.jpg)
Four U.S. beach volleyball teams will be leaving for Beijing in a few days. The teams of May-Treanor/Walsh, Rogers/Dalhausser, Rosenthal/Gibb, and Youngs/Branagh all have high seeds and are expected to do well in the first round of extended pool play, before the single eliminations start. Despite their #1 Olympic qualifiaction ranking and 2007 World Championship status, the first two pairs have been assigned a #2 seed for the Olympics. Why do you ask? Well, there's a unique rule in Olympics beach volleyball that allows the home country a #1 seed - as long as its team ranked in the top six. And in the case of the top two men's and women's Chinese teams, each has earned the #1 seed. Incredible? - Yes! Unfair - Yes?
PS - To my knowledge, no other Olympic sport affords this advantage.
