The Coaches Group Chat
Grab a drink and a seat at the table with hosts Matt Houlihan, Arielle Houlihan and Chad Gordon as we chat about the world of volleyball, coaching, business, and whatever else Arielle feels like!
The Coaches Group Chat
S4E7: Hecklers, Banners, And Volleyball Day in the Bay
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We swap our favorite heckling stories, then shift to a thoughtful case for reinstating Hawaii’s vacated 2002 title before rallying the Bay Area for a massive volleyball day push. Humor, history, and a concrete plan to pack the stands drive the hour.
• mid-season energy and a new competitive drill
• whiteboard wit and the line between sharp and mean
• Big West heckling culture and nostalgia
• Stanford deep dives and Hawaii’s electric arena
• the 2002 Hawaii title, rule changes, and fairness
• why banners matter for community and recruiting
• Volleyball Day in the Bay schedule and goals
• youth clinic, open tailgate, and giveaways
• specific roles we take to grow attendance
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Mid‑Season Setup And New Drill Tease
Matt HoulihanI feel like I should be quiet.
SPEAKER_06I just feel like it's turned into like a us against you type of thing because you wouldn't tell us what your drill is.
SPEAKER_01It happens quickly. Is this a mob form?
SPEAKER_06Now we're like now we're like scream, Matt. We'll have our own our own drills that we run.
Arielle HoulihanOkay, well, we've got a great docket for you guys today. Um, mid-season. The mid-season lull is happening, but not for us.
Matt HoulihanNo, it's the start of start of conference for most. Yeah. Yeah. Most people are actually just queuing up. Big West is just getting started. MPSF is kind of two weeks. It's two weeks in technically speaking, but like some of the top 4-0. That's right. Stanford, Stanford on top. Trying to trying to stay there, my guy.
unknownYeah.
Arielle HoulihanHow's your week of practice going? Is it great?
Matt HoulihanWe had um we we're two days in of practice and we've had two very good practices back to back. So very happy. I uh we had a coach's planning session yesterday, and we came up with a new drill, and the boys went loco for it. It was it was a great one. You know, sometimes when you're like, I feel like we've got something good coming out of a practice planning session, but you're like, I just don't know. Like there could be maybe it goes south this way, or maybe you go south this way. We came up with a very well-balanced competitive drill that I'll make a video about it. We'll we'll I can't do it justice explaining it here. I need to I need to dab it. You're gonna tease your fellow hosts by not even sharing this remote. The uh the practice theme on Monday was Theron's birthday, and so I believe one of the jokes is that T, whenever he orders from Starbucks, says his name is Frank, so that he doesn't need to tell explain how to spell Theron. That's fair. So it was called Frank's is the Frank drill, but it was uh Frank's cutthroat. So cutthroat is the name of the drill, and it uh it was very cutthroat, and it brought out a lot of good things. I was very happy with it. So we'll uh we'll we'll just can tease that one and we'll we'll get it up on Instagram for you guys soon. I can't wait. I'm on pins and needles. You guys suck. Uh I just want to know.
Chad GordonJust tell us.
Daniel RasayCan't wait to see South going two different directions.
Matt HoulihanFirst item on our docket. Should I uh should I cue it up for you guys? Sure. All right. We are uh we're we're watching this USC UCLA game. Uh
Best Heckling: Whiteboards And Wit
Matt HoulihanI feel like I should be quiet.
SPEAKER_06I just feel like it's turned into like a us against you type of thing because you wouldn't tell us what your drill is.
SPEAKER_01Is this how mobs form?
SPEAKER_06Now we're like now we're like scream, Matt. We'll have our own our own drills that we run.
Matt HoulihanYeah, I just can't do it justice without video. So uh the first item on our docket was a discussion about the best heckling you've ever experienced as a player and or and or as a fan. So just a little queue up of best heckling gyms. Would you uh would you care to start for us over there, uh Chad?
Chad GordonI can start. Yeah, as the least athletic person on the couch, uh, I didn't play in any high heckling environments. Um I would say of my favorite heckling um people, Kyle Dagasino sits on the top with the whiteboard.
SPEAKER_05Yes.
Chad GordonAnd and for me as a as a good Harker student, I just love the intellectual rigor that Kyle is bringing to the whiteboard. And you know, he's making you think. It's not just like, hey, your fly is down, it's it's something really substantial and uh you know biting.
