2011 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship

It was an exciting night, May 7, 2011.  The night Ohio State University (OSU) beat the team from the University of Santa Barbara (UCSB) at Penn State University.  Our son Jason #12 was part of that victory.  He has been playing volley ball for the past 4 years (his first year he had to red shirt) alongside his studies in Construction Management.  He is going to graduate this spring and will enter the “real world.”

We have been following his athletic courier over the years.  Jason has excelled in his position as Outside Hitter, playing defense.  He has also been the internal leader of his team, inspiring the team members to pray before and after games.  So, when you watch the game  you may not hear his name a lot.  He is the player who was rotated around, never leaving the court.  He was setting the ball for the other team members to get the kill or hitting that ace.

I had scheduled a trip to Germany to spend my mother’s birthday (86) and Mother’s day with my mother.  I watched the game on April 27^th where OSU beat the team from the University Lewis (Chicago) in the Semi-Final match.  By the time, they played the team from Loyola University (Chicago) on April 29^th I was visiting with my brother in Spain.  I watched the match on the OSU Vision channel at 1:00 AM.

When the team advanced to the championship level, I wanted to watch it, too.  Even though, the final games were aired on national TV here in the states on ESPN, we were not able to get the channel in Europe.  Here is the ingenuity of our young people: my son-in-law who lives in Frankfurt Germany, skyped with his dad who lives in Memphis Tennessee who was watching the game.  By telephone he gave us the scores, through SMS’s and finally calling us, again in the early morning hours.  My daughter and I who were with my mother at that time (in a small country town in Germany), participated in this awkward way in the championship of our son and brother.

Do I have to tell you that I am very proud of our son Jason?  It is those special moments that create memories for a lifetime.  Although, I was not there physically, my heart and prayers were with Jason.