Life's a beach for jealous volleyballers
By Beth Teitell
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
HHey, who are you looking at? The bikini-clad Olympic beach volleyball players -or the bikini-clad dancers?
It's supposed to be all about the athletes, but someone forgot to tell the Personal Plus dance babes that only the bride wears white to a wedding, hon.
In case you missed it, a ``Mean Girls'' scandal - more entertaining than any doping controversy - is brewing on the sand, thanks to the glam dance team that runs onto the volleyball court between points and shakes their booty to blaring techno pop while fans snap photos.
Yesterday, after enduring one too many Personal Plus gyrations, Australian player Nicole Sanderson told the Associated Press that the other women on the court distracted viewers from, ahem, the main action.
``It's kind of disrespectful to the female players,'' she complained. ``I'm sure the male spectators love it, but I find it a little bit offensive.''
An offense, by the way, that could have been mitigated by the inclusion of noncompeting male dancers. ``Equality, equality!'' said Sanderson's partner, Kerri Pottharst, a 2000 gold medalist.
One wonders if the disrespect level would have been lowered if the dancers donned, say, teal organza puff-sleeved ensembles. Or picture hats.
Of course, one could ask why it's necessary for female beach volleyball players to compete in suits so small a Brazilian would blush. It's not like they have to worry about drag from the water, or a too-wide bra strap impeding a move.
And from a melanoma point of view? Let's hope Team USA players Misty May and Kerri Walsh are regularly applying sun block with an SPF of 30 or more, because let's face it, not much is protected from the rays. But the players themselves don't seem worried about exposure of any sort, not even the kind that involves a tush cam positioned to beam images of their bikini-clad rears around the world.
One has to ask why those dancers are needed - it's not like viewers, especially male, might drift off while the athletes take a timeout. It's C-cup overkill, if you ask me, and another example of poor planning. Best to go back to the Olympics drawing board and schedule the dance team for a sport that could really benefit from their ``enthusiasm.''
Yes, I mean curling.
