Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 10:15 a.m.
Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
WHAT: Aquafina AVP Shootout presented by Bud Light.
WHERE: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino temporary beach court.
WHEN: Today, 4:30-9 p.m.; Saturday, 3:30-10:30 p.m.
WHO: Top men's and women's beach volleyball touring pros including 2004 Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May; 2004 bronze medalists Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs, 2000 Olympic gold medalists Eric Fonoimoana and Dain Blanton and three-time Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly. PURSE: $150,000
. TICKETS: $10 general admission.
TV: NBC (3) 1 p.m.Sunday (tape delay).
ON THE WEB: www.avp.com
They are, without question, the best women's beach volleyball players in the world. If their swimsuits were large enough to accommodate numbers, like in other sports, theirs would be 1 and 1A. Together, they are the greatest thing to hit the beach since the 29th Infantry Division at Normandy, bigger than Frankie and Annette, even. With freshly minted Olympic gold medals to prove it.
But in their version of "Beach Blanket Bingo," Kerri Walsh keeps losing to partner Misty May.
Remember that VISA commercial which featured the pair playing volleyball on a snow-covered "beach" (actually, the Mammoth ski resort in California) that made Green Bay's Lambeau Field look like Fantasy Island? Well, when the ball went into the frozen "surf," guess who was chosen to retrieve it?
Having conquered Madison Avenue and then the rest of the world in Athens, Walsh and May have become media darlings and are fast closing in on David Frost's record for doing interviews. But when a volunteer was needed to entertain the local press Thursday while a hellacious thunderstorm threatened to turn the man-made beach at Hard Rock Hotel, site of this weekend's Aquafina AVP Shootout, into a mud bog, guess who drew the short straw?
"I don't mind it," said the willowy 6-foot-3 inch Walsh as Thunderstorm Ivan bore down on the intersection of Harmon and Paradise, "because it's promoting our sport, promoting the sport I love and promoting what Misty and I accomplished, which was very special. So the fact we can share it with everybody is awesome."
That Walsh and May have become celebrities, guests of Jay Leno and bit fodder for David Letterman, is a sign that beach volleyball has become more than a blip on the radar screen. It still and forever may be a niche sport, but where that niche once was carved with a pocketknife, charismatic players such as Walsh have put an axe in the AVP Tour's tool shed.
Indeed, if they ever start a volleyball hall of fame, Walsh and May's picture will be right next to those of Karch Kiraly and "Wilson," Tom Hanks make-believe buddy in "Cast Away."
Walsh, who just turned 26, tried to sidestep that notion as if were a serve headed out-of-bounds.
"I don't know ... so many people have come before us," she said. "We're just trying to fill their footsteps and hopefully, make some of our own.
"Even without the Olympics, the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) has been growing steadily. It's pretty unbelievable the number of fans we've gotten in just the past three years. The fact we did so well at the Olympics is just good timing. It's just going to enhance what the AVP was already doing, and that's stabilizing and growing."
Staying in the public eye is a dilemma that most Olympic sports face in non-Olympic years, but beach volleyball has a lot going for it. I mean, if it comes down to watching Rulon Gardner wrestle in a one piece leotard or hard bodies such as May and Walsh set and spike the volleyball in two-piece swimsuits, where do you think the average red-blooded American sports fan is going to divide his attention?
Even the stodgy International Olympic Committee pulled its head out of the sand in Athens, allowing go-go girls in metallic swimsuits to parade around the court while rock music blared between points. It was such a party that you almost expected Dennis Rodman or the Hilton sisters to crash it. And Brooke Burke to serve as host.
In many ways, pro beach volleyball is a lot like one of those "Wild On" episodes on the E channel, only with somebody keeping score.
"Which is fine," Walsh said. "That's our job, to be fit and look good in our suits. The fact that we are running around and looking all strong and athletic is something that definitely helps our sport."
The hope is that once the voyeurs -- er, spectators -- find their way to the bleachers, they will admire the players for their skill as well as their muscle tone. Because beach volleyball is certainly not a sport for 98-pound weaklings.
Before she developed her killer tan, Walsh was a four-time indoor volleyball All-American at Stanford. May has a similar resume, only hers was authored at Long Beach State. (Not so coincidentally, May's 49ers beat Walsh's Cardinal in the 1999 NCAA title match.) Kiraly won three indoor NCAA titles at UCLA and gold medals at Los Angeles and Seoul in '84 and '88.
"It's so blatant what this sport is about once you step onto the sand," said Walsh, who grew up in Santa Barbara, Calif., in an athletic family. "It's great-looking athletes, but it's also a dynamic, intense sport which is a lot of fun.
"The atmosphere definitely helps. It's appealing to the senses. But there are so many amazing athletes out here. We have so many college All-Americans, and I think there are seven medalists on tour and 17 Olympians. You combine that with a beach party, and you're going to win on all counts."
In other words, who needs Spike TV when you can watch the real thing live?
archive
