From the desk of John Hyden:

22 sept

A Chicken Sandwich

Apparently, thus far, only a chicken sandwich can hold us back!
Actually that is what I said after the match to the camera after our win in Miami (in case anyone was wondering).
[ Universal Sports Article ]

One more tournament to go for the 2011 season in Hermosa Beach, CA. I’m sure some of you are wondering why the seeding seems so skewed at this point, and how on earth could Sean and I be the 3 seed under Gibb/Rosie and Fuerbs/Lucena when we’ve won all but 1 domestic stop. Well, it’s due to the USAV Ranking system and FIVB (International tour) points hold more water than domestic points. I couldn’t agree more that it makes no sense, but we adjust to it just fine. Because when it comes right down to it, you gotta play those teams anyway. On that note, I must say it is pretty weak that a player from another country can join a player from here and use their FIVB points for a higher seed. It should ONLY be USA players points from FIVB that count. It doesn’t seem fair that the players here who have been playing in all the domestic stops lose their seed to these FIVB players and players from other countries. How can this make any sense to anyone?

Sean and I are looking forward to this upcoming weekend. It will be nice to play in front of our friends and family to end the season. Jose Cuervo sure knows how to put on a great event. We are really grateful to them and IMG for coming through with 4 events this year. It makes for an encouraging and exciting 2012.

Hope to see you out there!!
Johny H.

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23 aug

So Far So Good

Never lost a match on the Corona Light Wide Open Tour. Undefeated on the 2011 Domestic Tour.

Not that we havenʼt been tested. Had a few close calls this past weekend in Hermosa Beach. Two 3 game matches with Aaron Wachtfogel and Billy Strickland and extra points with Ed “The Rat” and Ryan Mariano (game 2 31-29).
Earlier this year we were tested by Fred Souza and Rodrigo in a 3 game tie breaker 20-18 in the third, so we knew in this weekends final, we had to come out fast and hard against them. Sean rose to the occasion thatʼs for sure. He owned the net. It made it a lot easier on me and was a huge crowd pleaser!! We gave them a spanking by holding them to 12 points in each game. It was fun to play in So Cal in front of a lot of fans and my family. It was a long hot weekend for me and Sean, but winning makes the soreness not hurt as bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the CLWO season over, we are looking forward to the first Cuervo event in Manhattan Beach and hope to keep the streak alive. My goal is to go undefeated on all the Domestic Tours. I think Sean and I are up to challenge!

Iʼm sure some of you are wondering about the upcoming Olympics and whether or not there will be Olympic Trials in the US. As of right now, USA Volleyball has not made any decisions on how they will qualify teams for London. Iʼve always believed that trials should be here in the US and that the FIVB regulations are flawed. But thatʼs another discussion in itself.

Hope to see you out in Manhattan Beach!!

-Johny H.

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29 may

Two Thousand Eleven

It’s been a long off season. It’s been awhile since I’ve written.
Sean and I have been waiting to see how things unfold and there has been a lot of  uncertainty about our future. With the US possibly obtaining the Olympic Qualifier and the new tours that have developed, we still aren’t 100% sure about what we are going to do this year. The one thing I do know, is that I’m not done playing yet.

The plan is to play in as many domestic tournaments as possible which will include the NVL, The Corona Light Wide Open, and the USA Volleyball BCS. We will also be looking into getting into some FIVB tournaments.

As many of you already know, we competed in the first NVL tournament in Baltimore MD and came out of it the Champions. The event took place at two sights. All of the matches were played down by the harbor and the finals were played in the infield at the Preakness. I have nothing but positive things to say about Albert Haneman and the way he ran this event. It was fantastic. The atmosphere at the finals in Baltimore is exactly what this sport is all about.

We are in the early stages of getting Beach Volleyball back to its rightful place in the United States and I’m excited for the future. I honestly believe we have the right people with the right intentions moving things forward.

Next stop is Siesta Key Florida for the Corona Light Wide Open June 11-12th. For those of you who don’t know yet, The CLWO tour switched back to the small court and rally scoring rules. Sean and I are looking forward to competing again! Hope to see some of you out there!

Take Care,
Johny H.

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25 Aug

Where To Start ...

Where to start.
Good question.
I know Iʼve had plenty of time to ponder this thought, and I have to say....I donʼt even
know where to begin. My thoughts, feelings and emotions all seem to be jumbled into
one....big...blahhhhhh!

AVP

This has been my livelihood since 2003. Iʼve appreciated the effort by AVP management to keep it alive but it seems as though a few shady moves by previous management was our downfall. Iʼm not going to get into that right now but letʼs just say I'm not really at ease with how the Leonard regime left things. There are many rumors about other investors stepping in next year to take it over but weʼll just have to wait and see if any of it comes true. I may be hoping for an AVP 2011 more than the rest of you seeing how not many people are playing the game this late in their years. Like I said,
the waiting game is on.

