Beach Volleyball: Clothes Optional

[Good Queen Jane]

Especially in Rio.

[Constantinople]

Women's beach volleyball outfits could stand to be a bit more modest.

That said, I hope the Egyptian women's beach volleyball team doesn't fry to death in their outfits, particularly the woman wearing a hijab.

[Aliconehead]

and i think men's beach volleyball out be less modest:)  The women can wear what they want, with in reason now.  They wear what they are comfortable with.  I am fine with it.

[galaxygirl76]

I feel the men should lose the shirts.

[Rinaldo]

48 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

I feel the men should lose the shirts.

And wear, if not actual speedos, shorts that are actually what I (old as I am) would call shorts -- like the male gymnasts wear for floor and vault. But on second thought, yes, speedos.

[walnutqueen]

I think everyone should compete nekkid and unshaven!  Even the playing field, as it were.  ;-)

[Rinaldo]

I would be down for that, walnutqueen.  Certainly there have been select California beaches where that was the custom.

[Superpole2000]

From a sporting standpoint, this event is a bit of a bad watch. The team who is serving generally loses the point, and the rallies rarely last.

[walnutqueen]

11 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

I would be down for that, walnutqueen.  Certainly there have been select California beaches where that was the custom.

Forget about these Cali beaches - Wreck Beach, Vancouver, B.C. in the 70s - Best Beach Volleyball Ever!  :-)

[galaxygirl76]

56 minutes ago, Superpole2000 said:

From a sporting standpoint, this event is a bit of a bad watch. The team who is serving generally loses the point, and the rallies rarely last.

Honestly, I prefer to watch original flavor volleyball. It's much more spectacular in my opinion.

[OSM Mom]

I think the men should complete in little banana hammock speedos.  

[ElDosEquis]

Grab a hand full of barely wet sand and toss it down the front of your pants and carry on for a few hours while running back and forth stopping to throw in a burpee when you stop.

[ElDosEquis]

Outdoor volleyball was a great game at the nudist colonies of the time. Nothing like a housefrau in the buff, going up for a block. The only problem, It was black and white photography and harder to tell if the drapes matched the rugs.

That was my first encounter with nude women -  Thanks a lot, Dad!

[Constantinople]

Beach volleyball without alcohol doesn't seem like real beach volleyball.

The players should be required to drink part of the time and, part of the time, hold a cold beer in one of their hands while playing.

[ElDosEquis]

4 hours ago, Constantinople said:

Beach volleyball without alcohol doesn't seem like real beach volleyball.

The players should be required to drink part of the time and, part of the time, hold a cold beer in one of their hands while playing.

But then isn't there the problem with having someone 'spike' your drink?

[FormerMod-a1]

It must be cooler in Rio tonight, the players are pretty covered up.

[Sew Sumi]

I just checked. It's in the low/mid-60's. 

[photo fox]

Go, Switzerland!  Nothing against Kerri Walsh-Jennings and the woman who isn't Misty May-Treanor, but sports are SO much more interesting when the outcome is in question.

[Kromm]

2 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

It must be cooler in Rio tonight, the players are pretty covered up.

Yes its the sexay sexay look of sweat pants!

 

1 hour ago, photo fox said:

Go, Switzerland!  Nothing against Kerri Walsh-Jennings and the woman who isn't Misty May-Treanor, but sports are SO much more interesting when the outcome is in question.

I get the hating of the favorite thing (especially when its the US and stoopid NBC sells the hell out of them).  That said, this one particular dynasty (Beach Volleyball) I've always felt okay with.  It really is accurate to say that Walsh and May put the sport on the map culturally. And while May being gone and Walsh being old doesn't really make the Americans any kind of underdogs... its close enough for me since they actually have to work a little for it. 

For me a great upset would have been the usually invisible second US team winning. Except... apparently they suck this time. They lost to believe it or not both Brazil and POLAND. Humorously enough one of the people on that second team is named Sweat.  Brooke Sweat. 

[photo fox]

Oh, I don't hate the favorites, and I still want them to win gold. I just want it to be interesting, and straight set wins through the whole Games aren't interesting.

Especially since NBC apparently thinks I want to watch every Walsh and Co. match in full, even in the prelim rounds. At least give us some drama! 

[Sew Sumi]

Well, I watched the match live a few hours ago, and you got your wish. Switzerland played great in the middle of the match. 

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

Well, I watched the match live a few hours ago, and you got your wish. Switzerland played great in the middle of the match. 

They were awesome!

[Kromm]

I bet Walsh was furious at being stuck with ANOTHER midnight match.

[Dots And Stripes]

14 hours ago, Kromm said:

I bet Walsh was furious at being stuck with ANOTHER midnight match.

The price of being the NBC darling, I'm sure.

