11.2008 - peg - cover story - no sweat
TRANSCRIPT
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8/14/2019 11.2008 - Peg - Cover Story - No Sweat
1/58 Pau
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8/14/2019 11.2008 - Peg - Cover Story - No Sweat
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To cowering opponents
and most o the sports-loving world or that matter
Phil Dalhausser, 02, is one o the most intimidating players
ever to stomp the sand. At 6-oot-9 inches, with the build o a well-toned
ballpoint pen, hes known as the Thin Beast. A reak o nature. The bald-headed
bullet. 0 To those closest to him, like teammate Todd The Proessor Rogers, he is quite
the opposite. Laid back. Rarely serious. And kind o dorky. Guess hes not so eminent when
hes standing on your side o the net. 0 Its the perect partnership oensive juggernaut andskillul teacher that catapulted the dynamicpair to Olympic victory this summer in the 2008 Beijing
Olympics. In case you werent part o the wild, 12,000-person crowd (think Brazilians in green and yellow
wigs mixed with American ags and a guy sporting an Evel Knievel jumpsuit) or the 4 million ans cheering
rom their couches, heres a quick replay. 0 Its a sticky, sunny morning at Chaoyang Park. More than 10,000
tons o silky gold and white sand surround Dalhaussers monster-size eet. 0 The battle begins. 0 Pitted against
Brazilians Marcio Araujo and Fabio Jaws Magalhaes, the Olympic rookies win the frst set 23-21. The second set
goes to the Brazilians at 17-21. A nail-biter, indeed. The sportscasters, who have renicknamed Dalhausser or the oc-
casion, keep the mood light, however, with their nonchalant banter: Unortunately, the Beijing Beast isnt get-
ting many serves Jaws is just getting harpooned by the Beijing Beast What do we think the Proessor
just said to Jaws up at the net? And possibly the best comment o the game: Jaws is upset. 0 As he should
be. In the fnal set Jaws is shut down repeatedly by Dalhaussers power blocks. By point 14 game point
the sun is beating down, and Dalhausser is hotter than a twice-baked potato. Rogers serves the ball.
The Brazilians return it. Dalhausser leaps near the net and pounds the sweat-drenched ball, hitting
Jaws on the way down. Its over. The Brazilians are let with clenched fsts and utter indigna-
tion. 0 Long-limbed Dalhausser barrels toward Rogers. The perectly golden tanned duo
crashes to the ground in an enthusiastic man-hug as Dalhausser lets loose a beastly
yell. The jarring cheers that rocked the stands, he will never orget. The
years o painstaking work have paid o. 0 Time to relax. Time to
soak it in. Time to chow down a giant hamburger.
0 Or not..ucfalun.c
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MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF HIM WAS, GOSH, THIS GUYS KINDOF DORKY, BUT THEN AS I SAW HIM PLAY I WAS LIKE, WOW,HES ACTUALLY PRETTY TALENTED. toDD rogers, teAmmAte
WHIRLWIND OF ATTENTIONWhisked away, Dalhausser and Rogers
star in a smattering o interviews beore
they don their patriotic podium gear, ash
their pearly whites and show o the six
grams o gold they worked so hard or.
Shued into a special room, the
two are immediately yanked rom cloud
nine. Momentarily. They are drug tested.
Scrutinized by anti-doping agents. All clear.
Soon ater, they are back at their hotel
or a quick bite to eat beore cameos on the
Today Show andMTV News. Suddenly in thespotlight and hearing reporters dub him the
worlds best player, youd think Dalhausser
would have an ego o epic proportions. Not
the case.
I just kind o chuckle, he says. Im
not really one to pat mysel on the back.
Its pretty cool I guess. Its always nice to
get respect rom your colleagues.
As the guy with the killer 55 mph serve
explains the biggest day o his lie he is true
to his style easygoing. Thats part o what
makes him so appealing. No sports snobbery
here. Hes still the regular, un-loving Phil
he was back on the UCF sand courts.
Just busier.
The day ater winning gold, he zips back
to his home in Santa Barbara or a ew days
to decompress beore an AVP (Association
o Volleyball Proessionals) tournament in
Cincinnati. For Dalhausser, thats plenty o
time to master his avorite video game du
jour, Call of Duty 4, and time or a Fantasy
Football drat, which he plays while sportinghis new golden luck charm.
Heres the zinger though: Ater the
drat, he tucks the medal away in his closet.
I dont know what to do with it, he says.
Im supposed to take it with me to all the
events, but Im too scared Ill lose it.
Ater much debate, he takes the medal
to the Oprah Showseason premiere taping
later that week and to a Santa Barbara
elementary school. But, as he fnishes
up the stellar year with tournaments inManhattan Beach, San Francisco, Dubai
and China, the gold medal the symbol
that sums up his electriying career thus
ar will likely remain on the shel, in the
closet, among other international trophies
and medals, including the 2007 AVPs Most
Valuable Player award and the 2007 FIVB
(Federation o International Volleyball)
World Championships award.
THE PRE-BEAST YEARSJust fve years ago, those impressive
titles were merely a pipe dream. Dalhausser
was playing club volleyball at UCF on
the sand courts (next to where the UCF
Recreation and Wellness Center now stands).
Volleyball was my hobby, he says. In act
he didnt start playing until his senior year
at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach.
Compared to his 34-year-old teammate
Rogers, who began competing at 14, it was a
late start.He was hooked, and by 2002, resh
out o college with a business administra-
tion degree, he was staging his next move.
