BEIJING, CHINA - Olympic officials continue to be puzzled by regularly sold-out crowds at women's beach volleyball events. While other traditionally popular sports - such as ping pong and badminton - have drawn embarrassingly sparse crowds, the women's events have been standing room only, sparking a brisk scalping business outside the arena. Chinese officials speculate that perhaps the novelty of playing an Olympic event entirely on sand is somehow appealing to the fans.
"Many Chinese people have never even seen the ocean, much less a beach." Said Lao Zinzua, Director of Event Planning for the Chinese Olympic Committee. "We may start playing badminton on the sand as well."
Sports sociologists struggle to fully explain the popularity of the women's events. "There are subtle aspects to these events that make them particularly appealing." said Gerald Hopper, Professor of Sports Sociology at Howyflyl University and newfound women's beach volleyball enthusiast. "I plan on performing an in-depth study of the sport to see if I can find out what they are."
The phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by British Olympic officials, who plan on building a 100,000 seat beach volleyball arena, equipped with twelve thirty-foot state of the art jumbotron monitors. "Every seat in the stadium will have a magnificent view." said Horace Wellman, Project Manger for Olympic Construction. "The real problem is having the athletes adapt to playing on beach gravel."
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