Passion Doesn't Pay

Do what you love they said.  You will be much happier they said.

Very few people get to make a living as an athlete, and strangely enough it is very costly to aspire to be one as well.  That is what Johnny Manziel learned recently as he was penalized by the NCAA for "inadvertently" breaking one of their rules from uncountable list of idiocy.

I'm not sure what is more absurd, that he was penalized, or that is was only for the first half of a game.  But the penalty itself is very indicative of why the system of amateur athletics in the US is so messed up, specifically under the rule of the NCAA.  Even though this doesn't have much relevance to beach volleyball as it was recently just anointed as college sport for women, it has become such a hot button issue that I can't help but shed some more perspective on it.

Before I go any further, you should definitely check out Patrick Hruby's article on this matter and the Jonathon Benjamin story on which the article is centralized on.  I'll try to not reiterate too many things that he has already said because he pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one, but I think there is a bigger component of exploitation that doesn't get much talk.

*
---
Alex Rodriguez has grossed over 324 million dollars in his career...yea...just let that sink in a little.

Regardless of how much we yell at our TV's in passion, sports may be a lifestyle or a culture to us fans and players, but at the end of the day it a business, and it is only one of many within the entertainment industry that compete against one another for our eyes and ears to exclusively give out attention and money to them.

The athletes then are not providing a service or delivering a product, they are the business itself but they don't get to profit off it unless the company that employs them profits.  But in the world of beach volleyball, the companies like the AVP, NVL, and FIVB don't thrive unless the players do as well.

The other side of the business is advertisement, sponsors, and endorsement deals.  This is what fuels the prize money (because ticket prices and merchandise are virtually out of the equation), and to attract more lucrative and lure more companies, those same partners need more of a reason and incentive to invest knowing that their brand will get proper exposure.  The only place they can get that is through the sport and the athletes themselves.

So you should see that when the pros are able to make themselves more viable as assets, that can make appearances, be heard and seen as athletes, that have the ability to promote products and services, then tours will have money being thrown at them.  But if I were a potential client, I wouldn't want to endorse a tour that has the majority of its athletes waiting tables, working odd jobs, or even worse, working for a competing company.  What kind of exposure is that?  You gotta spend money to make money,  but let's leave the spending to the tours and not the players.

Hot Pick Thursday: Go Ball Out

This one hits home for me and is quite personal.  At the start of this season I decided to team up with an old partner from a few years ago.  He is a real solid player, we had great chemistry, and he has a wicked lefty arm swing that was pretty much unstoppable.  We played quite well through the summer then a few months ago he got news that he had testicular cancer.  He had surgery shortly thereafter and all seemed well, but a blood test follow up indicated that the cancer had reemerged, and he is now undergoing chemo.

There isn't a nicer more outgoing guy I know and it is a shame that this happened, but he has taken everything in stride so well, and he has had a lot of support from his family and friends.  What has helped him and those who want to support him, are these blue wristbands that say "Go Ball Out", which is a type of motto to just go hard whenever life gives you an opportunity, don't hold back and give it everything you got, and at this point that is what he is doing as he is fighting back against TC.

I know that probably none of you know him, but you all are probably aware of how costly it can be to undergo serious medical treatment in this country.  It would really mean a lot to me and him as well if you could donate just a little bit, to help offset some of his medical costs so that it can be one less thing for him and his family to worry about, and as they say, every little bit helps.


Click here to donate

*Note that on the donation page, it says that payments will be sent to Jaime who set up the page, who is in fact Ryan's girlfriend

Beach Volleyball: Playing By The Percentages [Part 1]

This is going to be a bit of a hybrid post, that has both the breakdown analysis of a playing tip and the opinion based rant that you'd find in some of my other blog posts.  You should be able to notice that there is much more to sports than athletics.  There is gambling, fantasy sports, apparel, mascots, halftime shows, and numbers.  When I say numbers I don't just mean jersey numbers or point totals.  Statistics are vital to just about every sport, and broadcasters don't just provide them as filler but as an essential tool that allows the fan to quantitatively critique their team or certain players.  There is a famous saying about statistics which says:  "What's important isn't what statistics shows but what it hides".  For the most part just having numbers doesn't do much good if you don't know what they mean, but it sure beats the hell out of having no data at all, and that's where we'll start off...


What color is the number 7?
To ask this question is like asking how good Sean Rosenthal is.  You can use whatever descriptors and adjective you'd like but you still don't really convey the talent of a Rosie without actually seeing him play (unless you are a synesthete, in which case I bet the number 7 is yellow).  Just to exacerbate the stark contrast between beach volleyball's marketability to other mainstream sports here are some numbers for you...

