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LATEST NEWS atmosphere makes AVP Tour a THE PATRIOT LEDGER THE ENTERPRISE unique experience TOWNONLINE.COM By ERIC McHUGH Wicked Local Towns The Patriot Ledger Includes content from the Old Colony Memorial, MPG Be advised that when Newspapers and more. you go to one of Leonard Armato’s AP WORLD & beach volleyball NATIONAL NEWS tournaments, he LOCAL WEATHER wants to ‘‘activate’’ Click here to check out LOCAL TV LISTINGS you. Wicked Local CLASSIFIEDS photos, forums, blogs, news Announcements That’s why he’s got and more... Automotive Geeter, the human Employment ‘‘on’’ switch. Flea Markets Merchandise Real Estate Microphone and Rentals quips always at the Recreation ready, Chris Services ‘‘Geeter’’ McGee is Chris 'Geeter' McGee is the Yard Sales dynamic voice of AVP Crocs Tour the high-energy RUN YOUR AD events. master of SPECIAL REPORTS Business ceremonies for each Non-Business and every stop on Armato’s AVP Crocs Tour. Fans can Crime in Our Schools MARKETPLACE catch his act - actually, it’s impossible to miss it - at this Search week’s Bob’s Stores Boston Open at Marina Bay in Quincy. WORLD NEWS

MORTGAGE CENTER ‘‘He whips the crowd up into a frenzy and gets everybody Apartheid official ONLINE DIRECTORIES going,’’ said Armato, the CEO and commissioner of the pleads guilty in plot Nigerian forces attack Summer Guide Association of Volleyball Professionals. ‘‘He is the focal oil-region gang Pamper Yourself point of our center-court entertainment. Kids Directories IRAQ Pet Directories ‘‘It’s that very style of sports-slash-entertainment that made In Time of Need Mideast politics this the most popular sport at the Olympics. Fans are used Hamas profile DEATH NOTICES to going to these major sporting events and sort of sitting Iraq Shrine Patriot Ledger there and standing upon a lot of etiquette. In beach Myanmar's Endless Enterprise volleyball we’re a little more irreverent. Not disrespectfully, War Old Colony Memorial but we’re irreverent in the sense that you want the fans to HOME DELIVERY make noise, you want them to get involved, you want them NATIONAL NEWS Patriot Ledger to feel like they’re part of the action. Geeter does an Enterprise incredible job of that.’’ 3 rescue workers Local Town Newspapers killed at Utah mine

‘‘He’s the best in the world,’’ agreed women’s star Kerri

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LOCAL GUIDES Walsh, who teams with Misty May-Treanor to form the top Tech guru guilty of Dining/Entertainment duo on the tour. ‘‘He just brings something so special to false shooting claim Golf Guide what we do. He’s hilarious. He has so much knowledge Ex-con pleads guilty in Business Profiles about the sport. He’s brilliant. You have to come and N.H. killings Home & Garden experience Geeter. He gets the crowd going like nothing Navy searching for 3 Business Directory I’ve ever seen in my life.’’ missing after crash PLYMOUTH GUIDE Trial opens in nursing home deaths SPECIAL SECTIONS McGee, a 35-year-old father-to-be, was a volleyballer Living Well/Health News himself in a previous life, starring for the Cal State- SPORTS Wedding/Bridal Northridge team that lost the 1993 NCAA final to UCLA. His Education & Training setting days are over, unless setting the scene counts, NASCAR 2006 Coupons which it does in the ultra-hip beach version of the sport. ONLINE PERSONALS NASCAR Drivers SPRING TRAINING SOUTHOFBOSTON.COM McGee, who last ventured into Boston for a Red Sox- HOCKEY Archive Angels series in 2003 - he sat in the stands and resisted the PRO BASKETBALL Contact Us temptation to commandeer the public-address system - said Work for Us his main goal for every tour stop is to ‘‘get the vibe right.’’ 2 Vick co-defendants Newspapers in Education enter guilty pleas Home Page Tocchet gets FEATURED ADS probation in gambling case ATP gets help for betting investigation

ENTERTAINMENT WEYMOUTH, MA Wicked Local Classifieds The Oscars Read more... Amy Winehouse pulls plug on concerts Fans greet Hilton at fashion line launch Britney strikes pose for Allure magazine

