GODS to GHOSTS Volleyball – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Mike discusses:  His coaching career, including time at Santa Monica Community College and an epic comeback against Orange Coast Community College and how instrumental all -time LEGEND  Randy Stoklos was,  some of the heaviest hitters he ever saw,  how he developed indoors as a player at places like John Adams Middle School, Pierce College, etc...  Playing with Dave Schaeffer indoors, and classic story of "breaking in" filling in for '64  Olympian and Stockton Club player,  Chuck Nelson in a tournament with fellow Olympians Rudy Suwara and Butch "4-F" May.   

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Stormin' Normand discusses:   The brilliance of   UCLA Coach Al Scates,   the infamous "CIRCLE DRILL",  "The Blue Curtain",    CURL OFF in UCLA weight room against Trevor Schirman...   His beach volleyball career, including epic 3rd place finish with the only guy with a mustache better than him, the LATE Rick "Bear Dog""  at the '77 State Beach World Championships,  and mentoring a young Sinjin Smith to his first win at the '77 Marine Street Open...   Plus the LEGENDARY story of when a just out of Santa Barbara HS Karch Kiraly and Marco Ortega competed against him and Sinjin in first round.  Karch mouthed off " Choke city",  after winning first game, and had the living daylights scared out of him once he got a "load" of STORMIN' NORMAND.....  Lesson LEARNED....

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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 things got "out of hand", including Nate Parrish putting his head through the glass window and throwing a couch from the second story onto a Porsche below, playing against legends Mike O'Hara & Mike Bright in the first round, and then Ron Lang & Gene Selznick in the tournament that weekend, and a classic story of competing against Steno Brunicardi and Kent Dorwin where he and his partner made the mistake of listening to Nate Parrish's advice...

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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 beach game has come with the players today all over the WORLD,  and the two USA women's beach players, Sarah Spocil, and Kristen Nuss, that he feels have infinite potential on the beach...

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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 of Bright competing in the Catalina to Manhattan Beach Paddle Board contest, and another in Hawaii against surfing legend George Downing, some epic stories about making  the '68 Men's Indoor Olympic Volleyball team and punching Mike Bright in the face during the try outs in Lake Tahoe and the drama that ensued through out the Olympics, Butch's  "interactions" with Coach Jim Coleman, including hanging Coleman off the 3rd story balcony of the hotel when Butch disagreed with Coleman's questionable coaching decisions, and how Butch rode a bicycle up to Bright's house in the canyon now once, but three times when fires threatened to burn down Bright's house....

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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 transpired after,  and how talented Gene Selznicjk was ....

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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 Gage, Nina Gruenwinkel (Matthies), Rose Duncan, Captain Buzz Swarts, Ron Lang,  Mike O'Hara, Edie Conrad, Johnette Latreille, Gene Selznick, Jim Savage, and Sandy Malpee, to name a few,  riding motorcycles in his spare time with Al Wurtzel, surfing with Mike Bright, and working with him at Rick's Surfboards (later Becker Surfboards) and getting paid with a surfboard!, a classic story of playing rugby with the owner of Mattel Toys!, and how grateful he is to have met the amazing people he has thanks to the sport of volleyball....

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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. 

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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...  Hot Dog on a Stick,  the beach clubs located close by,  including how Doug Badt's Sand & Sea Club had the BEST food on the beach :),  the legendary Barber family that was an integral part of the scene, and how bonded the Muscle Beach (Sewer of Volleyball) crew from that golden era is to this day......

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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 Habbitz") in the history of the sport,  when he played in a Winston Volleyball tournament alongside Gene Selznick later in their careers against a young Don Shaw and his partner....    

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