Greater Ft Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau

This is the most unusual professional sporting event I’ve ever attended. I think I can say that with some confidence.

I’ve also never been to a tournament where the competitors, male and female, play in swimsuits and bare feet. And always wear sunglasses and SPF 30 sunblock. And where so, so many fans in attendance wear swimsuits too. Sports writers who cover this beat should send their editors cases of very good scotch every month to thank them.

So yes, you could say I was glad to be there Saturday. "There" being this season’s first event in the pro beach volleyball, or AVP, tour. It was happening all weekend at Fort Lauderdale’s South Beach Park and, of course, everyone had yet another perfect spring day in which to enjoy it all. Sunny, mild, cool ocean breezes.

My day began when I was corralled by two beautiful young women who were promoting one of the products that sponsors this tournament. As part of the promotion, they wanted to take a picture with me inside their company tent. Well, perhaps "corralled" is too strong a word. They asked. I said yes. Instantly. I’m looking at this picture now and I’m smiling. Because four other beautiful young women joined us for the photo op. Unfortunately, I was then expected to leave the tent so some other guy could have his picture snapped. But it wasn’t a bad way to start a morning.

About that time I began to notice that a whole lot of people walking around this place wore nothing but fairly small bathing suits. The women, at least. I think that brought a smile to my face too. The guys were wearing their long baggies and I trust this brought smiles to the faces of many women and/or gay fans.

I keep calling those of us at the volleyball tournament "fans," but I suspect many were more like me. I’ve seen and enjoyed beach volleyball during the Olympics. That’s it. Today I learned you don’t have to be a diehard fan to have a great time at this thing. There’s lots of food and drinks, as always at sports events. But you also can try your hand at serving volleyballs to see how fast you can knock one over the net. Or you can compete against yourself to find out how high you can jump. Or you can just people-watch. I did a lot of that, the people-watching part, as you probably gathered by now.

Oh and the competitors? I found them impressive. I saw the top women players in the world compete in a match and, believe me – swimsuits or not, these are serious athletes. Misty May-Treanor and her partner, Kerri Walsh, won the Olympic gold medal in Athens two years ago. It was obvious why they are gold medalists. I also caught some of the men’s games and several other women’s matches and I truly liked it all. The action was fast, the performances competitive and the setting ideal. Where else can you smell the sea while sitting in the stands? And all right, yes, a bunch of the athletes are babes. And so are many of the fans. And the tournament ends Sunday, sadly. But if anyone wants to send me to cover the next tournament on this tour, let me know.

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