FIVB

Well, Sean and I got word of the AVPʼs demise just a tad late. We were only able to sign up for the last FIVB event so we planned on going to that one. Due to unfortunate circumstances we got the shaft from a couple of players and are unable to compete in that event now. I would like to talk to them before I write about it so it may be in the next blog.

Many of you have asked why Sean and I are not playing FIVB and trying to go to the Olympics anyway. Well, let me break it down for you.....First, itʼs very expensive to travel all over the world. Only the top few teams receive funding from USAV and we wouldnʼt be one of them for a while. Second, on the FIVB tour there is a maximum of four teams allowed in any event, with sometimes five in a grand slam. So with three US teams already in the main draw that leaves one more US team to come through the qualifier. Now, letʼs say other than the three teams in the main draw, there are four other US teams that want to qualify for that one spot. That is where the “country quota” comes in. The remaining four teams have to play against each other in single elimination just to qualify for the qualifier! So Sean and I would most likely have to play two matches in the “country quota” and then if we won that, we would most likely be the last seed in the qualifier which means we would probably play a very tough Brazilian team right from the start.

Okay, letʼs say we make it into the main draw and win the whole thing (by the way that would be after playing Todd and Phil first round). Well, we would still have to go through the quota and qualifier for the next three or four events to have enough points to pass one of the other US teams in the main draw. And thatʼs if we play well in every event to raise our seed.

Well, this may be what we are in store for next year. Sean and I have talked and we have decided that we are too young to give up on our beach careers. So if any of you out there are looking to sponsor or fund some Olympic hopefuls please
feel free to contact me through my website! :-)

Next week we will be on our way to the event in Cincinnati. It is an eight team invitational put on by the same promotors as the last few seasons. We do really appreciate that they have to decided to give us one last tournament for the year. We truly hope that we donʼt disappoint.

Take care and talk to you all soon!
Johny H.

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6 Aug

Long Beach & More

Sorry itʼs been so long since my last blog.
I havenʼt written anything this much since college so Iʼll have to get use to it again.

Letʼs get right to it with the last event played in Long Beach ........ As most of you now know the AVP is in a little bit of trouble. At this point I know as much as you as to the future of the AVP so I went into this event with the attitude that it could be my last event. With that in mind I decided to be more positive and energetic on the court and have some more fun out there. It seemed to work!

Sean and I played Souza/Tramblie in the first round. A new team together, we figured serving tough would be the best bet to throw them off track. New teams have a tough time getting there offense going when they arenʼt sure what type of set to put up when they donʼt pass to well. Not only serving tough but with Sean coming out and blocking a ton of balls we were able get some big leads and keep them throughout the match. Letʼs face it, Seanʼs block was the edge in this match!

Next round was on to Kennan/Jennings. Again, kept the positive attitude and energy flowing. Both Sean and I played great in this one. Serving tough and stuffing balls once again we ripped through them. With us converting on pretty much every transition play we were able to get big leads in both games and finish this one quickly. After these first two matches was the first time this year I felt we had played as well as the last.

Going into the third round we knew we would have a battle on our hands going up against Wong/ Patterson. The first event in Florida we were able to blow them out but every time since itʼs gone down to the wire. Also, itʼs tough to continually beat some of the top ranked teams. These two guys are some of the best side out players in the game. Patterson with his long arms seems to hit the ball higher than anyone on tour and Wong sees the court so well itʼs tough to lock in on whether heʼs going to shoot or hit. We know going into the match that it will be the difference of one or two plays that is going to win every time. The first two sets are kind of a blur so letʼs go over the third. Back and forth it went for the first few points until they got to a 7-5 lead. We sided out to be down by one when Sean threw out a blocking call I havenʼt seen one time this year. He decided to spread block! Nothing else was working so I was with it and served a float to Wong and lined up behind Sean to look for any shots. What do you
know, it worked! 7-7. Sean proceeded to make the call two more times an get blocks on both for a 9-7 lead. Somehow they sided out and again took over the lead from us again for almost the rest of the match. Not sure, but I think they had match points all the way until we were tied at eighteen. I donʼt remember the play to get us to take the lead to 19-18 but I sure as hell know the one to take the match. I gave Wong a float serve down the line and lined up behind Sean again. As I took a step into the angle Wong went up and took a crack at the ball only to have Sean get his hand on it and pop it up into the air, a little off balance I was able to turn back towards the ball while Sean pulled off the net to get an approach
to hit. Going to my knees I got to the ball and passed it up right on top of the net and gave a LINE call as loud I could. Sean was able to beat Wong to the ball with a knuckle pokey down the line where an outstretched Patterson with his gorilla like arms was unable to reach it! Let the celebration begin! That was a huge victory, losing that match sent them over to the other side of the bracket which had Rosie/ Gibb and then a semifinal with Phil/Todd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After some massage work, a few cramps, an ice bath and feeling sick most of the night we had to be back at the beach early to play the semifinal match against Strickland/watchfogul. For some reason I wasnʼt feeling so great being dizzy and off balance the entire day. Well we got off to a great start with a few blocks and transition digs to get 9-5 lead. Not sure how but they climbed back in it and tide us at 12. Then I threw a couple aces combined with Sean blocking a few times and we got right back to a 19-12 lead. Just a few side outs and we took the first. The second set we came out and took another huge lead with Sean going on a blocking spree and taking over the game. Itʼs always nice to know if youʼre not
feeling to well you have a partner that is going to make up for it by getting 11 blocks in just two sets!

