Jim Thobe

Steve Virgen

When USC won its second national championship in men’s volleyball,

Jim Thobe was at work, pushing and lifting at a brewery in Los

Angeles.

The Trojans defeated Tennessee in Knoxville, but Thobe was

sweating, earning $3.65 an hour. Such was life for Thobe in 1950.

Back then, money was even harder to come by for the lesser-known

sports. USC gave its men’s volleyball team $200 for traveling

expenses to Knoxville. That was enough for one way, but the players

would have to pay their own way back.

Thobe would have lost his job if he went with his teammates, so he

decided to stay.

When the Trojans returned, there was hardly the celebration, media

exposure or school support volleyball champions receive today.

However, USC’s 1950 team will gain its due Friday, when the

university will honor the Trojans’ 1949 and 1950 national champions

at a dinner.

Those teams came from the first two men’s national collegiate

volleyball championship tournaments held by the former U.S.

Volleyball Association, which is now USA Volleyball.

The players from the 1949 and 1950 teams will be introduced

between games two and three of the USC women’s volleyball match

against Arizona State, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Lyon Center.

Thobe, a Newport Beach resident, will be there to take in the

celebration. He played for the team up until that last match. He

remembered vividly playing against Stanford, which featured George

Yardley, the former Newport Harbor High star who went on to earn his

place in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

“There was no recognition from the university [back then],” said

Thobe, who is 77. “Everything was more about football and the track

team. But we were the beginning. We were in covered wagons.”

For Thobe, volleyball was a big part of his life while growing up

in Los Angeles. When he was 12, he played beach volleyball, which he

continued throughout high school.

“You’re on the beach, the girls are watching you and it’s a good

workout,” Thobe said. “You can jump in the water and come back and

play. We played all day long.”

After high school, Thobe went into the Marine Corps. and fought in

World War II. He was in the Last Battle at Okinawa, a brutal battle

in which more than 12,600 Americans were killed.

“I felt so thankful that I got out of there in one piece,” Thobe

said. “One of the factors that actually helped me survive was a

[stomach disease]. I lost so much weight, they pulled me off the

line. That was a big factor in me being here today.

“I came out of the war so glad to be alive,” he said. “You hear

about all these veterans coming back and going to school and they

were all serious. I wasn’t serious.”

Thobe (pronounced tow-bee) was serious enough to transfer to USC

from a community college, but he said, “I nearly screwed that up.” He

almost didn’t graduate but changed his life after speaking with the

school’s dean.

Thobe, who grew up without a father and was raised by his

grandparents, lived for the moment and enjoyed the party life at USC,

up until he met with the dean who told him to shape up. From that

point on, Thobe gave up fraternity life and would actually study in

the library on weekends.

When he graduated, it was one of the greatest moments of his life.

“It meant a lot to me,” Thobe said. “I was in the war. That grows

you up really fast. I was crazy and I was having a good time and it

continued. Until I had the talk with the dean. That was the turning

point. I worked and I realized I had to get a degree to get a good

job.”

Thobeworked in the insurance business for 38 years before retiring

in 1985. Ever since, he has been enjoying retirement. He spends the

majority of his time with his girlfriend Pam. He also has a

granddaughter, Leilani, born in November.

When he’s not spending time with his family, he rides his bike or

swims. “I love the retired life,” Thobe said. “I don’t know where a

day goes. I guess I’m lucky because we’re always doing something.

Swimming, walking down the beach or traveling. I never turn on the

television during the day.”

Thobe makes sure he has fun with each day and he’s definitely

expecting to have fun during festivities Friday.