Dion Rasmussen has known for years what President Bush just discovered.
America has gone wacko over Wallyball.The "in" game that resembles volleyball on a racquetball court is the latest of 23 sports the president has conquered since his inauguration.
But it's by no means new.
Wallyball has topped Rasmussen's repertoire since college days (early 1980s), and last year hurled the 29-year-old Murray resident into the national spotlight.
A Utah team, led by Rasmussen and friend Rick Taggart (whom he dragged off a racquetball court), won the National Wallyball Championship in New York.
While competition was keen, Rasmussen, an area manager for Nabisco, admits that many good teams missed the tournament purely because of finances. Finding sponsors for the then poorly publicized sport was no easy task.
But now Bush is on the team.
Since Wallyball, by way of the White House, has become the latest fitness fad, Rasmussen expects more hearty competition when the Utahns defend their title in April at the 1990 nationals in Modesto, Calif.
Why all the fuss about a ball named "Wally?"
"Because of the group interaction. You've got more people playing at one time," said Brent Cook, manager of Salt Lake City's Sports Mall. "Volleyball is a fun game, but Wallyball adds an extra dimension to the courts because you can use the walls."
Plus, it's great cardiovascular exercise - a full-body, aerobic workout.
Cook said Wallyball's popularity has caused a rapid decline in racquetball. "So we have been able to convert empty racquetball courts into exciting Wallyball courts."
That involves little more than putting up a net.
Wallyball is played with a large blue volleyball-size blue ball, textured like a racquetball, that is spiked off the walls as well as players' palms and fists. Up to four people, battling to get the ball over the net, can compete on an 800-square-foot court.
And anyone, regardless of his or her athletic prowess, can play.
"It's a fun game to play, an easy game to learn. People can go in and within 15 minutes they are playing Wallyball right off the bat - not like other sports that are technically more difficult to learn," Cook said.
That's not to say it's not fast-moving.
"But like any team sport, if you are a little bit slow you can let some of the more active team players cover for you. You can still get through without a real hard sweat," a perspiring Cook said after a game against Rasmussen.
"For a real competitive group, it can be an ugly game," quipped Rasmussen.
So can politics.
But the president has raised the popularity of both sports.
"I love that he has," Rasmussen said. "Maybe we will get an Olympic sport out of it or something."
Right now he and Taggart would settle for a sponsor to send the Utah champs to the California competition.