Shaquille’s Surprise Visit Overshadows Event

Cleaning out the notebook, wondering if Shaq and I should team up and go after Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ beach tour next summer . . .

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Shaquille O’Neal’s unannounced visit to the Miller Lite Open beach volleyball tournament at Seal Beach last weekend caused quite a stir.

Tournament officials hustled Shaq into the players’ tent behind the main stage about 45 minutes before the championship match.

He munched on turkey sandwiches, chips and cookies and talked with beach tour star Sinjin Smith before the finals. Fans crowded around the entrance gate to get a peek at the Orlando Magic center.

Just before the start of the match, security guards paraded him in front of the overflow crowd of 10,000 before escorting him to his courtside seat. He was introduced to the crowd and received a huge ovation.

Although he didn’t give formal interviews, Shaq acknowledged that he likes the sport, and had even played a pickup game with Smith recently in Manhattan Beach.

Shaq is not the first NBA player to play on the beach. Wilt Chamberlain played briefly after his NBA career.

And what kind of volleyball player would he make? The 6-foot-3 Smith looked like a dwarf next to the 7-1 O’Neal.

Imagine trying to hit over his block. The top of his head is only 11 inches below the standard height of the men’s net. Standing flat-footed, he could nearly touch the top of the net with his elbow.

Fans were denied a chance to see Shaq in action. He was scheduled to participate in a serving contest, where fans win prizes for serving the ball to certain areas of the court. But the contest was canceled because there wasn’t enough time between the end of the women’s championship match and the start of the nationally televised men’s final.

Maybe next year.

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Attention-getters: Brazilian rookies Jose Loiola and Eduardo (Anjinho) Bacil impressed many with their fourth-place finish at Seal Beach. Most of their early round matches drew big crowds, and just about everyone was talking about the 6-4 Loiola’s long arms, great vertical jump and big blocks.

But San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly, top-ranked on the tour with partner Kent Steffes, said the Brazilians impressed him with more than just their playing ability this season.

“I really respect what they have done,” he said. “They moved over here from Brazil, found an apartment and had to start making travel plans and play on the tour every week.

“Those aren’t easy things to do when you’re trying to learn a new language. I remember it was tough when I played professionally (indoors) in Italy. Going through something like that helps you grow as a person, and I think this experience has helped Jose and Anjinho.”

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Crowd reaction to Bacil and Loiola was mixed, although one group of fans partying near the contest site let Loiola hear it after the Brazilians lost to Sinjin Smith and Ricci Luyties on Saturday.

Their chant: “U.S.A, U.S.A.”

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Bigger, the better: AVP officials are discussing plans to expand the women’s division for next year, possibly to as many as 20 players.

Four teams competed for $325,000 in prize money this summer, the first year women have competed weekly on the AVP tour. The addition has been a big hit with the players, fans and administrators.

“We would like to see more teams, more money and more exposure,” said Manhattan Beach’s Holly McPeak, who clinched first-place and $65,000 in prize money last weekend at Seal Beach. “Playing with the AVP this summer has been great. We’re getting more recognition wherever we go.”

Jon Stevenson, AVP president, said any decisions on expansion will be made in the off-season by the board of directors.

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The Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. beach tour stops at the Manhattan Beach Pier Saturday and Sunday for the Coors Light world championships.

Top-seeded Karolyn Kirby of San Diego and Liz Masakayan of Santa Monica, winners of 11 of 12 tournaments this year, have a chance to tie the tour record for event victories in a season set by Kirby and El Toro’s Angela Rock in 1991.

Janice Opalinski-Harrer of San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Beach’s Alison Johnson will attempt to qualify for the season-ending “Top of the Tour” tournament scheduled Aug. 28-29 in Powell, Ohio. The tournament accepts the top eight players.

Opalinski-Harrer, in eighth-place with 232 points, needs a fifth-place finish or higher at Manhattan Beach to qualify. Johnson is 10th with 212 points and has only a slim chance to make the field.

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Tale of the tape: More and more top pro surfers are using video cameras to tape and study contest performances. Even the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ judges use tapes to help explain judges’ scores when surfers protest.

San Clemente’s Shane Beschen, one of the top pros on the world tour, is one of the biggest proponents of using tapes.

“To me, it’s like a body builder looking in the mirror to see what he wants to do with himself, or a swimmer looking at her stroke to make technical adjustments,” Beschen said.

“Once you get to a certain level in this sport, it becomes harder to improve. So you have to start working on the little things. And since they are harder to detect, video can be really valuable.”

ASP World Tour Standings

1. Gary Elkerton (Australia), 2,330 points; 2. Vetea David (Tahiti), 2,142; 3. Dave Macaulay (Australia), 2,136; 4. Damien Hardman (Australia), 2,132; 5. Barton Lynch (Australia), 2,092; 6. Todd Holland (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), 2,000; 7. Derek Ho (Hawaii), 1,830; 8. Sunny Garcia (Hawaii) and Shane Beschen (San Clemente), 1,710; 10. Luke Egan (Australia), 1,632. Orange County surfers: 15. Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach), 1,500; 24. Mike Parsons (San Clemente), 1,280; 35. Dino Andino (San Clemente), 928; 39. Marty Thomas (Seal Beach), 768; 44. Richie Collins (Newport Beach), 688; 48. Todd Miller (Costa Mesa), 240.

Women--1. Kylie Webb (Australia), 3,622; 2. Neridah Flaconer (Australia), 2,542; 3. Layne Beachley (Australia), 3,540; 4. Pauline Menczer (Australia), 3,460; 5. Wendy Botha (Australia), 3,355; 6. Vanessa Osborne (Australia), 3,326; 7. Pam Burridge (Australia), 3,232; 8. Jodie Cooper (Australia), 3,127; 9. Rochelle Ballard (Hawaii), 2,860; 10. Lynette MacKenzie (Australia), 2,700. Orange County surfers: 17. Alisa Schwarzstein (Laguna Beach), 2,142; 20. Nea Post (Huntington Beach), 1,942.