Calling all Alums! We are One Team on January 17, 2009!

Greetings to the Penn State Men's Volleyball Family:


I know that you're all in the midst of your holiday preparations, but please take a few minutes, put your feet up and read on.

Before you do, though, please forward this email to everyone and anyone that you would like to see at the Alumni Match. I don't have everyone's email addresses.

Yak and I had our annual pre-Alumni match planning session at the Pittsburgh Chop House a couple of weeks ago. A $200 bar tab later, we had come up with the magic formula to make the 33rd Annual Alumni Match our best ever.

You.

In thinking about alumni matches past, we realized that the very best alumni matches have been the ones where the most guys showed up and had fun together.

So we decided that this year is going to be all about participation. Our goal is to get as many former Nittany Lion volleyball alumni back as possible, so that we may celebrate together, as a team, our 2008 National Championship. We'll celebrate the Women's team's fantastic 2008 season. We'll celebrate national championships won in 1994, 1999 and 2007. We'll celebrate the 1981 team (first to participate in the Final Four), the 1982 team (first to make it to the National Championship finals), the 1983 team (first to survive four years of Harpo), the 1986 team (first to play in the Final Four at home), the 1988 team (best team ever?), the 1976 team (for winning the USVBA Collegiate Division at Nationals), the 1978 team (for beating Nyack both at home and on the road).

You get the picture.

We're celebrating. You. Us. Our team.

In preparation for this big event, which we promise will be bigger and better than ever, I "wrote" a speech. Yak bet me that you wouldn't "get it". Prove him wrong.

With apologies to our President-Elect, it begins like this:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that this is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of Nosmo King, this is your answer. It's the answer spoken by hitter and setter, short and tall, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - those who sent a message to the world that we are not just a collection of individuals: we are, and always will be, a team. It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hand on the ball and pull, but not twist, toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but because of what we did, change has come. Before I go any further, I want to thank my partner, a man from the hardscrabble courts of Penn Hills, the Yak. And I would not be here today without the unyielding support of my best friend, the rock of our program and the love of my life, Harpo. I love you so much, and you have earned a new puppy. And while he's no longer with us, I know Dave Evans is watching, along with everyone who played from 1984 to 1987. I miss them, and know that our debt to them is beyond measure. To our leader, Mark Pavlik, and the greatest team ever assembled in the history of Penn State volleyball - we are forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who the championship banner truly belongs to - it belongs to the Alumni.

There is more. Much more. To hear it, and its stirring crescendo-like finale, you must attend the 33rd Annual Alumni Match and Banquet, January 17, 2009!

I don't know whether change has come to America. We'll see. What I would like, though, is for change to come to the Penn State Men's Volleyball Alumni. That would be a good start.

So here's what I'd like everyone to do.

1. Make your reservations, now, at the Atherton. Don't delay. 814-231-2100.

2. RSVP. On or before January 9, please.

3. Send me a check, for $50/person, for dinner. That will permit Yak and me to achieve our second goal, to break even on the event. My address is below. If you want to pay via PayPal, that's even better. fguadagnino@reedsmith.com

4. Come. Celebrate. Have fun.

I hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to seeing everyone in January.

Guad