The Beach Is Closed

THE AVP

July 21, 1983 - August 13,2010

It was a sad day on a personal level when I learned the news that the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) was forced to suspend operations and prematurely end the 2010 season due to financial hardships.

Commissioner Mike Dodd had this statement following the announcement:
"Through the course of this investor search we have encountered individuals and groups with intelligence, common sense and a passion for the game of beach volleyball," said Mike Dodd, AVP commissioner. "Unfortunately, the time constraints were such that pulling the trigger on the amount of money necessary to salvage this season were too great. Ironically this sad news comes as we approach the 50th anniversary of the Manhattan Open, our sport’s crown jewel and the one event that showed us all we could dream big. The Open has seen its ups and downs over the years and always persevered. I’m sure our sport will do the same."

This was a tough thing to hear but also a tough thing to learn. It was nearly a week before I was even aware that this decision was made which I was a little put off by. The first that I had heard of this news was that I got an SI alert that involved Keri Walsh’s name when she threatened to boycott the revamped Manhattan Beach Open because the beach volleyball tournament won’t be played under the accepted international rules.

Until that point I was unaware that the AVP was no more. The fact that there was no news reports I guess speaks to just how niche the sport really is. Volleyball is far from easy to find on the TV dial and only for 1-2 hours every few weeks could you find one or the other Men’s or Women's finals on ABC. You can almost never find Indoor matches even during the times when the World Championships are on.

Unfortunately for the sport people only see it every 4 years at the Olympics and when it is out of sight it is out of mind. It is too bad I always looked forward to when there were games on the tube. Hopefully some more FIVB tour games will be televised in Canada/US but only time will tell. It would be best if they could get a real strong title sponsor and could make the AVP financially viable but that could be tough.

Beach volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1996 and it was helped by the quality of play and players on the AVP tour that helped bring the sport to the foreground.

A committed group, a strong title sponsor and network help will all have to come together to get this back up and running and keep it strong. There is a lot of talent on the beach and unless these games are going to be played on North American TV and on North American soil and not just overseas.

As a fan and a televised sports viewer I cross my fingers that there will be more Volleyball on TV, ether on the beach, indoor, NCAA, International - whatever.

Time To Lace Them Up And Hit The Ice

Thankfully the rookies are on the ice and the real camps will start up on the weekends for most of the other NHL teams in the league. I think everyone can agree that it was a long off season for not only the Ottawa Senators and their fans but fans of hockey in general. Around the league there has been a lot off off ice issues that have done nothing but make the league look bad, alienate fans and annoy just about anyone with any sort of vested interest in the NHL and professional hockey.

Locally, the Senators ended strong but still had a very disappointing season, making for an even longer off season. Of course there is little doubt where most of the interest lies, that of course is what is going to happen with Dany Heatley. Is he staying, is he going, where does he want to go, where will he not, why does he want to leave, how is this going to affect roster moves by the team? All valid questions and deserving of answers even if none seem close to being answered. The only people that are benefitting are the rumor bloggers that throw out names and "time lines" in hopes that maybe they can will something to happen or to merely keep coming back and getting plenty of hits to see what and if there was any developments....Is it going to happen to day? Nothing happening ...they can’t have him back, and so on and so forth. Ahhhhh Ahhhh Ahhhhh this is an ordeal!

Next there is the situation involving the Phoenix Coyotes. Who is going to own the team? Where are they going to play? Can the NHL get the team and if so how long will they stay in Phoenix? Will Jim Balsillie get the team? Can he move it? If so, for how much? If he get the team will the leagues board allow him to join the league? Can you own a team but not be allowed into the league? Painful questions every one of them. Yes looking at this list the are a lot of questions and there is a noticeable omission right here and that is ANY ANSWERS. I don’t think anyone at least on the fan side of things care. It is too bad because for the first time in maybe ever the team is starting to make progress on the ice and has the potential to be good on the ice...where that ice is may be interesting and who is signing the pay checks is any ones guess.

Then there is the ownership problems in Tampa where Len Barrie and Oren Koules can’t seem to get along and It looks like the NHL has stepped in to try to get one to buy the other one out. Infighting and a lack of direction was a big issue, hopefully Brian Lawton can keep the train rails.
Speaking of ownership, William (Boots) Del Biaggio III , former owner of the Nashville Predators, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for bilking investors and banks...that is some good due diligence by the NHL, yet Jim Balsillie is bad....whatever.

