Thursday, May 12, 2022 (Court Day #494)
Good news. In a recent post, I mentioned the “Mayor of Pickleball”. Well, he is off the hook with a settlement with the City of Denver:
https://denvergazette.com/news/courts/mayor-of-pickleball-reaches-settlement-with-prosecutors-in-sharpie-incident/article_71f1ca98-d142-11ec-be35-771a327bfd1d.html
He really should have asked permission before taking a permanent marker to their floor, but a prison sentence and a huge fine was a bit extreme.
Traveling
My dad has his 62nd high school reunion this weekend. After discussing it with my siblings and my parents, it was agreed that it’d be a good idea if I drove my dad (81) and my mom (77) the six hours to Yreka, CA.
Before we left home, I used the Places2Play app to see if there were any locales nearby with games. Yreka and nearby Montague both popped up! I was very surprised. Pickleball is spreading! Fairly isolated, Yreka has just a population of 7,800 and Montague 1,200. (I remember as a kid, Yreka being about 5,000 and Montague about 900. They haven’t grown that much over the decades.)
I reached out to both contacts listed in the app. Mid afternoon, I called Brandon on speaker—my earlier text bounced since the number was landline!—and he turned out to be a staff member of the Yreka YMCA and not too up to speed on local pickleball play other than their own and he still needed to double-check their schedule. He confirmed they had play there tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. At a reststop, I texted Snow, the contact for Montague. A little later, she texted back that she was heading out of town, but she very helpfully gave me some advice about places to play within a 40 minute radius of Yreka. It’s nice to have options.
Arrival
We pulled into the motel in Yreka at few minutes after 6 p.m. We checked in, unloaded, and I quickly changed. My parents dropped me off at the YMCA—they wanted the car—and I walked in at 6:32.
As quickly as I could, I filled out necessary paperwork with the woman behind the counter and paid my $5. “Through there, take a right, and through the double doors at the end of the hall.” As I turned the corner, I heard the telltale sound of pickleballs—it brought a smile to my face!
See the court lines? Me neither!
I entered a big toasty gym with two temporary nets set up. The players were using orange indoor balls. It would turn out that those took some getting used to. That and the light blue lines on the tan wood floor were not easily seen. (I twice stepped on the kitchen line while volleying tonight and served a couple of times past opponents’ baselines I could barely see.)
I walked up and introduced myself to a tall 50-something man with gray hair named Brian. Brian’s blonde wife Diane was there playing too. Both were very welcoming.
The first game was against Diane and Tito (the size of a college football lineman) with Brian as my partner. All three are solid players. Diane, a lefty, was better than I originally expected. She may not look athletic, but she can definitely get the ball back over the net! Brian and I won that one.
Ken and Aaron
Ken and Aaron were from the Mount Shasta pickleball group, based about half an hour away.
Brian and I next played Ken and Aaron. Brian warned me that Aaron is very good and we shouldn’t hit to him. I replied, ”…unless I want to get better, then I’ll hit to him.” I played the game dictated by a strategy of assuming both my opponents were equal. As it was, we fell behind. Brian and I started coming back—with no alteration in my strategy—but we ran out of time as Ken and Aaron scored a couple of points and finished us off.
Aaron is a good player. I was hoping to get more than just one game against him, and not only my second game, but he packed up and departed, unfortunately.
Lining Up More Play Days
Ken and Brian both said they’d help and see if they could arrange a game for me tomorrow.
I gave my ambassador cards to both of them. Ken said, “I’m an ambassador too!” Diane pointed out Ken’s ambassador sweatshirt and shirt.
Brian said he was on the steering committee of the Shasta pickleball group but didn’t know much about the Montague group.
More Games
There was a young guy named Gage. Gage is a good rough blank and has nice fast serves. He seemed like a newer player. Other players were trickling away, leaving less and less of us.
We rotated the remaining five of us, I partnered with Chris or Diane. Chris, whom Diane had just met. Chris is athletic but is obviously pretty new, not yet being able to handle harder shots. I called a “See ya, Gage!” to Gage as he left. Fun guy.
There were a few rallies where a ball hit the rim of a basketball hoop above the court. These were generally replayed, though once, Brian recognized that the ball they’d hit would have sailed out of bounds and instead passed the ball over as a sideout. Respect.
Closing Time
At 8:15 p.m. it was time to be done. I was lead to believe that the facility closed at 8 p.m., but a few people were still milling about in the building—including a woman on a treadmill—and no one had come to kick us out.
We exited and Brian got my mobile number. Diane asked me for my last name so she could find me on Facebook. She sent me a friend request and I immediately approved it. She said there is a Siskiyou group that could prove useful in find more games while I was in town. (Siskiyou is the name of the local county.)
I let my parents know I was ready to be picked up. When Brian saw I was waiting alone, he kindly offered me a ride. It wasn’t too long before my folks arrived.
I brought my Black Ice cooling strap from home but I hadn’t tossed it in motel room refrigerator before I left. At least I had the massage gun for my forearm, that helped.
Friday, May 13, 2022 (No Play)
Play didn’t work out today. A woman wrote to the Mount Shasta pickleball email group last night that she was interested in playing this morning. Ken had dutifully replied and CC-ed me telling the group that I was in town and wanted to play. But there weren’t enough takers. Brian had checked in with me too. Good guys.
Is Pickleball Doomed to Fail?
This is an interesting take on the rise and collapse of racquetball and a comparison to pickleball’s growth and possible collapse:
https://thepickler.com/blogs/pickleball-blog/pickleball-fastest-growing-sport-racquetball
Drill Video
And some solo wall drills:
Saturday Play
Things are looking good for a place for pickleball play tomorrow. My right arm is a bit sore. Golfers elbow, a touch of forearm, and with certain motions, where the bones meet at my elbow. But I’ve been far, far worse, of course.
Number of days on a court: 494
Number of total hours: 2,314.5
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