AVP/FIVB Beach Volleyball, anyone?

[shadow_operative2.0 15984]

Hughes/Cheng lost to April Ross & a young girl from UCLA in R3, then ran the loser's bracket. 

 

[BadgerHorn 147]

I've been delinquent in my reporting here.  I was out at MBO and Chicago.  Ran into Molly at MBO.  They didn't get out of the qualifiers on Thurs.  She said she was moving "out here" (presumably South Bay) and looking to give the beach volleyball circuit a go.  I saw on http://www.bvbinfo.com/player.asp?ID=23586 that she made $250 in some FIVB events in China.  Hopefully we see her getting into a few main draws going forward.  I'd also love to see some of the current UT Beach girls out there accumulating tour points.

Other takeaways:

- you guys already mentioned it.  The city franchise approach is contrived.  Beach volleyball doesn't lend itself to that approach.  If I thought about it, I could probably come up with more, but off the top of my head, here are my problems with it:

• It's awkward to have only four people representing a city.  It's possible we're just accustomed to at least a dozen people (e.g. NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, etc) for a given city and there's nothing inherently wrong with only four.
• If the men's team wins and the women's team loses, is it a draw for the city?  How do standings work?  I'm sure they explain this, but the fact that I don't know and don't have a strong desire to look into it should be an indication that this concept is in trouble
• Indoor volleyball probably has a chance with city franchises because they play best of 5 sets, you get 2-3 hours of entertainment, the season is long enough to build a relationship with fans, and you have a clear winner/loser.  With this concept, you have one or two events per city, you get 1.5-2 hrs of competition, and they may split?
• The team names seem like a product of someone who fed the following into a GenAI tool: "Give me team nicknames for [insert cities] where only one or two of the nicknames have some semblance of a meaningful tie to the city/region, give me lots of alliteration, and all of the nicknames must be so generic that there is no way any of them can be perceived as offensive to anyone.  Hint: check out American Gladiators for name ideas."

- I'm interested in some of the physique trends year over year.  I noted last year that there were a handful that really hit the weights and bulked up.  This year, those same people who were bulked up last year came back to normal and several others looked notably lighter.  Scoles was one who looked really physically strong last year, but I was questioning the wisdom of the added weight and pounding on her joints as a blocker after she had leg injuries.  She still looks strong, but probably at a better weight for longevity now.  Bourne looked lighter.  I barely recognized Terese Cannon as she lost quite a bit of weight - she wasn't heavy to begin with and she isn't "skinny" now, but a noticeable change.  Lighter seems to be the way to go in 2024.

- Took a walk out on the pier to find Coach's plaques.  Looking forward to him bringing beach volleyball hardware to Austin.

Edited September 19 by BadgerHorn

[shadow_operative2.0 15984]

Damn, thought you died. 

[wood 11226]

5 hours ago, BadgerHorn said:

 

- you guys already mentioned it.  The city franchise approach is contrived.  Beach volleyball doesn't lend itself to that approach.  If I thought about it, I could probably come up with more, but off the top of my head, here are my problems with it:

• It's awkward to have only four people representing a city.  It's possible we're just accustomed to at least a dozen people (e.g. NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, etc) for a given city and there's nothing inherently wrong with only four.
• If the men's team wins and the women's team loses, is it a draw for the city?  How do standings work?  I'm sure they explain this, but the fact that I don't know and don't have a strong desire to look into it should be an indication that this concept is in trouble
• Indoor volleyball probably has a chance with city franchises because they play best of 5 sets, you get 2-3 hours of entertainment, the season is long enough to build a relationship with fans, and you have a clear winner/loser.  With this concept, you have one or two events per city, you get 1.5-2 hrs of competition, and they may split?
• The team names seem like a product of someone who fed the following into a GenAI tool: "Give me team nicknames for [insert cities] where only one or two of the nicknames have some semblance of a meaningful tie to the city/region, give me lots of alliteration, and all of the nicknames must be so generic that there is no way any of them can be perceived as offensive to anyone.  Hint: check out American Gladiators for name ideas."

 

Yep. All of this. Pretty much point for point what I've been thinking about it. Beach Volleyball is best as a tournament sport, and it's not remotely close. I also think they're discounting what previous leaders of the AVP always understood - that a major component of the AVP's allure is the beach lifestyle aspect. Having short events that are expensive to attend, like these league events, pales in comparison to having a tournament, even on an artificial 'beach' in a park. They will have completely neutered one of the main reasons attend AVP events, while also having fewer and fewer tournaments. 

I'm as big of an AVP fan as there ever was. 10 years ago I never would have even considered skipping an AVP event in Austin. But that's exactly what I'll be doing when our weekend rolls around. If they're losing people like me, well, that's a very bad sign.

It's crazy and stupid.

[shadow_operative2.0 15984]

Quote

Beach volleyball is back on TV! We are thrilled to announce that the AVP League will be airing on CBS Sports EVERY SUNDAY starting with this weekend’s event in Austin, TX. Watch the Austin Aces face off against the Palm Beach Passion in two action-packed AVP League matches on the CBS Sports Network this Sunday from 4pm to 6pm Central! 

[wood 11226]

Oh, that's today? I forgot it was even happening. The AVP is in Austin, and for the first time since about 1991, I have zero desire to attend. Well done, AVP!! Bravo!