Sorry Vegas, no beach volleyball for you
Looking over the 2008 AVP (that's Association of Volleyball Professionals, not Alien Vs. Predator) pro beach volleyball schedule that was released today, a few quick comments:
=The annual excursion to Las Vegas for the "King of the Beach" event has been uprooted and moved to that beach-crazy town of Glendale, Ariz.
=The "Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball," the Manhattan Beach Open, has been shoved back from its usual August slot to late September -- likely a result of the Summer Olympics taking place in Bejing. A story recently in the Daily Breeze reports that the city of Manhattan Beach was disappointed by the date change. "The AVP has always been an icon for Manhattan Beach and it's always been in the summertime," said mayor Jim Aldinger. "To do it after the kids go back to school and after everything's done and all the crowds have died down, it doesn't seem like the right time." As for giving Long Beach a prime July priority date over Manhattan Beach in forming the overall schedule, Aldinger added: "it's just about money for the AVP. It's too bad that money had to drive this decision."
The 18-stop event starts April 11-13 in Miami, and includes Southern California stops in Huntington Beach (May 2-4), Hermosa Beach (June 6-8), Long Beach (July 25-27), San Diego (Aug. 1-3), Santa Barbara (Sept. 6-7) and Manhattan Beach (Sept. 19-21), as well as San Francisco (Sept. 12-14).
The side note to this year's AVP tour is the retirement tour of Holly McPeak, the wife of AVP commissioner Leonard Armato, who says she's not going to try to make it Bejing and stop competing at the age of 38, after 18 years on the beach.
Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh, coming back after shoulder surgery, should have plenty of hug time (above) along the way.