SPEAKER_06Kyle Kyle had a good run for a little while of the white person.
Chad GordonThis was Kyle at women's games. Yeah, yeah. It would be tougher for him to do it during the men's uh yeah.
Matt HoulihanI'm just painting the picture for the crowd.
Chad GordonYeah, yeah, yeah. Um and yeah, he would just he'd show up with his, you know, whatever, two by three feet whiteboard. Like it's it's industrial size and strength. And he's witty. And so that's uh gotta get away.
Arielle HoulihanKyle's a Kyle's a top tier, top-tier heckler, 100%.
Matt HoulihanThat's a great call. That was that's the OG whiteboard. That's uh I stole that from him for six man. That is that was a clear as day. I saw that and was like, man, that's brilliant.
Chad GordonIt's it's just it's sharp and it's killing with kindness, but like sharp kindness.
Matt HoulihanDo you have a do you have a favorite uh memory of some of the things? Because I I remember some very highbrow Stanford stuff that was was thrown up on.
Chad GordonI I can't think of anything off the top of my head uh specific example wise. I want to I want to say I know how it made me feel.
Arielle HoulihanI remember I remember the it was the Patriots Falcons game that they blew the lead.
Matt Houlihan23.
Arielle HoulihanYeah, and I think that it was right when that had happened, and he wrote on the whiteboard like it was like a comeback. Somebody was in the in the fifth, and there was a comeback, and it was it was really funny. It was like the Falcons blew a 23 to 7 lead or something. It was a good zeitgeist joke.
Matt HoulihanNice.
Big West Memories And Culture Lines
Matt HoulihanI like it. All right, Ariel, coming down the coming round the horn here.
Arielle HoulihanI got a couple. Uh best heckler of all time. I mean, I gotta give it to Jen Joins because that's my uh your girl. Yeah, I gotta I gotta give Jen Joins a shout-out. Uh Jen Thomas now. Yes. Uh my recruiting trip to UOP. Uh I got to I got to have a great phone call with her as of recent, uh, telling her this story. Um, but she was uh had a couple drinks probably, maybe a couple bevies, uh, and was standing down screaming at the men's team. I don't even know who Pacific was playing. And I was watching, I was on my recruiting trip, I was like six, seventeen years old, and uh I watched her screaming at the men's team, and I was like, I think I want to be like you when I grew up. And I was just like, this is sick. I'm sold. Yeah, I'm sold. Where do I sign? Yeah. Um, but like Big West Heckel culture in 2007 and eight was primo, and rules really weren't really in place yet on that. Just starting to really toe the line on those things. Yeah, I was really, I mean, I'm sure it was better years before. It was better in the early 2000s, I would say was like incredible. Um, but you got like Long Beach and Irvine, and like all these places that have men's volleyball teams and women's volleyball teams there too, and like you're traveling and going and the men's teams there and the women's teams there, and uh the culture was pretty legitimate. Uh, but we my team went down to Irvine and they unveiled the 2007 national championship. Did Irvine win in 2007?
Matt HoulihanFor the men's team, probably's team. 2008, yeah. I think eight.
Arielle HoulihanUm, but they had the unveiling of the banner at the women's game when we were playing them. Uh, and the men's team came in uh all dressed up and ready to unveil their national championship banner, and I heard things yelled at people that I had never heard before that was so egregious and truly hysterical. And I thought it was funny. My team did not think it was funny at all.
Matt HoulihanLet's hear it. I mean, the Statue of Limitations is passed. Let's hear it.
Arielle HoulihanThese guys, if anybody is on that team, I'm gonna look up with the roster is on the team. So this is very incriminating. But I mean, we we walk, we're in hitting lines, and I'm like, these guys are screaming, like your legs look like cottage cheese. At girls on my team, and I'm like, that's outrageous. Like, so it was so funny to me and and also awful, but like it was also mom
Player And Coach Tales From Santa Barbara
Arielle Houlihanhelp. Yeah, like it was, but it was like this is what for me, I was like, this is the best culture ever. This is what it's supposed to be like. So um, yeah, that's that's my primo.
Matt HoulihanI like it.
Arielle HoulihanPrimo hypo culture.
