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)

Beach Access: Italian Stars Are Born, Norway's Gone GOAT Hunting in Hamburg

Beach Access: Italian Stars Are Born, Norway's Gone GOAT Hunting in Hamburg

Welcome back to Beach Access, where Kyle Friend and Travis Mewhirter covered the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Hamburg Elite. They chat about: - Italians Reka Orsi Toth and Valentina Gottardi winning a shocking gold medal, the first Elite win in Italian women's history - Norway's Anders Mol and Christian Sorum going GOAT hunting, now one win closer to catching Ricardo and Emanuel for most all time - What's up with Sweden's David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig - Linda Bock, the can't miss new German defender And much more! 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. SHOOTS!

1 Syys 202530min

Kerri Pottharst: The Australian GOAT Living Her Best Life

Kerri Pottharst: The Australian GOAT Living Her Best Life

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Kerri Pottharst, one of the greatest beach volleyball players of all time and certainly Australia's GOAT. We shot this episode in Gstaad, on July 4 weekend, and we chat all aspects of Pottharst's career, from her multiple Olympics to where she is now as one of the key commentators on VBTV. Chapters with Kerri Pottharst 00:00 Introduction to Australian Beach Volleyball 03:01 The Growth of Australian Volleyball 05:57 The Evolution of Beach Volleyball 09:09 Mindset and Mental Preparation in Sports 11:58 The Importance of Enjoyment in Sports 14:54 Lessons from Competing at the Highest Level 17:47 The Role of Coaches and Mentors 21:00 The Impact of Social Media on Sports 24:05 Reflections on Olympic Experiences 26:52 The Future of Beach Volleyball 30:06 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 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/

27 Elo 20251h 2min

Hector Gutierrez: The Man Who Finally Stole The NCAA Beach Title From California

Hector Gutierrez: The Man Who Finally Stole The NCAA Beach Title From California

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Hector Gutierrez, the head coach of the TCU Beach Volleyball team who recently won the first NCAA Championship outside of California. We chat a whole lot about that win, as well as: - How he was able to build a program around Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno - How he was able to lure Sarah Sponcil as his new assistant coach - What it was like, winning his first NCAA Championship, and the first outside of California - Why Gulf Shores presented more pressure than the Olympic Games (no joke) SUCH A FUN ONE with Hector. Love this guy 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/

20 Elo 20251h 13min

BEACH ACCESS: Canada's Queens, Beach Volleyball's Kings On Top In Montreal

BEACH ACCESS: Canada's Queens, Beach Volleyball's Kings On Top In Montreal

Welcome back to Beach Access, presented by SHIELD, where Travis Mewhirter and Kyle Friend recap all things Beach Volleyball wherever they are in the world. This weekend, they were in Montreal for the Beach Pro Tour Elite, where Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson successfully defended their gold medal in 2023, as did Anders Mol and Christian Sorum.  They chat all about that, as well as: - What an incredible event the promoter put on and why we hope it continues - The return of Ana Patricia Silva and Duda Lisboa - Another f****** Sweden team is quickly becoming a problem on the Beach Pro Tour in Jacob Holting-Nilsson and Elmer Andersson - Teams making the biggest moves in the World Champs race, including Germany's Lui Wust and Paul Henning 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.

18 Elo 202525min

Mailbag Reunion! Tri's Retirement and Future, Thoughts on the AVP, Indoor Players on The Beach

Mailbag Reunion! Tri's Retirement and Future, Thoughts on the AVP, Indoor Players on The Beach

This is our first mailbag episode of the year -- and maybe the last, depending on Tri Bourne's and Travis Mewhirter's schedules. They catch up in a little reunion episode, chatting Tri's retirement, amongst a host of other topics in a wide ranging episode that gets looooose in the best of ways. We answer questions on: - Tri Bourne's impending retirement - What's going to happen with the podcast - The difference between refs on the AVP and FIVB - The NCAA players with the best chances of becoming world-class professionals - And we just catch up. It was really, really nice.  ENJOY! 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/

13 Elo 20251h 29min

Gary Green: How to Coach The New Generation of Athletes In an Attention Deprived World

Gary Green: How to Coach The New Generation of Athletes In an Attention Deprived World

This episode of SANDCAST features Gary Green, who might be the most fascinating guest we've ever had on the podcast. He's the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Georgia who has given talks to hundreds of teams and works with Kirby Smart and the Georgia football team. What's that got to do with volleyball? Well, everything, as Green is a master of human behavior, and in particular this young generation of athletes, whose brains are becoming Tik-Tokified. Enjoy this masterclass from the master professor himself (We know Travis Mewhirter did). 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/

6 Elo 20251h 2min

Kristen Nuss, Taryn Brasher: The Glitch In The Beach Volleyball System

Kristen Nuss, Taryn Brasher: The Glitch In The Beach Volleyball System

This episode of SANDCAST is a Gstaad special! Shot from the Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite, Travis Mewhirter and Kyle Friend sit down with Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher to chat all things beach volleyball, from their journey to veterans of the sport and number one in the world to the Olympic Games. We cover: - How they have become veterans on the Beach Pro Tour now - What they have done to maintain the youthful joy for which they are so known - Their experience at the Paris Olympic Games, and its lasting effects - Their new merch line and all things TKN Beach Volleyball 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/

30 Heinä 202557min

Tri Bourne: The Retirement Of The Man Who Was Bourne On The Beach

Tri Bourne: The Retirement Of The Man Who Was Bourne On The Beach

This episode of SANDCAST is a heartfelt one, one in which Tri Bourne and his wife, Gabby, the Pod Mama herself, chat about Bourne's retirement from the world of professional beach volleyball. It's a reflective episode, as Bourne and Gabby talk about: - Bourne's wild journey, filled with the highest of highs, and perpetual health issues that robbed him of a fully healthy season since 2016 - Why he is deciding to retire now, at still a relatively young age in a sport that allows for longevity - Why he isn't sure, and doesn't need to be sure, about what's next in his life - The emotional weight of the decision to retire when he still has plenty of game left in him And so, so much 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/

23 Heinä 20251h 22min

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