I'd like to hear the rest of the story of how Walsh-Jennings asked Ross to be her partner after the gold medal match. May-Trainor wanted to retire. What about Ross' partner? Was that partnership already done or did Walsh-Jennings break up a partnership?

[photo fox]

15 hours ago, Kromm said:

I bet Walsh was furious at being stuck with ANOTHER midnight match.

Last night, one of the announcers said Ross told them they like the midnight matches, but they didn't say why. Maybe it's cooler? Bigger crowd? 

8 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I'd like to hear the rest of the story of how Walsh-Jennings asked Ross to be her partner after the gold medal match. May-Trainor wanted to retire. What about Ross' partner? Was that partnership already done or did Walsh-Jennings break up a partnership?

I'm curious about this as well. I realize they are all adults, and it's a business to them. But asking someone to become your partner in front of their current partner... seems a bit tacky unless that was already breaking up. Hopefully it was. 

[Kromm]

13 minutes ago, photo fox said:

Last night, one of the announcers said Ross told them they like the midnight matches, but they didn't say why. Maybe it's cooler? Bigger crowd? 

Or just Ross playing nice for the network/viewers.  These same broadcasters during the previous midnight match told us that Walsh was annoyed by the late match that time. I doubt that changed, even if she wound up pleased by the results. 

[MaryMitch]

1 hour ago, Dots And Stripes said:

The price of being the NBC darling, I'm sure.

I'd like to hear the rest of the story of how Walsh-Jennings asked Ross to be her partner after the gold medal match. May-Trainor wanted to retire. What about Ross' partner? Was that partnership already done or did Walsh-Jennings break up a partnership?

According to this, Jennifer Kessy took a break to have a baby. 

http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2014/11/17/jennifer-kessy-emily-day-beach-volleyball-olympics/

I read somewhere that Walsh-Jennings was 5 weeks pregnant at the 2014 Olympics.

[greyhorse]

Kind of surprised that the stands for Brazil's #1 team are not packed full.  Are ticket prices too expensive, or is the stadium bigger than it needs to be?

Edited to add:  Ahhh, the Brazilians escape a narrow victory over the Swiss.  Looked like the Swiss were going to pull it off in the second set after winning the first.  They didn't look like the #1 team in the world to me.

Edited August 14, 2016 by greyhorse

[walnutqueen]

^^^ That was a nail-biter, for sure!

It looked like the stands were pretty full, except for the V.I.P. section.

[galaxygirl76]

The men's Brazil-Netherlands semifinal was fantastic, my fellow countrymen went down fighting much harder than anyone expected. Good luck in the match for bronze.

[walnutqueen]

I've been enjoying all the recent games - they were exciting and pretty darned close!

[mightysparrow]

Just how much NBC stock does Kerri Walsh-Jennings own?  She's had more air-time than Michael Phelps and Women's Gymnastics COMBINED.

[scartact]

I'm a little devastated to hear Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross lost today. I'm not much of a sports fan, but I'm definitely an Olympics fan and Beach Volleyball is typically on my Olympics watching roster. I know dominance isn't always fun to watch and it's great that this was a great match, but man, I really wanted to see them go to finals.

[candall]

US vs. Brazil in the semifinals.  Usually at such a high level, I can't tell who's a more skillful player in anything, but damn, that one Brazilian woman was like a Volleyball T-2000.

 

After the announcer said someone ("She"?  She who??) had two dislocated shoulders last year and surgery, I got shoulder obsessed and winced through the rest of the game.  Me:  Stop all that high fiving!  Your shoulders think you're whacking your hands against a brick wall! 

[walnutqueen]

6 hours ago, scartact said:

I'm a little devastated to hear Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross lost today. I'm not much of a sports fan, but I'm definitely an Olympics fan and Beach Volleyball is typically on my Olympics watching roster. I know dominance isn't always fun to watch and it's great that this was a great match, but man, I really wanted to see them go to finals.

I was gutted.   :-(

 

25 minutes ago, candall said:

US vs. Brazil in the semifinals.  Usually at such a high level, I can't tell who's a more skillful player in anything, but damn, that one Brazilian woman was like a Volleyball T-2000.

 

After the announcer said someone ("She"?  She who??) had two dislocated shoulders last year and surgery, I got shoulder obsessed and winced through the rest of the game.  Me:  Stop all that high fiving!  Your shoulders think you're whacking your hands against a brick wall! 

Kerri Walsh Jennings has had 5 (yes, FIVE!) shoulder surgeries.  I'm amazed she was able to recover and come back to play at this level so soon after her last one.  She probably has her shoulder surgeon on speed dial.

[Crs97]

She calls her surgeon her MVP.

Listening to the Brazilian fans boo some of the athletes and loudly cheer their mistakes during their performances has soured me on the place.  I find myself now rooting against their team members.  Hope Brazil doesn't take gold here.  

