Former Olympic Statistic Taker Hopes to Be Statistic Maker This Time

Scott Fortune’s first Olympic moment:

“Stats!”

Not exactly a high point, but it was a start.

Fortune remembers sitting in the Long Beach Arena watching the United States men’s volleyball team win the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.

Fortune was a runner at the event, and it was his job to take statistics to the coaches after each match. His duties took maybe five minutes.

“Then I would run back down to the floor and watch the next match,” said Fortune, who had just graduated from Laguna Beach High School.

For someone interested in volleyball, it was heaven.

For Fortune, it also was a learning experience.

“When the United States came back and won in the final, it really showed me something,” Fortune said. “Volleyball was like a hobby to me until my senior year in high school. After watching those guys play, I knew I needed to develop that type of competitive attitude.”

Fortune’s attitude is adjusted, and his view of the 1988 Olympic volleyball competition might be a little better--from the bench and, at times, from the court.

As one of 15 players touring with the U.S. team, Fortune has a good chance of making it to Seoul. The team, which is playing an exhibition series in France this week, will be trimmed to 12 in less than a month.

“I would say Scott’s chances are real good right now,” said Marv Dunphy, the U.S. volleyball coach. “Real good.”

Fortune has made a rapid climb from statistic runner to statistic maker for the U.S. team.

At Stanford in 1985, Fortune became a starter almost immediately and played well enough during his first two years to receive an invitation to try out for the national team. He was the only sophomore invited.

From that tryout, three players out of 20 were asked to join the team: Troy Tanner (Pepperdine), Jon Root (Stanford) and Fortune.

Fortune, a 6-foot 6-inch middle blocker, toured with the team throughout the summer of 1986 before he returned to Stanford in the fall.

“Coach Dunphy took a lot of younger players on that tour,” Fortune said. “It was a chance to give us some experience.”

Fortune continued to improve and was named first-team All-American in 1987. He was selected for the World University Games but broke a finger and could not compete.

After he recovered, Fortune returned to the U.S. national team, and Dunphy told him he had a chance of making the Olympic team.

“He wanted me to take a year off from school and work out with the team,” Fortune said. “It wasn’t a tough decision for me.”

He joined the team as a regular, playing alongside Steve Timmons, Karch Kiraly, Craig Buck and many other players whom he had watched during the 1984 Games.

“It’s a dream come true,” Fortune said. “I’m playing with Buck, Timmons, Karch, the same guys I was watching in 1984, and I’m treated like an equal.”

Fortune was a bit uncomfortable at first, but Timmons made him feel welcome.

Sort of.

Said Fortune: “The first day I got there, Timmons comes up to me and said, ‘I’m going to take you to my barber.’ ”

Barber?

“Barber.”

Said Timmons: “His hair was really a mess. It was out of control. We had to do something.”

But Fortune has more in common with Timmons than just a hair stylist. Both are from Orange County (Timmons is from Newport Beach), played basketball in high school and were all-county selections in volleyball.

And Fortune even resembles the 6-5 Timmons.

“I had one guy ask me if I was his younger brother,” Fortune said.

Both are also emotional players--Timmons by nature, Fortune by design.

Watching Timmons play in 1984, Fortune decided that that was the type of player he wanted to become.

“Most of the other players were very straight-faced. They didn’t let their emotions show during a match,” Fortune said. “Not Steve. He hits every ball as hard as he can. It really psychs the team up. He’ll make mistakes with his aggressive style, but that type of emotion fires the team up.”

Fortune has emulated that style and employed it when taking Timmons’ place in the lineup.

During the U.S.A. Cup last October, Timmons injured a finger and was replaced by Fortune. It was not a good situation to be thrown into; the United States trailed the Soviet Union, 2-0, when Fortune went in.

“I got a couple blocks, a few digs and the momentum swung back our way,” he said. “I was just trying to do anything I could to fire the team up.”

Said Dunphy, “Scott didn’t necessarily hit (spike) that well, but he more than held his own. He met my expectations, and I always have high expectations.”

With a month to go before the final cut, Fortune likes his chances. Although he is only 22, he hopes to get his chance now rather than in 1992.

“The way I look at it, a lot can happen in four years,” he said. “I could blow out a knee or (suffer) some other injury and never get the chance again.”

Said Dunphy: “I’m not into long-range forecasting. Either you’re a good volleyball player now or you’re not. Now someone else will have to take stats.”