BATTERED, BRUISED AND BLOODIED
A sandpit on the Strip is a far cry from the California beaches where volleyball champions normally play, but Caesars Palace dumped in 6,000 cubic feet of sand to recreate a beach-front village for the AVP Gods and Goddesses tournament and its $4-million in prize money. For Vegas born Casey Jennings who practiced here as a kid on the hot summer tarmac, and his wife Kerri Walsh, it was a wonderful homecoming.
It was the second to last tournament of the season – final matches are in San Francisco today - with winners positioned for representing Team USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the Vegas rounds, Casey was KO’d early, but Kerry went right through to the finals winning $19,750 before losing her Goddess title in the final match to Elaine Youngs. The men’s winner was John Hyden, who’d only made it to one finals match previously in the season!
Between matches I talked with the married volleyball stars. Kerry, a two-time MVP who last year became the fourth American woman to surpass $1-million in career earnings, not only won a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics but racked up 89 consecutive wins on the AVP circuit!
She told me: “I was proud of myself for getting here. You have to earn your way. I was excited to know I could go dancing in the nightclubs after playing! The sand quality is great and the players love playing here because it is such a great beautiful venue. We feel VIP here, and yes, it is better than last year. When we are playing, we notice nothing, but when you are in between games you want to go hit the slots and go by the pool, and it is a fine line; you want to have fun, but you also want to win so you have to earn your right to be here, then you can celebrate after.”
Kerry has literally been playing for 23 consecutive weekends, criss-crossing the country: “I am bruised from head to toe. I have one very ugly finger. In 23 weeks we have been over to Europe three times and played 18 tournaments all over America. When we are done next weekend, I am going to go to bed and not get up for two weeks! I just want to veg-out. I want to get reacquainted with my home and my bed. All of our plants are dead, so it is about nesting, hanging out with my husband and having some fun at home. All is wonderful with our marriage despite the strain of being on the road constantly for half a year - but at least we are together. Casey is crazy, he is from Vegas, he is a wonderful man and the fact that we get to share jobs and travel together makes us sane. Otherwise it would be a tough job. We are both fired up about the summer Beijing Olympics, we are inspired, we both want to qualify - Misty, my partner, and I are nearly there. We need two more finishes starting January through July next year. The Olympics are in August so they close it off in early July. It is a crazy process. We have five first place finishes and one third and they take your point cumulative, so we are sitting pretty now. Casey got screwed up; he didn’t have enough points to qualify so I don’t know if he’ll get sufficient points next year. He is going regardless, whether he is a training coach for us or help for the guys, he will be part of Team USA, for sure. The sport is growing, and that makes better players come out, it makes indoor volleyball players want to come out to the beach and take the money that the beach is generating. Better, taller stronger girls are coming out and guys too, so yeah, we are the veterans. We are older. It feels terrible and crazy to be 29. We might be wise and smart and try to make the 18-year-olds feel 18, but they’re sometimes faster, stronger and they make you feel that, as with any professional athlete, your career is fleeting, Fortunately, in beach volleyball your career is a little longer than in other sports - the sand is more forgiving. Karch Kirarly is 42, but his career is still kicking butt. I want to play for 10 more years!
Hometown hero Casey told me: “Every year I play it. I love the sport even more. I always get so excited, and I am going to win it one year. This year I didn’t make it, but I could potentially still be in the finals, there’s time early next year – and maybe someone will pick me to partner with, but I love this tournament coming home for me to Vegas. It is the all-star weekend and we let our hair down and all the players get to have a good time in Vegas. The stress is way down with just one last weekend to go. Vegas is where I learned to play volleyball - so all my family and friends are here. This is the entertainment capital of the world and we are an entertaining sport, so it goes hand in hand. Our sport is exciting, sexy and it matches up perfectly. We really feed off the Vegas crowd. Yesterday I was devastated when I lost the match that I did, but on the other hand I am here in Vegas, so it takes the disappointment away. A week ago I was banged up bruised and mentally exhausted. You reach the point when you think you can’t go on. Then all of a sudden, it must be the heat of Vegas, but my body healed and is fantastic once again.”
Caesars officials hope to have the Tournament back for a third time next year just before the players jet off to China for the Olympics where they’re already planning to lock up at least two more gold medals!.