[scartact]

Yeah, I gotta admit Brazil played such an excellent game. KWJ was just off the entire play and they were smart to attack that weakness over and over. I really respect KWJ's response to the loss too and how she hasn't lambasted anyone, nor has she blamed the booing, and she acknowledged that she was the weak point that entire game: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/kerri-walsh-jennings-the-anti-hope-solo-in-1st-olympic-defeat-055546879.html?nhp=1

I hope this doesn't psych her out in the bronze match. I'm really pulling for them. I also just didn't expect our bronze matchup either (I gasped when I saw Franca and Antunes had lost!), but I'm sure that will turn out a great game too. I'm gonna be so nervous the entire day.

Edited August 17, 2016 by scartact

[cocobeans]

I am more proud of KWJ today than I was after she won 3 gold medals.  She is a class act, and examplifies true Olympic Spirit!

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

Usually at such a high level, I can't tell who's a more skillful player in anything, but damn, that one Brazilian woman was like a Volleyball T-2000.

It was UNREAL. Agatha & Barbara absolutely destroyed Kerri & April, methodically and beautifully. Even though I would have loved seeing the USA make it to the gold medal game, I enjoyed it because it was just such an impressive performance. 

[Chaos Theory]

8 hours ago, cocobeans said:

I am more proud of KWJ today than I was after she won 3 gold medals.  She is a class act, and examplifies true Olympic Spirit!

Sometimes it's more about how you lose then how you win.  Winning is easy especially when odds are in your favor.  When you lose even though odds were in your favor and you still show good sportsmanship that says something.

[stealinghome]

I'm so bummed for KWJ, and think it's such crap luck that the #1-ranked team (also Brazilian) got upset and will play the US for bronze. It would be awful if KWJ doesn't even medal at this Olympics.

That said, Agatha and Barbara were UNREAL last night. That one-armed dig? Wow. They were definitely the better team. Just unbelievably good.

Edited August 17, 2016 by stealinghome

[candall]

12 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Kerri Walsh Jennings has had 5 (yes, FIVE!) shoulder surgeries.  I'm amazed she was able to recover and come back to play at this level so soon after her last one.  She probably has her shoulder surgeon on speed dial.

So I guess she was the person the announcer was saying dislocated her shoulder last year during a game, popped it back in and kept playing?  I think people normally wear a sling and baby those stretched tendons so they can rest.  The amount of trauma to her shoulder(s?) is almost too mind-boggling to think about.

[walnutqueen]

5 minutes ago, candall said:

So I guess she was the person the announcer was saying dislocated her shoulder last year during a game, popped it back in and kept playing?  I think people normally wear a sling and baby those stretched tendons so they can rest.  The amount of trauma to her shoulder(s?) is almost too mind-boggling to think about.

Yup.  She's a beastess!  :-))

[scartact]

Haven't watched the Bronze medal match yet, but was following points during my commute home when it was live and I nearly short circuited.

[stealinghome]

I am SO GLAD Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross won bronze!!!!! That was not looking likely for the first half of the match. It's like they woke up halfway through; I wish they could have played that way last night. Still, bronze is much better than nothing.

After the way the Brazilians have been booing everyone, I'm kind of pettily glad they only ended up with silver.

[PepSinger]

Wait. How do the Brazilians get bronze? I thought silver was determined in the gold medal match?

[stealinghome]

Just now, PepSinger said:

Wait. How do the Brazilians get bronze? I thought silver was determined in the gold medal match?

The Brazilians didn't get bronze. Kerri Walsh and April Ross beat one Brazilian team for bronze--that team (Larissa and Talita) did not medal. In the gold medal match, Germany beat the other Brazilian team, Agatha/Barbara, who ended up with silver.

[greyhorse]

Great comeback by Walsh-Jennings and Ross tonight.  After that first set, it looked like they would be going home without a medal.  Happy for the two of them and they looked overjoyed to have medaled.  At 38, is this likely the end for Kerri and the Olympics?  We shall see.

[Superpole2000]

I don't hate beach volleyball. What I hate is that it has been on TV every day of the Olympics so far, and sports such as handball, archery, fencing, and weightlifting are lucky if they are mentioned even once during the games. Beach volleyball is overexposed, and it gets in the way of covering the other 33 sports.

[biakbiak]

1 minute ago, Superpole2000 said:

I don't hate beach volleyball. What I hate is that it has been on TV every day of the Olympics so far, and sports such as handball, archery, fencing, and weightlifting are lucky if they are mentioned even once during the games. Beach volleyball is overexposed, and it gets in the way of covering the other 33 sports.

It makes sense to me, it's popular it is fairly fast for a team sport and the games of good teqms were played at a time that allowed NBC to play them live after big swimming and track and field events.