Sunday, December 22, 2024 (Court Day #751)
I woke up at 4:40 a.m. and couldn’t get to sleep back to sleep for about an hour and a half. Consequently, I didn’t wake up again until after 9 a.m. Since it rained last night, around 9:30 a.m., I messaged the WhatsApp group and asked if anyone was playing at Brommer. Jason Brown got back to me and said there were people out there, but to bring a towel, just in case. My wife picked out a towel from the garage for me to take. It looked pretty nice to me, but she picked it!
I’m still little congested, but since it’s been a full week since I first had cold/flu symptoms and I’m feeling normal, I figured it was extremely unlikely that I would be contagious.
As I drove to Brommer Park, I had a couple of instances of heavy mist on my windshield. I was hoping the courts would be dry enough to play on. Please, please, please!
Brommer Park
Under completely overcast skies, I pulled into the Brommer parking lot at 10:18 a.m. Cars were as sparse as I’ve ever seen them, but there were still some cars.
Games
Jordan and I played Marco and Nick. I’d seen Nick before, but don’t really know him and I had to ask his name. He’s is tall and thin and sports a mustache. Jordan and I won 12-10. Nick said he started this summer with no racquet sport background. I was surprised and impressed. He’s easily a strong 3.5, possibly even a low 4.0.
There was a new guy, John. John is very stocky and was wearing a black tank top. I later overheard what sounded like he was “here for a week,” so he’s probably just visiting. That would explain why I’d never seen him before.
Visitor John and I lost to Marco and whomever his partner was 9-11.
I noticed that John was sporting a large Star of David tattoo on his upper arm. I wished him a happy Hanukkah. (Both Christmas and Hanukkah start on December 25 this year… for the uninitiated, the famous “12 days of Christmas” start on Christmas plus there is also the “Octave of Christmas” which also starts on December 25 every year and ends on January 1, )
John and I lost our next game together, 8-11. I was hitting far too many out balls. This continues to be an Achilles Heel for me.
It was very muggy today. Fortunately, it’s not common!
We mixed things up and Nick and I took on Marco and visitor John. We lost 11-1. What a bad game. It was embarrassing and frustrating. Sometimes things just go off the rails. This was one of times. I didn’t feel like I was playing particularly badly, but things were just not going right.
For the next game, Marco and I paired up against visitor John and regular 3.0 John. We won 11-0.
Marco and I went onto win another game 11-4 versus Jason Brown and visitor John. (Regular John stepped out as he realized he was mostly responsible for the previous game loss.)
Mo arrived and she played with Jason against JP and me. Mo said her shoulder is bothering her a little bit. JP and I took a big lead but then they came back to make it a very close game. JP and I did go on to win 11–9.
By now, it was about 10 minutes to 1 p.m.
Chayton & Kevin
Visitor John and I played against Kevin and Chayton. We lost twice, including 11-6 second game, but that was an improvement over the first game. In the first game, after I looked back to see my partner still back in the transition zone, I suggested to John that he would have better angles if he came up to the kitchen. He responded, “It’s easier to move forward than backward.” Sure, though it’s not a strategy I agree with. You want up, not back where your feet can get attacked. There are times when moving back a step from the kitchen can make sense, but not staying in no man’s land. I believe that John’s game will be so much more improved when he start coming up to the net sooner. It was 1:21 p.m. and Chayton and Kevin had to go.
Last Game
I teamed up with “Beefcake” Mike against JP and Tim Feikert. It was close, but we pulled off a win. 12-10.
At 1:50 p.m., I decided to call it a day. It was holding steady in the low 60s when I left. It was still overcast… and muggy.
AWOL Towel
Somewhere, during the course of the session, the large bath towel that I brought disappeared. I don’t know if someone intentionally stole it or if it ended up getting used to dry the court and someone assumed it was theirs by mistaking the wet color.
And?
I had to clear my throat about a dozen times, especially earlier on in the session, but that was it. That and blowing my nose just one time. I did fine.
I felt that my play was a mixed bag today. It was a combination of some really good shots, but there were also a handful of times when I was out of position on the court, hit a speedup into the net, or hit balls that would have otherwise flown out of the court.
Johns Brothers
The big news of the last 24 hours has been the purported plan of top pro player Ben Johns to drop his brother Collin as his doubles partner. The last four years, they have been a force in tournaments cleaning up with win after win… well, until this year. It has been discussed by pundits that Ben would do better with a different partner. It seems that he’s listening and has decided to move on. It must have been a very hard decision for Ben.
Closing Pickleball Facilities
Florida is losing two indoor pickleball facilities. One has to wonder about people jumping onto the explosion of pickleball and seeing gold where there may only be aluminum.
”The Pickleball Club also informed customers via email that it is liquidating assets at this location in Port St. Lucie and another in Lakewood Ranch, near Sarasota.”
Here’s the link to the article:
https://www.wptv.com/news/treasure-coast/region-st-lucie-county/st-lucie-county-pickleball-facility-closes-leaving-members-unsure-of-reimbursement
Also, the so called “Dreamland” facility in Dripping Springs, Texas—with it’s 16 covered courts—is also closing. Founded by MLP founder Steve Kuhn, it’ll be shuttering its doors the end of this year. This one is a bit more mysterious. Supposedly, it has been financially successful, but maybe that’s just the public story. I don’t know.
