It seems like just yesterday that ESPN was airing only archery, pool, and various lumberjack events. They've also been grabbing up every tv deal available these days, so heck....why not bring some Beach Volleyball into the fray!?

ESPN has signed a two-year deal with the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), and will begin airing events this April. Via ESPN PR....

Today the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour announced a broadcast agreement with ABC and ESPN to televise its events over the next two years. The agreement includes 13 AVP telecasts in 2010, four on ABC and nine on ESPN2. The schedule totals more than 19 hours of live HD coverage for the season, including the Tour Championship in Chicago, giving the AVP its most consistent television footprint ever. Coverage will begin with the Tour’s season-opener in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., April 18 at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

“This new agreement gives us a consistent national reach that will be essential to our growth as a sport, and we couldn’t be more excited that both our passionate fans and a growing new audience will be able to follow us on ESPN,” said Jason Hodell, Chief Executive Officer of the AVP. “The 2010 season will showcase the veterans and new stars of the AVP to a very large audience, and there couldn’t be a better place for that exposure than ABC and ESPN.”

“As one of the most athletic and action packed sports in the world, we look forward to working with the AVP,” added Doug White, ESPN senior director of programming. “The matches will be a great addition to ESPN’s programming and we are excited to present coverage of the league, their athletes and their tournaments across our multimedia platforms.”

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of the AVP will include six hours of action on ABC and 13.5 hours of men’s and women’s weekend action, live streaming of the matches on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s 24/7 broadband sports network soon to be renamed ESPN3.com, and up-to-the-minute scores via the ESPN ScoreCenter mobile app for iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

There's no doubting Beach Volleyball's popularity during the Olympics, but I'm not sure if that will translate over to cable television. Here's the schedule if you'd like to check it out though....

2010 ESPN and ABC AVP Television Schedule

Sun, April 18th - Women/Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (ESPN2,ESPN360, 5:30pm)
Sun, May 2nd - Men/Santa Barbara, Calif. (ESPN2/ESPN360, 5:30pm)
Sun, June 6th - 2 p.m. Women/Huntington Beach, Calif. (ESPN2, ESPN360, 2pm)
Sun, June 6th - Men/Huntington Beach, Calif. (ABC, 4pm)
Sun, June 20th - Women/Virginia Beach, Va. (ESPN2, ESPN360, 2pm)
Sun, June 27th - Women/Belmar, N.J. (ESPN2, ESPN360, 2pm)
Sun, July 18th - Men/Hermosa Beach, Calif. (ESPN2, Midnight)
Sun, July 25th - Women/Malibu, Calif. (ABC, 4pm)
Sun, July 25th - Men/Malibu, Calif. (ESPN2, ESPN360, 11pm)
Sun, Aug. 22nd - Women/Manhattan Beach, Calif. (ABC, 4:30pm)
Sun, Aug. 29th - Men/Chicago, Ill. (ABC, 1:30pm)
Sun, Aug. 29th - Women/Chicago, Ill. (ESPN2, Midnight)
Sun, Sep. 19th - Flex/Hermosa Beach, Calif. (ESPN2, Midnight)

It's a lazy Thursday afternoon so what better way to cure the doldrums than a video of Volleyball chicks and dudes getting blasted in the face?

The music is so beautiful and so tragic at the same time. Perfect for people getting nailed in the grill.

Volleyball Is Dangerous (With Leather)

(OMDQ likes women's volleyball and isn't afraid to admit it)

I have no idea exactly what AVP in AVP Tour stands for (the "V" has to be volleyball) and I don't care enough to look it up. The only reason it's even worth mentioning right now is because earlier today, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won the Tour's Hermosa Beach Open. The victory was number 73 for May-Treanor, breaking Holly McPeak's women's record for career wins. Walsh isn't far behind, with 70 titles to her credit. (They've both got a way to go for Karch Kiraly's overall record of 148)

McPeak and May-Treanor were partners at one time, finishing fifth in the 2000 Olympics, but Holly either doesn't realize that Misty got married or just likes calling her "Misty May":

"I'm proud of Misty May. I knew she was going to be great when she first started playing, and I knew she was going to break my record. I was just hoping that I would have an opportunity to be on the court to defend it against her. She is a great volleyball player. She is an inspiration to everyone."

May-Treanor is married to Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, a backup catcher with a .216 career batting average whose claim to fame is being married to Misty May-Treanor. Given the varying degrees of success in their chosen careers, it seems kind of unfair that she had to take his last name instead of vice versa. (I kid, Matt, I kid - I'm in the same boat. If this were the case, my last name would be Hathaway right now.)

(Note: Alright, I caved and looked it up - AVP stands for "Association of Volleyball Professionals". The official song, according to Wikipedia, is "We Are The AVP". Here are the lyrics:

We are the AVP.
It's a sexy sport,
On a little little court,

The AVP.

We've got Chicago
And Manhattan,
Comin' live and direct
On NBC.

It's an Olympic Sport,
We've got the matching shorts,
We are the AVP.

Click on that link above for a brief video. I smell a Grammy.)

Photos: SI.com and Tilo Schuster