Click here to see a slide show of the volleyball tournament.
Walking by Nikki Beach on Saturday, most would have assumed that nothing was going on. There was no one at the door, no waiters to greet you, and only a couple of girls in bikinis basking in the sun. But soon after that big ball of gas in the sky started beating down on the beach goers with the full force of global warming, models in bright green and pink bathing suits took to the sandy area behind the restaurant/club to play at the Third Annual Model Volleyball Tournament.
I must admit I didn't expect them to actually play volleyball (I thought they would just model with the ball or something). But they played a good game, putting forth more effort than I have ever seen models put forth - they must have had a good breakfast.
However, their efforts were for naught as there were not many people sticking around to watch. Sure, there were some stragglers that decided to check out the guys and girls playing the most traditional of beach sports but they soon sauntered off towards the pristine blue waters.
The matches went by quickly, I turned around for a couple of seconds and three matches went by. The ones I did catch were exciting although I got the feeling that they were a bit one-sided. Sort of like pros going up against amateurs. One side would be spiking the balls back down into the other team’s faces while the other would let the ball slip between their fingers. Perhaps it was luck but there were few teams that had a match last longer than 15 minutes.
Party music, interspersed with a bit of Jane’s Addiction for some reason, played throughout the event. Perhaps it was the heat or maybe it was the call of the beach a couple of feet away, but everyone that came to the restaurant stayed near the bar. I think people were afraid that if they stepped into the sun they would instantaneously burst into flames.
Apparently, Miami is apathetic on Saturday mornings, either that or scantily-clad, well-shaped women and men playing on the beach is such a standard occurrence that people really didn’t give a damn. But I applaud you models for heading out in that blistering heat to have some fun (not to mention, to have the possibility to win some super-expensive trip to an island resort that you could probably afford anyway) and for putting your best on just for us common beach goers. -- Elvis Ramirez
