Friday, July 15, 2022 (Court Day #517)
Last night, my wife, daughter, and I took a trek to a local landmark, a huge roadrunner made from recycled materials—old shoes, computer keyboards, tires, random junk. It’s pretty neat, I’m glad that we took the time.
Today, I woke up 5:54, before my alarm set for 6 a.m. local time. I got ready and was out of the 3rd floor hotel room by 6:15. I wanted ice for my water bottle today, and since the ice machine on my floor wasn’t dispensing any ice, I headed to the 2nd floor—which was working yesterday. But today, it was empty. Begrudgingly, I headed back up to the 3rd floor but that machine was still empty. So, I headed to the 1st floor and walked to the end of the hallway to find that floor’s ice machine and—finally—I was able to top off my water bottle. Sheesh.
The Park
I arrived at Apodaca Park at 6:30 a.m. sharp, but this time, there were half a dozen cars in the parking lot, unlike yesterday.
There were a number of people warming up. Alicia was the only one I recognized from yesterday. Later, Virginia, Pat, Jeff, Laura, and Richard came too.
Games
My first game was with Ernesto (a fellow Raiders fan) against a tall woman named Kathleen and a man named Robert…pronounced ”row-bear”, French for Robert, he said. We won.
Today, there were some stronger players. Mike in particular.
Next, it was Mike and Ernesto against Virginia and me. We lost. Both of them played well. Then Richard wanted in. We played against Mike and Ernesto and lost in a lopsided fashion. Richard wanted a rematch and the results were worse.
The Ladies
I played a game with Laura against Julia and Alicia. Then we switched and I played with Julia against the others. I overheard the two talking at their baseline. “Andrew is a good player.” Laura replied, “He’s a VERY good player.” Though I felt I was playing subpar and was dragging today. Less sleep, playing two days in a row, and heat I wasn’t used to was making me fatigued. After about 90 minutes, a voice inside my head was suggesting I go rest…but that was not going to happen!
When Laura was leaving, she said if I ever wanted to play in a tournament together, regardless of where it is, she’d be willing to join me.
The Boys
The last couple games of the day were Jeff and myself against Mike and a man named Buddy. Those were more challenging games. Mike likes to rocket drives but has a decent soft game too.
I felt much better about my showing against Mike at the end of the session than the early games.
It was 10:22 a.m. when I got into my car and headed back to the hotel. It was about the same hot temperature as the day before.
Of note today, there were four passing shots made in different games between me and the sideline. Virginia, Jeff, Mike, Buddy. I need to do a better job covering the edge and trusting my partner to handle the middle. Something to work on.
As I was leaving, Jeff pulled his car around. “If you daughter ever needs anything, have her give me a call.” And he gave me his full name and cell number. Such a nice guy.
Number of days on a court: 517
Number of total hours: 2,382
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