Matt HoulihanDaniel, what do you got?
Daniel RasayUh I've got like two very vivid memories. One when I was a player and one when I was a coach. We'll start with when I was a player. We had a guy that transferred from Santa Barbara, where we were playing at, and I guess some of his old buddies came to the game and they just held up a sign that said, Nordberg Eats Poo. And it was, you know, everyone loves a poo-poo pee-pee joke, and they just held it up, and we were cracking up, and it was hilarious. And um they let him go too. Like he held the sign up for the entire match and like a slow burn. Yeah. And as a coach, Santa Barbara again, we had a guy on our team that was he was a big kid, and they were chanting 2468, Spencer Haley's overweight. And our entire team was unfocused and laughing. And so was Spencer. But you know, it was in good fun. I think it was just some of his friends that go to Santa Barbara that were there and had a good laugh. But that's so funny. Like burned into my memory, like, still makes me laugh every once in a while when I think about it. But so good.
Matt HoulihanIt's good stuff. All right, for mine. Uh I'll go, I'm gonna go when I was playing. And yeah, and then I'll keep it both as when I was playing. I'm gonna I'm gonna touch on similar to similar to Chad, it was a very Stanford heckle. So we're at playing at Stanford, and we're in Burnham Pavilion. This is the same, same match we lose 14-11 when we were up in the fifth. Daniel's coaching on the other side of the net. And the couple of the the KA frat boys had had come in and they're all dressed up in their costumes and whatnot. But they start looking up all of our profiles, which is normal. You know, they're checking out the profiles. They take it a step further and they start looking up, they just do Google search. And one of our players, the other outside hitter on my team, Adam Troy, in the summers runs, ran a window cleaning business with his brother back home in Rockland, California. So they have now found Adam's pain-free window cleaning business on Yelp, and they just start going in. Adam, I just left a one-star review on pain-free window
Stanford Crowd Deep Dives And Hawaii Atmosphere
Matt Houlihancleaning. Adam, I'm calling your I'm calling your former clients right now and letting them know there's better options in their area. Just very highbrow heckles. Our whole team is cracking up because we all know Adam's cracking up. Again, next one as a player that was just more like just the overwhelming environment of of the heckle was Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff's Center. I thought you were gonna say BYU. BYU, but BYU is very same as a cave aggressive. It's very similar. Like I got when I got heckled at BYU, they said nice butt. That's what I remember from BYU.
Arielle HoulihanIt's pretty racy for BYU.
Matt HoulihanIn Hawaii, that kid was expelled. Hawaii, Hawaii, the you know, the student section is I wouldn't say the student section is the biggest thing at Stancherip. It's mainly like the aunties and the uncles, right? Like, um, but the student section that is there was kind of getting on, they were getting on as pretty, pretty hard. But then you're also surrounded by just a bigger crowd than you're ever going to experience anywhere else. So the uh the degree of that heckle and it being on you and there being a lot of noise and whatnot uh definitely amplified the uh the arena. But those are the those are the two that stand out the most. And the uh University of Hawaii is also a part of our our next item on the docket. So I believe it transitions well. We uh we had a moment last week. Daniel just kind of off the cuff brought it up, but uh brought up the the idea of the reinstatement of their national championship and then got some more coverage. We got uh the volleyball recap that posted a video breakdown as well. So I wanted to provide Daniel a little opportunity here. Do we is this the time? Is this is this the moment that we're we're gonna make the
The Case To Reinstate Hawaii’s 2002 Title
Matt Houlihanpush for the reinstatement or where where do things stand for you?
Daniel RasayI mean, with the change in the landscape of college athletics where they're just throwing money left and right. I mean, I guess let me go back even further. Yeah, lay lay the land of why. Why did why did it get vacated in the first place? So it was a f I think it was a fairly newly instituted rule that said uh you basically couldn't play with professionals. So Costus Theo Horides, he's from Greece, and you know, we know in Europe we have all of these younger athletes playing with some of the pro clubs. And he did not accept any money and did not get anything for his services, but he was playing alongside other professionals, so they deemed him a professional, which was against the rules at the time, and decided that he wasn't an eligible player when he was playing and basically stripped of our our title.
