When is Too Much Too Much?
Heckling is one of the things that makes beach volley a great sport,
but is there a line to be crossed?
By Ryan Gray
Controversy was never far from Brian Lewis during his AVP days in the 1980s and 1990s. His brash, in-your-face, call-it-as-you seen them approach was appreciated, for the most part, by fans and some players. It was all about the spirit of competition and having fun.
But fun for some spells rudeness for others. It’s called the fine line.
The Fudpuckers 4 Player Spring Classic in Florida is an annual event fashioned a bit after the Charlie Saikley 6-Man Volleyball Tournament at the Manhattan Beach Surf Fest each August. Or so Brian Lewis and Team Quiksilver thought. They retired from competition in March when complaint after many complaints about their behavior were logged with tournament director Mike Minich.
Now for those who don’t know, there’s plenty of drinking going on at Fudpuckers, which makes it, well, a beach volleyball tournament. But evidently the Florida folks didn’t like Lewis’ sense of humor — or drunkenness — or that of teammate Tim Simmons. The rumor mill spread the story that Team Quiksilver quickly got the boot.
“Mr. Lewis and his team were not kicked out of this year’s Spring Fudpucker 4-player event. They withdrew,” Minich wrote us in an email. “We have no comments regarding their withdrawal beyond the statements we have made on the forum on our Web site.”
Minich did add that the whole incident was basically “a misunderstanding as to the type of event the Fudpucker 4 Player is.”
Lewis himself weighed in and wrote in an AVP.com forum that, indeed, Team Quiksilver thought it was entering a Manhattan Surf Fest type event, one where the crazier a player or fan acts, of course bolstered by liquid courage, the better. By all accounts, some of the Fudpuckers spectators and players got a kick out of Lewis’ and Timmons’ antics, like calling four time outs each game instead of the maximum two that the rules allowed so they could refresh their on-court drinks, a tourney no-no. Then there was the heckling of other teams, which evidently got quite, shall we say, heated.
One of the great things about beach volleyball, besides the bikinis and court side libations, is the art of heckling. On the pro level, few other sports afford fans the opportunity to get so close to the playing area. As a result, the verbal jabs are thrown at will, both by fans and the players themselves.
Most know about Rosie’s Raiders, the raucous bunch from Hermosa Beach who follow Sean Rosenthal across the country. They've tamed some over the last couple of years after getting quite a reputation. There was the time when Casey Jennings almost leapt over the wall during a match, after some of the Raiders' taunts on the subject of his wife Kerri Walsh went too far.
Last year emerged the Peanut Butter & Jelly Crew for Hans Stolfus and Aaron Wachtfogel that basically heckled Rosie's Raiders. Last weekend, at the AVP Cuervo Gold Crown in Huntington Beach, we were all introduced to a gaggle of, um, pirates.
“Prosser’s Pirates, Prosser’s Privates, I don’t know,” laughed AVPer Matt Prosser.
The group consists of a bunch of current indoor players at Long Beach State, where Prosser is an assistant coach, dressed in swashbuckler costumes, complete with eye patches, funny hats and toy swords. They were out in support of not only Prosser but another ex-49er, Tyler Hildenbrand. A favorite heckle they yelled at the opposing team was “Hack, hack, hack,” as they made chopping motions with their fake plastic weapons. Captain Jack Sparrow they were not, but it was a pretty funny sight. But again, some controversy followed them.
“It’s great for the sport to have people who are going to cheer and be loud. With our sport, it’s going to be a lot more volatile because we do play so close the fans,” said Anthony Medel, who with partner Fred Sousa went up against Prosser and John Mayer, and the pirates. “It’s part of the game, and I tend to let it drown out. But there’s definitely groups that get close to crossing the line, especially when there are kids around. They needs to be paid to who’s watching.”
During Medel and Sousa’s two-game win over Prosser and Mayer in the contender’s bracket semis, down ref Dan Apol had to turn around several times and tell the pirates to cool it on the obscenities.
“If you can’t handle being heckled this isn’t the sport you shouldn’t play,” said Medel. “(But) my 10-year-old sister is sitting 10 feet away. They just need to watch a few of the things they’re saying. There’s definitely a line that can be crossed.”
Said Prosser: “They had been drinking obviously. I went over there and said to listen to what Dan was saying, don’t make a scene, things like that. None of them were so out of control. But there’s a line to cross.”
Heckling will continue to play a big role in the beach volleyball game, especially at elite levels. Obviously, like in the Fudpuckers incident, some people relish in it while others find it in very poor taste. It all depends on your outlook, and people need to take everything with a grain of salt. The problems seem to surface when things get personal.
“As long as people don’t cross the line, I don’t see the problem. We’re professional athletes,” Prosser added. “I’m sure it’s going to happen to me someday. It maybe helped me get a couple of points here or there. Anyone who has friends out there can (heckle) for their friends. It’s beach volleyball; it’s the way it is, and I think it’s great. (But) we don’t want f-bombs dropping. But still let people laugh and have a good time. If you’ve never been heckled then you’re probably not that good to begin with.”
As for a parting shot from Medel?
“I don’t know if I’d want to go around and be known as a pirate,” he said.
Argh. Take that.
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