Jon Mesko: Thinking deeper and celebrating Festivus

Jon Mesko: Thinking deeper and celebrating Festivus

Jon Mesko sincerely hopes you had a merry Christmas. He really does. He’s no Scrooge or Grinch. But there’s another holiday he loves, a “Festivus for the rest of us!”

Those not indoctrinated with the classic Seinfeld episode, allow Frank Castanza, father of George Castanza, explain.

“At the Festivus dinner, you gather your family around, and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you.”

“Is there a tree?”

“No, but there’s a pole. No decorations. I find tinsel distracting.”

“Festivus is back!” Frank declares in the episode that aired on Dec. 18, 1997. He couldn’t have possibly realized that, indeed, 21 years later, it would be back, at Mesko’s new – and popular amongst the beach volleyball crowd – restaurant, Serve on Second.

But does Mesko have any grievances to air? Any long held grudges with the beach volleyball community?

“I’m here to air the grievances for Festivus,” he said, grinning, on SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter. “I got a lot of problems with you people and now you’re going to hear about it.”

He said this with a smile, one that suggests he was half-joking, half-serious. If you’ve messed with his nets, or his courts, or his cables, well, you might be getting a grievance from Mesko, who is so particular about the heights of his nets – formerly located on eighth street in Hermosa, now on 35th – that, prior to this year’s Manhattan Beach Open, he went out on center court, measured it, and – aha! He knew it! – the net was an inch low.

“The AVP has historically put it an inch and a half low, and the FIVB has put it an inch to an inch and a half high,” he said. “So what I decided was, ‘I’m going to walk out to the Manhattan Open final, right before Nick and Phil played Jake and Taylor,’ and it was one inch low, and that’s what the AVP sets it at, and that’s fine, so that’s what I set my net at now. I want to play what AVP, domestic tournaments are playing at.”

It is, among other enviable traits, this borderline OCD attention to detail that has allowed Mesko to be so successful in so many endeavors, and in risky fields – beach volleyball, the restaurant business – too.

“I enjoy just kind of making things a little bit better and improving things,” he said. “When I arrived at eighth street, it was pretty much just Rosie’s Raiders, hanging out and drinking, and I put out a new net and cables, putting down lines, and people just strted showing up to play. It culminated one day in 2012 with Brink and Reckermann and Jake and Rosie and the Russians and New Zealand and China and it was everybody. I just stood back and looked at it and thought it was pretty fun to watch. People just hung out after practice on my porch.”

Ah, yes, Mesko’s porch. If you’re in beach volleyball, you have likely hopped the Strand wall in Hermosa Beach and hung out on Mesko’s porch, either talking volley, losing money in backgammon, betting on something or other, perhaps measuring your height on the once-famed wall, which has since been torn down with his old place on eighth. The wall grew so famous, in fact, it had its own spread in DiG Magazine.

“The most amusing part for me was watching people tell Adam [Roberts] what they thought their height was and then seeing their real height,” he said. “Almost everybody was about an inch high except for Phil [Dalhausser], who said ‘I’m 6-9’ and, yeah, he was 6-9.”

The wall. The backgammon. The porch. The set up. The constant, top-tier talent, both international and domestic, practicing on his courts. Not bad for a guy from Michigan who hadn’t played much beach volleyball prior to moving to California in 2002 and qualifying, for the first time, in 2006, seeded Q60 with Billy Allen.

Since, he has played in more than 100 domestic tournaments, won the NVL Soul Award, enjoyed some NORCECA – don’t ask him about the net height in NORCECAs – success and built not one but two unofficial training centers, where players gravitate towards his courts like moths to a flame.

“I’ve always been kind of a bigger picture, swing for the fences, shoot for the stars kind of guy, so I really try to ask the right questions,” Mesko said. “If you really want to play high level volleyball, you’re going to end up in the South Bay or Rio or Southeast Florida. That’s where you’re going to end up.

“So at that time, 15 years ago, I was interested in girls and bikinis and playing really good volleyball and everything in between. That was Hermosa Beach. And I started looking around and thought it would be really cool to live on the Strand, so I started asking questions, ‘Well, what does it take?’ And a guy said ‘It’s going to cost $5 million dollars, minimum’ and I used that as a bar, ‘What would it take for me to make that much money?’ And I used that algorithm to maybe get there. I suppose we’re there now.”

