GODS to GHOSTS Volleyball

Interview with Larry Rundle - Part 1:

Larry discusses:  

His start in the sport at John Adams Junior high school during the summer when he would hang out there from 9 am until 5 pm playing basketball, volleybal, (and PING PONG, if he lost)l, the influence Coaches Don Steere and Dave Heiser had on him at such a young age, that he held the John Adams JR High School consecutive free throw record ( 17 in a ROW!), from 1956 until 1998, and how Dave Heiser sent him a REGISTERED letter in '98 letting him know his record was broken  :), how at age 16 he was all of 5'2" and 95 pounds when he got his drivers license and how he was too weak and small to take the volleyball with his hands and had to bump everything, which made him an incredible passer,  the players he was in awe of  coming up as a youngster, his time playing at UCLA with Keith Erickson and Ernie Suwara,  and how incredibly talented they were ( Ernie was the HARDEST hitter he EVER saw, and Erickson is far and AWAY the BEST athlete he has ever known), his legendary weight training program he learned from the UCLA water polo coach and Von Hagen,  his UCSB Gaucho daughter Brooke Rundle, the amazing experience of playing on Wilt's Big Dippers led by the legendary player and personality Gene Selznick and their fun times together,  Henry Bergmann (how their partnership came to be, and all that made Henry such a unique player and human being), the epic 1968 Manhattan Beach Open in which he and Bergmann battled Von Hagen & Lang for 7 + hours between the winners finals and finals  in what is considered to be the highest level of beach volleyball ever played until the darkness ended it what he considers to be a tie as Lang could no longer see the ball in the dark, and his admiration and respect for Von Hagen & Lang for their unique ability to compete at the highest level week in and week out for years on end.

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George Discusses:

- What he is most proud of over his career as a husband to Arlene, DAD, player, friend, tournament director, and CBVA HOF contributor, HOW he would like to be remembered, what he is up to now days, what he misses about those golden days, and several EPIC party  stories in the San Diego area among the players that  he witnessed firsthand from that are PRICELESS and few people know about ( including multiple  Nate Parrish escapades that even the biggest ROCK music and surfing ROCK STARS in history would be envious of....)  You'll be  Mind blown..... Trust me....

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George discusses:

- The hardest hitters he ever saw ( Suwara, Bergmann, Tom Chamales, Powers), the best diggers he saw, the best teams he witnessed as tournament director on both the men's and women's side, his thoughts on the "new rules with short court", some of his most memorable moments as a tournament director ( including the players who terrorized him as a tournament director), the best players he witnessed ( men and women), and some great stories about guys like Steno Brunicardi :)

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George Discusses:   

-His first time playing beach volleyball in 1955 at Mission Beach, the best players in the San Diego area at that time ( Nate Parrish, Chester Goss, Jack Henn), witnessing Gene Selznick and Bernie Holtzman, and Mike O'Hara & Mike Bright play and what made them so special on the court, the lifestyle and camaraderie among the players at that time, the 1970 San Diego Open that he was the tournament director for when Dane Holtzman informed Ron Von Hagen an hour before there first match that he couldn't play due to turning Hare Krishna the NIGHT before, and how George played match maker to pair Von Hagen and a young AA rated Fred Zuelich up, his recollection of the GREATS who played back then ( Ron Lang, Ron Von Hagen, Kathy Gregory, etc..), a GREAT Vogie story, and the hitting prowess of Keith Erickson and Ernie Suwara....

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Al Discusses:

- A recruiting battle he had for a Brazilian player against USC coach Ernie Hix for a Brazilian player ( not Celson Kalache) ,  how amazing Celso Kalache was at USC, the multiple volleyball "how to" books he made over his career, WHAT made him THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ( by far) men's volleyball coach at UCLA ( if you are a coach, you need to listen to this as it is AMAZING and still holds true today), how he was ahead of his time with analytics of the sport, and where and what he is up to now AFTER retiring from the sport with his amazing family  that he ADORES, the health cancer health challenges he overcame, his golf game, and other hobbies that keep him happy and kicking ass at age 80 ( with a birthday coming up on June 8th, BRUINS players, don;t forget )   :)     For the record, I want to thank legendary Stanford women's volleyball  coach  Don Shaw, who won 4 NCAA titles over his coaching career there,  for making this interview happen.  Thanks Coach Shaw.  

