i Wins pile up off court
Morning Sentinel
Wins pile up off court
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 03/24/2009

On his Web site, Bob Holmes says he has defeated the Minnesota Vikings, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Buffalo Bills.

Now, he wants to take on schools around Waterville.

Holmes is a motivational speaker/one-man volleyball team, and has been since 1985. His wife, the former Donna Smith, grew up in Fairfield, and Holmes was back in the Waterville area Monday night to play some volleyball and tell some stories at Thomas College.

He turns 53 on May 1, but Holmes still darted around his half of the court playing games of one-on-six, one-on-seven and even one-on-nine for about an hour. Then he took the microphone and regained his energy to stomp back and forth, telling the students to "get a dream, don't quit and be ready to forgive."

Holmes also talked about the dangers of drunk driving, showing pictures of a woman who was disfigured when hit by a drunk driver, and of the driver, who is now in jail.

"The reason I've lived in a gym, day and night, and never stopped playing for 25 years is I don't want to see anybody end up like this or like this," Holmes said during his speech. "I just want to see people live."

Holmes told another story about a 70-year-old woman who watched a man kill her family members. When a judge asked the woman what she wanted to happen to the man, Holmes said she responded that she wanted to hug the man so he would know she truly forgave him.

"It was a very moving speech," said Thomas junior Darrell Alexander, who plays basketball for the Terriers and played against Holmes on Monday. "That story he told about the lady in the courtroom was just incredible. I think that it's a message that a lot of people need to hear. It's very inspiring."

On his site (http://www.beatbob.com), Holmes claims he has won more than 16,000 games and lost less than 400 during his years on tour. He played using rally scoring, meaning a team didn't have to be serving to get a point. Each team could hit the ball three times before having to hit the ball over the net, so Holmes was able to tap the ball to himself.

He started off against a team of female student-athletes at Thomas. Acting as his own DJ and taking the microphone to talk to the crowd between points, Holmes won 15-9.

Against a team of Thomas male student-athletes, Holmes had more competition. Playing one-on-six, Holmes said he would extend the game to 25 points. He then had one of his rare losses, 27-25, and the Thomas players had their picture taken with Holmes after his speech.

"He was really amazing, how he controlled the ball," Alexander said. "It was an honor just to be on the court with him, actually."

That was the last good volleyball seen from a team representing Thomas that night, as Holmes then defeated a team of Thomas coaches and staff, 25-10, despite his offer to pay each of the nine opposing players $100 if they could beat him.

Holmes made this offer after seeing Thomas men's basketball coach T.J. Maines deliver one of the worst serves in the history of volleyball. But even though he backed up his boast, Holmes conceded that the crowd didn't see him at his best.

"My game wasn't on top tonight, but I hope you saw my heart more than my game," Holmes said during the speech. "I want to go until I can't move on the court."

Holmes said "Ripley's Believe It or Not" claims he has played more games than any athlete in world history, and as you can see, he's not even close to done yet. He wants people to see the show, and he wants to spread the message.

He said interested schools can contact him through the Web site, or call him on his cell phone. He said to go ahead and put the number -- (910) 988-0865 -- in this column.

Holmes lives in New Hampshire, so he may be back in Maine again soon. But if you invite him, make sure you're ready for his energy.

"It helped me knowing that they saw the heart of passion, because that breaks down that cynical spirit," Holmes said. "When they see that someone really cares about people dying, I think it breaks down that barrier."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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