Stage area at 2004 Volleypalooza, South Beach; 2004 photo by SouthBeachHoosierOf all the pre-Super Bowl events that I'm most looking forward to this weekend is Ocean Drive Magazine's 14th annual Volleypalooza tourney at 8th Street & Ocean Drive on South Beach this Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
http://www.volleypalooza.com/
http://www.oceandrive.com/flash/interface.html
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2005-03-10/news/kulchur.html
I've gone to two of these tourneys in the past when there was no tie-in to either the Super Bowl or Orange Bowl games, and found them lots of fun.
Certainly I always left in a VERY relaxed mood, despite the thousands of people who attend.
No matter how used to South Beach you are, and no matter how consciously blase some South Floridians try to act towards the area, on a weekend like this, it's hard to come away from these things without being in awe not only of the incredible amount of stunning genetic good looks that can be crammed into such a small area, but also the very high level of volleyball play, since the co-ed teams take it VERY seriously.
This is nothing if not an opportunity for many of them to show their stuff athletically, esp. the guys, and once you're there, while there are, of course, some 5' 11'' willowy, string bean-types that seem just off the farm in Kansas, the vast majority of the Volleypalooza players are easily more physically fit than 98% of the spectators.
And you're always aware of this, too!
It's not for nothing that there are so many gyms in the SoBe area and busy ones at that. It goes without saying that this is a people-watching scene of the -nth degree. In some ways, it reminds me of the very relaxed Coconut Grove festivals my family and I used to attend regularly twenty-thirty years ago, even though Volleypalooza baosts tons of sponsor tents & tables promoting one product or another, and is very commercially driven.
Plus the combination of live music, food, fashion shows and distractions make for quite a complete afternoon. Parking? Forget about it!
I only wish this sort of event had existed when I was in high school at North Miami Beach down here in the late '70's!
That was when the Lincoln Road area was dowdy beyond belief, as I knew well.
That was when the Lincoln Road area was dowdy beyond belief, as I knew well.
See this shot of Lincoln Road slightly prior to that in 1972:
By the time my North Miami Beach Senior High School graduation ceremony took place in June of 1979, at the nearby Miami Beach Convention Center -scene of the 1968 Republican National Convention and the 1972 Democratic National Convention, as well as the last home for The Jackie Gleason Show- my mom had been working on Miami Beach for a few years at a law firm in the Washington Federal Savings Building.
The whole Lincoln Road area of that era was very depressing, especially during the heat of a summer day, but now, of course, it's world famous for both the chic and chic-wannabes.
See http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-dade/cities_neighborhoods/beaches/16192278.htm
[One of the first things that occurred to me at the first Volleypalooza I attended was that as easy as it is to joke about, in South Beach, just as in NYC or LA, there are hundreds of otherwise capable and attractive people who get their dreams CRUSHED on a weekly basis in South Beach, for reasons that are impossible to quantify, and impossible to explain to family & friends at home, who thought that hard work, showing up on time and a little luck would suffice.
It's much easier for us to imagine the emotional topsy-turvy trauma faced by some former high school pitching phenom, when he suddenly suffers career-threatening arm problems, just as he's settling into a groove at high Double AA, and now suddenly has to think about what Career Plan B might be if he can't recover and pitch effectively, when everyone knows there usually is no real Plan B.
If he fails, everyone says too bad, tough luck, but it wasn't anything personal.
It's quite another thing altogether, to tell people who are, to a large & perhaps ridiculous extent, in fact, their particular looks, that they "aren't right," or can't cut it, based solely on someone else's gut feeling.
See http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-dade/cities_neighborhoods/beaches/16192278.htm
[One of the first things that occurred to me at the first Volleypalooza I attended was that as easy as it is to joke about, in South Beach, just as in NYC or LA, there are hundreds of otherwise capable and attractive people who get their dreams CRUSHED on a weekly basis in South Beach, for reasons that are impossible to quantify, and impossible to explain to family & friends at home, who thought that hard work, showing up on time and a little luck would suffice.
It's much easier for us to imagine the emotional topsy-turvy trauma faced by some former high school pitching phenom, when he suddenly suffers career-threatening arm problems, just as he's settling into a groove at high Double AA, and now suddenly has to think about what Career Plan B might be if he can't recover and pitch effectively, when everyone knows there usually is no real Plan B.
If he fails, everyone says too bad, tough luck, but it wasn't anything personal.
It's quite another thing altogether, to tell people who are, to a large & perhaps ridiculous extent, in fact, their particular looks, that they "aren't right," or can't cut it, based solely on someone else's gut feeling.
At least with a tryout for a team or an audition for a TV show/film/play, there's an understanding amongst all the parties that there's some generally understood parameters that can be used to judge whether someone is good, bad or just middling mediocre, whether in hitting the outside corner with their pitches, or in the delivery of the lines, singing, dancing or whatever talent is required to nail the job.]
The last Volleypalooza tourney I caught was in 2005, when it was still a Sat. & Sunday afternoon affair, when I found myself quite taken and nearly intoxicated by the ladies of Elite Models, one blond in particular, whom I rooted for through the championship round.
The last Volleypalooza tourney I caught was in 2005, when it was still a Sat. & Sunday afternoon affair, when I found myself quite taken and nearly intoxicated by the ladies of Elite Models, one blond in particular, whom I rooted for through the championship round.
They lost to either NEXT or Wilhelmina in a very close match.
Blessed not only with good looks to spare -and then some!- but also VERY intense players, some of whom I surmised must've played for their high school or college teams, judging by their highly-developed sense of anticipation. You can't just fake that.
It's not the NCAA Volleyball tourney in Lincoln, Nebraska or anything, but it's very good for this area and time of the year -and the scenery can't be beat!
http://www.superbowlxli.org/
http://www.superbowlxli.org/
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