Live Updates, 3/1/10

// March 1st, 2010 // Uncategorized

On the show today…New AVP Commish Mike Dodd is talking about his new role. Jane Collymore is going to talk about her role with the USA national team and her music career. And Texas women’s head coach Jerritt Elliott will talk about why he opposes the current NCAA sand volleyball proposal.

Barnett said that on a list of most cardiovascularly intense sports…Motocross is #2?? “You’ve gotta shift and maneuver…” And he likes that new Miley Cyrus song. He is also wearing the “Vitruvian Danny” tee from kindagood.com. Bam!

Nebraska assistant coach and former Team USA member Erik Sullivan has called in about last week when Geeter and Mike Sealy accused Erik of almost losing the 2008 Gold Medal when Sully intimidated Reid by telling him to stay in the corner of the court so he didn’t mess anything up. This was when Reid was a young pup and could have led to a discouraged Reid quitting. But, as Erik says, he helped Reid by making him mentally tougher.

JANE COLLYMORE Interview
Jane is quite the musician as Barney discovered by accident while talking to her earlier this year. She grew up playing classical piano and writing songs in high school. She’s recovering from her 2nd hip surgery and hopes to return to the national team in July. Fingers crossed. If she didn’t have the music creative process outside of vb she’d probably be going crazy…She’s content with music being a hobby for now. Listen to the show to hear one of Jane’s songs!

Mike Dodd Interview
Mike says his first order of business is to help AVP CEO Jason Hodell with player representation and issues. There will be sponsor meet-and-greets and he’ll be involved in most of those meetings. Sort of like the “Mayor of the AVP” as he was previously but now it’s official. He will be responsible for reaching out to the grassroots organizations, connecting with them, and have them be a part of the AVP. He will no longer coach his long-time team Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb (who will now be coached by Jeff Alzina). His role with them wasn’t a financial decision but as a way to become more of a part of the AVP. During Rosenthal/Gibb run at the 2009 Manhattan Open, Dodd called a timeout and referenced his own Manhattan Opens that he’d let slip through his fingers…and he expressed his feeling and opinion and told them to take advantage of the opportunity. “You’re legacy won’t be the same without your name on that pier.”

Dodd was 1 of a few candidates for the position, the first candidate was Karch Kiraly, but he was not able to accept. As far as selling the sport and signing sponsors, there is work to be done. AVP did sign with ESPN/ABC which should prove to be a big boon for the sport. There are still settlments to be made regarding player prize money and FIVB events. Mike believes he can be a bridge to a new relationship with FIVB. He’s seen all the big changes in beach vb and he believes that AVP is in tune and that they keep it about the volleyball. There have been many turf wars in vb but it’s been progressing at a snail’s pace because it is not integrating itself within other vb events. Why not?

Mike believes pro VB will get back to drawing the type of sponsor and fan support as it had in the 1990s. We’re moving in the right direction. “Is VB a lifestyle or a performance sport?” Mike believes it’s both. We’ve done great at its highest level, the sport is sexy, and we shouldn’t ignore that beach vb is a great vehicle for marketers but the focus should be on the game.

Jerritt Elliott Interview
Jerritt’s objection to NCAA sand volleyball was the parameters and the lack of dialogue and the hasty and quick pushing of the sport. He grew up on the beach, went to school with Kent Steffes, and is friends with Geeter, so many people were surprised he was opposed. He wants a few things modified. Indoor is growing at a high rate but there’s probably not enough to get even more quality players.

Quality of life…do you hire an additional coach and the indoor coach oversees anything? How do you decide which girls play which sport? There would also need to be too many time-management issues with coaching as well as too many days recruiting on the road. His idea is to use your indoor team in the spring to work on the beach and avoid coaching overload. Players love to get on the beach anyway.

Back to NCAA indoor…Who would be his #1 vb draft pick…? Megan Hodge of PSU or his own Destinee Hooker? He’d pick Hooker. Elliott was very involved in Hooker’s decision to turn pro. It was a good decision to turn pro as a volleyball player, though she could be a great world-class high jumper.

Co-Opetitive Trivia Slamdown! (Tune into our show to get the answers and see who won!)
1. The overtime goal scored in the USA/Canada Gold Medal hockey game was scored on who?
2. Pepperdine is the #1 team in D1 men’s volleyball. Who is the #1 team in D3?
3. What rapper owns a stake in VitaminWater?
4. What’s the name of the current bachelor on the show, The Bachelor?
5. What name was given Tiger Woods’s Gatorade flavor?
6. McIlhenney Company makes what flavorful pepper sauce?
7. How many medals did Lindsey Vonn win in this Olympics?
8. Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow also directed what 1991 surfer bank robbery movie?
9. USA finished first in total medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics with 37. Which country finished with the most gold medals?
10. Who was Mike Dodd’s first partner on the AVP?

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