In the past 11 years if you were an NFL team that started the season 0-2, then you had roughly an 8% chance (22/276) of making the playoffs that year.

Albert Pujols hit at least a .300 batting average, 30 home runs, and 100 RBIs a season for his first 10 seasons, which is a record for any such streak of seasons in a player's career let alone his first ten.

Michael Jordan is the definition of clutch.  How clutch you may ask.  Well, Jordan hit 50% of his clutch shots in his career where as in comparison, the league average is around 28%.  For more about his Royal Airness' clutchness and how it matches up against Lebron James, click here.

Now let's switch gears...

Who had the highest kill percentage in 2009?  Who had the most blocks in the last 5 years?  Ok, we all know it was Phil Dalhausser but we don't know how many.  Neither do we know teams' sideout percentage or their average unforced errors per game, whether teams pass better against a jump serve or a float serve or if a time zone change affects their gameplay.  All of these things would be vital pieces of information to use and help players strategize, but instead they are left to just "feel" the game out.  So if I bring this full circle, I must ask again just how good is Sean Rosenthal?  If I were to say that he was the greatest player to ever play the game I bet that you might slap me in the face, but if I told you to disprove me I think you would be hard pressed.  For beach volleyball there is really only one stat that is tracked and that is wins, which in the end is all that matters, but it would be more complex, interesting, and entertaining as players and fans to get more insight than just 21 is greater than 19.

In Part 2 I will try to describe "playing by the percentages" without actually using any numbers in a playing tip video.  Hopefully the addition of statistics in the near future will make the sport more digestible for the casual fan.

Off Season Preparations

Yes, there is still volleyball left to be played but I start seeing Leinenkeugel Oktoberfest lining the shelves of grocery stores I know it is the beginning of the end of this year's beach season, and with that it means it is time to switch gears.

Everyone will have a different approach to the end of the beach season, but if you are truly committed to your craft and the game, then you gotta be treating beach volleyball as a year long endeavor that isn't necessarily comprised of a "regular season" and "off season", but rather consisting of "playing" and "non-playing" stages.

Of course where you live, access to the beach/sand courts has a lot to do with when your "season" season starts, but you should have an idea in your mind already of when you would like to play your first tournament, and how many you would like to play.  With some of this out of the way, here are a few tips that I've refined over the years, that help me better prepare for next year's long haul from the thawed out Spring to the brisk Fall months.


1.  Sustain
You've just been through several months of hard training, and long days at the beach, so even if your body is getting tired and worn out, you're still in great physical shape.  So for the next few months you are going to be in an awkward time where you aren't quite in training mode but you aren't going to shut it down either.  At this point you goal should be simple:  Make it to next year in just as good shape as you are now.

You don't want to start next year in a hole, or waste time building up your conditioning before you even start practicing and drilling.  Of course you will have to build up your cardio, legs, and shoulder over the course of the season but there main areas that are easy to sustain.  During the next few months you should keep a workout schedule for your core and upper body, and setting time aside for stretching, yoga, and generally improving your flexibility.  I've learned this past year that flexibility is an often untapped asset for players, and in addition to helping recover and prevent injuries, it pays off immensely to have this aspect of your body built up.  Besides, you will get your beach legs in eventually, so now is the time to give them some rest.

2. Diet
Now of course you've been super disciplined these last few months to give your body the proper energy it needed to get through workouts and the matches on the weekends, but now is no time to let loose because there are troubles ahead.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, so slipping up now by indulging in some grease will make the slope you're standing on a little bit slipperier, and next thing you know you'll find yourself wearing an permanent 15 pound weight vest.  Again you don't want to waste time next year fixing last year's mistakes, so stay focused and stay on track.   Let Thanksgiving and Christmas be your rewards for being disciplined up to this point.

Nuh uh, none fo you!

3. Save
Get ahead of the curve and start saving now for new equipment, apparel, balls, and tournament fees.  Lets not forget that this is when you should be stocking up on your vacation time so that you can call off of work to enjoy those "perfect" weather days.   When summer rolls around you would much rather cap off a long day with a few beers with your buddies instead of having to pack it in early to get up for work the next day.

4. Study
The game is best played when you and your body is just reacting to what is happening.  To set yourself up for success now is the time to train yourself mentally for the different situation it may face and what it should do when those situations arise.  Visualize it over and over, believe me it helps.  Also if you can't watch video of yourself playing, just watch all the different videos online and learn from those players strengths and weaknesses.

