Live from ALBANY-- Pro Beach Volleyball?

Written by Dave Howard

With the football season wrapped and baseball six weeks away… what could possibly fill the sports void? How about Pro Beach Volleyball in the Artic? In a case of life imitating a commercial, the AVP is live today from ALBANY, NEW YORK!

With the nearby city of Redfield covered in 141 inches of snow, and (at writing) the current temperature is 11 degrees (but feels like -2), what better time to strip down to the bikinis and boardshorts to duke it out.

My friends, this takes major cajones. Really HUGE ones, because come gametime the cajones will be reduced to the size of a teal Spanish peanut.

This year’s pre-season event will feature eight AVP slammers; Jake Gibb, Casey Jennings, Jenny Johnson-Jordan, Todd Rogers, Sean Scott, Kerri Walsh, Rachel Wacholder, and Elaine Youngs. The teams will rotate partnerships until an eventual King and Queen Ice Dig will be named. Well, technically, it’s King and Queen of the Beach, will they even be able to see the beach?

Rachel, Kerri and Misty from their 2004 Visa Ad.

Noticeably missing is all-star Misty May-Treanor. Where could she be? I can only speculate. Perhaps she just wanted to spend a little extra time with husband, Florida Marlin Matt Treanor, before both the baseball and AVP seasons begin. Perhaps she has been kidnapped by the Pirate Giles Weaver and is currently slurping down boat drinks somewhere south of the Artic circle. But I am sure she will tune in this afternoon to catch the action.

My real guess is that someone pitched her the idea and her response was “AVP action in Albany… in February… hmm let me think… FUCK THAT!”

Can you blame her?

But the idea of shuffling the partnerships around is going to make some great drama on the women’s side. After a 2006 mid season breakup in Paris, Not only will Rachel Wacholder and Elaine Youngs have to play against each other … they will have to play WITH each other. From what I could tell from the off-court antics of the splitsville two, there is a LOT of fiery bitterness here that not even Albany can chill.

Check out this video which shows off Rachel’s first revenge victory after being dumped by EY.

Misty’s vacancy allows Jenny Johnson-Jordan to step up and compete. Lucky Jenny.

Jenny has always been an overlooked player in the AVP, primarily because she took a year off to give birth when the scene exploded in popularity a few years back. But she is my pick for victory this time around. Last year she and partner Annett Davis were the first team to be the previously unstoppable May/Walsh and kick them to the loser’s bracket in the Hermosa Prelims.

I’m looking to see Jenny do big things this evening…

More after the game--- which you can stream on AVP.com at 6:30 EST…

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