Shaq VS

For those who haven’t see the show yet the premise of it is for The Big Aristotle, Shaquille O’Neal challenging star athletes to a competition in their respective sports. There are rumors that he may have stole the idea from former teammate Steve Nash - This may or may not be true but Steve Nash does have an Executive Producer credit, so draw your own conclusions.

He did manage to get some good names to sign on to the project:
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, tennis pro Serena Williams, and beach volleyball Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. Cyclist Lance Armstrong may also get involved .

The show was actually not as bad as I initially thought it would be. That being said, I think for the most part after last nights episode that pitted Big Shaqtus against AVP players and Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh I may be done with it... the novelty has now worn off. I watched part of the first one with Ben Roethlisberger and it was ok at best.

I made it a point to watch all of the Beach Volleyball for a variety of reasons. I am a big volleyball fan and actually watch the AVP during the year even if it is not just an Olympic year when it is en vogue. I am big fans of Misty May (whom was cool enough to send me an autograph) and Kerri Walsh (who is not as cool just yet). Plus as an added bonus they are clearly not hard on the eyes, especially in HD. I think that these ladies doing this show in combination with everything else they do have made a big impression towards the mainstream sports scene and help keep it in the minds of the casual observer. Lets face it as much as the AVP may try and do the national coverage of the sport is weak at best. You just don't see highlights on Sportscenter in either Canada or the USA nor do you get much actual match coverage on TV, except a crappy half hour show on Sportsnet when they need to fill some time and they are out of episodes of Poker After Dark and you don't even get the entire match.

The show itself was pretty decent as the sport lends itself well to adapt to that style.
Shaq and his partner, which alternated between "The Professor" Todd Rogers and Casey Jennings (who is married to Kerri Walsh), engaged in a 2-on-2 match on Hermosa Beach. The competition consisted of a best of three, match with rally scoring, 1st to 11 points. The net was set at a height for women’s beach volleyball. The favorites - May/Walsh ended up taking the event 11-6, 11-8. For loosing Shaq had to walk down the beach in a giant pink Speedo...that was, well unpleasant for all.