Legends of the beach

The Dinner of Champions was held this evening in Manhattan Beach, to help kick off the AVP Manhattan Beach Open this weekend. It was a charity event to raise money for Dig4Kids, a non-profit organization whose mission is to teach kids the importance of exercise and education in disadvantaged communities. 

The legends of the beach stood up when asked who had won the Manhattan Beach open and as I looked around the room, I held my breath as I saw many volleyball greats: Karch Kiraly, Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos, Tim Hovland, Mike Dodd, Jim Menges, Eric Fonoimoana and others. It hasn't been since Mike's funeral had I seen so many of them in the same room. In part, the evening was held to commemorate the passing of Mike Whitmarsh earlier this year with a limited edition AVP Wilson memorial volleyball as well as to celebrate the achievements of Jim Menges, who entered 75 Open tournaments, advancing to the finals 62 times, and won 48 events from 1970-1982. The stories told about Jim had the room roaring with laughter, but more importantly they reminded us all about how much we love the sport of beach volleyball.  

The Manhattan Beach Open is considered the Wimbledon of beach volleyball and it takes place this weekend. Fans will be able to see a Six-Man play-off to preview the upcoming Six-Man Beach Volleyball Tournament on August 1-2. By the way, if you've never been to Six-Man, you gotta check it out. It's the west coast version of Carnivale with sun, sand, volleyball and debauchery. 

Following the finals on Sunday, fans will also be able to enjoy the Legends Game set up with North Bay (Sinjin Smith, Jim Menges, et al.) vs. South Bay (Karch Kiraly, Randy Stoklos, et al.) on center court. Even in their 40's and 50's, these guys can still hold their own and it's a nice treat to watch.

If you can't come down to see any of this in person, catch the finals live on KTLA, Sunday 7/19 at 3 PM PST. 

Punchlines

I'm thinking of refinancing. Well, that's not exactly the right word. Barter might be better. I would like to get rid of my mortgage and trade my house for...

...a toothbrush. You can never have too many of those. And with the equity I've built up in my house, I think I may be able to afford one.