What we need now is a distraction, and that distraction is players on the ice, competing for jobs, preparing for the season, and even for a lucky few looking to start hot and work their way onto their respective countries Olympic and World Junior rosters.

Canada and Russia renewed acquaintances yet again in the finals of the World Championships. This game may not have the same pressure as those versus the Soviet union but whenever you are playing under your flag and for your country there is a huge level of pride that goes into it. Unfortunately for Canada they came up on the short end in this game. In a match that they had both control of the play and the majority of the chances, Canada ran into a hot goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov who made 37 saves en rout to a 2-1 victory. Canada sent a very young team and used it almost like an in game audition for the summer selection camp and to help the young stars of tomorrow gather some great experience in international play. Player that were targeted as being potential core pieces going forward were Drew Doughty, Steve Stamkos and Luke Schenn. Yet another great plan by Hockey Canada, go for a gold but not at the expense of program development. Second place may be the first loser but Canada has to look at this as just one battle on the way to winning the war (sorry i hate to compare sports to war but they have yet to come up with the equivalent statement), Maybe the team can use this a some added motivation on the way to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. This game also had up for grabs the world #1 ranking and Russia gets to take those bragging rights with them.

In related Hockey Canada news they have been awarded the rights to 7 more International Tournaments: Four World Junior Championships and three World Women's Championships. Canada will host next year's World Junior Championships in Regina and Saskatoon and the 2012 event in Calgary and Edmonton. It will also host the events in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. The woman’s events are slated for 2013, 2016 and 2020. We know that it is a money issue and that Canada will be the most profitable as the gate revenue is probably going to exceed any other location. They just have to be careful to not over do it and reach that point of over saturation and making it less of a premier event. If it is always in Canada every year the prestige is bound to drop. You have to keep it moving a bit to keep the interest in the rest of the world and keep growing the game. The World Juniors are very important to Canada, The World Championships are important to the rest of the World and for the Women they just need it to grow in countries other then Canada and the USA to get some more competitive balance and create some new rivalries and passion. Canada-USA can only play so many times, you know each other too well and the passion is bound to drop with so much repetition...it is like playing your own team in practice. Sure the games are fun but you are bound to lack passion over time, it becomes less of a game and more of a chore.

A Year for the "Ages"

After the story of the young baseball player that was not allowed to pitch because he was too good. It re-hashed my questions about age of athletes. As we are still only slightly removed from the Olympics and we are getting to the point where it and gymnastics will fall off the interest table I figured that I should touch on the young Chinese gymnasts again, and then I guess let it go since it looks like optics and proof are 2 very different things.

The IOC asked the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate possible violations as to the ages of members of the Chinese Gymnastics team.
Throughout the Olympics questions had been raised as to the true age of these VERY YOUNG looking girls. Younger gymnasts are considered to have an advantage because they are more flexible, and are likely to have an easier time doing the tough skills the sport requires. They also aren’t as likely to have a history of injuries or fear of failure. The age restriction was introduced to protect the athletes and their bodies from abuse (I know that sounds like the cop-out from the baseball people but i believe that it is really apples and oranges). It comes as little surprise that the Chinese are at the front of this story as they are not knows for the best human rights record, youth labour and being upfront or truthful.

It does seem awfully convenient that the documents that they use to prove the age of these girls are government issued and the when they control everything the documents, you can’t figure are worth the paper they are written on.

I am just glad that the US Team have other achievements and medals to make up for the ones that they are getting screwed out of. Sure the medal haul would be more impressive and potentially make them a few more dollars in endorsements after the games but at least they aren’t coming back empty handed.

There was a hope late during the games or shortly after that there was the possibility that there was info that may prove some impropriety and could “vault” the US team to a Team Gold and give Nastia Lukin the Gold in the uneven bars which she deserved anyway since she never “lost” but tied.