Here is a TV report about of articles about the pending closure:
https://www.kvue.com/article/money/business/pickleball-mini-golf-venue-dreamland-closing-dripping-springs-texas/269-c7835949-1bee-4422-a5e8-98070ab8ac44
And an article about it:
https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/dreamland-shuts-its-doors
Monday, December 23, 2024. (No Play)
I was back to work today after being out sick almost all of last week. During the workday, someone told me that part of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf had fallen into the ocean. What?!? This turned out to be true. The last 150 feet, which was undergoing a multimillion dollar repair, couldn’t withstand the heavy wave action and broke off, falling into the water with much of it intact, including one building. Three inspectors were surveying the structure at the time. All three are safe—one got to shore on his own and the other two were rescued off of floating debris which was undulating in the heavy surf.
Two weeks ago, a tsumani warning, last week, a actual tornado, this week, massive waves!
The local wharf—it’s actually a pier, though it’s referred to as a “wharf”—is over 100 years old and has been getting continual maintenance to keep it in good shape. In the evening, my daughter‘s boyfriend Aidan told me that there are 3700 pilings supporting the wharf. Unfortunately, after today, they’re probably a few hundred fewer pilings that are instead now floating around near the coast wreaking havoc on swimmers, sailors, and boaters.
Video of aftermath (NBC News Bay Area):
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DD8gNAhRCMR
Here are a couple of photos of the wharf in its original condition followed by its storm-damaged condition.
You can see in the second photo above, there is a big chunk missing, including the end building. They were already tearing down the second building nearer the shore, the former Dolphin Restaurant.
And here’s the missing end building floating on the water…
Around 5 p.m. an alert was blasted out to everyone’s mobile phone:
Some very funny person make used the building washing up into a bluff as a commentary on the high cost of local housing. This was posted on Craigslist. It was removed within hours, but I snapped a screenshot!
Here’s another view of the building swept up to the coast.
Free Balls
On December 12, I joined the Recreational Pickleball Players Association (RPPA). They offered a free membership to USAP Ambassadors. I’m trying to figure out what their goal is. So far, I’ve been receiving promotional emails offering discounts on travel. I’m wondering how useful the RPPA really is… up to now, it’s been simply advertising emails.
One of the perks of joining is you qualify for a free 6-pack of DIADEM pickleballs. Those balls arrived today. I’ll likely use them with my students. A number of local players are surprisingly picky about what balls they use in rec play. But, hey, if they are going into a tournament, I understand demanding the ball they will be using in that tournament.
Tuesday , December 24, 2024 (No Play)
Wife walked in as I was waking up and told me that the local wharf collapse made The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/us/santa-cruz-wharf-collapse.html
I’d like to not make the national news for a while!
I found a video of actual wharf collapse:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DD8HooFst_r
Wednesday, December 25, 2024 (No Play)
I was served an online ad for a new ball. Komodo. It’s biodegradable. They claim the ball is more durable than others on the market, lasting up to 70 games. But I think you can get 70 games out of a Franklin X ball… still, that’s kind of beside the point. These supposedly don’t end up in a landfill or contaminate a batch of higher quality plastics during recycling. If it does actually decompose while providing expected performance, that’s a great thing.
My wife, son, daughter, and mother-in-law headed up to my sister-in-law Liz and her family in San Carlos for the afternoon. I noticed that they have a pickleball ornament on their Christmas tree! Hey! I don’t even have a pickleball ornament!
My wife had asked if I wanted anything pickleball related for Christmas that she could pass along to Liz. I’ve had my eye on The Pickleball Mindset book by Dayne Gingrich and Jill Martin. Liz said it was on backorder but I should get it in the coming weeks. That’ll be fun. The book is compared to The Inner Game of Tennis, which I read over 30 years ago.
Thursday, December 26, 2024 (No Play)
We’re always closed the day after Christmas, as well as Christmas Day itself. My grand plan was to play pickleball in the morning today. Except one small problem. It was raining. And it rained lightly on and off most of day, before the rain returned in full earnest in the evening. Rats.
Friday, December 27, 2024 (No Play)
Steve Stone, of the USAP, sent out a message to us USAP ambassadors early this morning that a number of paddles are going to be delisted come July 1, 2025. These paddles failed the new PBCoR (Paddle/Ball Coefficient of Restitution) test, which checks for a “trampoline effect”.
The following paddles have exceeded testing standards and will be sunset on July 1, 2025 for sanctioned tournament play only:
Joola Perseus 14mm Mod TA-15
Joola Perseus 16mm Mod TA-15
Gearbox Pro Power Elongated
ProKennex Black Ace Ovation
ProKennex Black Ace Pro
ProKennex Black Ace LG
ProKennex Black Ace XF
I have the Gearbox Pro Power Elongated, so playing with it in a tournament will be forbidden come summer.
Weather
Yeah. No. Not looking good for play on Sunday. Rats. Again. This weekend will be my last Sunday before returning to teaching pickleball classes in the afternoons.
Wharf
The local mayor is saying that our city may not rebuild the missing part of the wharf. That would be a shame, but I can see the logic. It’s expensive and is there enough benefit for a longer pier? Time will tell. I’m sure the community is going to be more on the side of rebuilding the missing part.
Ambassador Pay
This is hilarious. According to Salary.com, USA Pickleball Ambassadors average a base salary of over $29,000 per year.
https://www.salary.com/research/company/usa-pickleball-association/ambassador-salary?cjid=9556179
Why is this hilarious? I am one and we get paid nothing! It’s a volunteer position!!
Number of days on a court: 751
Number of total hours: 3,044
Number of paid coaching hours: 99.5
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