Thursday, January 2 (Court Day #754)

By the time 5 p.m. rolled around at work, I was feeling exhausted and I was yawning… but I was committed to playing pickleball tonight even though I’d played the previous two days. I need the exercise and still need to get back into the swing of things after a week and a half hiatus—no pun intended!

Skypark

It was dark and a chilly 55°F when I got to Scotts Valley and pulled up to the courts at 6:45 p.m. I lucked out, and a car pulled out of the full lot just after I got in there.

My first game was with Barry‘s wife Christine against Mo and her husband, Frank. I remember meeting Frank once before a few months ago. I could see Frank becoming quite formidable with time. I feel like he’s still kind of learning the game, but he can really rip his forehands.

In another game, Mo and I lost 10–12 against Manda and Mike Sullivan. Yep, a close one.

Brother John

My brother John had been asking about a better paddle. Since my Gearbox Pro is becoming illegal to use in USAP tournaments come July, I figured I wouldn’t be sharing it with my students and I haven’t been using it, so I told John he could borrow it indefinitely. He came by tonight to Skypark mid-session and picked it up.  

I played a couple of games with and against Meghan. I think I’d met her once—maybe twice—before. She played tennis in high school. How do I know? I had a strong suspicion that she had a tennis background due to her mechanics and asked her and she told me!

The lights clicked off at 8:30 p.m. with Manda and I leading 8-4 against Meghan and Aaron.

And?

That was horrible. Imagine a huge part of it was me just simply dragging my body around the court. I was beat, but that said, I was just completely missing shots. There are multiple times during the evening or I thought about just going home between just being exhausted and playing poorly wasn’t quite as much fun. I will say, however, the company was really good. There was still a lot of laughing and smiling and good cheer.

Mike Sullivan is officially retiring from his job tomorrow. Congratulations to Mike!

Birds Killed the Wharf?

According to this fellow, bird nests caused delays and contributed to the recent collapse of part of our beloved local pier:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEOBxdayBsL

With the collapse of the end of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf about a week ago, there are a number of different groups that are pointing fingers at each other. There’s no question that the worst weather time of year, between October and March, is the only allowed time for construction on the wharf due to imposed environmental restrictions. There were also lawsuits brought against the city with regard to construction plans for the wharf, although the group that brought the lawsuit claims that their lawsuit did not restrict replacing damaged piles (supports) for the wharf. He said, she said. But there is plenty of blame to go around and I feel few, if any, groups are completely innocent.

UPA financial trouble?

So the commercial group that formed with the merger of the MLP and PPA, the UPA, the same organization that decided they wanted to start their own governing body to compete with the venerable USA Pickleball. Well, this week, pro player, Jill Braverman shared that there was an internal memo to UPA investors that they needed an “emergency” 10 million dollar loan to get them through. Interesting. UPA’s execs immediately went on the defensive saying that their organization is in good shape with lots of revenue. Here’s an article about it:
https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/pickleballs-financial-emergency-sparks-online-dispute-2

Also, here’s Jill’s podcast about it, though I haven’t listened to it as of yet, but I’m planning to:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/out-of-money-ppa-mlp-need-emergency-loan-to-get/id1678021752?i=1000682449743

What’s a bit below the belt is an UPA administrator shot back at Ms. Braverman on social media that she wasn’t good enough to play in their top tier events—an “ad hominem” attack. That is, attack the messenger, not the message. I’m not impressed. Be better than that. Take the high road and be professional, don’t drop into the gutter.

Pickleball in Prisons

I came across a video on Instagram that was posted on November 14 about pickleball in prisons and how it’s helping inmates:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCaLCyKOuoc

That’s something that I’d like to do, though I’d need more time than I have. Maybe after I retire. Or maybe I can help facilitate in the meantime.

Saturday, January 4, 2025 (No Play)

I found out today that Ben Johns announced that he’ll be playing with Gabe Tardio for doubles for 2025. It was on social media this week that Tardio just got an 3-year, $800,000 contact with the PPA and MLP. I wonder if they had an early heads-up that Ben was partnering with Gabe. Hmmm. Maybe I’m behind the curve, but I’d never near of Tardio until this week.

On the Johns/Tardio partnership:
https://thekitchenpickle.com/blogs/news/ben-johns-new-doubles-partner-gabe-tardio

On the Tardio contract extension:
https://pickleball.com/people/gabe-tardio-signs-three-year-contract-extension-with-ppa-tour-and-mlp

Number of days on a court: 754
Number of total hours: 3,052.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 99.5

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