RIP AVP

No, not Aliens v. Predators (unfortunately). Pro Beach Volleyball has bitten the sand...

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-avp-20100814,0,3157984.story

The AVP had a high presence out here on the West Coast in some circles. I think it was just poorly run, and I won't be surprised to see the vacuum filled.

 

As someone who remembers the good old days fondly (saw my first AVP event in '88 at Narragansett), I'd say the seeds for this sad day were planted in the summer of '94 (?), when Jerry Solomon (AKA Mr. Nancy Kerrigan) took over and started pulling tournaments off the beach, killing the momentum the sport had. Really? The Cape Cod Open in the freaking Cape Cod Mall parking lot instead of Craigville or West Dennis? (Granted, the show was getting too big for a long, relatively narrow beach like WD). The AVP almost died a few years later (the purses had been jacked up too much too fast, too).
I'm not surprised, though, given all the things that have gone wrong since Beijing. Misty blowing her Achilles. Kerri getting pregnant twice. The coup against founder and two-time CEO Leonard Armato (although as a Celts fan, I still haven't forgiven him for jacking a young Brian Shaw out of town). Karch running a new promotion, Wide Open Volleyball (with the old rally scoring, larger court, etc.). The failure of the Beast and the Professor to catch on beyond the hardcore fans the way Misty and Kerri did. The FIVB hasn't run a U.S. tournament in seven years.
Something will come along and replace the AVP, I'm sure, but will the top players make it their priority instead of the FIVB? Will new stars catch on? Can they (or the FIVB beach circuit) get a TV deal?
I fear the beach game becoming one of those sports that becomes relevant only at Olympics time.

 

From the Times' story:

"Some players have already begun play in the Corona Light Wide Open Tour, which was created by beach volleyball legend Karch Kiraly. Kiraly said several athletes, including Aaron Wachtfogel and Casey Patterson, entered this weekend's tournament in Breckenridge, Colo., after the San Francisco Open was postponed."

Ultimately, beach volleyball is a regional phenomenon. They might have events all over the country and the world, but it's not exactly a sport major sponsors flock to.

Some say that this is beach volleyball's "Tony George vs. the world" moment, with no winners and the sport getting torn down.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2010/07/sa.html

 

My bet is that the AVP will dump its debt in bankruptcy, come back and be just fine -- albeit slightly more cost conscious.

As for canceling the tour on the eve of one of the AVP's biggest, most popular, and historic tournaments (Manhattan Beach)... I think it was a shrewd move to maximize the public outpouring of sympathy.

I do hope it reestablishes itself in 2011, though, before the London Olympics. It really is one of the more fun spectator sports and the players need the visibility so they can accumulate domestic sponsors while they're in peak form.

 

Man, I thought Alex Van Pelt had checked out.

 

I read they are playing Manhattan anyway, with no bleachers and no sponsors. The sport going back to its roots.

 

Oh noes! Kerri Walsh threatens to boycott Manhattan beach because she doesn't like the rules they're using!

http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_15811091

Bunch of people fighting over an ever-shrinking piece of the sporting landscape.

 

Heaven needed a pro beach volleyball tour?

It died doing what it loved -- being irrelevant.

 

Where have you gone Sinjin Smith? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

 

I love the old sideout rules, even though the day I tore my ACL, the match probably would've already been over under rally scoring. I'd even prefer a 10-minute rally clock with sideout scoring (as the AVP used in the '90s, when they got on network TV) to rally scoring.
The total purse on the latest Wide Open event was $15,000. Karch managed to lure a few stray AVP players, but I don't see an AVP stars' run on it unless disenfranchised sponsors help bump up the purse.
I just wonder if part of Kerri's boycott involves the strong possibility that she and Misty are done as a team. Something's up if they're not playing together, because Misty and Nicole Branagh haven't exactly dominated the tour this year (two wins).

 

Walsh boycotting?
Has she played a single tournament since having her second baby?

 

Rally scoring ruined volleyball.