back in business

This is a follow-up on the ache that has been puffing in my lower back for the last 5-6 weeks. Sunday’s match reassured my that it was time to seek professional help. I made a phone call around 9:30 AM Monday, and a couple of minutes later I had an manual therapist (like a master in physiotherapy) appointment set for 6:30 PM at NIMI (links to a page in Norwegian); Norwegian institute for sportsmedicine.

My therapist is professional. After the hour I already felt a little better, although no magic was performed. The treatment consistent of general consultation, some stretching and bending, a few drills, a bit of massage and my debut with electrocuted needles on trigger points to ease some constraints – which did happen. I was told I have/had overload in activity in the lower back region which had made the inner stabilizing muscles take a break, while the outer ones overcompensated - causing the muscular pain.

I will still play the final tournament this weekend, but have to test my physics on practice tonight, to evaluate how much and what position I should take. After the weekend, I might reduce the amount and frequency of back-pressuring training. Nonetheless, I left the therapy last night with some bandage on my back to remind me of having the right posture (see picture), and the knowledge that I will be all right again if I do my exercises right and consistently.

X: Aching loss/Tigerbalsamert tap i seriefinalen

Finishing fourth in our group this season was not the plan, nor goal. The regular volleyball season finished today with a 1-3 (20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 22-25) loss against Mosjøen (see match report in Norwegian). We can still theoretically officially win the overall table with a great result in the final ranking tournament next weekend in Bergen.

For now my primary concern will be getting a physio terapist. I have been beating the pain with lots of excercises and warming up after getting a crick in the back earlier this year. Today however, not even excessive usage of heating cream/balsam eased an immense back ache in the first two and the fourth game. As libero one cannot be replaced either, and I sadly could not avoid focusing more on my body than the ball.

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Å bli nummer fire i gruppa var ikke planen og målet for årets sesong, og prospektene var så mye lysere – like til kampstart i dag. Det ble 3-1 tap mot Mosjøen, som kapret fjerdeplassen. Les kampreferatet her.

Ryggkinken jeg pådro meg tidligere i år har jeg stort sett klart å lure med god oppvarming og mange øvelser. Men i dag var det smerte fra ende til annen, med et behagelig unntak i tredje sett. Som libero er det dessverre vanskelig å bli byttet ut. Nå venter telefon til første ledige fysio- eller manuellterapeut i morgen tidlig.

X: Golden spike/gyllen smash?

We won 3-0 last night, in a week match against the team Spirit Lørenskog. This still enables us to possibly take home the number one position trophy for the first division of men’s volleyball in this country. First though, we must win our final match this Sunday and the crucial ranking tournament in Bergen next weekend. Then the season is through.

Yesterday I played as outside in the first and the last half of the third game, and performed satisfactory. A while back my lower back got some pull, stretch or another form of injury, which has caused me pain for much of the volleyball active time since. Also in the final game of last night, I felt it and it grew worse after coming home. If it does not improve soon, I will seek a physiotherapist – possibly not until the end of the season though.

Consult your Norwegian dictionary for the following match report: “Sirkus i tre akter”

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Vi vant igjen i går, i ukekampen mot Spirit hjemme i Domus Athletica. En 3-0 seier gjør at vi fortsatt har en sjanse til å kunne vinne førstedivisjonen sammenlagt. Det forutsetter at vi setter Mosjøen tydelig på plass i siste seriekamp (Domus Athletica, søndag klokka 13 for deg som er interessert), og at vi havner øverst i den avgjørende rankingturneringa neste helg i Bergen.

I gårdagens kamp, spilte jeg kant i hele første og siste halvdel av tredje sett. Ryggen min fikk seg en kink mange uker tilbake, men jeg har slitt med smerter i området rundt korsryggen siden. Dette slo også hardt inn i tredjesettet, etter at kroppen stivnet litt mens jeg satt på benken. Om ting ikke forsvinner av seg selv om kort tid, vil jeg nok oppsøke fysioterapeut snart – men trolig ikke før etter sesongen (etter turneringa).

Totalt sett er jeg fornøyd med egen innsats. Kampreferatet, skrevet fort og "gæli" navnga jeg ”Sirkus i tre akter”.

X: Unlucky 11/Dass med 11. plass

This weekend’s volleyball ranking tournament for men’s first division gave us the worst odds to proceed with both set up of the groups and our own performance. With two losses and two wins we winded up 11th. We are still on top of the ladder all in all so far this season.

I personally was only given about 10 minutes of playing time Saturday. Sunday I played a mediocre match as libero, and then a pretty good first game as an outside hitter (my main position). Unfortunately I was swapped because I was not given enough balls from the setter (!). The illogical explination uspet me somewhat, but with a no-good back, to rest is not the worst idea.

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Vi kom på en skuffende 11. plass i helgas rankingturnering i volleyballens førstedivisjon for Herrer. Det nokså kjedelige kampreferatet finner du her.