On to the Finals!

Well we came up with a great game plan in the time off we had. Serve Todd short, take away his approach, and get the block lined up the best we can against him. Problem is, when Sean serves him short he is able to put the ball up so Phil can hit on two. So we decided that sometimes when Sean is serving I will need to take over the blocking duties and he can play some defense. Let me put it this way......If Sean and I donʼt know what weʼre doing when I block and he digs then how the hell is Todd going to know! It worked! Sean picked up a few digs(of course I funneled the ball right to him with my expertise blocking) and was able to put them away for big points and we went on to win the first game. Stick to the game plan! We did but it didnʼt matter. In the second set there was a few point opportunities we didnʼt come up with. When you play these Phil and Todd we all know 1) Donʼt make mistakes and 2) win every point opportunity. Without those, youʼre going to lose! I thought we played them pretty well in the second set but just not well enough. The third set was kind of a blur. Both teams made some plays to get off to a 5-5 tie and then things went south. From there on we didnʼt side out well. The combination of a few blocks from Phil and Todd stepping up his game to the best defense player in the world making plays left and right was the downfall. I think we only got one more point to lose 15-6. Anyway, back to the drawing board!

Thanks and take care!
-Johny H.

 

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20 July

Hermosa

I would like to start off by apologizing to not only my fans but fans of the game. If you witnessed the match late Saturday against Rosie/Gibb we had the usual unruly Rosie's Raiders at the match and those of you close enough to my players box probably heard me banter back at one of them in not the most respecting way. For that I apologize. Some of what I may have said was inappropriate and wonʼt happen again.

As for the summary of our matches ...
The first two matches went quite well for us but it was very deceiving because even though we won pretty easily, neither one of us felt like we were at our best. I believe it was more obvious in our 3rd match against Nygaard/Olson. For those of you who donʼt know, Hermosa Beachʼs sand is extremely deep and if you arenʼt used to it, it can really throw you off your game. The whole match was a struggle for us both. Jeff and Matt played really well and on top of our mistakes, we found ourselves in the losers bracket.

After that, we had a pretty good showing at the Rosie/ Gibb match. If you ever get a chance to catch us playing each other, it will probably be some of the best volleyball youʼll ever see. We always have great battles with them, and it goes both ways. Every single point is well earned and the fans appreciate it. Itʼs not everyday you get to see a 4 seed and 2 seed battling it out for a 9th on Sat. afternoon. I think some of the top 10 plays I have ever been a part of have come with Rosie on the other side of the net.

Early on the next morning, we had another battle with Patterson/ Wong in the 7th place match. Seems it always comes down to the wire with them and then Sean and I put together a few good plays at the end to close it out.

Donʼt really wanna talk about the next match, individually or as a team. But I got to give credit where credit is due. Mayer & Prosser played really tough and fought the whole way. They deserved that win.

Sean and I have talked about this past weekend and are working on things to better our play. Weʼll be back in full force this next weekend in Long Beach and expect to be standing on that podium on ABC!

-Johny H.

 

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6 July

Eye on the Prize

A run for the 2012 Olympics or not?
That seems to be the question in John and Sean's heads recently. Trying to figure out what the qualification process is going to be and how many international tournaments they'd have to play in will be the deciding factor. Sean has never been to an Olympics and John has 2 under his belt with the National Indoor Team for the 96' and 00' Olympics. Amazing experience and one that is unforgettable! We'll just have to wait and see..

As for the AVP 2010 season, we are off to a Rockin' start. A 3rd in Ft.Lauderdale HUGE 3rd in Santa Barbara ( having to battle our way back from a 17th in the Contenders bracket) And then the 3 FINAL appearances on ABC and Universal Sports Channel.

What's been weighing on John's head the most?? How in the hell do we beat the Beijing Beast and The Professor?? It's no question Todd and Phil are playing some of the best ball they've ever played, but everyone has their moments. After his last disappointing loss in the finals in Belmar New Jersey, Johnny came home with a list of things to work on with his trainer and with Sean. Everyday his smile is getting bigger and that twinkle in his eye is back. He may be onto something and it might just be enough to pull out a VICTORY in Hermosa Beach!! Can't tell you what his secret is ... you're gonna have to come out and see for yourself!!

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