Anybody who's been around these Page 2 parts for a little while knows that, while my regal counterparts prefer to pour over the nuts and bolts of traditional sports like baseball and basketball, I tend to be fascinated by more unorthodox disciplines like snowboarding, competitive eating, Ultimate Fighting and the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour.

Hey, it takes all kinds.

Last year I attended a dozen or so AVP tournaments and wrote a couple stories describing a handful of my (speakable) exploits in the sand. Since then I have heard from a number of readers who are also fond of the sport's unrivaled fan experience and seemed primed for a little more content. So, with the 2007 AVP season kicking off this weekend with a three-day stop in Miami, I thought a season preview would come in handy.

If you've been away from the beach since last summer, here's your chance to brush up on the offseason haps. If you're new, but curious about the hot bods about to come to a city near you, you're in luck. I hereby present you with the 2007 beach volleyball bottom line.

THE SCHEDULE
• This season there are 18 AVP tour stops, spanning 13 states, coast-to-coast. Tour stops include California (5), Florida (2), Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

• The SoCal staple events are Huntington Beach, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach and Manhattan Beach.

• Nine of the 18 stops are new cities for the AVP. Hot new hosts include Boston, Charleston, Miami and San Francisco.

THE AVP (VERY) BASICS
• The best teams of the regular season (one men's, one women's) are awarded the Crocs Cup. That's Crocs, like the Colorado-founded cloggy shoes made of resin. The company is the AVP Tour's title sponsor.

• The Crocs Cup will be presented in Cincinnati, which is the last regular-season stop of '07. Once the regular season wraps up, there are two postseason stand-alone events in Las Vegas and San Francisco. The top 12 individual players will be invited to Vegas Sept. 6-8 to compete in a God and Goddess of the Beach tournament. The top eight men's and women's teams will be invited to San Francisco to play in a Best of the Beach event Sept. 14-16.

• All 18 events will be televised on NBC or Fox Sports Net.

• The stakes have been raised this season, with a record $4 million in prize money up for grabs. The cash is split equally between the guys and gals.

WHO TO WATCH
• Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are your AVP bread and butter. They are the 2004 Olympic gold medalists, and on the weekends they're the surest bet this side of death and taxes. Last year the pair won the first four events of the season, six of the first seven and 13 of 15 overall, earning the Crocs Cup. May-Treanor and Walsh have taken home AVP Team of the Year honors the past four years.

These two are so good, it's almost not fair. In 2006 May-Treanor was named the best offensive player on the tour for the third straight year. She also took home top defensive honors. And she is just three W's short of the record for most victories by a woman on tour. If you're tired of following Barry Bonds' home run record chase, look for this class-act icon to pass the current record holder, Holly McPeak, at the fourth tournament of the year in Glendale, Ariz. (May 10-13).

• Karch Kiraly announced last month that he'll be retiring after this season. Kiraly built this sport with his bare hands … all the while wearing nothing but a pair of board shorts and that iconic hot pink, brim-flipped, Speedo hat. The 46-year-old has 148 overall titles -- more than any other player, ever. His farewell tour will include appearances in 11 of the 18 AVP events. He'll team with new playing partner Kevin Wong, hoping to pick up a few more W's before hanging up his hat to head the Karch Kiraly Volleyball Academy and the U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball (a grass-roots tournament sanctioned by USA Volleyball). Save the dates -- Aug. 9-12 will mark Kiraly's final appearance in the sport's landmark Manhattan Beach Open.

• The team of Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger won the Crocs Cup last year -- but "The Professor" Todd Rogers and partner Phil Dalhausser were right behind them in the point standings. Keep an eye on these four fellas, as both teams are back together for 2007 and figure to be at the top of the standings.

• Last season's Rookie of the Year, Brad Keenan, and his teammate John Mayer (no relation to the guitar-slinging dork with the bad hair and Jessica Simpson on his arm) seem like they're ready to rock and roll this season. There are also a lot of new pairs on the men's side. Fresh tandems to watch include: Casey Jennings and Mark Williams; Matt Fuerbringer and Sean Scott; Dax Holden and Jeff Nygaard; Eric Fonoimoana and Chad Turner; and Dain Blanton and Scotty Lane.

• I know you all love you some Logan Tom. Last year the four-time first-team All-American from Stanford made her AVP debut, teaming up with vet Holly McPeak for two tournaments. Logan is back in the sand, on board full-time this season … not that we have to tell you to keep your eyes on her.

• Rachel Wacholder and Elaine Youngs won three tournaments together in 2005, including the notable triumph that ended Kerri and Misty's 50-match win streak. In 2006 Wacholder and Youngs claimed two more team titles before parting ways in a midseason breakup -- Wacholder then partnered with Jen Boss, while E.Y. picked up '05 Rookie of the Year/'06 Most Improved Player Nicole Branagh. Branagh is back with E.Y. in '07, while Wacholder and Tyra Turner will make their AVP debut in Miami. Other new women's teams include: Jen Boss and Keao Burdine; Nancy Mason and April Ross; Dianne DeNecochea and Barbra Fontana; and Tatiana Minello and Carrie Dodd.

• Last but not least, there's one more team to keep an eye on this season -- the illustrious pair best known in and around the beach bleachers as simply "Team Hot." Suzanne Stonebarger and Michelle More -- college teammates from the University of Nevada-Reno -- are quite the crowd pleasers. Just wanted to make sure you weren't in the dark.

FINALLY, FROM THE RUMOR MILL …
• Rony Seikaly, the Miami Heat's first-ever draft pick, will be playing in the AVP qualifier on Friday in Miami. At 6 feet, 11 inches the former Syracuse center will be the tallest guy on the beach. He's supposedly an avid beach volleyball player. We'll see what kind of player he is.

• The completely unconfirmed and equally as unauthorized word on the street is that the Eva Longoria will be making an appearance at the Hermosa Beach Open for an AVP Celebrity Pro-Am event. I'd pay to see that -- even though I wouldn't have to, because the California Coastal Commission doesn't allow the tour to charge admission to professional sporting events on public beaches.

But that's a lesson for more advanced AVP studies. This concludes AVP 101. Class dismissed. See you in the sand.

Mary Buckheit is a Page 2 columnist. She can be reached at marybuckheit@hotmail.com.