Vinsanity Sweeps Through Brooklyn
August 25, 2007nono
NEW YORK — Vinsanity took over the AVP on Saturday. New Jersey Nets basketball superstar Vince Carter was in the house on Coney Island to take in the Brooklyn Open's men's final between No. 1 Phil Dalhausser-Todd Rogers and No. 11 Scott Wong-Aaron Wachtfogel.
Carter, an eight-time NBA All-Star, played volleyball in high school in Daytona Beach, Fla., and the Nets are planning to move to the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn sometime by 2009. Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, which has ties to the Nets, was a promoter for the AVP event. It was a natural fit.
"I've actually never been to one of these," said Carter, who won a gold medal with the U.S. men's basketball team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. "But I've seen them on TV."
Carter hung out on the stage with AVP emcee Chris "Geeter" McGee before taking a front-row seat next to Nets owner Bruce Ratner for one of the most exciting men's finals of 2007. During a stoppage in the action, the hoops star signed official AVP volleyballs and hurled them — and hit some of them volleyball style, too — into the stands.
His volleyball experience has made Carter appreciate the talents and athleticism of players on the AVP Tour.
"[Volleyball] helped my second jump and my ability to move from side to side," said Carter, who went to the University of North Carolina. "You don't understand how hard it is to play on the beach until you do it. ... You have to condition your forearms [for digs]. I have a great appreciation for it."
Carter played varsity hoops as a freshman, but he only began playing volleyball at Mainland HS — which is also Phil Dalhausser's alma mater — as a favor to coach Lenny Carr, who was a friend of his. It made his already busy schedule even more difficult to manage as a youth — he went from playing in the band to volleyball season to basketball season.
"I caught a lot of flack for it," Carter said about his decision to play volleyball.
But it's hardly something he regrets. He did have a few embarrassing moments, though. At the start of his volleyball career, Carter — known for his ferocious slam dunks — would jump too high to kill sets and the ball would hit him in the head.
He shook that off, became one of the best high school players in Florida and enjoyed it. In fact, if things didn't work out in basketball, he wouldn't have ruled out trying to make volleyball a career on the AVP Tour.
"It's definitely possible," he said. "If the passion is there, then yeah. But right now my passion is with basketball."
In commemoration: The AVP paid its own tribute to the men who lost their lives in the Deutsche Bank fire earlier this week.
Angie Akers and Brooke Hanson put on FDNY Engine 24, Ladder 5 t-shirts during the final match of the day to support the unit and remember Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia of the company. Akers' father, Kevin Harris, was a firefighter in Fort Wayne, Ind., and when she heard the FDNY wanted to honor their fallen brothers this weekend, she jumped at the chance.
"I was like, 'Please pick me,'" said Akers, who also wore a red ribbon on the left side of her bikini top. "Anything to give [firefighters] their props."
http://www.vincecarter15.com
Винс, окаывается,еще и в воллейбол играл за школу...талантливый спортсмен
"[Volleyball] helped my second jump and my ability to move from side to side," - один из секретов такого прыжка у Винса - воллейбол 
НА ПЕСКЕ !
