Men's volleyball coach McCutcheon knows his players are the real story

Beijing

This Olympic story is an epic, the kind of real-life movie that captivates you and leaves you choking back tears on your family-room couch.

The story of Hugh and Liz McCutcheon, her parents and the gold-medal-winning United States men's volleyball team is all that.

How it is told is another issue, and it took Hugh McCutcheon to lead us down the correct path here Sunday. What he eventually said, without directly saying it, was that it deserves to be told minus the Hollywood schmaltz. No violins in the background. This isn't "Rudy."

It was what it was. No special effects needed.

McCutcheon spoke about an hour after his team had beaten the No. 1 team in the world, Brazil, in four sets.

That got the U.S. an unexpected and cherished gold medal in a sport in which it had seemed to lose traction about the time Karch Kiraly finally started acting his age. There had been those two Kiraly-led golds in 1984 and 1988, a bronze in Barcelona in '92, and trips home from the last three Olympics with empty pockets.

In the immediate aftermath of Clayton Stanley's match-point spike into the hearts of the 2004 champion Brazilians, buried into the dead center of Brazil's defense, McCutcheon had put his face in his hands and quietly stepped away from the court for a quick minute.

"I let the filters come down a little," he said.

Then, it was back to his team, to the high-fives and hugs and slaps on the back. Soon there was a medal ceremony and more of the same. After the U.S. team received its gold medals, each player was handed a bouquet of flowers. After four years of working and hoping and trying, they could now stop and smell the roses. Literally.

Next was the parade through the mixed zone, dozens of tape recorders pushing at him, McCutcheon trying to satisfy everybody, his words filtering out in dribs and drabs against the ever-present Olympic theme song and the sounds of 18,000 people departing Beijing's Capital Gymnasium.

When these Games began, McCutcheon was known in volleyball circles and few places else. Few knew his background as a New Zealand volleyball player, even a beach volleyball touring pro for a short stint. Few knew he graduated from Brigham Young University, coached there, then hooked up with USA Volleyball and worked his way through the ranks until he took over in 2005.