Just wondering people's thoughts on the, as Fort put it, People Magazine-ization of swimming. Does promoting a sport to reach the masses and create national interest necessarily mean selling a part of one's soul? I tend to think it does. Look at beach volleyball. They are really popular now. Not the men, thank you. But the women. Why? The skimpy suits. The hugging and butt slapping. The cheerleaders. Though I keep reading the explanations about the women's suits and how they aren't the main reason for the popularity of the sport, I'm not stupid. If it's not about the sex-factor, why doesn't men's beach volleyball enjoy the same support/ratings?
Fortunately, so far, swimming hasn't had to go that route. But, as Susan Von der Lippe pointed out in a Floswimming article at Trials, some of the swimming events have become more of a circus. For swimming to be so popular, it seems that Phelps has to become a celebrity. Things have to appeal to the masses--who don't want a serious story. They want flash. They want controversy. Gary Hall Jr. fits into this picture well. I argued to my family that, as much as I don't appreciate the antics of Hall, he brings some something flashy to swimming. And people like to watch that.
So, how much soul-selling do we need to do to appeal, as a sport, to the masses?
As a former (not very good) volleyball player and longtime fan of the sport, I will point out one reason the women's game is more popular (aside from the *ahem* costumes) is that the play involves longer rallies. For a long time on the men's side - indoors and on the beach - most play consists of serve, pass, set, spike. It's really pretty rare to see a long rally in men's volleyball. That makes the women's game more fan-friendly.
For women who lament that they aren't seeing the tanned, buff men's beach players revealed in all their hunkiness on the toob, I suspect the reason is simply that the players are required to wear numbers. That means shirts. In most beach tournaments I've ever seen they play shirtless.
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As a former (not very good) volleyball player and longtime fan of the sport, I will point out one reason the women's game is more popular (aside from the *ahem* costumes) is that the play involves longer rallies. For a long time on the men's side - indoors and on the beach - most play consists of serve, pass, set, spike. It's really pretty rare to see a long rally in men's volleyball. That makes the women's game more fan-friendly.
For women who lament that they aren't seeing the tanned, buff men's beach players revealed in all their hunkiness on the toob, I suspect the reason is simply that the players are required to wear numbers. That means shirts. In most beach tournaments I've ever seen they play shirtless.
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