However, his contributions to both racquetball and paddleball are beyond question, and in 2004, mostly for his work with Paddleball Nation, he was awarded the prestigious Earl Riskey Memorial Trophy for outstanding contributions to the sport of paddleball. He was also the 2007 honoree at the Pig Roast & Human Sacrifice, a midwestern regional paddleball doubles tournament that honors a player's significant contributions to the game. Brumfield is also noteworthy as a showman, and has at various times taken on racquetball opponents playing with a shoe or a bottle instead of a racket or paddle. At times he will play an entire game, match, or tournament hitting a single type of serve, and he will sometimes play a serious racquetball tournament with a paddle (instead of a racket), putting himself at significant disadvantage. He has a penchant for what he calls his "science experiments" that can involve a novel way of gripping the racket, or a variation on footwork, or an unusual modification of a paddle, etc. These "science experiments" often take weeks or months but when he has learned what he wants from them he may go on to the next experiment and never look back at that variation again. Brumfield still draws large and boisterous crowds when he competes at national tournaments and remains popular amongst fans. In a 2009 interview, outdoor racquetball great Tony Gambone was asked "what was the greatest match you ever saw?" He answered: "Every Charlie Brumfield match I have seen." Brumfield graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of San Diego (USD) with degrees in economics and business administration and then went on to earn a degree in law from USD, all during the period when he was playing professional racquetball. He currently serves as in-house counsel to Pure Bioscience of El Cajon, California, a suburb of San Diego. Even at the height of his playing career, Brumfield suffered from multiple-substance addictions including alcoholism and drug addiction. These addictions probably shortened his professional playing career, and also affected the early parts of his law career. Brumfield's battle with addiction is discussed in detail in an article published in a 1997 edition of the "San Diego Union Tribune". Unable to manage the problem on his own, in the early 1990s, Brumfield admitted himself to a recovery program, one part of which is the main topic of the "Union-Trib" article. Brumfield has remained active in recovery programs and recovery networks.