Personlig fikk jeg lite spilletid, særlig lørdag. Søndag spilte jeg en middelmådig kamp som libero, men fikk starte som kant i den siste matchen. Å bli byttet ut for å ikke ha fått nok legg (som jeg ikke kan kontrollere selv) var mildt sagt irriterende, men kanskje fysisk da jeg sliter med en del smerter i korsryggen for tida. Jeg har en utrolig lav feilprosent som kantspiller i år, med drøye to sett, og ingen angrepsfeil. At det primært skyldes liten spilletid i min hovedposisjon er ikke like kult.

X: Volleyball victory/ut av dvale

My first, and my team's second, volleyball match in 2007 had a positive 3-2 outcome (last weekend the team lost 3-0 away). I am far from comparing my performance to a mountain peak, but was trusted as libero again nevertheless. I will work hard on practice from my lowlands efforts toward a secure position in the OSI line-up. Match report in Norwegian as usual.

OSI – Åsheim (3-2): 19-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-14, 15-6

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Min første, og lagets andre, volleyballkamp for året endte med 3-2 seier over Åsheim. Forrige helg var det et forsmedelig 3-0 tap mot Mosjøen. Jeg er ikke ekstatisk over egen innsats, men fikk tillit som libero igjen. Nå skal det jobbes hardt på trening for å vise at jeg har noe å gjøre på start-sjueren.

Les kampreferatet: H1 - Åsheim (3-2): Ut av dvale

E: Crammed weekend

My Friday to Sunday had no less than five reunion-like happenings of remembrance.

* Last supervisor meeting this year. An hour after 10 am was more or less the beginning of my Christmas holiday. The remaining load of work is a bit alarming, but needs to be put aside while taking a long-needed time out. When returning in January I need to explore the field of religion sociology, according to my supervisor.

* Journalism student celebration. One of this year’s many Christmas dinner gatherings, was a semi-reunion of my journalism college class. About 40 of the then enrolled 60 students turned up for dinner (at the restaurant Mecca), followed by socializing in the club Sydöst (SouthEast). I proclaim that there are extremely few educations that can generate so interesting and wide-ranging what-have-you-been-up-to conversations as those going for journalism and media.

* Volleyball win. The final volleyball match for the year ended with an easy 3-0 win with horrible performances from both teams. Therefore, the match report is particularly short, but for once in English – in dedication of our leaving Italian player (I do not speak Italian and he is not very good in Norwegian). I played libero again, because of the many injuries we had.

This can be classified as a reunion as we have played this team twice before this fall and we met up as a team :)

* Family reunion. My brother with wife lives in Oslo. My parents and my sister with fiance all came to town for the weekend. Saturday they all came to our game. At night we went to “The Fast Show” by the humorous group Raske Menn (Fast men). This must be the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time. Creative, original, talented, diverse and energetic – with everything from skits to songs to audience interactions to charades. I easily recommend it over the other big comedy hit this fall, Team Eckbo – which I also would describe as a time and money well spent. I choose start my usage of embedded film clips with their most known skit; the world history in 5 minutes (in Norwegian):



Later we, the family, headed for the Italian restaurant Santinos. In a couple of weeks we will meet up again, then with my better half as well.


* Preperations for Malaysian arrival. Sunday was the day before and today is the day my girlfriend Darshini will be coming to Norway. She is currently in Vienna, and her final flight’s landing wheels will start rolling on Norwegian soil around 10:15 pm tonight. It will be one big climax, being seperated since June 21st (which adds up to 173 days apart!). Sunday was spent cleaning, packing and preparing the final bits upon arrival.

From tonight until January 10th my life will be occupied with a girl that is hopefully my very last girlfriend and my first (and only) partner for life. The month ahead will determine if things are as we think they are and that we are still willing to turn our lives upside-down for one another. The blog updates for the time to come might be less frequent than currently, as I will have better things to do :)

X: Silver in/Sølvgutter i Trondheim

The first divison volleyball season is divided between season matches and three ranking tournaments. The first tournament was in Trondheim this weekend. We won 7 of 11 games/sets, or 3 out of 4 matches – losing only the final. I was ver annoyed with the close loss yesterday, but am more satisfied with the achievement today. My role was, as usual, libero. Tournament report in Norwegian here. Pictures will come (not taken by me).

Being with Thor Oskar in Trondheim, and meeting friends like Kristin, Igor, Thomas and Torstein, improved the quality of the stay.

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Førstedivisjon i vollebayll er en kombinasjon med vanlig seriespill og rankingturneringer. Å vinne serien gir 150 poeng, og det å vinne en turnering 50. Plassene bak gir naturlig nok gradvis færre poeng i potten. Den første turneringa va i Trondheim i helga. Vi, OSI, ble nummer to etter å ha vunnet 7 av 11 sett, det vil si seier i tre av fire bataljer. Vi tapte en jevn finale mot Mosjøen i går, som vi slo i gruppespillet lørdag. Les turneringsreferat her. Bilder kommer (fra andres kamera).

Det å være med min bestevenn Thor Oskar i Trondheim, og møte Kristin (hans kjæreste), Igor, Thomas og Torstein, foredlet oppholdet ytterligere.