Larry Rundle Part 1
05/27/20 • 73 min
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.
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.
Previous Episode
George Stepanof - Part 3 ( conclusion)
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....
Next Episode
Larry Rundle - Part 2
Larry Discusses:
- Playing with Bob Clem ( his partner in the '71 Manhattan Beach Open that they WON), how he views himself as MORE of an INDOOR player, than a beach guy, the best players he competed against, the best diggers, the best hitters, playing and WINNING the GOLD medal in the '67 Pan Am Games in Canada on the US Olympic Men's Indoor team to qualify for the '68 Olympics, how he supported himself financially working as a waiter in the evenings at the Daisy Disco Club in Beverly Hills during '67 and '68, and then training in the UCLA weight room all day on little sleep, the '68 Olympic Games in Mexico City, how they beat the defending gold medalist Russians in the 1st round, then spraining his ankle in round 2, and he could no longer play, how amazing of a team Von Hagen and Lang were on the beach, his thoughts on how he would do against the best beach players of today on the beach, some great fan questions, what he is most proud of over his career, and what he is up to today.
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