Will she or won't she? Is Misty May-Treanor done?

No one in their right mind could have predicted Misty May-Treanor's final two finishes of the 2010 FIVB season: 25th place in Poland and 13th place in the Netherlands. Prior to Stare Jablonki, May-Treanor's worst finish in a professional event was a 9th, and since 2002, she had finished no lower than fifth, once. (Her 17th place in Austria, 2004, came as the result of an ab injury where she was forced to withdraw.)

But despite her recent struggles, May-Treanor's legacy in the sport is set: two Olympic gold medals, three FIVB world titles, 107 professional titles and winning streaks of 89 and 112 matches -- both with former partner Kerri Walsh -- that will never be broken throughout history.

So, does it really matter if she retires or not? Hasn't she accomplished enough? Does she really have anything left to prove? Well, I guess that all depends on who you ask. But her answers are the only ones currently worth repeating.

"Nope, not retiring. Let's just say volleyball won't be my priority and the Olympics are not on my radar," she says. "Do I plan on playing next year? No. Just because I hope to be starting a family, but we all know that takes time."

Her father, Butch, a living legend in every beach city littering Orange County's shores, also had a few words worth heeding. And, of course, he spun it to me straight: "Look, see... she wants to start a family. Could she come back? Sure. But she doesn't want to travel anymore and with the state of the AVP, that doesn't leave a lot of options."

He's right. That doesn't leave much at all. But let's just say for argument's sake that Misty does get pregnant by the end of the year, then misses the entire 2011 season, and come January 2012, the same year John Cusack saves his disconnected family from the end of the earth in a limo and small prop plane, she decides, 'Hey, I think I want to make another run at it.' What happens then?

As we know, the Olympic qualification process has been changed to grant each national governing body up to two Olympic berths based on the performance of their athletes on the FIVB Tour, in the FIVB World Cup or in the Continental Cup -- instead of awarding the actual athletes that compete by those means and do the necessary work to earn each of those berths for their respective country. Bottom line: Misty wouldn't need to necessarily "qualify" for London in order to compete in London.

There has been much talk of a one-off Olympic qualifying tournament to be held in Southern California just months prior to the Summer Games, and as long as she qualifies to play in that, she can partner with whomever she chooses, win, and then go for a three-peat. Would that reunite the Golden Girls? Even if Walsh plays all of next season with May-Treanor's current partner, Nicole Branagh (they're already scheduled to partner in China later this year)? Possibly.

In fact, anything's possible considering USA Volleyball will control each spot once a team locks it in. You're crazy if you think a conversation like that isn't taking place in June 2012 if there's even a remote shot of reuniting the most-prolific women's team in Olympic history for a third go-around.

But like Misty said, the Olympics are not on her radar. Instead a new addition to her family with husband Matt Treanor is. Plus, she's working on her Master's; she just started her third semester. "Really my focus is spending time with family, or in my case, making time up, school and my (coaching) clinics," she said.

If and when she decides to come back, the door will be open. I mean, who likes an "official" premature retirement announcement anyway? Certainly not Green Bay or Misty May-Treanor.

Hans Stolfus was an eight-year pro on the AVP Tour.