Loomis raps on his trip to N.J.

What's up, everyone? I hope all is well.

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am officially back on the Blog-a-thon! I know that most of you have been going through extreme withdrawals since I haven't been blogging lately, but I need all of you to take a few deep breaths, pretend that you're doing Namaste Yoga stretching, because everything is going to be alright!

Wow, it has been a long time since I last took my turn as the Blogging Master (Wax on Wax Off), so I have so many things to write about.

• AVP Belmar Open

• AVP Boulder Open

• AVP Chicago Open

• AVP Brooklyn Open

• My upcoming trip to visit the U.S. troops in Germany and Kosovo!

• and much much more...

So where do we start? Well, let's go back to the wonderful AVP Belmar Open!

AVP Crocs Tour Belmar presented by Bud Light

N.J., baby, N.J.!

Of course, when you think of New Jersey, you automatically think of all the highlights from this wonderful state.

• It has the highest consumption of quality jean shorts per capita in the United States.

• Joey and Tony is the most popular name here for guys by a landslide.

• There are more Italian pizza places here than in the whole country of Italy itself.

• The hottest girl that I saw on this trip last year was working a toll both on the freeway. We rated her a 10, but that was after we hadn't seen any hot girls for the entire trip. So we decide to give New Jersey girls a two-point curve, so actually must have been an eight! I think she was feeling the VIBE from me. Plus, I don't know what kind of uniform she was wearing, but it was hot! Is it bad that I tipped a toll booth girl in New Jersey? Ahh, whatever.

Let's be honest, as a single bachelor playing on the AVP Tour, traveling the U.S. from weekend to weekend, some people like to remember their amazing travel experiences by songs that they hear while enjoying those experiences, but I like to remember the cities by how hot the girls were. I'm just saying what all normal single bachelors and single bachelorettes think when they remember the place they travel to, and I am not scared to say it! Booyah, there it is! The sweetheart working the toll booth was an eight! Done and done.

Moving on ...

Those are just some of the standard things that people might say about New Jersey, but here are a few cool facts about their state. Check these out:

• It has the highest average household income in the country.

• As of 2008, it had more millionaire residents than any other state in the nation.

• It has over 50 resort cities and towns, including some of the nation's most famous -- Asbury park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside heights and Cape May.

• The light bulb, phonograph (record player) and motion picture projector were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park laboratory.

• Atlantic City is where the street names came from for the game Monopoly.

• Most importantly, it is home to the Miss America Pageant, held in Atlantic City.

In all seriousness, the AVP had stopped in Belmar, N.J., for 15 straight years, until it took a two-year hiatus to play in Seaside Heights. I almost forgot how amazing and beautiful Belmar actually was! When Larry Witt and I were cruising down the side streets of Belmar, headed towards the beach, it quickly reminded me that Belmar, N.J., is one of the best natural beach stops of the year!

Belmar has some of the most ridiculous homes on the beach ever! Every single house on the beach was massive, had huge, shiny, green grass yards, and definitely made me envious. In California, we have amazing houses on the beach, don't get me wrong, but none of them have huge grass yards like all of these houses in Belmar.

Belmar has a beautiful beach -- nice, deep sand -- and is surrounded by a very nice beach community. It has super nice and respectful people living there with a bunch of wonderful restaurants. Plus, it is always nice when the AVP rolls into town, and the locals are looking forward to this annual event! Almost everywhere we went in Belmar, we were approached by fans. They all told us how happy they were that the AVP tournament was back in Belmar, and they all told us memories and stories from particular AVP events that they attended.

One fan in particular approached Larry Witt and I at a bar and absolutely loved the AVP! He was so stoked to tell us about how he watched Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes play against Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, about how Tim Hovland used to battle in matches and then would always yell at the refs. (haha...classic!)

Hearing all of these local fan's stories reminded me about how much history the AVP Belmar Open has within this community! So, from all of the players, thanks to the awesome fans in Belmar for making this a pleasant stop this year and for always making it a pleasant stop!

I can't talk about this year's AVP Belmar Open without congratulating the No. 1 seeds on the men's side -- Matt Olson and Kevin Wong. This is the first time that Matt Olson has ever been a top seed, and Kevin Wong has not been a No. 1 seed in an AVP Open for quite some time now. Matt and Kevin heard a lot of trash talk from all the players in the player's tent that weekend, but they lived up to the hype and won the tournament. In the finals, they defeated Nick Lucena and Sean Scott on a windy day in straight sets. That was Matt Olson's first Open win and Kevin's seventh Open win!

Let me put this in perspective for you. If you win an AVP event, that usually means that you have already solidified a successful career on the AVP. Most players on the AVP Tour never win an event. The AVP has the best domestic tour in the world, with the best players in the world, hands down! So, to win just one AVP Open is an incredible accomplishment for any beach volleyball player, especially when Phil Dalhauser and Todd Rogers or Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor are playing, as they are the Tiger Woods of our tour.

Wow, I did it! I finished my first blog in God knows how long! Hope you got in a few laughs, a few smiles, as well as learning a little about the AVP Belmar Open!

Check back soon, as I promise to entertain you!

Make sure to check out everything on AVP. If you want to view more blogs, pics, videos and more information on my sponsors, visit my MySpace page at myspace.com/tyloomis. Feel free to send me a message or to send me a friend request.

Thanks for reading and spike hard!

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