Jaksot(500)

BEDLAM ENSUES: Nobody Is Safe At The Beach Volleyball World Championships

BEDLAM ENSUES: Nobody Is Safe At The Beach Volleyball World Championships

Welcome back to SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, where Travis is back breaking down all things Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide, Australia. The round of 32 is over, and in this episode, we highlight: - The huge and shocking upset delivered to Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft by Martina Maixnerova and Kylie Neuschaeferova - The not so huge but still unexpected upset of Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier over Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot - The still less huge but still unexpected upsets of Chaim Schalk and James Shaw over Nicolas Capogrosso and Tomas Capogrosso, and Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg of USA Volleyball over Zoe Verge-Depre and Anouk Verge-Depre - The ALMOST upsets, but not quite, as Thamela and Victoria survive Lezana Placette and Alexia Richard, Evandro and Arthur survive Ben O'Dea and Brad Fuller, and Anders Mol and Christian Sorum survive Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett - The Cinderella run of Melanie Paul and Lea Kunst amidst a thriving German federation, who will also see Louisa Lippmann and Linda Bock, and Sandra Ittlinger and Anna Grune in the round of 16 - The Big Game hunter who is Valentina Gottardi, as the Italian blocker and Reka Orsi Toth knocked out Germany's top pair in Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller - Poland's brutal draw of David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig in the first round - Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner continuing their World Championships title defense - Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen careering at the perfect time with a fourth straight sweep SHEW! We'll be back again tomorrow! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.  If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Our medical timeout was brought to you by SHIELD Athletic Tape. If you’re an athlete, coach, or just train hard, you know that staying healthy is easier said than done— it’s about staying supported. That’s where SHIELD comes in. SHIELD is a U.S.-based athletic tape company built by athletes, for athletes. Whether it’s rigid tape for serious support, kinesiology tape with true 4-way stretch for maximum mobility, or turf tape to fight off burns on the field — SHIELD’s got you covered. They even make recovery wraps for post-session cooldowns and inflammation control. And because it’s all made right here in the U.S., you’re getting elite quality and fast delivery —they are truly not cutting corners. Try SHIELD today — support that actually performs. Check them out at shieldhealthandfitness.com and use code SANDCAST for a discount. Tape smarter. Train harder. SHIELD up.

19 Marras 38min

Chaos Begins! World Champs Playoffs Set to Bring Madness in Adelaide

Chaos Begins! World Champs Playoffs Set to Bring Madness in Adelaide

Welcome back to SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, where Travis, on site in Adelaide for the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships, breaks down the pool play rounds and provides a little preview of the playoffs to come, highlighting: - Sweden's David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig AGAIN losing two matches in pool play in the biggest tournament of the year - The German women, highlighted by the stellar play of Melanie Paul and Lea Kunst, sending all four teams -- Louisa Lippmann and Linda Bock, Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller, Sandra Ittlinger and Anna Grune -- to the round of 32 - The USA men all moving into the round of 32, with Chase Budinger and Miles Evans winning pool, Chaim Schalk and James Shaw having a toss-up match against Argentina's Capogrosso Brothers, and Andy Benesh and Miles Partain playing an excellent Cuba team in Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz - USA and Brazilian women thriving behind the dominance of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher, Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg, Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw, Ana Patricia and Duda, Thamela and Victoria, and Carol and Rebecca. AND: Australia makes the best coffee. WE SAID IT! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.  If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/ Our medical timeout was brought to you by SHIELD Athletic Tape. If you’re an athlete, coach, or just train hard, you know that staying healthy is easier said than done— it’s about staying supported. That’s where SHIELD comes in. SHIELD is a U.S.-based athletic tape company built by athletes, for athletes. Whether it’s rigid tape for serious support, kinesiology tape with true 4-way stretch for maximum mobility, or turf tape to fight off burns on the field — SHIELD’s got you covered. They even make recovery wraps for post-session cooldowns and inflammation control. And because it’s all made right here in the U.S., you’re getting elite quality and fast delivery —they are truly not cutting corners. Try SHIELD today — support that actually performs. Check them out at shieldhealthandfitness.com and use code SANDCAST for a discount. Tape smarter. Train harder. SHIELD up.

