Taking the lead from Hall of Famer, Holly McPeak, Kerri Walsh has chosen to mentor a player on the cusp of greatness diving into the shallow end of her prime. McPeak played with now stars of the AVP such as Nicole Branagh, Jen Kessy .  Now Kerri has plucked out Brooke Hansen for the most coveted spot in the sand.  I don’t think they can take out Treanor/Branagh but  this will be an interesting pairing for the rest of the summer. After the jump get to know Brooke. 

Well, if there IS a rest of the summer.

Could it be the last smack for the AVP? For years now, the AVP has been trying to figure out a way to pull a profit and it just hasn’t been happening.  They got more financing and have had come and go relationships with many good sponsors. At first, they weren’t allowed to charge admission on many of SoCal’s beaches.. but they got around that. It's too bad, they finally got a good website going. Speaking of the website, you should be reading Hans Stoulfus's stuff over on the webiste. Hans was always a pretty good baller and attracted some great fans. His column really makes you feel like you're there. Now that they have a good lead writer maybe they can get some better merchandise to sell may help out get some extra $$ in the coffer. 

They got huge international exposure with Misty May-Traenor and Kerri Walsh’s Olympic victories in Bejing and Athens. But they both disappeared, one from a “Dancing With The Stars” injury and the other one got knocked up. Not until recently has the league asked the players to have Facebook pages and the social media impact has been nil.

So they got sidelined.

Now in the year where the Women’s Bracket is the most exciting in years, things have been derailed by a recession and lack of profit from the sponsors. They have kept the door prices in order and sometimes free, so that isn’t helping.  Even the gift shop seems listless, with some of the worst branded items in the history of the store.  They have announced a  partnership with Hawaiian Ice but how much difference can this company I have never heard of make?

It’s too bad if the tour has to close. The top players will be fine with their endorsements and playing internationally but the young upstarts who are just getting their groove on (i.e. Summer Ross) will have to wade through them to qualify.

And yes, this has been one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory. Especially on the women’s side.  Jen Kessy and April Ross have been tearing it up on a breakneck domestic and international schedule winning the last four of five tourneys. 

The May-Traenor/Branagh pairing finally got their groove on beating Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Davbis. However, Misty May-Traenor is now under the black shrouded stigma that so many others players have had to live under. She didn't beat Team Crackpot Jen Kessey and April Ross who were in France placing fifth in the FIVB. Until recently, no one was considered a champ until they beat Misty. Well, kiddo, best player ever .. can you beat the best?

Ther rest of the season continues through San Francisco and then for the Big daddy of them all, the Manhattan beach open later in August.

Will Misty or Kerri be able to knock of the best.. only time will tell.

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