Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (Court Day #759)

When I arrived at Skypark at 6:48 p.m, it was a chilly 48°F. I was tired and the thought of going straight home after work and resting crossed my mind. But no. There was one spot open in the parking lot and it was the best spot right near the gate. Nice!

Games

My first game was with tall Nick, whom I usually see at Brommer, versus Kirby and a Latino guy named Chris, whom I don’t believe I’d met before. That said, I’d apparently forgotten that I’d met Kirby. He obviously remembered me. He asked if I was the coordinator at Derby Park. (Yes, for nearly 7 years before I gave it up in the fall last year.)

Kirby played very well. He’s a force. Sure, he hit some long, but he has really good power. Nick and I won 11-6.

Next up was Chris and me against Mauricio (in his first game) and Nick. We lost 11-8.

We played again and this time, Chris and I lost 11-4 to Mauricio and Nick. Chris made a lot of errors and there was only so much I could do. 

Breaking Balls

We broke two balls in that game. Cold temperatures tend to do that. Mauricio dashed off to get a new ball and I was holding the one that had a massive split in it. While waiting, a ball from Mike Sullivan’s court rolled onto our court. Being a prankster, I tossed him the bad ball. He was just about to serve when I called over, “You might want to check that ball for cracks!” Being a smart guy, he instantly figured out what I’d done and laughed. I walked over and traded balls with him, showing him the giant crack in the ball I’d originally given him.

There were about eight people waiting to get into games when I got there. About halfway through my time there, you could more or less just walk back onto a court for another game.

Sam the Lobster

Mauricio and I played against a new guy to me, Sam (who has an Indian accent) as well as Scott. Sam was lobbing probably even most of his shots, but he’s also excellent at it with a lot of spin and landing the ball near the corners and/or baseline. Boy, what a frustrating game. Run back, work back to the kitchen, run back, work back to the kitchen… repeat. We lost 11–5 or something horrible like that.

We had a rematch and Mauricio stated with a smile, “We’re not going to lose this game.” And we didn’t. We won 11 –1. Afterwards, I told Sam at the net with a broad grin, “I feel a lot better now!”

My last game of the night was with Sam against Mauricio and Manda. We were rushing to get the game done before the lights clicked off at 8:30. Sam and I were up 7-1, but then they went on a run and got within one point. It was a pretty hysterical game and Sam and I were busting up laughing. We went on to win 11–8. That was the last game not the last two games.

And?

I thought that I was playing quite well tonight up until the latter half of the evening when I started making errors. I slammed a shot long instance to set up for a winner.

Mike’s Tournament

Mike Sullivan invited me to a private tournament on Monday afternoon, it’s Martin Luther King Day. I’m scheduled to work that day, well it’s kind of funny because I’m scheduled to work pretty much every day, we’ll see what I can pull off. Mike says that he has 4 courts reserved at Willowbrook that day. Unfortunately, we moved our SCPC board meeting to Monday afternoon.

Balls

Here’s an interesting video on how balls are made.

Good Mindset

Here’s a good video. Excitement versus anxiety and how to switch feelings to your advantage:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBg167yPnDm/
What’s interesting is that used this exact approach when I was coaching my very first Parks & Rec class in 2023. I was feeling some anxiousness about it on that day, but I told myself, “You got this. You know this inside and out. It’ll be fun. It’s exciting.” It was so much better.

Number of days on a court: 759
Number of total hours: 3,064.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 105.5

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