Matt HoulihanSo he took zero dollars whatsoever playing in that league. Yeah. Just playing in that league for development's sake. Yep. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the current landscape of that rule is is different, right? You are allowed to play in a professional league. Yeah, and you can even accept you can even accept money. Yeah, I believe it believe it changed that even more, right? Now, even more so with NIL, you're allowed to accept now.
Chad GordonThey go get these guys after they come out of their pro leagues and be like, you want to come play at UH and Long Beach and these places, right?
Arielle HoulihanDoes anybody have the advantage or disadvantage based off of that? It was there other kids that could have had an opportunity had they known. Is there like is there any anything that changes the landscape for any other teams for when you played? If Do you know what I'm saying by that?
Daniel RasayYeah, I I mean I don't think it changes anything. I don't think it changes anything. I mean the Puerto Ricans are probably doing the same thing as well, right? And I guess Lewis got in trouble for some of that, but they that's a whole nother can of worms. Yeah. But I mean, and also like when people are playing in the summer, playing with professionals, maybe it's not organized, but when people, you know, go and play in four money tournaments, that's the definition of being a professional too.
Matt HoulihanSo every kid that goes and plays in Walpaca boat ride now deemed ineligible.
Chad GordonWon those free socks and oh man, had to set up my senior season. Yep.
Daniel RasayYeah. So I mean, not a rule anymore and completely different of what's happening in college athletics, and so it makes sense. But you know, thinking about it more like would the reinstatement uh change uh my life or my teammates' lives? Probably not, right? Because it's been so long. The biggest impact is gonna be on the people of Hawaii that supported us, and you know, wow, you presented the the possibility of us, you know, firing some people up to get some reinstatement. I was just thinking about this, and it is all about the people like the people that used to feed us after matches and travel to ROA matches and support us. That's really who it's for. And the only way that the university is gonna push for it is if uh they can figure out how to make some financial gain from it by you know bringing us in and getting more ticket sales or you know, whatever it may be. But you know, I'm content in where we're at, and I think a lot of our teammates are. Like we still consider ourselves champions, but uh I think the state of Hawaii would throw us another party if they were to reinstate it. Well, uh correct me I'm wrong, this is your guys' first national championship, right? Yeah, first first national championship, first ever men's team championship for the university as well.
Arielle HoulihanSo I mean I I guess Is there anybody on the team that has like made a significant amount of money?
Daniel RasayWhich team?
Arielle HoulihanYour team.
Daniel RasayProbably, yeah.
Why It Matters To Fans And Program Legacy
Arielle HoulihanAnd then donation or not.
Matt HoulihanPush for it. I mean, obviously that would that would help the cause, but in reality, like I would I would even probably push back a little bit of like exactly what you said from a perspective of the program that is at the forefront currently and has been for a long time of being a men's volleyball bastion. So much of these programs are based upon the history, and you guys are the start of championship history in Hawaii. And if I'm if I'm a coach, I want every national championship banner that I can possibly point to, specifically from a like that era. You're you guys, your team is now to Ariel's credit, it's now in the point where you can got people who are hitting their strides in terms of their life, their ability to reconnect with the school to be able to contribute. This is the timing that makes the most sense for that. Where like when Pacific got cut and I just got when I just graduated, I had no idea how to help. Yeah, I had no I had no understanding of how to make anything better in that situation. But when you have a group of individuals, like at the example of when Stanford got cut, there were so many more people that were able to fight and connect and understood how to make a difference. I would say the same thing would probably go to Hawaii, and it's probably less about the money, and it's more about just the the understanding of how important that moment was in time for Hawaii as a state, Hawaii as a university, and men's volleyball as a program on campus. Yeah. So here's our call.
Daniel RasayClick the link below. I mean, from what I've heard, it's definitely on the new athletic director's lists of things he'd like to do, but not a priority. Sure. And so I'm happy it's on his list, and maybe a couple of years down the road when he gets settled, maybe we can make a big push.
Matt HoulihanSqueaky wheel. Squeaky wheels get the get the grease. I think we just need to keep talking about it every single week. No. It is it is definitely something that uh is is a worthwhile thing for for Hawaii, no matter what the you know, I don't know what that process looks like in terms of getting it reinstated reinstated or just if it's an application, if it's a review, what that may be. But yeah, figuring out, figuring out the way, that takes some time, but certainly something that I think we're we're all ready to to rally behind.
