Feuer: Tying the old beach volleyball (Bruno) to the new. Who steps up?

Before we get to an analysis of the two Volleyball World tournaments that were held in Doha, which for some reason (starts with M and ends in Y) is the center of the beach volleyball universe for the sport these days, how about a side excursion, an ode to the recently retired Brazilian Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil which also encapsulates one of the most bizarre tournaments in the history of this crazily delightful sport. 

Bruno was a central figure in one of the most memorable matches I have ever seen (bear with me, please, as I tie in the past with the present) which occurred at the end of August 2010. He was 23 years old and playing with the mercurial Benjamin (you never knew which Benjamin would show up from day to day) in the Hague, Netherlands in the final of the tournament in that Dutch coastal city. 

The opponents across the net were an unlikely team, the American duo of Kevin Wong and Casey Jennings, who were seeded only 21st. Not much was expected of them, to be sure. And, early in the tourney, true to form, in the final round of the qualifier, they lost to a journeyman Brazilian team, Rhooney Ferramenta and Neilton Santos, and  seemingly on their long circuitous way back to the States. 

But a funny thing happened on the way to the airport. 

One of the teams scheduled to compete withdrew, allowing for a “lucky loser” to advance to the main draw. Jennings and Wong had a 1-in-8 chance of getting “lucky.” One of those eight teams were drawn first, but they were not present. So Wong and Jennings were still alive. 

For the second pick, it just so happened that one of Jennings’ best friends, Brazilian Pedro Solberg, volunteered to pick. Lo and behold, it came up Jennings and Wong. And as Wong said, “It was a destiny-filled weekend that I will never forget. We played so freely because we were playing with the house’s money back from the dead.”

Given that new lease on life, Jennings and Wong then reeled off five straight wins in the main draw, advancing all the way to the final. Awaiting them for the second time in the tournament were Bruno and Benjamin. 

Now, lets be clear, the end of August is still Northern Hemisphere summer, except in The Hague. It was a hurricane out there for the gold-medal match. 20-mile-per-hour winds with gusts up to 50. And sideways rain. Ice fishing weather maybe, but certainly not for beach volleyball. 

And yet, the 23-year-old Bruno set just…