MALMSTROM AFB, Mont. -- Bob Holmes has played more than 18,000 exhibition matches in his 33-year career as a one-man volleyball team. More impressively, he has won all but 420 of them.
He has squared off against more than half a million opponents across the nation, and he's beaten luminary professional sports teams including the Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills.
But on May 16, Holmes met the challenge presented by a different kind of team. His opponents on the other side of the net that day were Airmen from the 341st Missile Wing. The five matches played at the Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana fitness center marked Holmes' first-ever appearance on an Air Force installation.
"I appreciate you inviting me," Holmes said to an audience that numbered approximately 400 people. "It's an honor to be here. I am so thankful for what you do and what you sacrifice for our country."
Holmes, conspicuously dressed in neon yellow, next explained the rules of the game: he would play each team to the score of 15, but if any opposing team reached 11 points that match would continue to the score of 21 'as a bonus.'
Once that was established, the visiting team's solitary member took a stance on his half of the volleyball court and prepared to serve the ball to his first group of challengers, a team comprised of commanders from around the base.
At 58, Holmes is an unlikely athlete. He claims he was introverted and shy growing up in Boston, Massachusetts, and that he had no interest in sports while in high school and college. As a young man, Holmes was troubled by a disabling back pain. His chiropractor suggested that he should take up volleyball in his back yard as his therapy.
"It's a beat the odds story because I could hardly get out of a vehicle without somebody helping me," Holmes said, recalling how his struggle for mobility became a career playing the sport. "I've never been on a volleyball team. In fact, to this day I've never read a book on it and I've never played on a team. If somebody was with me I probably wouldn't know what I was doing."
Once he recuperated, it wasn't long before Holmes realized he had a talent for winning volleyball games single-handedly. About that same time, he heard a statistic about the high number of suicides in America and that motivated him to develop an inspirational message as a response. Holmes' one-man demonstrations are a metaphor to show that a determined individual can beat the odds and win at the game of life.
"I address bullying, suicide, drugs and alcohol," Holmes said as he described his program. He encourages his audiences to persevere and to always look to the future.
It is a message that parallels some of the key themes of Malmstrom's Wingman Day, a base-wide day of resiliency training and positive motivation. Wingman Day is held twice a year.
"What a great day to have Bob come, on our Wingman Day," Col. Tom Wilcox, 341st MW commander, said to the audience.
Holmes' opening serve to the commanders went awry, giving the home team the lead. Soon the points began to rack up in favor of the commanders, who quickly gained a 3-7 advantage. Holmes paused the game to tell the audience that he was now ready to start playing, and then rapidly collected a string of points to tighten the score to 9-11. As the match progressed, Holmes announced that he wanted to take it out to 25 points. The undulating battle ended in Holmes' favor, 25-22.
"That first group was tough," Holmes said after the event. "I thought, 'what did I get myself into?'"
Using music, humor and over-the top showmanship to keep his audience engaged, Holmes went head-to-head against four more teams.
Holmes won his second match at 15-9, and then drew it out to 21 points for a final score of 21-15. His third match, a pick-up game with uniformed Airmen from the audience, ended 15-2. His fourth match, played against Malmstrom's first sergeants, ended 15-9 as another win for Holmes despite several heroic plays by the shirts. The final match pitted him against Malmstrom's chief master sergeants and ended at 15-6 for a clean sweep by Holmes.
Holmes then took his microphone in hand to deliver his spoken message. Transforming to his role as an inspirational speaker, he railed against suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, and fear of failure. His key theme of 'beat the odds' was weaved throughout.
"Decide you won't ever quit," Holmes said. "Greatness is determined by what it takes to stop you."
"I want you to go away from this place saying, 'I remember this guy's message more than his game, and I remember that he put his heart into those teams but he certainly gave a whole lot more heart in that message,'" Holmes said. "And if you go out of here saying, 'I was helped by the message,' I'll say it was worth me leaving [home] to do this."