Arielle HoulihanI'm a supporter because it's our closest shot at getting a national championship on the coaches' group chat because Yeah, it's our only shot.
Matt HoulihanIt's our only shot. Oh, wait, no, it's not. It's not our only shot.
Daniel RasayWait, I got one at Stanford, so I'm yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, well, we have to.
Volleyball Day In The Bay: Plans And Timing
SPEAKER_00That one doesn't count.
Matt HoulihanI'm gonna get one today.
SPEAKER_00Today.
Chad GordonI can't wait to hang banners in this house. It's gonna be great.
Matt HoulihanWhen Stanford wins a national championship, we are hanging a banner in our living room for a year. Get rid of that disco ball. Can I hang a banner in the in our bedroom for a year? Yeah, I'm moving. We've got a good place for one right now. Yep. Final item on the docket. Volleyball day in the bay. The self-christened holiday of volleyball. I talked to Andrew Fuller today at practice. He's on board. We have women's beach volleyball starting at 4 p.m. that day. The number one team in the country. The number one ranked beach volleyball team in the country.
Arielle HoulihanStarting at 4 pm again.
Matt HoulihanYeah, they have a they have a duel at 4 p.m. Great on Saturday. An excellent warm-up. Men's volleyball at 5 p.m.
Arielle HoulihanYeah, that's horrible timing.
Matt HoulihanIt's great timing.
Arielle HoulihanAre you trying to make that sound like it's like it's almost too good to believe?
Matt HoulihanLet's be real. Volleyball day in the bay is for the men's volleyball team. But women's volleyball is also playing, and we love the women's speech team. And Andrew Fuller is a big supporter. So we're gonna we're gonna include them. He wants to be included. I want him to be included. Can you not just start an hour?
Arielle HoulihanI'm super excited for everybody involved.
Matt HoulihanThere you go. Because now the next the only question I have to pose is how can you help? How can you make this the best it can be? I'm running, I'm running a free clinic for the youth on Saturday.
Arielle HoulihanOh, that's nice.
Matt HoulihanAfter our servant pass when we run a free clinic.
Arielle HoulihanFor the children.
Matt HoulihanWe've got uh I've been bringing Can our kids go? Yes, they can. I've been bringing great, perfect. I've been bringing uh clubs in to watch practices. I can't wait. Been bringing directors in to watch practices, trying to drum up.
Arielle HoulihanI'm a director. I haven't been invited.
Matt HoulihanYeah, Tuesday. Tuesday. What are you talking about? You check your emails. Better be there. Absolutely not. So the question remains: what can each of you do for volleyball day in the bay?
Chad GordonI'll do the most. Um no, I'm actually going to recruit a I'm gonna go on a nationwide hunt starting on the East Coast and working my way back. Oh, nice. Some some are gonna say, some are gonna say it's
Tailgate, Youth Clinic, And Community Push
Chad Gordonfor wedding uh venue hunting and all that kind of stuff.
Arielle HoulihanAnd this is a transition into Chad's one-minute wedding. Which is which is Chad's wedding update.
Chad GordonAll right, so now that it's about me. Uh we're going to New York. Yeah, go. Set. We're going to New York. We talked to Big J. Whose name is Jesse, by the way. It's not Jesse.
Arielle HoulihanOkay.
Chad GordonJenna. Jenny. Jenny. Jenny. Grip. So Jesse.
Arielle HoulihanJesse.
Chad GordonUh she came back with a kind of a first round list. We had a good call with her for like a like a good hour.
Arielle HoulihanFirst round list of what?
Chad GordonOf venues, sorry.
Arielle HoulihanGot it.
Chad GordonUm and we kind of calibrated and she's coming back with more. We're gonna go tour probably like four or five while we're out there. I think Lacey is gonna sorry, Bobby's gonna do some wedding dress hunting while she's out there. Nice.
SPEAKER_05Um and that's what are you gonna do while you're out there? Speak about weddings?
Chad GordonUh recruiting for me. Yeah, I'm recruiting. I thought that was pretty obvious. Uh we're gonna take a take an hour off to go watch Harry Potter.
SPEAKER_00Nice.