That is like saying in soccer it is 0-0 but you had 3 more shots on net so you win, craziness. Although if any sport would be foolish enough to do something i bet it would be soccer

The Flame Has Been Extinguished

The Olympics are over and surprisingly I am a little upset with that. I liked having the option of turning on the TV at any hour, any day and getting to see a sporting event that was not only some what interesting but occasionally compelling. I don’t know why it was compelling, there is no reason for it, I wouldn’t choose to watch fencing or water polo at any other time, but for 2 weeks I did, and enjoyed it as well. I guess I just gave into the Olympic spirit for 2 weeks and just enjoyed.
I am resigned to the fact that yes I am sure either within weeks, months or even years that there will be some sort of drug controversy or form of performance enhancing scandal and that yes the Chinese gymnasts were in fact not 16 nor even 14 and maybe not even double digits at all but that is OK.
There were a record number of world records broken, I believe in the neighborhood of 43. The pool was “juiced” the track was “juiced” the air didn’t seem to be as much of a factor as first thought.
There was a little bit of everything and there was a little bit for everybody, Triumph of a favorite winning the gold as everyone predicted like with USA’s Beach Volleyball and Basketball, the heartbreak of the favorite placing 8th like with Adam Van Koeverden. The tears of joy from a long shot getting on the podium like with former Russian-now German Oksana Chusovitina at age 33 (twice the age of some competitors and possibly 3 times the age of some of the Chinese gymnasts) who moved to Germany so her son could receive the health care he required. There was also the horrible sportsmanship of the athlete who took off his bronze and threw it to the mat claiming he was not there for 3rd place, or the Cuban who pushed a referee and snap-kicked a judge in the head after he was disqualified from a match-now under a lifetime ban.
After the terrible attack and early and murder of US Men’s Volleyball coach’s in-law the games went on without a hitch or reported incidents.
It is too bad that few will care about diving, table tennis speed walking and badminton for another 4 years but when it is London’s turn in 2012 lets hope for more of what we just got. The bar has been set high, but the athletes are probably high too so i guess it is fitting.
All I know is I enjoyed it and hopefully everyone else did as well.

Dream In Gold

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh managed to do a couple of the more difficult things in sports last night. Misty and "6 Feet of Sunshine" didn’t need any sunshine as they played in a driving rainstorm that perhaps helped the Chinese even the playing field a bit. Not only did they go into Beijing as the favourites (not ranked #1 which makes no sense but whatever) to win gold in Beach Volleyball but that is what they actually did! Not always easy to live up to lofty expectations. They not only accomplished that but they did it without loosing a single set and have pushed thier record to 108 matches since their last loss and 14th straight at the Olympics. That is over a year of competition both domestic on the AVP Tour and Internationally and covers this and the Athens Olympics. They also are the first team to ever win back to back gold at the Olympics.

With the 21-18, 21-18 win the duo have cemented them selves as the greatest female team ever on the beach and have made a strong case as the greatest team ever - male or female. For Walsh, the win marks her 100th career victory, becoming the youngest and fastest to ever reach the 100 wins. Misty has 103 wins. They are the only 2 women in an elite group that includes beach volleyball legends Karch Kiraly, Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos and Kent Steffes.

The only troublesome thing now is that both May and Walsh are looking to start families very soon and will most likely take 2009 off to have babies. Hopefully this isn’t the end of this dominating pair and they have at least 1 more Olympics left in them and a few AVP seasons left.
As Misty joked following the match maybe they can both start the next great team...no pressure for any yet to be created babies. But wouldn’t that be something?!

Like Misty says; individually they are good, together they are GOLDEN!

I am a huge volleyball fan and love to watch the game even if TSN and Sportsnet think that fat guys playing poker, dog shows and spelling bees are more compelling and offer higher ratings. If that is true then that is just wrong.
You know that I will be rooting for "The Thin Beast" Phil Dalhauser and "The Professor" Todd Rogers to grab the men’s gold tonight but it is not as sure a thing as May Walsh I am afraid, should prove to be a good match.

Around the Horn

Congratulations to Michael Phelps on his 7th gold (with plenty of room to spare, 1/100th of a second) of the 2008 Olympics. It was an unbelieveable race and a thrill to watch. All I can say is WOW!!

Around the Horn will not be seen this week and has put on hiatus for re-tooling.
Actually I just don't have the drive to write it this week and plan for it to be back in all its glory next week!

Stay tuned!