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Al Discusses:

-  His 2 biggest coaching disappointments,  his amazing coaching tree of former players that played for him at UCLA and went on to be great coaches, including current USA Men's Olympic Men's Team, and UCLA Bruin Men's Volleyball coach - John Speraw, the BEST coaches he coached against over his 50 year career, and his acting debut in his former player Paul Nihilipali's 2008 beach volleyball film, THE GREEN FLASH ( formerly known as Beach Kings).  Make sure to watch it as you will get to see Al ( Pacino) Scates, killing it with his acting chops :)

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Al Discusses:

5 of his most memorable coaching experiences ( including some in OTHER sports before UCLA).......  Good stuff!  It explains a lot about why he is the BEST ever.....

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Spike Discusses:    

- Playing in a mixed open on the beach with Kathy Gregory, his South Bay buddies he grew up with, handi -cap tournaments he played in and won with Bill Leeka one year, and Dennis "the Condor" Duggan the next year, his time playing indoors for the the Hollywood Y Comets,  playing for the Olympic Club indoor 6 man USVBA team and winning the Far Westerns tournament, how he met his AMAZING wife at the beach, his memories of playing at his home beach:  Marine Street in Manhattan Beach, playing for the Legends indoor 6 man team alongside so many great players and winning multiple Gold Medals in their age group for multiple decades, including 3 Gold Medals at the World Games against the BEST players in the world, a USVBA Nationals tournament in San Francisco when he and his teammates ( except for one rookie),  made a pyramid in the elevator wearing nothing but their underwear and the rookie ( Danny Patterson) hit the elevator button on the lobby floor only to see his veteran teammates in all their naked glory when the elevator reached him, ( which the young teenage phenom was shocked by!) , and some great beach stories about playing with Rich Riffero, and Bob Hogan, and some incredible Keith Erickson stories regarding how amazing of an athlete he was.

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Spike Boarts Stories Part 1. 

 Spike Discusses:   The 1962 USVBA Nationals in Philadelphia where his team finished 5th, watching the Hollywood YMCA led team there that year coached by Harry Wilson compete against Gene Selznick's Westside Jewish Community Center team in the finals, and not getting to see Dick Clark's American Bandstand :) ,  the 1963 USVBA Nationals when he played for the Hollywood Y Stars alongside all the legends when he was an 18 year old kid against Stockton in the finals, and how coach Harry Wilson inserted him in  game 2 ( after they lost game 1, in a best of 3) and they were down 8-13, and  he served several points in a row and they ended up winning game 2 and the match and championship,   Bill Olsson and how amazing he was as a hitter, Gene Selznick and how he was such an otherworldly talent on the court as the best all around player - hands down, some classic stories about Mike Bright ( including getting Bright drunk at the Panther Room on a Saturday night before his match the next day at Laguna in '62, and how Bright was so hung over,  it helped Dave Bordwell and Gordon Evans win the Laguna Open, , some great stories about Pete Ott, Mike Anderson, and Nate Parrish, and playing at Shattuck's in Hermosa beach as  teenager growing up, including a story when Mike Bright bounced a ball over the house one day, and how he had too much to drink one another time there at the age of 18 on Bourbon ( first time he drank hard liquor), then puked his guts out in the 9th street alley, and couldn't go out for his date that night and had to have his parents call his date to let her know, meeting Keith Erickson at the age of 14 at the El Segundo Rec center and setting him balls that he pounded , the best hitters he ever saw ( Olsson, Suwara, and Chamales), and his recollection of  Bill Imwalle, Buzz Swarts, and Matt Gage as young upstarts in the south bay....

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Al discusses:   The 1965 UCLA team he had, featuring Ernie Suwara, Larry Rundle, and Keith Erickson, how those 3 legends of the sport ended up at UCLA playing for him ( including what made each one of them SPECIAL as a player and some great stories about each), more information about his DAD, a trip to Mexico City in 1965 with the USA team, and how it led to some amazing ideas Al  brought back to UCLA and the athletic director when they were constructing the Pauley Pavilion ( including how the crowd of 5,000 attendees they drew playing the Japanese National Men's and Women's teams at Pauley when it first opened), which  led to AD JD Morgan fighting for volleyball to become an NCAA sport in '70 when UCLA defeated LBSU, his amazing 1984 team featuring Ricci Luyties, Doug Partie, Roger Clark, etc., an amazing trip to Taiwan with his Bruins when they WON against the national teams competing there, and the infamous Mike Stomin' Normand circle drill he incorporated to condition his players after 1974....

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