David Jack = Class Act

In an earlier post Defend The Rock introduced you to David Jack, one of IU Volleyball's new assistant coaches. Well, now we have learned that David Jack is a real class act. Aside from being a very successful coach in the past, in a recent interview (with iuhoosiers.com) we heard some things we really liked.

1. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
If I could visit anywhere in the world, it would be Africa. Why? I heard it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. My main reason for going would be to help decrease the plight of AIDS that is devastating a continent.

Ok - we here at Defend The Rock are big fans of Africa. Well, maybe "fans" isn't the right word, but in our time at a certain Big 10 school in Bloomington, Indiana we focused our studies on Africa to a fairly high degree. Also, it's always great to see from anyone, especially those in the sports community have the recognition of, and the desire to help eliminate/alleviate the AIDS crisis.

2. What is your favorite childhood memory?
The food ... for breakfast, fried dumpling, callaloo, friend plantain, for dinner, rice and peas, chicken or beef, boiled bananas. The food is delicious. I dream of having dinner at home every once and a while.

My god, that sounds scrumptious. I haven't eaten yet today and now David Jack has gone and made me even more hungry. I'll be making a trip down to Bloomington at some point and hopefully I can be a guest at the Jack residence for dinner, damn that sounds good.

3. What can the fans expect from the Hoosiers next season?
Playing hard, competing and challenging the best teams in the Big Ten. That type of intensity every time you step on the court can only lead to success.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's what I love to here from IU athletes and coaches. IU Sports always has been, and will be continue to be about intensity. The fans like to see their teams playing with intensity and passion, and I can guarantee you that if IU Volleyball displays it, fans will flock to the games.

Sherry Dunbar's Posse

Sherry Dunbar has just brought in a few fresh faces to assist her in her first year as IU Volleyball's Head Coach. First up is Sarah Gustin who is following Dunbar from the College of Charleston where they both were instrumental in leading a very successful team. She was also a stand out volleyball player up at Michigan State (don't worry Sarah, we here at Defend The Rock are more than welcome to happy former Big 10 opponents into the IU Sports fold!).

Second is David Jack. He's helped lead teams to Junior Olympic national bids, coached up multiple students who went on to receive Division 1 scholarships, and played with the Jamaican National team for 13 years. Can't hurt to mention he was an 8 time All American too...

Gotta like what Dunbar's doing here, bringing in people with long track records of success in recruiting for, coaching, and playing the game.

Who Spiked The Punch?

**Newsflash** The Hoosier volleyball team was dreadful last year. You may be asking yourself "Well, what really qualifies as dreadful when it comes to volleyball?" Well, let me tell you my friends: An overall record of 10-22, with a sparkling conference record of 1-19

Well, Indiana University has done something about it. Defend The Rock would like to give a warm welcome to new IU Volleyball head coach Sherry Dunbar. She's coming to us from the College of Charleston where she had some serious success (read: 3 straight NCAA tourney trips, and a 27-8 record this past season).

President Adam Herbert (who I still believe does not actually exist) had this to say about the hiring of Coach Dunbar:
"Indiana University is committed to building one of the nation's premiere women's volleyball programs. Sherry Dunbar has certainly proven herself exceptionally well qualified to build such a program. The Indiana University family is especially delighted to welcome her back to Bloomington. We are very fortunate that such a talented and accomplished coach will assume the leadership of our volleyball team. She is destined to become one of the very best volleyball coaches in the Big Ten. I am very confident that she will make all Hoosiers proud."

Now, Defend The Rock is a solutions oriented blog, so I would like to make one comment regarding the IU Volleyball team and how to increase it's performance. The main issue is that this team is just way too attractive! (.pdf)

How is this a problem you ask? Well, because who in the world would know it unless they went to games! But you still may ask how is that a problem. I'll tell you how: Nobody is interested in Volleyball save for friends, family, and a few weirdos. If they would make some solid promo spots featuring these women they could lure in a lot more fans to fill up the stands and give IU a real homecourt advantage, you know, DEFEND THE ROCK. In time these fans would transition from mere drooling-at-the-mouth-frat-boys to hardcore Volleyball fans and our ladies would have a greater homecourt advantage than any other Volleyball team in the nation.

Get on it IU Sports PR department! I won't even charge you a consulting fee.

[Editor's Note: Clearly the "suggestion" part of this post is a satire of how many people (ignorant) people view Women's athletics. We here at Defend The Rock hope to dispel any notions that Women's athletics are less important or less newsworthy than Men's athletics. If you picked up on the satire - you're a good sports fan, if not, well, keep reading Defend The Rock and maybe you'll learn something just yet!]