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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Aug 25, 2013 16:39:35 GMT -5
Saw the earlier matches today, didn't stick around for the final.
Brunner is interesting. He's one of the most unathletic looking guys out there - but then he explodes. He's no rookie to the beach - he's played a fair bit of AVP and was in the USAV beach training program when he was in college. He had next to zero success, went indoor full time, played a bit for the national team and has been playing in Europe since. I don't know if he plans on sticking with beach or if this is just moonlighting - a nice indoor contract is hard to pass up. That said, he received a nasty lesson in beach volleyball this morning from Phil. It was an ass-kicking.
And speaking of beatdowns, I caught the second game of the Fuerby/Jennings v. Doherty/Rogers match...and it wasn't pretty. I'm finding it hard to imagine Rogers lasting beyond this season. There's really no point. As for Fuerby, this is just for fun and maybe make some extra cash - when he has the time, he'll play some events, but USAV is his full time gig.
Shocked at how far Jen Fopma has come - she was frankly a stiff for years. But some sort of lightbulb popped on, because she's playing at a higher level now than pretty much anyone expected.
Something I didn't know - Jenny Kropp is preggo with twins, which obviously explains her absence this season.
Something to keep in mind about Kessy/Ross - they have, as a team, a couple of very nice sponsorship deals.
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Post by kro2488 on Aug 25, 2013 16:39:56 GMT -5
Other thoughts on MB. I liked the set-up without the bleachers and most people I talked to did too. Will be interesting to see how it looks on t.v. If you can't charge for MB, then reduce your operating costs and go for the simple set-up. Crowd should have been bigger. Weather was a factor for sure, but I think the marketing of the event was weak (I assume because AVP wasn't putting their full effort into it and let IMG do it). Brooke Sweat is fun to watch. 20 years ago I would have been in full agreement with VBG on the gals. But with the short court and how much better the woman have become, I enjoy it quite a bit now. Amazed at how well Casey was playing - looks to be in great shape. The announcer they've got working the event is not worthy of wiping the sweat off of Geeter's mic. They were comparing Brooke to Misty some but I don't think she is quite to THAT level yet, but yea I prefer the big/small combo it tends to work out in the long run as long as the smaller player can terminate his or her transition opportunities.
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Post by crawdaddy on Aug 25, 2013 16:45:34 GMT -5
Other thoughts on MB. I liked the set-up without the bleachers and most people I talked to did too. Will be interesting to see how it looks on t.v. If you can't charge for MB, then reduce your operating costs and go for the simple set-up. Crowd should have been bigger. Weather was a factor for sure, but I think the marketing of the event was weak (I assume because AVP wasn't putting their full effort into it and let IMG do it). Brooke Sweat is fun to watch. 20 years ago I would have been in full agreement with VBG on the gals. But with the short court and how much better the woman have become, I enjoy it quite a bit now. Amazed at how well Casey was playing - looks to be in great shape. The announcer they've got working the event is not worthy of wiping the sweat off of Geeter's mic. They were comparing Brooke to Misty some but I don't think she is quite to THAT level yet, but yea I prefer the big/small combo it tends to work out in the long run as long as the smaller player can terminate his or her transition opportunities. Silly comparison. Sweat doesn't have any of the offensive firepower Misty had. But that's what makes her so fun to watch - she's competing at that high of a level without being able to bang the ball. Defense is off-the-charts and she places the ball extremely well on offense. Unfortunately, I think there is a ceiling for players who can't get up and hammer - even if they are great on D and crafty offensively.
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Aug 25, 2013 16:46:35 GMT -5
Anyone comparing Brooke Sweat (who I like) to Misty should immediately be banned from beach volleyball.
As for the crowds, they seemed pretty good to me. But it's harder to judge when they're spread out as opposed to all sitting in a stadium. And the AVP/IMG definitely saved a nice wad of dough by not having a stadium court built. Also heard the City of Manhattan Beach didn't want stands.
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Post by kro2488 on Aug 25, 2013 16:47:41 GMT -5
They were comparing Brooke to Misty some but I don't think she is quite to THAT level yet, but yea I prefer the big/small combo it tends to work out in the long run as long as the smaller player can terminate his or her transition opportunities. Silly comparison. Sweat doesn't have any of the offensive firepower Misty had. But that's what makes her so fun to watch - she's competing at that high of a level without being able to bang the ball. Defense is off-the-charts and she places the ball extremely well on offense. And that is the main reason I don't think she could do well in the FIVB just yet...she needs to get stronger offensively. I haven't seen a smaller defensive player have that kind of explosiveness for the usa women in awhile, Misty, especially pre-injury when she got her body behind the ball was absolutely nasty at times. Kerri's great transition setting helped too..
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Post by crawdaddy on Aug 25, 2013 16:53:52 GMT -5
Silly comparison. Sweat doesn't have any of the offensive firepower Misty had. But that's what makes her so fun to watch - she's competing at that high of a level without being able to bang the ball. Defense is off-the-charts and she places the ball extremely well on offense. And that is the main reason I don't think she could do well in the FIVB just yet...she needs to get stronger offensively. Well, she's done pretty well on the FIVB tour this season - but again there's a ceiling with her and she's probably reached it. She's not going to all of a sudden start crushing balls. On the other hand, I don't see that same ceiling with Lane Carico who was hammering balls by Kessy and is just starting out.
