I am 110% on board with the players who are boycotting the Manhattan Beach Open. I grew up on the old school court and am one of a very few players that played on the old school court on the AVP. I enjoyed playing on the old school court with the old school rules when they were the accepted rules of all beach volleyball. The old school is no longer the way the pro ranks play the game. Mike Dodd wrote a fantastic email to the city of Manhattan Beach detailing why the MB Open should be a current pro tour format, not something from 10 or more years ago. Here is an excerpt from that:
The legacy of the Manhattan Open is that it is the ultimate test, to determine the best players in the sport of Beach Volleyball. The tournament and Mr. Saikley in each and every era submitted to the prevailing rules of the day because (for whatever reason, be it cultural or institutional) those were the rules under which the best players were training and preparing.
I agree with Kerri Walsh, Jake Gibb and April Ross. The Manhattan Beach Open is not a pro tourney if you are using antiquated rules. It is an amateur event that is run in the throwback style. A great niche that I personally love and enjoy, but not a professional tournament as determined by the last 10 years of professional tournaments held throughout the USA and the World.
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I to am not there. Had it been the AVP MB Open, then I would have said no to what I did today, and been on the sands of MB with you. Know this I still hold hope for a 2011 AVP season.
I respect the players strong views on the rules being used at Manhattan Beach but all the calories being burned about that subject are misdirected. What needs to be put under the spotlight is why did the AVP fail? Was it mismanagement, the FIVB rules, the economy, marketing or a combination of intangibles? How was the AVP able to capture the imagination and dollars of advertisers 15 years ago but cant now? In the salad days you had Karch, Kent, AJ, Lewy, Hov, Dodd, Whit, Frohoff, Loiola, etc....a great roster of talent. Where is the next Karch coming from...is anyone spending the money to develop talent? I am going to read that book that Tom mentioned in another post but it seems to me that over this Winter a new business plan has to be developed. Maybe Dodd and the CEO from Wharton Business School (UMass has a better business school by the way) need to go out on the road like David Spade and Chris Farley in Tommy Boy and sell the AVP to advertisers. The players also need to get out in the communities and do podcasts, radio and TV shows to get the public to know about the great athletes that play this sport. This will be the most critical off season in the HISTORY of the sport and everyone is worked up about a tournament that has been thrown together over the last fortnight. I hate to say it but the AVP community needs to get their collective heads out of their arses and right the ship. I am going to do a shot of Jack...GOOD LUCK TODD AND PHIL IN FINLAND FINAL 4!!!!
Contrary to Dodd's statement, wouldn't the best players, by definition, win with any set of rules? Otherwise, they would only the best at FIVB rules, or the best at old school rules, etc. I'd just like to see more televised beach VB played by the best players -- regardless of the rules used.
On a light note, Todd, you are too smart to use stupid sports cliches, like "110%". You can only give 100%, and then you're done.
Congrats on winning in Aland and capping off what was probably the best season ever on the AVP(shortened) and FIVB tours.
As far as the Manhattan Beach Open goes, it would have been nice if all the top AVP players played in it(I'm guessing from your 110% statement that you and Phil would not have played at MB with old school rules). It was just one tournament and unless you were playing on the FIVB, what other volleyball was there to be played? Geeter mentioned on The Net Live that it would be cool to have one tournament with old school rules during the season. I doubt that will ever happen but...let's just hope for a full season next year.
Todd, what are your thoughts on the tour next year? Will there be USAV or FIVB involvement on a US tour?
Good luck the rest of the season!
Garret
Steele- No, I would disagree with you that the best players would win with any rules. That is like saying the best athlete will always win. I train to play on the smaller court and I would be at a distinct disadvantage on the big court to someone who was training for that game. Not to say that if we both trained on one specific court I wouldn't win, but if I am not training on the big court then it is going to be much tougher. Sport cliches get the point across. Clearly it worked.
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