Chad GordonUh or uh Cursed Child.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
Chad GordonBut that's you know, that's part of the wedding basically. Yeah, you don't know. So be a themed wedding. Wedding write-off. Um right next to the Shrek write-off. I've already written that off. That was for 2025. Stop trying to get me in trouble with the RS. Unbelievable. Uh no, that's that's the big thing.
Arielle Houlihan15 seconds here.
Chad GordonFor Shrek. Um no, that's the the big thing is is just that we'll be out there for a full week and uh hopefully uh hunt down some venues and you know get the vibe in New York.
Arielle HoulihanOkay, the gist of it is Chad is wedding venue shopping.
Chad GordonBut I'm really there recruiting for volleyball day.
Arielle HoulihanAnd back to volleyball day in the bay.
Chad GordonAbsolutely, I can't wait.
Arielle HoulihanCool.
Chad GordonLove it. Ariel.
Arielle HoulihanI am going to leverage my communities. That's all.
Matt HoulihanWhat does that mean? Give me specifics.
Arielle HoulihanDang it. Okay. Uh well, I am happy to tell the girls' volleyball people to come to the game. And I will be there. And I will do something for them if they go.
Chad GordonLike a dance? Like a crisp high five.
Arielle HoulihanI'll dance with them.
Chad GordonOne shindig.
Arielle HoulihanUm, I will how about how about uh I'm happy to uh partner with somebody to do a cool giveaway. Um I reached out to a certain hair tie company.
Matt HoulihanNo free, no free plugs.
Arielle HoulihanNo free plugs.
Matt HoulihanThat's not the name of the company.
Arielle HoulihanAnd asked them if they'd like to do a uh do a little giveaway for the girls that love that certain specific hair tie company. Um and if they don't get back to me, I'm making my own hair tie company.
SPEAKER_00Ooh.
Arielle HoulihanI know it's very, very, very high stakes. Um but other than that, yeah, maybe do a brand giveaway or something. Or maybe I will give away a like show up at a practice for two hours.
Matt HoulihanOh, oh, oh, that's to a Bay Area
Closing Rally: Beat 2,175 And Show Up
Matt Houlihanvolleyball team. Women's volleyball. We'd love to see, we'd love to see the girls' volleyball.
Arielle HoulihanSo if you bring your team more than eight players on your team, I will come to a practice and do a giveaway at the game. Oh, I love that. Cool.
Matt HoulihanOkay, great. Daniel, what do you got?
Daniel RasayUh I will share my love language with the people that show up.
Arielle HoulihanYou're gonna cook for everybody?
Daniel RasayYeah.
unknownYes.
Daniel RasayYeah.
Matt HoulihanUm Rasai Performance Catering is back. I'm pretty upset I'm missing that. Uh we're doing a uh He's ordering DoorDash for everybody. We are doing a tailgate. We're doing an open tailgate. This is not run by Stanford. This is uh this is a coached group chat. You guys are running a tailgate at the beach volleyball courts starting at 3 p.m.
Arielle Houlihan3 p.m.
Matt HoulihanThat's the perfect time prior to the men's volleyball game. So the beach volleyball courts next to uh Maples, not the beach volleyball courts, but the the dual issue.
Arielle HoulihanOh, the ones where like the rec people play.
Matt HoulihanYeah, the circular courts over there.
Arielle HoulihanOver near the new tennis courts.
Matt HoulihanThat's over by the new tennis courts. And Reside Performance Catering's gonna be there cooking it up. And uh yeah, just a great opportunity.
Arielle HoulihanSay hello to people.
Matt HoulihanYeah, just get just get ready to just get ready to show up and show out. We gotta beat 2,175. That's the number. Child's play. I want 3,000 plus. So double it. Help me, help me. Yeah. Wait. Help me, help me. It's not about helping you, it's about helping me. So more specifically, helping men's volleyball and volleyball in the Bay Area. So thank you all for your service. We'll see you next week.
Arielle HoulihanLet's leverage our communities.
Matt HoulihanThis is one of them. Buy your tickets now, people. Plane tickets, because the game is free. Buy your plane tickets. Come on out, come join us.
Arielle HoulihanAll five of our listeners.
Matt HoulihanThat's right. And with that, we need to watch a fifth set.
Arielle HoulihanSo oh yeah, we gotta go.