Sunday, May 30, 2021 (Court Day #379)

I dropped off my daughter at work and arrived at Brommer Park at 9:10. It was sunny and would get a bit warm. I brought donuts that were left over from work yesterday to share. I had to work hard to get folks to eat them! Too healthy, these people!

There was an older man named Gerard who said he was visiting from Sacramento. More specifically, I found later he’s actually from Carmichael, CA, east of Sacramento. I played a few games with and against him with Juls and Greg (tall, gray ponytail). Gerard has no soft game. He clobbered everything. He got by due to the skill level of this opponents but had I been playing right handed instead of unnatural left, I would have taken advantage of that.

Olga (far left) and partner against Patty and Dean as Oleg looks on (rightmost).

There was a tall man named Clayton who partnered with Greg (tall, gray ponytail) against Maree (who I haven’t seen in a year) and me. Clayton is a easy-going guy. Good player.

College Kids

There were 5-6 college age guys playing game after game on a court. (It’s always great to see some youth out playing!) After they finished up a game, Allan K. asked them if we could play their best two players. That turned out to be Cole and Steven—though Steven said it was open to debate. Cole is a decent player. He used slice drives, spin shots, and could get the ball back over the net. Allan and I were soon down 5-2. Allan told me, “We need to play better before we get embarrassed.” That would be bad! I dialed it up—instead of being a bit lazy and relaxed. We went on to win 11-5. Afterward, Cole shared with his cohorts, “That was real.” I never did tell them that I’m not really a lefty. Oh, on ball that was coming to my side of the court, short near the sideline, I shouted, “I got it!” But Allan didn’t stop and I ended up careening into him and slamming him to the ground. I felt bad, but no blood and he was ok.

Chris and played a game against his girlfriend Barbara and Maree. I’d never seen Chris play this gentle, but it was his girlfriend after all. The outcome was never in doubt. Even lefty, I was playing better than Maree and Chris is night and day compared to Barbara.

One of the college guys, Wyatt, played with Maree against Chris and me. Chris made some uncharacteristic errors (“I’m playing like a rookie’) and, heck, I’m playing lefty but the final score as still a lopsided win. 11-6 or 11-5.

Game with Mike

Rick A. and tall Mike were drilling/warming up. Jackie arrived. When I asked, she said she was waiting for her foursome at 1:30. It was 1:15. I told her we had time for one game before her friends came. Mike and Rick were agreeable. Mike and I took on Rick and Jackie. I was playing quite well—a good thing for the last game of the day. Jackie didn’t have any warm up. Mike and I won 11-2. I felt better today than after having feeding up slams to our opponents the last time I partnered with Mike.

There was a guy teaching/coaching two younger beginners. He had no paddle. Definitely instructing. I’d never seen him before. How can a guy I’ve never seen before be coaching newbies? You’d think I’d know anyone qualified locally to teach. Dunno.

Graduation Advice

I was watching this Tim Allen commencement speech to Hillsdale College. In it, he says, “Don’t aim were you don’t want to be, keep that off of your radar, aim where you want to go.” How many times have we hit the ball into the white tape at the top of the net. Too many.


Number of days on a court: 379
Number of total hours: 1,077

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