Battle on the Beach - May/Walsh VS Ross/Kessy

Looking forward to the Woman's Beach final between the two USA Teams: 

Keri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor vs April Ross and Jen Kessy.

It has been a long time since I have blogged and hope to get back to it more consistently again. Figured now was a good time to dip my toe back in as I am getting excited for the 4pm Gold Medal Woman's Beach Volleyball match.

I have been a huge fan of the team of Walsh and May since the beginning watching the old AVP tour on TV. I even have my Misty May autographed picture on the wall in a frame still. As much as I want this team to do what everyone seems to think they are going to do and that is go 3 for 3 in the Olympics with gold medals, I am not so convinced that Ross/Kessy are as big of underdogs as everyone thinks they are. This is a good team and it would be unwise to under-estimate them. Sure May/Walsh are the sexy pick and the ones getting all the spotlight (and deservedly so), but being disregarded as second class citizens like Ross/Kessy have to give them some added motivation. Even NBC only showed the last few point of their match last night despite having to have a huge comeback just to move into the finals. It is too bad that even their own country isn't getting behind them.

In any event it should be a great match regardless of the outcome. Ross and Kessy are playing against May and Walsh. May and Walsh are playing against Ross/Kessy and history...it is like a 2on1. Gotta love beach volleyball. I hope that there is a domestic North American League for beach volleyball again soon so we can see this great sport more and increase its exposure.

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.

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.

Marriage Proposals At Sporting Events

If it isn't bad enough that fans use the video board to pop the question (you gotta be 100%sure of the answer because 20,000 or more fans and TV stations can be very cruel).Now even the athletes are doing it right on the field. The is something to be said about college athletes using sporting events as a grounds for marriage proposals. There was the Boise St. QB after winning a Bowl game in an upset then during the celebration went over and proposed to his girlfriend, a cheerleader for the team. Good day for that guy.

Just recently University of Texas star Destinee Hooker won a high jump title and was still on the track when Clifton Gay dropped to his knee, pulled out a ring and proposed. She nodded in agreement and began hugging just about everyone in sight. Hooker said basically that this was the perfect place “My team's here, my family's here, this was perfect.”A mere 15 minutes or so earlier, Destinee won the Texas Relays title with a high jump leap of 6 feet, 3 1/2 inches in her first outdoor meet since 2007. A two sport star on bot the track as well on the Volleyball Court, took a year off of the track to concentrate on volleyball. Clearly an exceptional player she was invited to train with the women's national team before the Beijing Olympics. She was also an All-American as outside hitter. She may even have some opportunities to get a medal at the Olympics or Worlds with her talent.

Even with all those accolades and a 1.5 carat square-cut diamond set in a diamond-studded white gold band, people will still remember this story for 1 reason and I am sure you know what that is... the impending Gay-Hooker Wedding...Thanks Jay Leno, I am sure this should make your Headlines segment.

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.

'Heese' So Close

Mark Heese is one half of the 1996 Bronze Medal winning Beach Volleyball team for Canada in Atlanta. He teamed with John Childs and the two were long time partners. Heese now plays with Ahren Cadieux and the two had hopes of playing in Beijing in this years Olympics, that will not be happening. How about this for a kicker to a former Olympian and medalist the top 24 teams in the world go...they are ranked 25th. They had the potential to get the invite if another team were forced to withdraw but at this late date it looks unlikely and they will be forced to set their sights a little lower to the Canadian National Championships in Toronto. For Heese he will be going for his 11 such title but that surely pales in comparison to going to Beijing and at 39 this will be his last shot. As a huge volleyball fan and a proud Canadian I do feel for them and it would have been great to see them compete on the largest stage (as volleyball seldom gets any press let alone face time on TV outside of Olympic years).