5 things you don't know about Dalhausser, Rogers

There's a good chance I could start with anything here, even the most popular fact, such as their Olympic gold medal run in 2008, and it may still come as a pleasant surprise. Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers are simply that enigmatic.

Yes, they're the No. 1-ranked team in the world in the middle of a six-tournament win streak (four FIVB, two AVP). Yes, they headline every beach volleyball-related news release to hit the wire. Yes, they're both quite distinctively noticeable in their own right: one of them is tall, skinny and bald, while the other is average height, average build, has a goatee and looks like he reads science fiction novels... because he does, in fact, read science fiction novels. Yes, they both smile and shake their opponents' hands at the net before the start of each match and then proceed to block and dig them off the court while demonstrating almost zero emotion. And yes, they cordially nod and say thanks for playing when it's all over.

They're Phil and Todd, the Beast and Professor, the odds-on favorite to repeat as gold medalists in London 2012. But that's it. That's all we've got. That's all anybody's got. No one else besides their close family and friends knows a thing about these two incredible athletes. And trust me, it's not accidental -- they've intentionally kept it that way.

In an era subjugated by social media, where everyone, including your 7-year-old niece, has a phone, a camera, a Facebook page and a Twitter account, lifecasting and self-promotion reign supreme. Life today is almost like a Final Fantasy quest with only one goal in mind: feed the insatiable blood-eating plant that is projected self diagnosis; that is in turn, social media.

Oddly enough, Dalhausser and Rogers apparently never got the memo. I know you're not going to believe this, and will immediately migrate to a new tab to investigate for yourself, but neither Phil nor Todd has a Facebook page or Twitter account. At least, not an account they've personally created or currently use, and more importantly, neither has any interest in starting one up now. They're not the most heavily sponsored athletes on tour -- that honor goes to the Danish duo of Bo Soderberg and Anders Hoyer, who look like NASCAR drivers instead of beach volleyers -- but they're content with their long-term relationships with power brands Red Bull and Mikasa.

Don't get me wrong, they're not going to turn down money if the right partnership comes their way, but they're also not out on the street corner hawking internet impressions for free swag. It's just not their style. The farthest Rogers has been willing to reach out into the social media universe is the post-tournament use of his stark-white blog at toddjrogers.blogspot.com, but you won't find anything more than a light recap of each tournament there.

And Phil probably doesn't even know the term "blog" stems from weblog and was coined as a joke by Peter Merholz in 1999. Well, actually, I don't know anyone besides me who's aware of that, but either way, the point is you're not going to find out any top-secret goods on these guys from a 140-character personal update on the internet.

Especially nuggets as good as the following five, and frankly, that's why I'm here...

5) Home is where the sand is
Rogers has a homemade sand volleyball court in his backyard. It took him over a year and a half to build and cost more than $10,000 for the sand alone. In the off-season, he practices his patented pop-and-stop float serve under flood lighting between 12-midnight and 2 a.m.

4) When Phil's not gaming on the court, he's "gaming" on the couch
Dalhausser has an Xbox Live rating of '50' on Call of Duty 6. That's fourth prestige for all you non-gamers. In the off-season, he practices his online gaming against elementary school children in Southeast Asia, also between 12-midnight and 2 a.m.

3) Todd reads books, period
Todd likes to read books on the road. Phil likes to watch television. Todd wins the weekly argument because he's older and wiser. Phil obliges and patiently spends most of his time in the hotel lobby, so Todd can finish "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. But when Todd does finally leave the room to eat and purchase facial grooming products, Phil isn't afraid to throw on the tube and watch the same episode of SportsCenter as many times as it airs.

2) Phil and Todd don't practice
Dalhausser and Rogers do not collectively practice the art of spiking on a sand volleyball court from the month of May through September. Instead, they get all of their necessary reps during tournament competition. In between events, they focus on rest, rehab and strength maintenance. That's right, they don't practice. Well, during the season, that is. In the off-season, they go harder than anybody, both in the gym and on the sand. But once the season starts the only practice they log is a 10-minute pepper session between AVP and FIVB events so they're used to the touch of the different ball. Apparently that's all they need.

1) Phil was thisclose to never becoming "Phil"
Like the Brazilians who are getting paid to play for Georgia and compete as "Geor" and "Gia," Phil Dalhausser's name could have been "Qa" while his former partner Nick Lucena's would have been "Tar," as the nation of Qatar offered Phil and Nick cash money to denounce their U.S. citizenship and instead compete for them in the 2004 Olympiad. Only a freak bail-out session at the airport, due to complications with their flight reservations, kept them from disappearing into the Middle East forever; allowing Phil to eventually become the Beast to Todd's Professor, and the man we know today. Or, barely know? Bottom line: he was moments from vanishing off the radar and never representing the U.S. again. Fortunately, fate stepped in and landed him in Beijing four years later with Rogers.

And the rest, as they say, is history...

Hans Stolfus was an eight-year pro on the AVP Tour.