Beach volleyball in the 1960s and 1970s was full of colorful characters. One of the most interesting and influential of these characters was Jack Adriance, known up and down the California coast as "Captain Jack." In an era before the internet and before every match and every statistic was recorded, Captain Jack served as the sport's walking database. Attending every tournament, Jack memorized every finish and every player, from the top Open winners to the lower level players battling to make it to the upper ranks. Before there were computerized point systems, Jack's knowledge helped tournament directors throughout California correctly seed their tournaments correctly and fairly. When the first professional tournaments started, Jack worked closely with the tour directors on their event planning and tournament seeding, helping to lay the foundation for today's professional tour.

But it was his pure, unbridled love of the game that set Jack apart. It was common during this era for players to seek Jack out at tournaments just to hear him tell stories about past tournaments. Jack was would hold court in his beach chair and talk of all the great tournaments and great teams of the past. He helped connect players across California together and through his recollections, Captain Jack helped create a bond and an appreciation of the history of the game among successive generations of beach volleyball players.