Arnie Ball leaves legendary mark

I don’t really take the time to write much anymore just to write. But this strikes me as one of those things that I really need to put fingers to keyboard about.

Tomorrow night, April 4, I will sit in Hilliard Gates Sports Center for about the 200^th time in my life and I will watch Arnie Ball coach for the final time. Ever.

It is, deep down, mind boggling on about every level. Ball is, more than anyone ever has been to me, the single biggest representation of IPFW. Not volleyball, not coaching, not athletics; Arnie Ball is IPFW.

I was an eighteen-year-old freshman the first time that I ever saw a men’s volleyball contest. It seemed like an odd idea to me when I stepped foot into the Gates Center to cover a match. I don’t remember who they were playing or even if they won that day in early 2003, but I was enthralled. The way that Jeff Ptak and Matt Zbyszewski hit the ball with such velocity was a thing of beauty. I was sold on having the men’s volleyball beat.

Then I wrote a column for the IPFW student newspaper, The Communicator, that didn’t exactly make Coach Ball happy. So I covered men’s volleyball for a full season basically without any quotes from him, instead drawing on the likes of Zbyszewski, Serdar Sikca and Mike Daiga for my stories. But this isn’t about my relationship with Coach Ball, which was healed pretty quickly. Instead, it is about the legacy that he leaves behind.

Ball, simply put, has left a mark on every person he comes into any significant contact with. He taught me a lot of things as a young student writer that I wasn’t getting anywhere else. He wasn’t a journalism guy and couldn’t teach me how to write a lede or about AP style. But he also was the easiest and toughest interview I have ever had and because of that, perhaps my all-time favorite.

If one of my questions was too vague or too dumb, Arnie would answer. And his answer would be vague or unusable. See, for Arnie, if I couldn’t ask him good enough questions, why should he spoon feed me an answer? I don’t know if that was ever his intention or not, but it is how it worked on me. In his own way, sitting on the other end of the phone or of his office, Arnie coached me to become a better interviewer and challenged me to do a better job covering his team and his program.

It propelled me into some of my best stories I ever wrote for The Communicator during the 2006 season, watching the Mastodons break records, including for most consecutive wins and a trip to the Final Four in State College, Pennsylvania. The trip to State College to watch IPFW unsuccessfully challenge UCLA will always be one of my favorites when it comes to covering a sport. I watched the team grow and I grew as a reporter because of Ball’s willingness to keep me in the loop and interest in sitting down with me or being just a phone call away whenever I needed some last second thought.

What also made my time covering men’s volleyball at IPFW easier were the players. From all of the guys previously mentioned to CJ Macias, Brock Ullrich and Elon Fyfield, the players in the system have been nothing short of amazing to interview or simply to talk to. And that isn’t thanks to his coaching as much as it is to his recruiting. The reason that IPFW has been so successful on the volleyball court is because Ball, at least in my time watching the team, has recruited good kids who work hard to be the best but also don’t take life, or the sport, too seriously.

By the time I covered my last IPFW volleyball game in the spring of 2009, sitting down with Arnie in his office weekly on a Monday afternoon for 30-45 minutes became the regular. We would interview and we would just talk. In that time, much more mature than I was when I first met him at eighteen, Coach Ball became a good acquaintance. Back at The Communicator after a couple of years away from school, I really looked forward to nothing more than he and I’s conversations.

Tomorrow night will be surreal knowing it is the last time that I will see him coaching in that gym, on a court that will now be named for him.

In the world of men’s volleyball nationwide, Arnie Ball is a legend, widely respected by his peers. In my 15 and change years of journalism, there has been no story or interview subject that has left as big of an overall impression on me as Coach Ball. His candidness, his swagger, his ability to get the absolute best out of everyone he comes in contact with — they are all legendary.

And after tomorrow night, Arnie Ball Court, surely will never be the same again.

> Book on Lloy Ball gives unrivaled insight

Sports biographies are not a rare thing these days, but to find one of relevance on a local level is.

Published in late November by AuthorHouse, “The Biggest Mistake I Never Made” tells a unique and interesting tale of former IPFW volleyball sensation Lloy Ball, in his own words, as told to News Sentinel sports writer Blake Sebring.

The tagline on the front cover of the book really does no justice in summing up this tale: “How an Indiana boy gave up basketball to become a world-class volleyball player.”

I really enjoy that Ball and Sebring did not rush along the story, taking plenty of time throughout the 188 pages to transition from event to event. Even the tale of Lloy choosing between playing Division I basketball at Indiana University and coming here to IPFW to play volleyball for his father is not rushed and starts mainly in chapter six.

Chapter one discusses the Ball family and then the tale goes forward into some Team USA stories before delving back into Lloy’s life and moving forward chronologically.

One of my favorite parts of the entire book however comes in that afformentioned chapter six where Ball talks about the first time he told his father, legendary IPFW coach Arnie, that he was coming to IPFW.

In Lloy’s words, after he told his father he was going to play at IPFW, just before the press conference where he would announce the same to the rest of his community, Ball says this of his father’s reaction:

“It was awkward but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded his head.”

This is one of my favorite lines, in part from knowing Arnie and that general Arnie Ball reaction.

Reading Lloy’s insights on his entire storied volleyball career is great. From the first practice of his IPFW career to the gold medal ceremony of the 2008Olympic Games, the whole story is beautifully illustrated by a guy who has been through so much.

The book is available in local bookstores for $17.50 and also online. If you are a fan of local sports, Lloy or Arnie Ball, it is a must have for your collection.

>Now I can sleep easier at night

It was 2005 the only other time I have seen something the likes of what I saw when watching back-to-back-to-back IPFW volleyball exhibition matches last Sunday. It was a completely revamped scene that sometimes saw all six active players on the court as new faces to everyone.

