GODS to GHOSTS Volleyball

Alan Discusses:

- Growing up as a kid in the 50's in South Mission Beach, San Diego,  and becoming a part of the surf and volleyball culture there, including hanging out with surfers like Mike Hynson (from the Bruce Brown film "The Endless Summer", and Skip Frye), the Mission Beach volleyball crew consisting of Nate Parrish, George Stepanof, Jack Henn, Chester and Stevie Goss, Bob Mendoza, Jean Ready Froning, and Jeanne Lenhart, the infamous Corona Del Mar party where...

Butch Discusses:

-  Some of the better known women's players on the beach from years passed, including Connie Keller, Jean Brunicardi, Patti Steere, Johnette Latreille, Edie Conrad, Eileen Clancy, Kathy Gregory, Nina Gruenwinkel-Matthies,  and Nancy Cohen to name a few,  what made the mixed game so amazing, including some of the best men's mixed players over the decades, and some fun stories competing against them,  the impact Mike Cook had at Marine Street,  how far the...

Butch Discusses:

- Mike O'Hara and his memories of him from the Hollywood YMCA and what made him an impressive indoor player,  the time O'Hara asked Butch to play with him at Corona Del Mar in Butch's FIRST open tournament, including some memorable moments from that weekend in '65,  Mike Bright and his memories of him, including Mike's paddle boarding prowess, and the impact paddle boarder and surfer Tommy Zahn had on a young Mike Bright, some epic stories...

Butch Discusses:

- His two men's Open Wins with Rudy Suwara, and Dane Holtzman in Santa Cruz,   and his recollection of both of them and what made them great players,  his recollection of the '68 Manhattan Beach Open he played in with Mike Bright where they finished 3rd , and how amazing Rundle and Bergmann & Lang & Von Hagen played that weekend,  including the legendary story of Steno Brunicardi getting hit in the head with a beer bottle by a fan and what...

Butch Discusses:

- The Mixed game,  Eileen Clancy and seeing how talented she was as a young 10 year old  kid playing with Jack Jensen, and the fact that she could drink a beer like no one's business, and asked her to play, a classic Butch and Barbara May Marine street mixed open story when they decided to forfeit when they weren't getting along, much to the chagrin of tournament director -Mike Cook,  some of the talented mixed players he competed against, including Matt...

Butch Discusses:

- The 2020 Olympics, including his take on the USA women's indoor team thus far, the USA men's indoor team and where they need to improve moving forward,  and which indoor teams he thinks are the favorites to medal.   He then touches on the beach volleyball games, what went wrong from Sponcil & Claes, and Dalhausser & Lucena, and who the favorites are to medal. 

Butch Discusses:

-  MUSCLE BEACH.   The players that played there over the years he was there, the eclectic group of people from ALL walks of life that hung out there ( body builders, gymnasts,  mobsters,  pro sport athletes, war heroes, successful business owners, you name it),  the CHARACTERS like Steven "TheMatsa" Cahn,  the infamous card games played there with Wilt Chamberlin, Bob Vogelsang,  etc.....

Butch Discusses:

-  More details on the '64 Olympic Team, including the FLAWED selection process, how talented Gene Selznick and Keith Erickson were, his recollection as a young beach player trying to "break in" at Muscle, Sorrento, and State Beach,  and some CLASSIC stories of "who was who" at each beach, and the HOOPS he had to jump through to make a name for himself at each, and a classic story ( from this day forward to be remembered as  "Shabba...

Butch Discusses:

- The patriotic story of how  he got his nick name "BUTCH" while still in the womb,  his start in the sport as a high school kid  growing up in Hawaii, and seeing the talented players at the Outrigger, and Hawaiian Village, including an epic story of sneaking in the Outrigger and taking a hit to the face from future '68 Olympic teammate, Tommy Haine, his infamous "4-F packet" story when he was drafted in '66!, his background before...

Ron Von Hagen shares his recollection of the infamous 1968 Manhattan Beach Open where he and Ron Lang  BATTLED Larry Rundle & Henry Bergmann for 7 plus hours between the Winners bracket finals, and FINALS, where they were dead even until it got dark and Lang  couldn't see the ball.   Amazing....