Hot Pick Thursday

This pick is semi-beach related, as many beach goers use bikes as their primary mode of transportation, when I saw this a few weeks ago my jaw instantly dropped...

Wu Tang themed fixie...yea, that's a thing that exists

State Bicycle Co. based out of Tempe, AZ is the company that manufactures this beauty but is only available for a limited time.  They are currently accepting pre-orders on it but get it while you can because they are sure to sell out.  It is priced at $599, but for a quality piece of bad-assery like this, I think it is completely worth it.

The NVL Is Focused To Build Something

I'm sure that at this point the NVL has made it abundantly clear that it will be slow and steady that hopes to win the race.  Just yesterday, I wrote about the lack of a rich talent pool at AVP tournaments, that seemingly feature 2 or 3 main teams that continually advance to Sunday, and there is a definite need to build and develop players at that intermediate stage in their playing career between high school and pro.  

Recently it was released that the NVL will be putting together a beach volleyball academy.  The sound of the name itself strikes me something with the whimsy of Hogwarts with the awesomeness of beach volleyball...but better.  

Sorry Harry, but you're just not pro beach material...NEXT!

This academy will be taking place at Club Med in St. Lucie, Florida and there are plans for 30, that's right three-zero, courts to be built, as well as boarding options.  Before you pack you bags though, be aware that it comes with a hefty price tag:  $43,186 a year with boarding.

It is surely one thing to invest in the juniors programs, and profit off those who are ineligible to collect prize money, but it is another thing to actually develop said players to hopefully one day, stay in the family and play for your tournament to build the sport.  Because it makes no sense to plant the seeds, and water the plants only to have another farmer come along and harvest the crops when they are ready to be picked.  As great as this sounds, there is something that still just doesn't sit right with me.

Parents, you could send your kid to college to party and accrue loads of debt...
Oooor, you could send them here to party, play beach volleyball and accrue loads of debt
Which one gets you more bang for your buck?...That's what I thought. 

I'm guessing the NVL is throwing in the towel on landing a Sean Rosenthal or Brittany Hochevar at one of their events, but at least they have to foresight to land the next Summer Ross when the time comes.  Of course it could all fall apart if they only offer prize money in the form of tuition fee cuts.  The NVL, like any other tour, will have to solve the problem of substantial prize money to draw in the top athletes.  How much of that $43,186 will go toward NVL pro tournaments will be answered down the road, but for now it looks like they are assembling all the pieces into their grand vision.

They have a pipeline to the juniors with USAV, they have been officially sanctioned, they have a crazy expensive resort to be a beach bum, and they've got Mikasa, the ball that no one uses or likes to use.  So yeah it seems to be adding up to something, but I'm not sure if what they are projecting is what I was hoping for them or the sport itself.

As much as the NVL has to work (because the AVP can't be trusted), it just may not work out for them either.  Don't get me wrong, when I first heard of this beach volleyball academy idea, I was ecstatic, and then I saw the price tag.  Growing up I didn't come from money so $2,000-$3,000 a year for club was a lot to me and my family so I can't even imagine who would want to pay 44k for an education at Club Med with volleyball training.

Scenic pictures with obscure filters are a guarantee
in beach volleyball, which is why a youthful mobile app
sponsor would have made more sense

I'm just starting to get the feeling that the NVL is out of touch.  When I saw that they landed a major sponsor recently, and then continue to see that said sponsor is Poloroid, I could only shake my head.  Worse, on their website they describe Poloroid as "the leader in photography".  That's great and all if it is 1974, but here in 2013 the real leader in photography is Instagram.  Besides it would be far more likely for someone to use a camera phone app at a tournament than pulling out a Poloroid.  The digital marketplace is where they can cash in but for some reason they are just taking what they can get.

At this point in the year, we have seen a lot of what both domestic tours wanted to accomplish and we can kind of get a feel for where they are going.  The AVP is still headed to fall off the cliff down the road, where as the NVL is a lot like Forrest Gump.  Ya don't know where he is going, but he is going somewhere, and hopefully when he stops running he doesn't just turn around and instead finds himself at exactly where he (and the group of people following him) wanted to end up.

Hey Forrest...ummm...are we there yet?

Help Smack Sportswear on Kickstarter

This is the 2nd recent attempt at crowd funding I've seen regarding a product I was interested in.  The previous one featured the Ubuntu Edge smart phone which ambitiously sought after $32 million but was only able to raise roughly $13 million, and so the Edge has been scrapped (for now).

