2008 Olympic Gold Medalists

2008 Olympic Gold Medalists
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Saturday, December 27, 2008

HWN and going Private

Lot of people have been asking about what events I will be playing in the AVP HWN. So here goes.

I have a tentative schedule for HWN. I will play in 8 of them and Phil will play in 9 of them. Both Phil and I miss the first one as we both will be in Brasil. Both of us will be at the next three in Grand Rapids, KC, and Indy. I go to the following 3 in Minn., Omaha, and Cedar Falls. Phil goes to the next three in Columbus, St. Louis and Cleveland. I go to Portland and Salt Lake and then Phil does the last three in Reading, Uniondale and Charlottsville. First three weeks are kind of gnarly travel weeks for me with Brasil and the two HWN. The last HWN events are not so bad as Portland and Salt Lake are fairly close and Salt Lake even has a direct flight to SB. Should be fun.

As far as the AVP going private goes....well it is good and bad. Good in that the AVP should never have become a public company. It was spun as a good thing and that the AVP could raise money from investors ect... This was true, the bad part was that there was no volume being traded. If no one is trading the stock it can't go up or down. The average day was like 5000 shares, maybe less. Don't feel like checking my figures on that one. In reality, the investors got fleeced. The institutional investors especially. The players were fleeced as well but that is common knowledge. The bottom line is the AVP is way too small to be a public company. So going back to being a private company is better for the AVP than being a public company. The funny part is that the AVP is essentially spinning going private the same as they spun it when they went public. The wording is even similar. From a player or investor perspective it was better when the AVP was public from the perspective of you knew exactly what they were doing. You knew what funds were coming in and where the money was going. You knew how much management was being paid and what stock or bonuses they were getting. Now that the AVP is private again, it is very difficult if not nearly impossible to find out all that stuff. It makes it very easy to manipulate money to the advantage of a few people. So good and bad depending on what perspective you take.

11 comments:

TJ Marsh said...

Todd,

Thinks for the info on the HWN schedule, my wife and I look forward to watching you play in KC. We will be there celebrating her 40th B-Day so hopefully we will get a chance to talk to you and some of the other players while we are there. She is as much of a volleyball fanatic as I am and it would mean the world to her to get to talk to all of you on her big 40, hope the holidays have been treating you and your family right and I will see you in KC on the 23rd.

T.J.

Anonymous said...

Todd- I can't believe I won't see you in NY!
Kaoru

Margo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

What Up Todd,

I am sorry about the passing of your friend (dog). All good moments I bet with your dog. Nothing but the best.

I am starting to jones for some live beach v-ball action. Summer can't come soon enough. Looking forward to seeing the Gold Medal on it's tour again. You will bring it on tour with you, won't you?

Later,
Arsenal 12

Parents of M and M Sisters said...

I am so sorry to hear about your Dog!!! I do believe all our beloved go to heaven...
On the up side...
I am SO elated that you will be in KC playing!! I never thought that was even a possibility! WOW.. I couldn't believe it when I saw the advertisement, then checked your blog! WHOPEEEEE!! My family and I will defenitley. be there! If you want a local tour, let me know!! I would LOVE to see you if at all possible!! Do you know what days you will be playing yet? The Staley falcons will also be WOW so elated... Any chance you could give them a pep talk? (I just had to ask... I know you are so busy and everyone wants a piece of you!!)
My direct e-mail is rabirchler@sbcglobal.net-
Tu amiga UCSB alumni '96
Anna Maki-Birchler

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about your dog Todd! That is a bummer, but it sounds like he is well loved!

Can't wait to see you in Omaha in January!

Anonymous said...

Hello Todd,

I read your blog for the first time today and will do so in the future. I have a question concerning the beach-training of young kids. My son is 12 and is already 2-times dutch champion under 15. I also play together with him in the senior-circuit and he's really a good defender (check out http://dustinbontrop.spaces.live.com). Because he's still short (1.50 m) he has to do al lott of running. I wonder if you have experience with defense training of kids his age and if it's wise to start with powertraining at his age?
Hope to hear from you,
Ed Bontrop from the Netherlands

Parents of M and M Sisters said...

Todd-
I see you will be here in KC the 23rd! Whoohoo..Wow! What a busy schedule you have! I am jealous you get to be in Brazil!
I forgot to mention that you've got to dine on what KC is famous for... Our BBQ!!! May I suggest SMOKEHOUSE BBQ... the BEST BBQ in KC.. Many would argue Gates is the best.. but Smokehouse is the best. I'd be glad to bring you and Phil some Smokehouse BBQ if you want.. :) If not.. look for it on the 29 HWY on your way south about 5 minutes from the airport. It will be on your right hand side off the Barry Road Exit... :) Another great place is right next to the Sprint center where you will be playing: The Bristol. They have the best salmon I've ever had in my life.. and I am a frequent visitor to Seattle where you'd think you'd have had the best.. :)
Also, check out the Plaza area and all the beautiful fountains if you are allowed time. Did you know KC is the city of fountains? Our city has the most fountains in the world right behind Rome (or so we are told! ) The Plaza was modeled after Sevilla Spain... JC Nichols fell in love with Sevilla and tried to recreate it here. This was my personal saving grace moving here from SB as Sevilla and SB are tied for my favorite cities in the world! You'll find a lot of similarities in architecture to Santa Barabara... It really is gorgeous. The best part is the wonderful mid-western valued people here. I hope I get to give you a hug-If not.. It will be very exciting watching you play live!!! I can hardly wait!
Happy New Year
anna

Anonymous said...

Todd,
Can you post a good place to buy high quality beach/court sand in So. Cal. within delivery distance of Santa Barbara?
Or...Does anyone else know a good sand supplier?

Thanks!!!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about your dog. Lost mine to cancer last year.

I agree with your comments about going private,lack of transparecy is always a problem. I hope things work out.
While avp Vball is a great sport what makes it special is the atmosphere along with the availabilty and personality of the players. Take care.

Todd Rogers said...

TJ- Make sure you and the wife come say high in a week or so. :)

Kaoru - Sorry about that. Want to spend some time at home too.

Margo- I did see that you were going to UMC next fall. Good luck with all of that. I'm sure you will be successful. And losing a dog just straight up sucks but is part of life.

Arsenal- Don't know about bringing it with me to all the stops. I brought it to all the stops at the end of the year to show to folks. Remind me before a SoCal event and I will bring it down for you.

Anna- See you in KC. Certainly would enjoy saying hello to you and your family and the team if they are there too.

Klar- Hopefully Omaha will be a little warmer than when I was there for the Final 4 Women's matches. Holy Moly that was cold!

Ed- Hopefully your son will grow some as well. I am sure at 12 he has a lot of growing yet to do. I am not big into powertraining for someone who isn't almost or completely done growing. Certainly he can work out but I don't know about doing Olympic lifting and stuff like that. Then again, I am not a trainer and that is why I hire people for that. You can ask my trainer, Bob Alejo about that. There is a link to his website on my website.

Anonymous- I got my sand from Guadalupe Dunes. They have a couple of different sands to choose from. Not sure of how you get ahold of them but I would guess they have a website.

Kxsteve- I agree with you on why it is special.

Todd