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Post by kro2488 on Aug 25, 2013 18:46:47 GMT -5
Just saw Walsh/Pavlik won mbo from live scores found the link, nice.
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Post by guest2 on Aug 25, 2013 19:03:02 GMT -5
When April and Kerri do get together, who is the second best team. Assuming Jen retires, who seems like they could even give Kerri/April a run?
Summer and Lane in two years maybe but next year's AVP looks even more one sided than the May/Walsh heyday
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Post by guest2 on Aug 25, 2013 19:03:12 GMT -5
Sorry
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Post by JB Southpaw on Aug 26, 2013 7:01:40 GMT -5
When April and Kerri do get together, who is the second best team. Assuming Jen retires, who seems like they could even give Kerri/April a run? Summer and Lane in two years maybe but next year's AVP looks even more one sided than the May/Walsh heyday Well, Fopma/Sweat beat both Jen/April and Kerri/Whitney this tournament, they are playing extremely well right now. Not sure if this is their peak or if they can go one more step forward. Fendrick / Hochevar aren't dog food either, and Whitney will pick up someone too.
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Post by guest2 on Aug 26, 2013 8:42:12 GMT -5
I haven't seen Lauren enough to say, but Britney and Whitney cant compete at the top level. Britney is 32 and has had some chances with good partners and hasn't done it. Whitney is a mystery to me. Why Kerri chose her over ten other girls is not apparent based on the times I have seen her (small sample size) Watching them play Dianne and Brooke, it looked like three players at one level and then Kerri. She is also not young and I know they list her at six feet but that seems extremely generous. Someone tell me what I am missing
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Post by boxarox on Aug 26, 2013 9:46:17 GMT -5
I hope "ref determined" outcomes don't get to be standard operating procedure in the AVP. In my opinion, Doherty and Rogers were carried to that 3rd place finish, when they should have been out with a 13th, or at best a 9th. As I heard someone say after one of those matches, "I guess if you have a gold medal, some rules don't apply to you." Ditto that; this isn't Roller Derby. Ok, so it's a team of the Golden Hero who won a big tournament five years ago, with the designated Future King Of Volleyball -- what they do on the court today should determine today's result, and this time, from what I saw, it didn't. I've heard of some other very questionable match outcomes in this tournament, but that one I watched in the making, and it left me with a bad taste.
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Post by JB Southpaw on Aug 26, 2013 10:00:54 GMT -5
I haven't seen Lauren enough to say, but Britney and Whitney cant compete at the top level. Britney is 32 and has had some chances with good partners and hasn't done it. Whitney is a mystery to me. Why Kerri chose her over ten other girls is not apparent based on the times I have seen her (small sample size) Watching them play Dianne and Brooke, it looked like three players at one level and then Kerri. She is also not young and I know they list her at six feet but that seems extremely generous. Someone tell me what I am missing I guess we have different definitions of "Compete" Because in my book Fendrick / Hochevar & Whitney ARE competing with the best in the world now.
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Post by JB Southpaw on Aug 26, 2013 10:06:13 GMT -5
I hope "ref determined" outcomes don't get to be standard operating procedure in the AVP. In my opinion, Doherty and Rogers were carried to that 3rd place finish, when they should have been out with a 13th, or at best a 9th. As I heard someone say after one of those matches, "I guess if you have a gold medal, some rules don't apply to you." Ditto that; this isn't Roller Derby. Ok, so it's a team of the Golden Hero who won a big tournament five years ago, with the designated Future King Of Volleyball -- what they do on the court today should determine today's result, and this time, from what I saw, it didn't. I've heard of some other very questionable match outcomes in this tournament, but that one I watched in the making, and it left me with a bad taste. Wait, what there was a bad/missed calls in Beach Volleyball? To mix in, there probably are only about 6-8 decent beach refs in the US. I love this line "Ok, so it's a team of the Golden Hero who won a big tournament five years ago, with the designated Future King Of Volleyball" Not even sure who that is referring too?? Todd has won more than 1 big tournament and I know you aren't referring to Ryan as the "Future king of volleyball" (we all know that's Casey).
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Post by guest2 on Aug 26, 2013 10:07:14 GMT -5
If by competing you mean playing against then sure. Right now Whitney is playing with arguably the best player in the world. A lot of people can be somewhat competitive in that situation. For example John Mayer, Matt Olson, and Adrian Carambula would all be capable of top 7 FIVB finishes if they partnered with Phil, but only Mayer is capable of that with a partner of equivalent ability.
Put Whitney with a player as good as herself, or close to that level, and she just isn't good enough. realistically only the paucity of talent on the woman's side lets her win even with Kerri on her side.
I don't know if Todd and Ryan won because of bad reffing, but I do know that with a 7 seed, they wouldn't have done nearly as well. Both times this year they have lost early and had easy draws on their way through the losers
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