Southern Reg. Coaches Noticed Gesicki's Work Habits Long Before Nfl Did

[DKphin]

The football coach says he’s had no better athlete. The basketball coach says he’s had no harder worker. The volleyball coach at Southern Regional High School says Mike Gesicki only played the sport two months each year but carried them to two state titles and two state runner-up finishes.
“He was dominant when he arrived as a freshman and Player of the Year in New Jersey volleyball as a senior,” said his coach, Eric Maxwell.
Here’s the kicker:
“I never even played volleyball until high school,” Gesicki said.

https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com...cle_fba52d20-b423-5304-bf94-e9d1a5d75948.html

 

[Wishfishin]

We have our freak.

 

[.....]

Man, if reading that didn't get you excited for this kid, then you don't have a pulse.

 

[AdamD13]

Volleyball greatest game ever. I played competitively for years. If he was that dominant he has to be a freak athlete.

 

[maralieus]

He could probably compete in the nba dunk contest. I’d like to see him vs wake in a jumping contest. If wake was 22 again it would be insane. Still would be.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Volleyball greatest game ever. I played competitively for years. If he was that dominant he has to be a freak athlete.

I agree. Volleyball is awesome. But I much preferred the side out era. I can't get overly excited about rally scoring, since late comebacks are now so difficult.

Greatest match ever was 1981 NCAA championship game at Santa Barbara between USC and UCLA. Tons of legends on the court like Karch Kiraly, Steve Timmons, Tim Hovland and Ricci Luyties. Match lasted nearly 5 hours before Hovland was called for a lift on match point, by famous chair umpire Wink Davenport. He was a former star player and the father of tennis great Lindsay Davenport. UCLA won in 5 games, 15-13 in the 5th.

The caliber of play was so high in the final game the score remained the same for 20 minutes at one stage deep in that game. It was one perfectly executed clutch side out after another.

I think it was the greatest sporting event I have ever attended, and I have been to Olympics, college football championship games and the Jets/Colts Super Bowl, etc.

 

[Digital]

He's a natural athlete with tremendous size and a strong work ethic. As a freshman at Penn State he was a great athlete who played WR/TE but had bad hands. He dropped a lot of balls in practice and some in games. The fans and coaching staff were not pleased with him. He vowed to work hard on it every day and become a good receiver with good hands. When he entered the NFL draft, he entered as the TE with the highest catch percentage in the draft. He went from a major weakness of bad hands to become THE most surehanded TE in the collegiate draft pool. That work ethic is going to help him take his athleticism to it's ceiling … and it is a very high ceiling.

We're starting to see it with his blocking. Much like his freshman season, Gesicki came in with a lot of questions about his blocking. He claims he's going to work on it and become a better blocker. He's not there yet … but we're already seeing improvement. I hold out hope that he will become a dominant pass catching TE in the mold of Jimmy Graham, but also become a true all around TE in the mold of a Rob Gronkowski. Regardless, if he keeps that work ethic up and stays healthy, he's likely to be the Dolphins greatest ever TE.

 

[AdamD13]

I agree. Volleyball is awesome. But I much preferred the side out era. I can't get overly excited about rally scoring, since late comebacks are now so difficult.

Greatest match ever was 1981 NCAA championship game at Santa Barbara between USC and UCLA. Tons of legends on the court like Karch Kiraly, Steve Timmons, Tim Hovland and Ricci Luyties. Match lasted nearly 5 hours before Hovland was called for a lift on match point, by famous chair umpire Wink Davenport. He was a former star player and the father of tennis great Lindsay Davenport. UCLA won in 5 games, 15-13 in the 5th.

The caliber of play was so high in the final game the score remained the same for 20 minutes at one stage deep in that game. It was one perfectly executed clutch side out after another.

I think it was the greatest sporting event I have ever attended, and I have been to Olympics, college football championship games and the Jets/Colts Super Bowl, etc.

Awesome! I got chills and that excited feeling of anticipation I used to get before playing while reading your post. True legends of the sport for sure, indoors and beach (except Simmons). Interesting tidbit about Wink, who was a little before my time as a player. What a way to end.

A thousand likes for that post if I could!

 

[.....]

Volleyball greatest game ever. I played competitively for years. If he was that dominant he has to be a freak athlete.

Same, and totally agree. I play in college, competitive, and rec until my mid-30s when the knees finally tapped out. I've played a lot of sports, but there's nothing like the speed, power, and precision of volleyball. One thing about the sport is that it is truly a team sport, more that almost any other sport. It's rare to find someone dominate the game like this article described. If true, he's a monster.

 

[BigNastyFish]

I agree. Volleyball is awesome. But I much preferred the side out era. I can't get overly excited about rally scoring, since late comebacks are now so difficult.

Greatest match ever was 1981 NCAA championship game at Santa Barbara between USC and UCLA. Tons of legends on the court like Karch Kiraly, Steve Timmons, Tim Hovland and Ricci Luyties. Match lasted nearly 5 hours before Hovland was called for a lift on match point, by famous chair umpire Wink Davenport. He was a former star player and the father of tennis great Lindsay Davenport. UCLA won in 5 games, 15-13 in the 5th.