Would this volleyball thing pan out? His
parents werent convinced. As luck would
have it, though, a recently beriended pal
a pro player rom Myrtle Beach, SC
asked him to live and train there or the
summer. I didnt really have much going
on, he admits. I was working on construc-
tion in Daytona and I was like, Sure Ill
move up there.
For the next two years he learned the
ropes. Ater that it was on to Santa Barbara,
CA, ater he realized I couldnt get much
better living in Myrtle, he says. You prac-
tice against the best players in the country
in Caliornia, so your game automatically
becomes better.
THouGHTs on THe
ATTire For THe
oPeninG Ceremonies?
It was really hot and humid
in Beijing, and the jacket
and the pants were made o
wool. I would have just had
shorts on and one o those
dry-ft polo shirts. That
would have been perect.
meet ANYoNe CooL
At the oLYmPiCs?
Most o the U.S. Mens
Basketball Team, the NBA
commissioner and President
George Bush, above.
DiD you Try Any
sTrAnGe FooD?
People were eating silk
worms and stu we usually
wouldnt eat. I stuck to the
Olympic Village, which was
probably as big as a ootball
feld. They had American
ood, a Chinese section,
a European-style section.
They tried to cater to
everyone.
DiD YoU sightsee
whiLe YoU were
iN ChiNA?
I didnt really get out that
oten because our gamesstarted the frst day o the
Olympics and ended the
second to the last day. I did
go to the Silk Market to go
shopping. The people there
are very aggressive. I you
just lean into their store
they will ollow you, grab
your hand and try to pull
you in.
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DYNAMIC DUOThe move proved prosperous. He was playing nearly
every day, soaking up the vibrant Caliornia volleyball
scene. And in a 2004 tournament, Dalhausser played
against his uture partner, Rogers. He was super tall,
obviously, and somewhat o an oensive juggernaut,
Rogers remembers. My frst impression o him was,
Gosh, this guys kind o a dorky guy, but then as I saw
him play I was like, Wow, hes actually pretty talented.
He can move well and do all those things he needs to do
to be successul in this sport.
From there the two trained against each other
oten. Rogers saw on a daily basis the rookie mistakes
Dalhausser made and, more importantly, the tremen-
dous potential o this sleeping giant. I said, Hey I think
you can be the best player in the world, says Rogers.
Are you interested in playing with me? In his typical
laid-back style, Dalhausser said, Yeah, you know, I dont
have a lot o other things on my plate.
As simple as that, the partnership began. And so did
the grueling weight liting regimen and beach workouts
that included Dalhaussers most-dreaded exercise the
drag pull, where he dragged two sets o 25-pound weights
about 40 yards down the sot sand and back.
It didnt end there. Four-hundred yard sprints.
Hitting the ball three times a week or two-hour incre-
ments. Six hours a week in the weight room and cardio
routines on the o days. Two-hour plyometrics workouts
(intended to increase reactive strength and jumping
skill) so tough they occasionally made Dalhausser toss
his cookies.
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YOU PRACTICEAGAINST THE BEST PLAYERS IN THECOUNTRY IN CALIFORNIA, SO YOUR GAME
AUTOMATICALLY BECOMES BETTER. PhiL DALhAUsser, 02
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I told him, I Im going to play with you,
you have to commit yoursel, says Rogers.
Done deal. Dalhausser was game and the
scales were tipping in the direction o at-out good times. Ater he and Rogers won the
2007 FIVB World Championships, he knew
they had a shot at Beijing gold. Hes just
absorbed everything Ive had to give him,
says Rogers.
TYPICAL DAYNow in the o season, the training load
has lightened up. Dalhausser starts each
morning by slathering on some Banana Boatsunscreen, throwing on his Speedo trunks
and noshing on a light breakast usually
a banana and cereal. When asked to compare
his eating habits with Michael Phelps, he
says, I guess I eat more than the average
person, maybe around 4,000 calories. I heard
the whole 12,000 calories thing rom Michael
Phelps. I kind o fnd that hard to believe
because thats actually about six times the
average diet.
Next he treks about a hal hour overtothe University o Caliornia, Santa Barbara,
to meet up with Rogers around 9 a.m. Were
not even picking up the ball during practice,
says Rogers. Weve played so much in the
past fve months we orce ourselves not to
play. That way, when you get to the actual
tournament you get fred up or it because
you are really stoked.
By noon hes o to the gym or an hour
or so in the weight room. Then maybe a burri-
to or lunch. From there, its smooth sailing.His day is virtually done. The aternoon is
wide open or video gaming and TV watching.
Not bad. The cushy liestyle wont last or long.Hell be training ull time again soon.
London (where the 2012 Olympics will be
held) is calling.
SPECIALLYSELECTEDSPECKSA opc bach vba
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odd Knapton, who has sup-
lied sand or the last three
lympics, made our trips
o China over the past three
ears beore spotting what he
eeded on the shores o the
outh China Sea. The perect
and was on Hainan Island, also
nown as the Hawaii o China.
mixture o two sands
ne gold, one white was
mined rom separate pits andombined or the right color
nd consistency.
very speck o sand was
lended and washed during a
edious two-week process.
he 17,000 tons o sand spent
ine days at sea traveling to
he port o Tianjin. About 1,100
rucks carried it on the last leg to
eijing at night to avoid trafc.
rganizers spent $1.28 million
o fnd the sand, prepare it and
hip it to Beijing or the Olympic
enue at Chaoyang Park.