The Volley Trolley Tour

What started as Jack and Dave's volleyball Tour in '04 has grown into VolleyTrolley Enterprises. We play beach volleyball and cruise around in a 1983 Airstream RV. It ain't terrible.

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Location: Venice Beach, California, United States

Sunday, March 30, 2008


The Obama Effect

A few months ago I was unsponsored, underemployed, and a little bit unmotivated. I was coasting.

With an interesting Democratic primary headed to California, I ventured onto the websites for Hillary and Obama. Obama´s led me directly to entering my email address which I did with some ambivalence. I checked a box indicating an interest in volunteering, but didn't think anything would come of it.

A week later, I walked into an office in Venice Beach, late for an Obama Precinct Captains meeting. It turns out the neighborhood next to mine, Mar Vista, still needed one, so I signed up and got some training. That afternoon I was on the phones, identifying Obama supporters. I made close to 150 calls -- probably more than I´d made to strangers in the last three years combined. It felt like work, but good work. I came in each day that week to make calls, and was driving around that weekend knocking on doors. That's when a phone call came in from my new employer.

My sister Andrea had forwarded me a notice that Oxnard College was looking for a head coach for its women's volleyball team. It'd be a step up in pay and responsibility, and I excitedly accepted the position. My interview had taken place the week before. I have no doubt that the practice of cold-calling and developing rapport with strangers helped me in my interview.

The following weekend I was out there again, putting on out door hangers and identifying PrObama voters. An interruption came in the form of a phone call from the Jose Cuervo marketing team. They called to offer sponsorship for my 2008 beach volleyball season. I accepted and am the happiest member of the 2008 Team Cuervo. And the Airstream got sponsored, too -- it´s getting Cuervo-logo´d up this week. I take the sponsorship as a sign that the world smiles upon action. And I'm smiling because of the sponsorship.

Have I read The Audacity of Hope? No, not yet. Have I read his plans for tax, trade, or legal reforms? No, not yet. Call me a sucker, but I fall for his messages of hope and unification. Optimistically, I jumped into a campaign with no reasonable chance for him to win in California. As he wins state after state, I feel like a fan whose team is marching through the playoffs. And I honestly feel that because I jumped into action, regardless of for whom, it helped me get some needed mojo for 2008. And while the home hasn't rolled anywhere yet, I feel like I'm on a roll.

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