MORE WORLD & US MA NEWS: Wicked Local Classifieds The vibe is an important part of the AVP experience. POLITICS Read more... Technically, the volleyball itself is the main attraction, BUSINESS although Armato concedes that the whole ‘‘girls-in-bikinis’’ HEALTH angle is a huge selling point. But he says that those who TECHNOLOGY turn out expecting a beauty pageant on the women’s side - there’s a men’s draw, too - are quickly struck by the sheer OFFBEAT STORIES WEYMOUTH, MA athleticism of the beach game. Wicked Local Classifieds Dentist buys Elvis Still, a ticket entitles you to several hours on site, and fans Presley's crown Read more... are not encouraged to remained nailed to their seats for the Woman has rare entire time. Just the opposite, in fact - they’re encouraged to identical quadruplets Seat belt 'Heimlich' immerse themselves in what Armato calls the ‘‘highest level saves choking man of beach lifestyle you’re ever going to experience.’’

‘‘And by that,’’ he said, ‘‘I mean beautiful people in beach attire, surrounded by an interactive environment which spans everything from music to the opportunity to test your AP INTERACTIVE skills against the beach volleyball pros on the Crocs Court. There are a lot of interactive opportunities for fans to get Ice Climbing activated out there. There’s the Xbox Party Zone, the An interview with jazz search for the ‘‘Ultimate Beach Girl and Guy’’ that (Jose) great Chick Corea The Patriot Ledger Cuervo (the tequila giant) is hosting. The Hurricanes: Six 400 Crown Colony Drive months later P.O. Box 699159 ‘‘This is the best day at the beach you could ever have. And Pet pampering Quincy, MA 02269-9159 you combine that with world-class athletic competition and Mining Safety (617) 786-7000 we think we have an unbeatable competition.’’ Death Penalty State- CONTACT US by-State Before buying the AVP Tour in 2001, Armato was a high- Federal Reserve Quiz powered sports agent whose client list included NBA stars Perspectives: 'Baby

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Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Boomers' Olajuwon. He said the NBA in the 1980s and 1990s ‘‘set the 9/11 Assessment standard for converging sports and entertainment, and CIA Leak marketing as well.’’ Investigation Tracking Avian Flu Beach volleyball is thinking along the same lines, which is Fighting the Flu why a tour stop nowadays is part athletic competition, part The Supreme Court music festival and part outdoor mall. Oil Crunch Freedom of ‘‘There are so many families and single people. There’s Information Act something for everybody,’’ Walsh said. ‘‘We have such Iraq War Casualties good sponsors who take such good care (of the fans) and Database bring some interactive things to the site. If your favorite team’s not playing or you need a break from the volleyball, you’re going to find something to do. There’s great food, great music. The music is one of the highlights of the AVP. And there’s unbelievable volleyball going on.

‘‘It is kind of like a concert atmosphere. People are happy and healthy and walking around in bathing suits and just really enjoying the atmosphere. Little kids, 2-, 3-year-olds, love it and so do grandparents.’’

One of the other selling points for the tour is the accessibility of its players, who mingle with fans throughout the day. No chance that Curt Schilling will plop down next to you in the bleachers at Fenway Park if he’s not pitching that day. But at a beach volleyball event, you easily could find yourself striking up a conversation with Walsh and May- Treanor, or men’s stars such as Jake Gibb, Mike Lambert and Todd Rogers.

‘‘It’s insane at times,’’ Walsh said with a laugh. ‘‘We have fans coming up to us when we’re in our timeout box asking for autographs. We’re like, ‘No, honey, we’re working here. We’ll get you after the game.’ But we are really accessible. I think the players love that part of it. And the fans certainly appreciate it.

‘‘When I’m watching my competitors, I’m sitting right there in the stands with the crowd. It’s a pretty special atmosphere, a place to meet your favorite beach volleyball players. You’re certainly going to run into everybody out there.’’

Including Geeter.

Click here for our complete coverage of the AVP Tour.

Eric McHugh may be reached at [email protected] .

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http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2007/08/16/sports/sports01.txt 8/17/2007