Wednesday, July 11, 2018 (Court Day #167)
I was planning to play this morning—finally, on a weekday!—but one of my key staff texted two hours before opening and said he needed to take his dad to an eye appointment in the late morning and couldn’t come in. A bummer. So I went to work.
At about 10:15, that staff member walked in. He was able to get another family member to drive his dad. That was nice. I finished up a few things then left about half an hour later for home then the courts. (I did hesitate for an instant—my left knee was a bit sore. I guess the seven hours of play on Sunday overdid it a bit.)
Derby
I arrived at Derby about 11:10. It’s been about two months since I’ve been to Derby on a Wednesday. I got a few greetings from people who hadn’t seen me in a while.
Eric lunging for a ball as his partner John P. looks on. Dave and Tom S. prep for a possible return. I believe Eric lost that point.
Wow! Blast from the past!
What was super fun was seeing Bob Hansen, the former UCSC tennis coach, who taught a tennis class that I took in the late 1980s. (He’s been head coaching the last 8 years at Middlebury College in Vermont.) When I saw Bob, I said, “Bob Hansen?!?” He smiled and said he was. I stuck out my hand, “Andrew Lenz. You taught the tennis class I took at UCSC 30 years ago!” He asked if I was related to some Lenz, but I told him I was part of the Lenz Arts Lenz Family. He beamèd and said his wife is an artist and they are in frequently to buy materials. Bob just started telling me about his wife’s art studio when—in a wild coincidence—up walked Phil Kaplan. Phil was the other tennis instructor at UCSC when I was there. When Bob saw Phil, he let out a howl and the two men embraced. I said, “I won both raffles and was taking classes from both of you at the same time, playing four days a week!” Phil laughed, “I’m sure I undid everything he [Bob] taught!” Bob asked Phil if he was there playing but Phil said his back wouldn’t let him and he was just there for his wife. Bob shared that his team won a national championship this year. (UCSC won a number of them in the 30 years that Bob was head coaching there.) I left them to catch up. Those two men are responsible for the foundational skills I use in pickleball. I owe them a debt. Oh, and Bob told Phil that pickleball is fun. High praise considering the source.
The meeting was one of those things that is so weirdly coincidental, it’s the thing of dreams. But it was real. I’m so glad I was there for that.
Bob Hansen (black top, white shorts), tennis Jedi Master, enjoying some games on the dark side—pickleball!
Eric and played a few games together. We won each game, but my play was not sharp. We were hoping to get a game with a couple new faces, more firefighters, Mike and Justin, locals who work over the hill in the San Jose area. Eric said they were good players. It didn’t work out. Heading out the gate, Justin called over, “Next time!”
Bryan was down from San Jose. Bryan is an amazing player and it’s a privilege to be able to play with him. He’s got a good memory too, he remembered my name. If my play is memorable to him too—since he remembered my name—it’d be for an entirely different reason!
Bryan and a new local player Binh played a game against Mark (Maree’s husband) and me. It was fun. Binh will be good. He’s already decent, probably like me when I started.
Afterward, I told Bryan, “You were very kind. There were a number of shots where you could have clobbered us.” “But then it wouldn’t have been fun!” He’s a good guy.
I left the courts shortly after 1 p.m. to shower then head back to work.
Number of days on a court: 167
Number of total hours: 462
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