A big senior class last year had to breed a new, big freshman class this year, we all knew that. But that concept scared me a bit. It scared me just as much as it did in 2005 when unfamiliar names like Brock Ullrich and Josh Stewart joined the familiar’s of Matt Zybyszewski and Serdar Sikca.

I guess I can rest easy now. Because what I saw made me crack a reminiscent smile. Much like that January day in 2005, I have found myself thinking “these new kids- they are going to do alright.”

More than alright, they were pretty impressive on a 2-1 day where they hung with a pretty experienced Ball State, even in a loss.

To me, last year’s team and the personality driven spark that they put out cannot be replaced. But this team has already, in one day, gone a long way in reminding me that I also once had to adjust to those departed ex-players.

The roster has the names of twelve players who, coming into this year, have never worn the blue and white in a match. Eight of them did it for the first time Sunday in Gates and for the most part, they did it delightfully.

While familiar faces of ex-IPFW players Dan McNerney and Jason Yhost watched from the stands and another former player, Jon Bassillo, sat nearby on the sidelines as part of the Quincy coaching staff- it was the sight of Phil Peterson, Jonathan Meyer, Eric Hardek and a host of others that peaked my interest the most.

Peterson, thus far, is the most impressive I have seen a freshman be since Josh Stewart in the 2005 regular season. He led IPFW in kills against Carthage and Ball State as well as overall for the day with a powerfully fast spike. Filling in the void of CJ Macias, Ullrich and Yhost on the outside will be a difficult task, but Peterson showed that he will be a big part of that. And while his passing and defense sometimes looked weak, he also led IPFW on the block. I can see his versatility being the main ingredient in how successful this team can be from the early going.

I’m equally impressed by the power, control and emotion of sophomore Darryl Shank, who played little as a freshman. Arnie Ball is going to have his hands full in deciding the balance between these two, as well as freshmen Hardek and Ivan Matos on the outsides as all four showed a major upside over the weekend with day-totals of 28, 24, 18 and 10 kills (more than 60 percent of the team’s total).

And if it was only the outside hitters, I would still be impressed. But it was much more.

Chris Brigson showed much of that freshman inexperience early on the offensive side but also helped stuff down the opponent with big middle blocks alongside Oliver Kook and Nathaniel Berg. Freshman Dan Mader is going to give Corey Stewart and Kevin Goncalves a run for their money at the setter spot where both Mader and Stewart showed Sunday that they are very capable of handling one of the most important positions of any IPFW team. And, I cannot wait to see the battle at libero between the veterans Mike Morici and Matt Pliske, each of whom has led IPFW to a Final Four appearance. Not to mention, they have a little libero in the wings in Garrett Bitter who will be anxiously waiting, watching and learning.

This team has restored hope in my mind (not that all of it was lost). If they continue to develop over these next two months of practice, I can only imagine that they will be a special thing to watch in many ways come that January 9 home opener.

>Is this the best time for a volleyball change?

In the past five years, IPFW has experienced many changes including an influx of young coaches. Since the fall of 2002, when the program became fully Division I certified, only four coaches have left the school.

That low number leaves me expectant that will change in coming years. The biggest and most important change that could come in that area is the retirement of Arnie Ball, whenever that may occur.

When it comes to coaches at IPFW, mens volleyball coaches nationwide and pretty much coaching in general, Arnie Ball is in a certain class of his own.

When you have been at a school for almost 30 years and are one of the winningest coaches in your sport, there is never a “right time” to walk away. But the fact is that eventually, Arnie will choose to do so. And when he does, I pray that it is the right way because Arnie Ball is the epitome of IPFW athletics and should always be remembered that way.

There has always been talk of who would replace Arnie when he retires from the sport he has helped define. Will it be son Lloy when he retires from professional and Olympic play? How about assistant Ryan Perrotte, who seems like he has been groomed well for the replacement?

But most importantly, when is the best time? As I said before, there is no right time. So when would it be best to hand over the reigns?

And as much as I respect and like Coach Ball (and as much as he’ll adimently disagree with my next assessment), I believe that this is the best time to leave IPFW in the capable hands of either replacment. Though, I am all for Ryan Perrotte.

Coach and I have had some disagreements over the years, so I expect him to yell at me for this, I really do. But it is nothing personal. Hell, if I had what I considered a family in IPFW athletics after covering them for six years, Arnie would easily be the dad.

Coach and I have had some disagreements over the years, so I expect him to yell at me for this, I really do. But it is nothing personal. Hell, if I had what I considered a family in IPFW athletics after covering them for six years, Arnie would easily be the dad.

But think about this:

Coach Ball is fresh off of back-to-back Final Four appearances, the school’s first National Runner-Up finish, a 2007 AVCA Coach of the Year honor and saying goodbye to seven seniors (the most for IPFW in quite sometime).

As it stands now, there will be just two seniors in 2009. The team is quite young with only two starters returning. And those who are still around have quite the relationship with Perrotte. The next couple of years will be a rebuilding time for the mens volleyball program. I think it could be best to let someone else rebuild. No, Arnie would not be going out on top, and I know he wants to win a National title pretty damn bad. But this may be the closest to going out on top that he may ever get.

I’m not saying I want Arnie to leave. On the contrary, I would love for him to stay forever. And coach, if I still have you reading my articles all these years later, let me say that I have truly enjoyed every second of covering you, talking to and interviewing you. I really do hope that you continue to coach at IPFW forever. Because as long as you coach, I will definantly be in the stands watching you do it.

Since I won’t be here when he does hang up the clipboard, I do truly hope that IPFW gives Arnie the caring and emotional parting that he deserves. Because when it does happen, Mastodon athletics will never be the same again.

(this column originally appeared in the IPFW Communicator on April 30, 2008)