Monday, Sept. 8, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.
Near dusk Saturday outside the Hard Rock Hotel, a men's beach volleyball semifinal at the Aquafina Shootout yielded to some peripheral action that picked up steam, and followers, by the minute.
A warm-up court in the shadows of the bright lights that beamed down upon center court drew waves of attention and applause, inducing more and more fans in the main stands to crane their necks for a better view.
Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos were back.
The dynamic duo teamed to win a record 114 beach volleyball events, and they prepped on the side court for a Legends match that teamed them for the first time in 10 years.
One thing led to another, and a couple of regular Joes wound up challenging Smith and Stoklos. Soon enough, Stoklos fired spikes as if he were playing for a gold medal.
The oohs and aahs became contagious, and the ring around the practice sand grew deeper. Fans at the edges of the center-court bleachers took notice, which spread out like a wave.
"People in the U.S., and around the world, still know who we are and have quite a respect for what we did, so it was nice to see that they didn't actually forget about us," said Smith, 46.
Smith and Stoklos dispatched Ricci Luyties-Brent Frohoff in two sets of the best-of-three Legends match, which was played for charity.
Smith still has fantastic sleight-of-hand tricks. Instead of setting an easy one for Stoklos, Smith flipped the ball behind him with a feather touch, just over the net and in front of his stunned and flat-footed foes.
Stoklos dusted off his old-school serve, in which he tossed the ball 30 feet, jumped and then nailed a wicked knuckler. He also showed he hasn't lost his fire, spiking with authority.
"It was kind of exciting," said Stoklos, 42. "I don't know if those guys (Luyties and Frohoff) take it all that seriously. They should. Every time I stepped out on the court, I took it very seriously."
They weren't the only legends on the sand, either. Leonard Armato is perhaps the most important figure in the history of the sport. He began the Association of Volleyball Professionals in 1983, then watched it deteriorate in the late 1990s.
The players forced a coup, taking over ownership, then various wannabes nearly mismanaged it into oblivion.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Armato had an epiphany when he witnessed how the sport had become so globalized. He worked to wrest control of the AVP, merging two rival groups, and resuscitated the game.
"What he did, initially, was huge," Smith said of the birth of the AVP 20 years ago. "None of us playing at the time had any idea that the sport could be as big as it got. When he left, the sport went downhill in a big way. It went in the other direction.
"He proved he's the only one who could bring the sport back and take it to the next level."
Armato owns Digital Media Campus and Management Plus, which has represented Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, boxer Oscar De La Hoya and actress/model Pamela Anderson. His sprawling, three-level home occupies a prime spot in Manhattan Beach.
And he's a former beach volleyball player, so his passion and profession merged in 1983. Early on, he orchestrated a strike, even having one player serve another with a breach-of-contract lawsuit on center court.
He said the AVP is close to being self-sufficient, turning an annual profit, since he has poured "millions of dollars" of his own funds into the project for more than two years.
Armato believes the tour's presence in Las Vegas, the final stop of the regular season, will become enhanced in the future, and the weekend action didn't disappoint a near-capacity audience.
Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard became the first men's team to win consecutive events this season with their two-set victory against Scott Ayakatubby and Brian Lewis late Saturday night.
On the women's side, Misty May and Kerri Walsh became the first duo to record an undefeated season when their whitewash of Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs completed an 8-0 campaign.
McPeak and Youngs finished second to May and Walsh in all eight of their victories.
"We want an event here in Las Vegas that people look forward to, every year, right after Labor Day," Armato said, "and continue this tradition and continue to build upon it."
As influential as Armato has been in giving the AVP new life, some matters are, and will forever be, out of his control. Atop that list is the touchy chemistry between partners, which results in regular turnover.
Eric Fonoimoana, a gold medalist -- with Blanton -- at the Olympics in Australia, dumped Dax Holdren a month ago because Holdren had been slow to recuperate from arthroscopic knee surgery.
Just days later, Fonoimoana won the Manhattan Beach Open with Kevin Wong.
Last week, Fonoimoana paused often when asked about the drama about his break-up with Holdren. However, initial reports that Fonoimoana wouldn't play in Las Vegas were incorrect as he showed, playing alongside ...
Holdren.
Wong sat in the south bleachers, with friends, as Fonoimoana and Holdren lost in a semifinal to Ayakatubby-Lewis late Saturday afternoon.
McPeak knows all about that drama, as she played alongside May during the 2000 season.
"It is difficult," McPeak said last summer in an interview on the U.S. Olympic website. "Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants the best combo that is going to help them win. Sometimes the stress of not winning can get in the way of a partnership."
The strongest team in the history of the sport continues to give back to it, as its victory Saturday night drew raves from an adoring crowd for Stoklos and Smith.
For the past two years, they have conducted clinics on Southern California beaches for kids, ages 7 to 16, to develop interest in beach volleyball and hone their skills. Stoklos said 1,000 have passed through the nine-week clinics.
He also admitted he last had a real job when he flipped burgers as a teenager. Stoklos and Smith received only room accommodations and expenses for their weekend efforts.
"I've definitely been blessed," Stoklos said. "I've been in the right place at the right time. I treat the sport as it treats me, and if I put it in that high regard, I'll be OK. We did quite a bit for, really, nothing.
"Again, our passion is to play. A lot comes along with that responsibility, with No. 1 being promoting the sport. You sometimes don't make any money, but you get a lot out of it."
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