I have to say that I'm kind of surprised that they would play the gold medal match in that heavy rain. I mean, my own beach volleyball experience is pretty limited, but clearly heavy rain has an effect on the game, given that a wet volleyball is a way different thing than a dry volleyball.
I guess that it makes sense that beach volleyball is a rain or shine game and certainly NBC was counting on this as their primary item in the late evening category- it sure beats more diving, sorry diving folks, but enough is enough, not that we haven't had enough volleyball as well, but at least with volleyball i know what I'm looking at.
The two-person game is really an interesting dynamic- one that I prefer to what indoor or traditional volleyball has become. Back when we played volleyball in high school and college, you played through a six-person rotation, everyone got to set and spike, and you only went out if your team had seven or more players. Today's game, with its middle-hitters and other specialists, just isn't for me. Then again, I think if you can't play 3-4 downs you shouldn't be on the football field- where do the specialists end and the tub-o-lards that can't last three down without hitting the oxygen begin ?
In the end, I thought the gold medal match was pretty exciting, because it was close, because it featured the Americans versus the Chinese, which amped up the rivalry a notch given the medal count so far, and because the games were close. Take away the faked injury time-out in the second set and the whole match was fun to watch, quick paced and a good advert for the sport.
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