The AVP goes to Albany and we are there...sorta

As we warned you they were going to, the AVP put on a showcase Tuesday night in tropical Albany, NY, and thanks to the wonder of AVP.com, we watched the whole thing via webstream. Here's what happened, although when we say "happened" we're not referring 100% to the action on the court):

The whole thing got off to a rousing start with player introductions done by the voice of the AVP, Chris "Geeter" McGee. This guy nails it every time, and gets the Albany crowd on their feet, even impressing the Time-Warner Cable announcers who note that Geeter did the intros without notes of any kind. Michael Buffer's got nothin' on Geeter.

Unfortunately, it only looks like there are only few hundred on hand to enjoy the intros and subsequent action, though every chance they get, the AVP pros compliment the crowd's size and enthusiasm.

As the action in the first men's match gets under way -- a mish-mash of Todd Rogers, Casey Jennings, Jake Gibb and Sean Scott -- the announcers are concerned that people will be too confused as to who's who when the teams switch sides.

Jenny Johnson Jordan, on hand at the announcer's table confesses that this is her first time to Albany. The announcers let her know there's a snow storm on its way tonight, and if she gets stuck in town, they'll let her know where the good restaurants are. Thanks, but we already pointed out the existence of the Albany Applebee's.

Before moving on to the women's first match, Casey Jennings says the crowd is "a small little group, but they're great." If there's one thing these guys are doing, it's serving as great ambassadors to the AVP. Yeah, it's an exhibition event to promote the AVP, but everyone is going out of there way to be helpful, informative, and fun. And the announcers are doing a nice job, deferring to the players doing the guest announcing whenever possible.

In the men's second match, we get Rachel Wacholder doing color commentary (YES!). She let's it drop that she has a little family tree advantage, as her uncle lives in New York and is in attendance along with her cousins. A Wacholder in New York? Sounds about as natural as a Kiraly in Maine.

The announcers mention that Wacholder is part of two volleyball couples competing tonight: Married tandem Kerry Walsh and Casey Jennings, and dating couple Wacholder and Sean Scott. They also note that this info is mentioned on Wacholder's bio on AVP.com, but that their own married status isn't included in their bios. Well, you're not, you know, really hot.

Scott says he's also enjoying the family tree advantage, and that the Wacholders had Rachel and Sean over for a "nice big lasagna dinner." "That sounds terrific" one announcer says, and he actually sounds enthralled by the idea, as if all he needed in the world was a lasagna dinner, and all would be right in the world.

The relationship theme makes its way into all of the announcers' conversations, and they tongue-in-cheek let each player know that they're not to applaud for their own sweetie.

With Wacholder at the mike, they also ask if she will share a distinct advantage when teaming up with Elaine Youngs. Wacholder, gracious to the last, mentions that, um, she and EY, you know...broke up their partnership. Awkward.

Jennings is now rockin' the mike, and he's concerned that the "girls are lookin' tanner than the guys," and then mentions Mystic Tan. Ouch. Dude, you're going to hear about that later I think. The announcers ask Jennings if he thinks Walsh gets nervous. "She wins so much, what's there to be nervous about?" Zing!

Should mention at this time that Johnson-Jordan is in incredible shape for a mom. She's easily the most rusty of the foursome, but you can tell she's still got it. Wacholder seems a little off tonight, too, whocking some jump serves and lineshots way out. But they both get better as the evening rolls on.

Walsh is in fine form, completely taking over the second match with three straight blocks and forcing a Wacholder hitting error. EY is EY. After another win, Walsh says that if the there's anything to be nervous about, it's that tonight is their "first time in bikinis; that's what all the ladies are worried about."

Interesting. Never considered that the bikini is in its first competition of the year, too.

Unfortunately, this is when our cable Internet service went out, so we missed the next few matches. It only came back briefly at the end, but in time for us to hear Rogers say that "Misty (May) is the best sideout player on the planet."

Sounds about right.

The winners for the event were Scott and Walsh, by the way, as well as the citizens of Albany (aww). It looked like a great event for the city.