Sex in sports.

I got into trouble several years ago during a talk show when I said in jest that women’s beach volleyball was more soft core porn than sport. That didn’t go over well with many of the sports fans and I was joking….sort of.

Watching some Olympic women’s beach volleyball I was struck by the same notion again. They are wonderfully skilled athletes and play a difficult sport at a very high level. But why are most of the better players former full court volleyball players? Why are they no longer full court elite volleyball players? Why do experts in the sport still consider the best players to be those who play the indoor game? If the indoor game has the better players then why is there next to no TV coverage of the full court game while there is tons of coverage for the beach game and in fact a full pro circuit? Could the bodies and the “uniforms” be part of that reason?

Is there some competitive advantage to wearing a bikini or less while playing? Would the full court indoor players get this advantage if they started wearing less while they played? Or is it just the fact that it’s on a beach, bikinis naturally go with beach activities and all the TV coverage is based solely on the fact that beach volleyball is a far better game than full court indoor volleyball?

Who are we kidding here? TV coverage is based on what the people playing wear and often how little people in the stands wear. This is a sex appeal sport plain and simple. Start putting the players in the same uniforms that the indoor players wear and watch the ratings drop.

I guess I just got myself in trouble with those same beach volleyball people again.

See you at the rink.