This new attempt at crowd funding, which openly asks for donations on the internet to jump start initiatives, campaigns, new products or services, comes from the popular volleyball apparel brand Smack Sportswear.  

Smack^P...The 'P' stands for Phun!...
Actually is stands for Phiten, but whatever.

Their new line of clothing is a partnership with Phiten to bring an advanced collection of athletic fabrics specially catered to beach volleyball and indoor volleyball players.  You can find their Kickstarter campaign by clicking here, and you can pledge as little as $1, or you can actually "purchase" some of their products like boardshorts, bikinis, leggings, hats and t-shirts, but you will only be charged and receive their products if they reach their goal of $20,000.

As of now they have raised close to $9,000, and the campaign will close on September 27th.  I was very disappointed to see the Ubuntu Edge, which would have been the most advanced smart phone the world has ever seen, come up short, and for a simple product like volleyball apparel and a modest goal of $20,000, I would hate to see this attempt fail as well.

Even if you are on a budget, for a measly $5 you can get
an autographed postcard from a top pro

Apparel is such a big part of sports culture, but since beach volleyball doesn't exactly have teams that you can represent with t-shits and hats (unless you a part of Rosie's Raiders), then the next best thing we can do for the sport is promote its awesome fashion sensibilities.  I quickly learned that once you start to become a beach bum, you don't want to wear anything but boardshorts during the warm months (I even wear them to bed quite often when it isn't too hot).  And even if you aren't trying to make a fasion statement, you can wear these products just to let people know that you are better than them because you are more athletic.

So head over to their Kickstarter campaign and buy a hat for $15, a shirt for $20, or a pair boardshorts for $40, which if you've ever shopped for boardshorts you know how good of a deal this is.  Bikinis sell for $50 and capri leggings for $40.

As fans of a sport that has fallen and gotten back up multiple times, it would only make sense for us to support a brand that has been a staple within the volleyball community, that is taking the initiative to take sports performance to the next level.  

...Besides, "Phitenized apparel" just sounds cool, and makes it sound like your clothes are on steroids.

A Cut Above The Rest

For the second consecutive tournament the men's final featured Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson squaring off against Sean Rosenthal and Phil Dalhausser, and just like in Cincinnati, Gibb and Patterson took down the 'W' in Atlantic City.  To be honest I wasn't expecting Gibb and Patterson to have this much success this year, for one being a new partnership, and two, having a duo of two bigs playing together (although this is now the 2nd year of Casey playing as a "small").  Still I don't know where to put this hot streak in perspective.  

I don't want to say that low level teams aren't good, or that the top level teams aren't working very hard to get to where they are, but it is clear that there are two different classes of athletes playing in these tournaments.

For all other sports there is a "separation of the classes", a definitive line that states that you are either a part of the elite group of people that are head and shoulders above the rest, or you are just among the commoners working to get close to that line.  Football and basketball has the NCAA,  baseball has the farm system of A, AA, and AAA ball, hockey has the AHL, and even golf has a junior program and pro card that separates the already have's from the want to's.  Beach volleyball, for better of for worse just mixes everyone together and as you can tell there are the familiar faces rising to the top.

After spending 3 years under the tutelage
of Brett Favre, Aaron Rogers is a top 5 QB who
led the league in QB rating last year at 108.0

At what point do you even consider yourself a "professional" in beach volleyball?  Is it when you qualify for a tournament, make the money rounds, or break $20,000 in a year?  For the sport there is a cyclical problem facing many of its aspiring athletes.  In order for them to get better they need more time and money to dedicate themselves to their training but in order to get extra time and money they need to place higher in tournaments.  So as athletes that are working at least one other job they are in fact probably closer to being low-earning amateurs, than "part-time pros".

This is more than just the creme of the crop rising to the top.  This is like putting the creme of the crop in a centrifuge and selecting the most enriched type.  The low-level players are bogged down other jobs, and trying to land sponsors to just make it to the events, while the top-level pros get to train, condition, and practice exclusively for their sport.  Even though every top-level pro has ground it out through qualifiers at some point in their career, there is a better way to develop players.  In NCAA Football, teams have the right to red shirt a player which allows them to be on the team and practice without using up a year of eligibility.  I think that USAV needs to adopt some type of amateur system that allows players to develop effectively by focusing just on the sport and not on the finances and the travel, then as the creme of that crop rises, hopefully we will get to see some new faces on the podium every other tournament instead of every 5 years.

