11.2008 - peg - cover story - no sweat

8/14/2019 11.2008 - Peg - Cover Story - No Sweat

1/58 Pau

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2/5Pau

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


3/50 .ucfalun.cPau

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.


4/5.ucfalun.c Pau

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.


5/5

YOU PRACTICEAGAINST THE BEST PLAYERS IN THECOUNTRY IN CALIFORNIA, SO YOUR GAME

AUTOMATICALLY BECOMES BETTER. PhiL DALhAUsser, 02

2 .ucfalun.cPau

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.

11.2008 - peg - cover story - no sweat

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