At 35, Tom Hoff is one of the old–timers of the U.S. men's volleyball team.

"A lot of our game, especially for me, is pure explosiveness," says Hoff. " If you're not going 100–percent you're not going to be useful to the team. That's the hardest thing about our game. You can't just go, like for basketball train to shoot by yourself. When we train we need twelve good guys who are going at it 100–percent."

Hoff is the captain of Team USA. And while volleyball wasn't the first sport he played growing up in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, it was the first one he fell in love with.

"I remember when I first started playing volleyball it was like a light bulb went off. I was just crazy into trying to find out where do I go play more. Can I play indoor, can I play outdoor, beach, four–man. I would drive for hours to find tournaments. It literally grew out of that. I was like, wow, I can play it in college. I can also get an education and play the sport that I love."

This will be Tom's third Olympic games. Since he's from Chicagoland there was one very important question we had to ask him.

Cubs or While Sox?

"Cubs. North side. Especially when they're winning."

Even while he's in China, competing at the Olympics, Tom plans to keep tabs on his beloved Cubs on the internet.