Casey Patterson has made a boatload of lasting memories on Lake Michigan sand and is eager to create a few more this weekend in his final hurrah.
One of the most engaging, energetic, charismatic and popular individuals in American professional beach-volleyball history — and a U.S. Olympian in 2016 — Patterson said that the 2022 season will be his last on the AVP Tour.
He wants to ensure he goes out while still one of its best players and not the proverbial ‘‘grumpy old guy who can’t get it done who’s just mad all the time.”
Even at 42, Patterson remains a legitimate title threat in the 16-team men’s draw of the Chicago AVP Gold Series event that will take over Oak Street Beach on Friday through Sunday. He will team with another noteworthy graybeard, 42-year-old Phil Dalhausser, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and four-time U.S. Olympian. Patterson (23 victories) and Dalhausser (62) have won 85 domestic tournaments with six partners.
They won the New Orleans Pro Series stop in May, finished third in the Hermosa Beach Pro Series tourney in July and were semifinalists in the Atlanta Gold Series event in August. They come in as the fifth-seeded team this weekend.
Patterson also is the defending men’s champion here, having won last season with former NBA player Chase Budinger. In 2012, he teamed with 7-1 Ryan Doherty to capture USA Volleyball’s Jose Cuervo Series tournament on Oak Street Beach.
Known for wearing his bleached-blond hair in a spiked Mohawk, for his impromptu dance routines and for his effusive “Boom!” after bouncing a spike, the 6-6 Californian has lent a generous helping of fun to the sport that will be difficult to replace. A ceremony commemorating his career, which started in 2004, will be held during the Phoenix Championships in late September.
Dalhausser, typically the picture of stoicism, said that he and his effervescent partner “are on the complete opposite spectrum as far as personality on the court. I’m all business, trying to conserve as much energy as I can and get off the court ASAP. Every single point, Casey is saying something to the crowd, talking to himself, so he’s an entertainer out there.”
Few athletes have been willing to step away while on top. Patterson has no hesitation that now is the appropriate time to retire, conceding that the “training it takes to keep up with these guys” has been lacking because of familial and business obligations.
“I haven’t really trained at all this year, and Phil and I have had maybe two practices together,” said Patterson, whose growing family numbers five children, including a newborn boy. “I have a full-time job with a solar company as a media director. The AVP still is my passion and my love, but it’s getting harder and harder to do it — how you remember doing it. So I’m on to the next chapter.”
He also doesn’t want fans’ perceptions tarnished by seeing him as just hanging on.
“I would like to be remembered as somebody who competed at a high level, a player people are excited to see and view as a contender to win the event,” Patterson said. “I’m just at that point where if I’m not putting in all that [training] time, my game will start to decline. Then everybody’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, here he comes, the guy who thinks he can still get it done and he’s just angry.’ I don’t want to be that guy or be remembered that way.”
Patterson’s chances of adding a third Chicago title appear realistic, particularly with Dalhausser as his partner.
“Chicago has always been such a magical place for me,” Patterson said. “I feel like Phil and I can muster up some dad magic and make it happen.”
