GODS to GHOSTS Volleyball

Bill Leeka Discusses:
 
 -  How he met Ron Von Hagen at UCLA when they pledged the BETA THETA PI Fraternity together as freshman,   how he learned to play volleyball as a freshman football player on the volleyball court behind the frat house,   playing at Sorrento Beach  and learning more about the sport  from Wally Busby and the other fixtures  at the beach,   how he was a  short runt  kid all his life starting in elementary school, yet was  designated by his teachers and coaches as a special athletic talent and leader  all the way through high school,  a classic story when he was at summer camp for the ARMY after her graduated from UCLA, and told his commanding officer he was sick and needed to go home, then drove back in his MG convertible drinking a 6 pack  of BEER on the drive down, and won an A tournament with Clyde Grosscup that weekend!, and some other classic stories.

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Jan Discusses:

- Growing up in Norway, what the country is like, and how he got his start in volleyball as a youth, playing indoors professionally, including his time on 2 French professional teams in the 80's - Arago Sete, & AS Cannes,  some of the best international indoor players he competed against and looked up to, how he learned the sport of beach VB playing 3 man volleyball on the beach in the French Riviera,  how he learned about the AVP and the players he admired on the AVP tour in his youth,  how he earned his nickname - MAP ( Most Arrogant Player) when his partner Bjorn Maaseide advised him he was "too nice" to his fellow countrymen when they competed on the beach  so he adopted his new nickname and how it served him well over his career on the beach, and a CLASSIC  story of a trip he took a decade ago with Bjorn and their families to Rome, Italy, and how  the cab driver thought Jan was the actor Dolph Lundgen ( AKA Ivan Drago)!

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Jeff Discusses:

- The OFF THE COURT "fun" volleyball players in the 70's had with the volley dolly's ( EPIC stories!),  one  of his most memorable finishes in the '74 Manhattan Beach Open playing with Leonard Armato, and the teams they beat along the way, and how fun the player parties were after the tournament!  

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Dave Bordwell Discusses:

-  More insight on Ron "8-0" Lang , the best diggers from that era, the best hitters from that era, several EPIC  stories about  the most FEARED  guy on the beach, Steno Brunicardi, Dave's memories of winning the '62 Laguna Beach Open with partner Gordon Evans, and winning the '65 Corona Del Mar Open alongside partner Ron Von Hagen, and what transpired in his life after his playing career concluded.  

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Dave Bordwell Discusses:

-  His good friend Keith Erickson and some CLASSIC stories about him and his athletic prowess & some shenanigans' between them ( including the time they threw water balloons at passerby's from their hotel balcony  in San Diego), the time Bordwell saw Peter Velasco hit at ball at State Beach that bounced on the restroom roof,  his recollection of Ron Von Hagen and what made him so good and an amazing human,  the BEST players from his era, his recollection of Gene Selznick, including how dominant Gene was on the beach,  his amazing personality that drew crowds and followers, and some epic stories from the USVBA Indoor Nationals in '62 & '65, when Gene was a man amongst boys, including how Jack Jensen threw punches at Bordwell....

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Dave Bordwell Discusses:

-  His start in the sport as a 18 year old kid in 1950 thanks to his girlfriend at the time who took him to State Beach and introduced him to Bernie Holtzman,  who taught him the game,  Bordwell's  world class track & field talents ( running  the 200 meter dash in 20.6 secs, and long jumping 25 feet 7"),  his recollection of the prominent volleyball fixtures at State Beach in the 50's ( Bernie Holtzman, Gene Selznick, Ron Lang, Altie Cohen, Don McMahon, Dick Davis, etc..),  a classic story about Pan Am games when he and Mike Bright got into a fight in the bathroom with  some Canadian hockey players that tried to skip in front of them in line, and  his recollection of legendary players Gene Selznick, Ron Lang, Mike Bright, & Mike O'Hara, including the "bad blood" rivalry between Selznick & O'Hara. 

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Jeff Discusses:

- Mike Maas and what a talented indoor defensive player he was, the West LA Window Shades USVBA team he captained and some FUN stories about the team, his High School indoor coaching career as an assistant coach for two of the most talented programs in the history of California :  The Laguna Beach Artists ( under head coach Bill Ashen), and the Mira Costa Mustangs (under head coach Mike Cook), as well as some classic stories about the incredibly talented players he had the privilege of coaching during his time at both high schools.

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 Ron Lang pays tribute to O'Hara & Bright and Discusses:

-  How he first met Mike O'Hara in '56 after O'Hara got out of the service and played in a tournament with him, the Selznick & O'Hara rivalry where he and Mike Bright were just side shows to Selznick & O'Hara when they played one another,  how honored Lang was when the O'Hara family asked him to speak at O'Hara's wake, some memorable  O'Hara stories, and what he learned from him as a competitor,  O'Hara's strengths  and weaknesses as a player, and  what an amazing father he was, stories about Mike Bright, including one from the '64 Olympics and the back set shoots he set him in Tokyo, Japan,  the tragic diving  accident in which  Bright  dove too deep and came up too fast and got the "bends" and became partially paralyzed, what an outstanding  athlete Bright  was as a basketball player, as well as a paddle boarder, including the fact he won the 32 mile Catalina to Manhattan Beach paddle board race on multiple occasions.

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Jeff Discusses:

-  A mesmerizing story about the most impressive  hit he EVER witnessed (courtesy of Henry Bergmann) during an early round Saturday match at the '70 or '71 Manhattan Beach Open, how amazing the crowds were for the Manhattan Beach Open back then with fans packed all around the court, on the stairs, the pier, and the strand, some of the other most impressive hitters he witnessed over the years as a player, and ref, the variety of balls they played with over the decades and the differences between them,  the best diggers he saw over the years, some fond memories of the infamous South Bay eating establishments on the beach in the 70's  (Taco Bills &  Perry's Pizza),  and a discussion about the legend/rumor of whether or not Keith Erickson ever bounced a ball up over the railing into the south  parking lot at Manhattan Beach?

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Jeff Jordan - Part 1 Interview.

Jeff Discusses:

- Growing up in the South Bay as a talented baseball and basketball player,  how he learned the sport of volleyball during a class at UC Irvine in College,  playing in the Manhattan 6 man tournament with Ted Dodd, and being recruited by Pepperdine Coach,  Harlen Cohen,  to play indoors alongside Ted at Pepperdine on a scholarship where he earned ALL-AMERICAN honors in '75 , playing on the work up yellow court at Marine street during the  summer  and being invited to play on the main Orange Court by  Mike Cook,  winning his first A tournament on the beach, some classic stories from the Manhattan 6 Man tournament, where he won 3 titles as captain alongside the teams he put together, his  reffing career for the 6 man over several decades, and also reffing on the AVP tour for a decade, his time coaching the sport, including 2 stints as an assistant coach for two of the GREATEST high school programs and Coaches  in California for Bill Ashen's Laguna Beach Artists, and Mike Cook's Mira Costa Mustangs,  the best beach match he ever witnessed  on the beach when Mitch Malpee & John Gonzalez took on Kirk Kilgour & Doug Dunlap and dug them countless times even though they ultimately lost,  and how amazing Matt Gage and Jim Menges were as a team.

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