18 Marras 31min

Favorites, Contenders and Dark Horses: The FINAL World Champs Preview

Favorites, Contenders and Dark Horses: The FINAL World Champs Preview

Kyle Friend and Travis Mewhirter break down all things Beach Volleyball World Champs here in Adelaide, Australia, going over the favorites, contenders, and dark horses for each gender. Favorites: Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher, Duda and Ana Patricia, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan. Contenders: Linda Bock and Louisa Lippmann, Anouk Verge-Depre and Zoe Verge-Depre, Remi Bassereau and Calvin Aye, Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers Dark Horses: Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno, Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon, Andre and Renato, Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger SHOOTS! *** Our medical timeout was brought to you by SHIELD Athletic Tape. If you’re an athlete, coach, or just train hard, you know that staying healthy is easier said than done— it’s about staying supported. That’s where SHIELD comes in. SHIELD is a U.S.-based athletic tape company built by athletes, for athletes. Whether it’s rigid tape for serious support, kinesiology tape with true 4-way stretch for maximum mobility, or turf tape to fight off burns on the field — SHIELD’s got you covered. They even make recovery wraps for post-session cooldowns and inflammation control. And because it’s all made right here in the U.S., you’re getting elite quality and fast delivery —they are truly not cutting corners. Try SHIELD today — support that actually performs. Check them out at shieldhealthandfitness.com and use code SANDCAST for a discount. Tape smarter. Train harder. SHIELD up.

13 Marras 27min

The Importance of Storytelling in Sports ft. Kyle Friend, Frito, Tri Bourne | SANDCAST

The Importance of Storytelling in Sports ft. Kyle Friend, Frito, Tri Bourne | SANDCAST

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is a SANDCAST family affair! Bringing in our star videographer, Daniel "Frito" Freitas and co-host and regular contributor Kyle Friend to chat all things beach volleyball, and particularly what we can do from a storytelling standpoint.

12 Marras 1h 19min

Brian Lewis: The Evolution, Future, and Current State of Volleyball | SANDCAST

Brian Lewis: The Evolution, Future, and Current State of Volleyball | SANDCAST

In this episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, former AVP professional beach volleyball player Brian Lewis shares his journey through the world of beach volleyball, discussing the evolution of the sport, the importance of entertainment value, and the role of youth development in shaping future athletes. - He reflects on his personal experiences, training dynamics, and the need for athletes to take ownership in promoting the sport. - The discussion also touches on the cultural shifts within volleyball and the promising future of the sport as it continues to grow in popularity. - He chats about some absolutely GOLDEN old school stories - The ridiculous talent pipeline that is Hawaii's baby court And so much more. Another one for the gold mine, folks! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.  If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

5 Marras 1h 16min

Beach Volleyball World Championships: Women's Pool Breakdown and Preview

Beach Volleyball World Championships: Women's Pool Breakdown and Preview

Welcome back to SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter. On this episode, Travis breaks down the upcoming beach volleyball world championships, where he looks each of the 12 women's pools. He looks at: - Why Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth are headlining the Pool of Death - TCU Beach Volleyball boasting FIVE players in the World Championships - Why it might be medal or bust for Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher - Can Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft finally become the bride they've long sought to be? And a whole lot more! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.  If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

29 Loka 44min

Beach Volleyball World Championships: Men's Pool Breakdown and Preview

Beach Volleyball World Championships: Men's Pool Breakdown and Preview

Welcome back to SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, where Travis breaks down all things beach volleyball world championships, specifically previewing the men's field and its 12 pools. We cover: - Why Pool C is the pool of Death - Andre Loyola and Renato Lima being Travis' dark horse pick to medal - Why he has Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and Teo Rotar heading a pool of rising stars - The format and intricacies of the World Champs And a whole lot more! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.  If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

22 Loka 53min

Mailbag! Why Doesn't the USA Host More Events? Sara Hughes' Triumphant Return

Mailbag! Why Doesn't the USA Host More Events? Sara Hughes' Triumphant Return

Welcome back to a Fan Question episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, where the boys take on all of the questions from our loyal listeners. We talk about: - Why doesn't the USA Volleyball host more professional beach volleyball events? - Why are crowds in the USA not showing up to anything? - Is Kelly Cheng the best player in the world? - What do we think of Sara Hughes and her new partner, Ally Batenhorst And a whole lot more! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.  If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

15 Loka 1h 3min

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