The caliber of play was so high in the final game the score remained the same for 20 minutes at one stage deep in that game. It was one perfectly executed clutch side out after another.

I think it was the greatest sporting event I have ever attended, and I have been to Olympics, college football championship games and the Jets/Colts Super Bowl, etc.

Rally scoring SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

Net balls on serve = SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Legal throws called sets = SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

The old way was better. Way better.

I played high level as well.

It's a phenomenal game. But I hate the "new" crap.

 

[BigNastyFish]

That said. Gesicki is obviously a freaky athlete.

Hoping he's a total game changer!

 

[BigNastyFish]

fun video for peeps diggin' athletes

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Awesome! I got chills and that excited feeling of anticipation I used to get before playing while reading your post. True legends of the sport for sure, indoors and beach (except Simmons). Interesting tidbit about Wink, who was a little before my time as a player. What a way to end.

A thousand likes for that post if I could!

I primarily mentioned the guys who were also beach legends. There were many other stars in that match, like Steve Salmons. Hovland really should have been on the national and Olympic teams but he was a head case and always arguing. Steve Timmons was young at the time and not a major star. He really didn't blossom until 1984 and especially 1988. A USC player named John Hedlund was actually a superior outside hitter to Timmons in college. Hedlund was a star in that 1981 match.

Dusty Dvorak was another legend and 1984 starting Olympic setter but he ran out of eligibility a year earlier, when USC upset UCLA in the title match. I had a class with Dusty in spring '81 since he was still working on his degree. Bill Stetson was a fine replacement setter in 1981 but I remember many of us prior to the title match were thinking that the loss of Dvorak could be all the difference in a tight match. I think it turned out that way. Besides, we had defeated UCLA narrowly in a conference tiebreaker match in Santa Monica two weeks earlier, to decide the NCAA seedings. We knew it would be difficult to deny Karch Kiraly twice in a row.

Wink Davenport was very rotund and a major presence at every match. He was the top net umpire in Southern California for years and years. Nobody dared challenge him because of his stature and his reputation as a great player and great guy. Hovland normally would keep arguing forever but after that lift on match point he bent his knees in agony and briefly argued at the net, but let it go much sooner than let's say he would have on the beach against an umpire he thought he could intimidate.

There was no air conditioning in that Santa Barbara arena and it got very got over 5 hours, with a packed crowd of 4000. I remember fanning myself throughout. ABC did a great job of showing a 90 minute replay package on a Saturday afternoon about a month later. I taped it and intended to keep it, but somehow I lost the tape during all my years in Las Vegas. I have never seen clips of the match subsequently.

 

[BigNastyFish]

I primarily mentioned the guys who were also beach legends. There were many other stars in that match, like Steve Salmons. Hovland really should have been on the national and Olympic teams but he was a head case and always arguing. Steve Timmons was young at the time and not a major star. He really didn't blossom until 1984 and especially 1988. A USC player named John Hedlund was actually a superior outside hitter to Timmons in college. Hedlund was a star in that 1981 match.

Dusty Dvorak was another legend and 1984 starting Olympic setter but he ran out of eligibility a year earlier, when USC upset UCLA in the title match. I had a class with Dusty in spring '81 since he was still working on his degree. Bill Stetson was a fine replacement setter in 1981 but I remember many of us prior to the title match were thinking that the loss of Dvorak could be all the difference in a tight match. I think it turned out that way. Besides, we had defeated UCLA narrowly in a conference tiebreaker match in Santa Monica two weeks earlier, to decide the NCAA seedings. We knew it would be difficult to deny Karch Kiraly twice in a row.

Wink Davenport was very rotund and a major presence at every match. He was the top net umpire in Southern California for years and years. Nobody dared challenge him because of his stature and his reputation as a great player and great guy. Hovland normally would keep arguing forever but after that lift on match point he bent his knees in agony and briefly argued at the net, but let it go much sooner than let's say he would have on the beach against an umpire he thought he could intimidate.

There was no air conditioning in that Santa Barbara arena and it got very got over 5 hours, with a packed crowd of 4000. I remember fanning myself throughout. ABC did a great job of showing a 90 minute replay package on a Saturday afternoon about a month later. I taped it and intended to keep it, but somehow I lost the tape during all my years in Las Vegas. I have never seen clips of the match subsequently.

Great story!

Find the vid!

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Rally scoring SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

Net balls on serve = SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Legal throws called sets = SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

The old way was better. Way better.

I played high level as well.

It's a phenomenal game. But I hate the "new" crap.

Agreed on all counts. The athletes are so huge and phenomenal these days. We used to think 6-6 middle blockers were going to remain the standard forever. Craig Buck from Pepperdine was considered a freak on those '80s teams at 6-8. Nowadays you've got international teams with waves of 6-10 and 6-11 types but the asinine rules changes don't allow the game to play out like it should.