I Left My Heart in San Francisco…mild, medium, hot or no sauce in the California sun

I think I speak for all the CA AVP residents when I say “Thank you Jason Hodell and AVP management” for scheduling Manhattan, Hermosa, and San Fran within weeks of each other. Not having to travel back and forth from the East Coast or Midwest was a blessing!

But now it’s back to the traveling road show that is the AVP: Muskegon, Chicago, and Cincinnati the next three weeks. It’s going to be a busy last month of the season. So let me tell you where we’ve been and where we are going to prepare you for the culmination of the 2009 AVP season:

Hot: After failing to make the final in Manhattan, the granddaddy of US beach volleyball, Dalhausser/Rogers kicked it into another gear for Hermosa and San Fran. To say they dominated would be an understatement: Dalhausser had 11 aces and 23 blocks in only 5 matches in San Fran while racking up 34 blocks in Hermosa; Rogie hit 0.440% and had 48 digs in San Fran and another 62 digs in Hermosa. In fact, yours truly suffered his most humiliating defeat of my AVP “career” in Hermosa with a 21-7 meeching at the hands of the Beijing Gold Medalists! Speaking of Beijing, the lull is over for the Beijing beast…he could have picked up 9 other players on tour and won the past two finals the way he played! Don’t believe me? Consider these players (last names for time’s sake) playing along side Phil’s serve and block with the numbers previously mentioned: Mayer, Rosenthal, Lucena, Olson, Jennings, Brazao, Hyden, Medel, and Loomis. All of these players except for Medel and Brazao have won a tournament so they know how to finish. And Medel has been in two finals while Pedro is as consistent a player on tour having not appeared in a final yet. I’m not saying Rogers isn’t fantastic, because he is; all I’m saying is that Phil has been ridiculous the past two weeks, period!

Hot: Jen Kessey and April Ross. If you hadn’t noticed this season, this team has arrived! While Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh are still the #1 team on the AVP, Kessey and Ross have something that team doesn’t: a 2009 world championship. Throw in an impressive win in San Fran and another final appearance in Hermosa, and it’s safe to say this team has found its groove.

***Side note, volleyball is a HUGE momentum game. And momentum rarely comes from an athletic shift, but rather from a mental shift. It’s a feeling that occurs when your confidence is high, your energy is positive, and every play seems to happen in the moment. One thing I’ve noticed is how calm Ross/Kessey have been. They aren’t jumping higher, serving harder, or moving quicker on the court. Instead, they just have the big “MO” right now and that equals success. Take a look for yourself next time you catch their match on TV…and make sure you see their “high-5” routine which is the best on the beach!

Hot: Welcome back Kerri Walsh and Rachael Wacholder. The “Golden Girl” is back with her good friend Rachael and, despite both players having babies just a couple months ago, they are back competing. After taking a disappointing 5th in Hermosa, the two gutted out a 3rd place finish in San Fran. It is good to see them back playing. And look for them to make a run in Muskegon with Kessey/Boss at the FIVB overseas.

No Sauce: I know I am going to take a lot of flak for this next comment but I think it has to be addressed: when is the depth of the women’s tour going to catch up to the men’s side? I spent some time watching my good friend Saralyn Smith playing in San Fran. She was having a great tournament both siding out and at the net. In the mist of this admiration, it made me think: I need to watch more of the middle seeds of the women’s tournament. So I did. In fact, I was enthralled by a stadium court match in which Stonebarger/Lowe took Rachael and Kerri to a thrilling third game. With that match freshly in my mind, I set out to watch some women’s beach volleyball. What I saw was overwhelming disappointing and somewhat shocking. Top to bottom, the women’s draw lacked the athleticism, power, and explosiveness you see in the men’s game. No duh John, it's the classic man vs. women debate. Of course men are bigger and stronger, that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is the lack of consistency throughout the women’s game. I don’t know if it is a transition thing from the indoor game to the beach or what, but here are some observations: no double arm lift on approach jumps, very few jump serves and even less effective jump serves, no penetration on the block, too many plays below the net, failure to terminate rallys that have too many “pokies” back and forth over the net, etc. Volleyball is probably the most popular NCAA sport for women and turns out some great athletes. Just look at the top women’s teams: Nicole Branagh, Elain Youngs, Kerri Walsh, Misty May, Boos/Ross, Tyra Turner and Angie Akers (I’ve seen both these athletes in the gym and it’s sick how quick they are and how high they can jump). There a number of other great athletes on the women’s side, but once you get past the 5th, maybe the 7th place finishers, it is tough to find good, consistent beach teams? There are a number of young teams waiting in the wings, but if the depth doesn’t get better quickly, you’ll see less and less fans checking out those early women’s matches.

And for my final seasoning of this post…
Medium: The state of the AVP. It is always important to evaluate “success” on its own merit. That is always easier said than done because humans have expectations. Case in point: Tiger Woods can win 5 golf tournaments in 2009, or 38.5% of the tournaments he enters (which is unheard of in golf) and NOT have a successful season. Why? Because he didn’t win a major you silly goose..lol!

I know, it is absurd to say Tiger hasn’t had a successful 2009 campaign, but that is how people think. His success is measured not against its own merit but against the expectations people have of Tiger. That leads me back to the state of the AVP…

Things are dicey right now. Real dicey. On their own merit, Manhattan and Hermosa were a huge success. Great weather, big crowds, happy sponsors, compelling finals. All signs of a healthy tour. But expectations for 2009 were very different. The Olympics were, once again, going to propel the AVP back into a main stream. Leonard Armato was lining up new sponsor deals a in case Crocs, the AVP’s title sponsor, continued on its 2008 downward spiral. Jason Hodell, AVP CFO at the beginning of the year, was going to cut costs and manage the business like a business. And the crown jewels of beach volleyball, Hermosa and Manhattan, would put a stamp of approval on a "complete" season of renewal. My how those pesky expectations get in the way of success.

Panama City was a disaster. San Diego might have been an AVP low point the past 8 years. And San Francisco was a disappointment, particularly when you look at Hermosa and Manhattan’s momentum. Every tournament was going to be a bigger success than the last and it hasn't worked out that way. Throw in the rumor that Crocs is officially done at the end of the season and you have big problems for the AVP.

Hopefully Chicago and the end of season events can build momentum, drum up sponsor interest, and save the season in total. Considering how low expectations are at this point, how can they not?