Hot Pick Thursday

The first Thursday of every month I'll make a "hot pick" a recommendation from my personal experience that you should check out.  It could be a product, another blog, a service, or just something random that you should have in your life.  For the most part I'll try to keep it beach volleyball related, but I'm not going to make any promises (there is a lot of cool stuff you can find on the internet)

For this first edition I'm going to urge you to check out one of my favorite channels for watching quality matches online.

The YouTube channel is called somelamenickname, which instantly stole my heart, but it features decent quality video and some high def video of various players in full length from domestic and international tours.

The channel isn't very active but there is enough videos there that you can watch multiple times to keep you educated and entertained for months, and if it behooves you, send them a message to make more videos because I too would sure love some more.

Here is one of my faves...

GIF me volleyball of give me death #33

How you feel when you make a bad set...

Is Summer Ross The Chosen One?

She may not be old enough to drink but she is good enough to beat some of the best teams in the world. She is a ways away from being called the best player in the world, but the fact remains that we have yet to see anyone this good this early into their career.  Much like how LeBron James was anointed 'The Chosen One' on a February issue of Sports Illustrated in 2002, the only thing that may stand between Summer Ross and domination is time.

Regardless of how good you think she is now, just keep it in perspective that she is playing against veterans of the sport.  No one that has gotten to this level of competition, just walks up and starts playing pro.  No one gets drafted in the 1st round, and no one gets recruited when they are young.  You gotta earn your stripes every step of the way, so even though many of today's top pros have only been playing the sport professionally for a handful of years, the amount of experience they have had to achieve prior to their success far outnumbers the amount of time that it has take Summer to get to where she is.

People will continue to force the argument of The King vs. His Royal Airness, but in the end MJ is and always be king.  On the beach, we can always argue who is the best right now but no one will be better than Karch, and I figured I would remind those out there who are too young to remember who he is.  Now that we got that out of the way let's get down to the meat of the argument...

On Paper...

She is listed at 6'1" which is a great size, which allows her to be a blocker and a defender which may come in handy as the current game seems to be trending toward split blocking, and bigger defenders.

Pros...

What stands out most about her when you watch her play is just how fluid she is on the court.  For someone her age and limited experience she seems totally comfortable, with good footwork and court presence.  For a game that demands perfection on hand sets, she has some of the best hands I've seen on the women's side, and her bump sets are quite good as well.  That same ball control is clearly put on display on defense too, and at times it seems like she is making tough digs almost nonchalantly.  It is almost infuriating how easy she makes it look.  Eliminating unforced errors is the biggest aspect to beach volleyball in my opinion, and she has a great high reach on her swing which certainly helps her hit around blocks and keep balls in the court.

If you aren't completely convinced then just watch the plays at 14:15 and 16:22...

When you put all those pieces together in combination that she is only 20 and has already won tournaments at the highest level, I'm not even sure what category you put her into because quite frankly we haven't seen anything like her.  Sean Rosenthal qualified for an AVP event when he was 16, but didn't win his first event until he was 23.  For most volleyball players they are just getting out of college and still getting accustomed to the beach game, so to say that Summer is ahead of the curve would be an understatement.

Then her instincts are world class.  Maybe her inexperience here has turned into a positive so that she isn't thinking that much on the court and is instead just reacting.  She won't get to every ball or she may be a step late but she is never out of position, and when she does make a read it always seems to be the right one.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen pros sit in the cross and not move an inch when the other team rolls high line.  Her defensive style is a bit "unconventional" as she just lurks in the middle of the court a lot of the time, but it seems to work for her.

Cons...

Now that I'm done building her up, I have to knock her down a bit.  She does have flaws (plenty of them).  Even though she has the size to be a blocker, she is lacking good form and quick footwork.  Blocking on the beach is very technical and too many times she wants to drop off the net or peels too early when she just needs to commit being big at the net.  She is capable but she probably won't be a full time blocker.

She does have a high swing but she still has an "indoor swing", and by that I mean just hitting hard and deep.  During serve receive she needs to learn to hit sharper angles, instead on hitting deep corner or seam.  During transition those are the right shots to make, but during serve-receive there will always be certain shots that are open and she needs to take advantage of that.

Lastly, she needs to improve her shot making.  Too many times I've seen her get blocked, or the other team get touches at the net on her roll shots or pokes.  I'm not sure if it is her approach or that she just isn't hitting high enough over the block, but I think this will come in time as she gets a better feel for the game.  Adding this component will make it much easier for her to sideout and will improve her kill percentage on her swings as well.

*

Is she really the chosen one?  In beach volleyball no one gets shot out of a cannon.  Instead you gotta grind out the long haul up the mountain, but at this stage in her career it is as if she was dropped out of a helicopter half way up that mountain.