Thursday, September 26, 2024 (Court Day #719)
Fall is definitely arriving. As I left work at 6:45 p.m., the clouds on the eastern horizon were already pink and the sky towards the sun was a bit yellow. It’s getting darker earlier and earlier. I’d have no need for the sunglasses packed this morning.
Yesterday, I picked up my daughter at the airport. She’s visiting for a few days before heading back to her medical school studies. I invited her to come play.
Tennis Elbow Strap
This afternoon, I redid the Jerry-rigged customization to my forearm tennis elbow strap—my extra padding has gotten a bit nasty and flattened over the last few years—but then promptly left it on my desk at work. Oh, well! (I added thin strip of foam running parallel to my forearm on the inside of the top of the Band-It strap. This applies more pressure right where it is needed.)
The back of my right hand is still nagging me a little bit, primarily just with certain motions.
Skypark
The evening temperature was very comfortable, it had been a warm day.
There were two cars which parked on the street in a fashion which took up two spots each. Grrrr. Come on people!
With giving my hand a rest and schedule conflicts, it had been two weeks since I’d been at Skypark evening play.
I arrived at Skypark and the first time in as long as I can remember, not all the nets are set up at this late of a time. It was already just before 7 p.m. There was only one person waiting, and that was Marquis wearing what looked like a blanket over his shoulders. I kidded that he was ready to “leap over tall buildings” with his “cape.” He said he was cold. It didn’t seem cool to me, but he said that he got all sweaty and then when he stopped moving around, he got cold. It was sunset, after all.
There weren’t any games tonight for me which were truly challenging, but I had an entertaining time in all of them.
Games with Charlotte
Around 7:30 p.m. or so, my daughter Charlotte and her boyfriend Aidan arrived. They waited for me to finish the game that I was in and then Charlotte and I got into a game with Scott and a woman who see around now and then who goes by Katie or KK. I took it a little bit easier on KK, but not easy on Scott. Charlotte and I ended up winning the game. Later, Charlotte shared that she’s been playing about once a week in Tucson. Good for her.
Ethan’s Back
When we came off after that game, it turned out Ethan – who is back in town visiting from San Luis Obispo – and Caitlin were waiting to play with me. Ethan said he didn’t think he would have been back so soon.
Aidan had jumped into a different game, so Charlotte and I played against Ethan and Caitlin.
It was fun. Ethan was taking it very easy on my daughter Charlotte and I was taking it very easy on Caitlin. It took a number of sideouts before any points were scored since Ethan and I were both trying to keep the rallies going for the most part. Later in the game, he would occasionally rip a more serious shot. There was one where Ethan had served to me, it was very shallow and angled to the right. It took me everything I had to get to the ball and get it back over the net. I ended up in the fence which was next to our court—though I was able to get back into the rally. After the rally was done, Ethan said, “I thought I had you on that serve.” Charlotte and I “won” that game, but it wasn’t a true battle.
Bench Warmer
I sat out the next game to let Charlotte and Aidan play against Ethan and Caitlin. Charlotte and Aidan are both 26—actually, he might be just under 26—and Caitlin and Ethan are both about 22, having both just graduated from UC Santa Cruz.
I talked to a blonde-haired woman named Chris on the bench for a few minutes while waiting.
Last Game
One of the games broke up and there was still 11 minutes left of lights. I convinced a few to play whatever game we could with the remaining light. I teamed up with lefty Mike against Dr. David and retiring Mike. My partner was the weakest player on the court and retiring Mike was the second best player on the court after me. Our first game went very quickly with my team only scoring a few points. Since it went so fast, we had time to start a second game. We switch sides and the outcome was on a trajectory for the same result when the lights clicked out… I think it was 2–10 with my partner Mike serving. The serve just passed right over the net court when the lights clicked off.
There was no “after party” and everybody took off pretty quickly once the lights went out. I stowed a net bag into the bin and locked it up. Someone has to be responsible, right?
It was nice to see Ethan tonight.
As we walked out; Charlotte said, “It was pretty busy tonight.” I told her that actually this was a pretty light evening. We didn’t need the white board and waits were short.
Saturday, September 28, 2024 (No Play)
The news is circulating the last day or so that youngster Anna Leigh Waters—the reigning #1 women’s player in the world—is on track to make more than $3 million dollars this year, making her the highest-paid pickleball player on the planet. Considering that she won’t even turn 18 until January, she’s doing pretty well!
New Permanent Courts
Cabrillo, the local junior college, converted some dual-striped courts to permanent pickleball courts in recent months. I haven’t been out there since it has been done, but I believe it could be as many as 8 permanent courts. You do have to pay for parking and the courts are reserved at certain times during the week for classes, but there’s a fair amount of time for public access.
Currently the classes use the courts at these times:
Monday – Thursday: 11:15 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.
Tuesday & Thursday: 1:30 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
Monday & Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.
Number of days on a court: 719
Number of total hours: 2,967.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 75.5
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