I ordered a pair of Kitchen Blockers after work right before I left. I’m curious to try them out for eye protection versus the cheap clear plastic safety glasses I’ve been using. [They later send me a 10% off discount code to share: ANDREW10.]
Skypark
Arrived at 7:04 p.m. at Skypark. It was busy enough that I had to park down the street and around the corner. It was 54°F and the air was still.
Games
In my first game, I played with a guy named Jeff against Mark (the cook) and Sam with the Indian accent. Surprisingly, Sam did not lob much at all in this game unlike Tuesday. (Good for me, he was deadly at his lobs!) My playing this game was absolutely horrible… well, for me anyway—more is expected of a 4.0 level player. As far as I can tell, Jeff is more like a 3.0. We were down by quite a bit, and then Mark started making a number of mistakes and we clawed our way back into the game only to lose in the end. That’s a game that I’d happy was not recorded.
Jax, Mo, and Spencer kidding around. Hey, Spence, this is a family program!!
My last three games were paired with Anthony against tall lefty Aaron B. and David L.
In the first game, Anthony and I got clobbered, something like 11–3. Anthony apologized in the middle of that game for costing us points.
We switched sides and played again but this time Anthony and I won 11–5.
We switched sides again and played a rubber match. In this one, I kept track of my errors and I made half a dozen (or fewer) errors in this entire game. Some lost rallies were simply just great shots by opponents—one of which was a great crosscourt dink by Aaron that was too sharp and long and out of my reach for a winner. We lost this game by a solid margin, but still a fun game. Anthony is a good guy.
We wrapped up just before the lights clicked off at 8:30 p.m.
Fire!
As we were all gathering up to head out, David shared a photo that a friend sent him. The battery facility at Moss Landing (about half an hour south of Santa Cruz) was on fire. If it isn’t still the biggest energy storage in California, it’s the second one. Lithium ion batteries. Those will be extremely difficult to extinguish.
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
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
It was a beautiful day and warm for January. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was 55°F as I left my house a few minutes after 9 a.m.
I’ve been teaching classes for Rec.us for over a year, so it has become a little bit routine. However, to properly run drills, I need balanced pairs and to have actual games, I need full courts—meaning all eight students that are registered have to show up. Last weekend, the first week of classes, in my Advanced Beginner class, a couple who was signed up didn’t come. I emailed them a few days ago and got no response, so I followed that up with a text yesterday and now, over 12 hours later, I still have not heard anything from them. I don’t know if they’re coming or they’re not coming. It makes it difficult for me to arrange substitute students… teaching adventures!
Brommer Park
I arrived at Brommer about 9:15 a.m. to plenty of parking.
My first game was paired with Gary against Dave Ryan and Evan. Not a big surprise that we lost but at least we managed to make a little bit of a game of it. I was playing very, very well.
Next up, Sam and I won 12-10 versus Dave Ryan and Evan. That was a challenging and great game.
Dave Cox
Dave Cox arrived and called across the divider that one of his arranged players wasn’t going to make it and I was welcome to join his group as a fourth. I was in the middle of a game, but I told him, “Ok.” A bit later, Gary was playing with them and I eventually replaced Gary in their group of four on a reserved court.
I played a game with a guy named Ken versus tall, lefty Greg and Nick. Ken missed a lot of shots—he was probably warming up. We lost.
Monterey Guys
After that game, I was ready for a bigger challenge. And I joined Dave Cox and his two friends, Chuck and Tony from the Monterey area.
In our first game together, Tony and I won 11-1 versus Chuck and Dave. I was making very few errors and dominating.
We swapped sides and played a rematch, winning again 11-7.
After one game with Chuck as my partner, he shared a comment about our opponents were hitting everything to him and avoiding me.
I played two games with Dave against Tony and Chuck. I noticed that they were targeting Dave. Good news, we won both games regardless—not that Dave is a weak player, he’s not.
I left Brommer Park a few minutes after 12 noon. Home, then off to teaching.
I was happy with my play today. I played well. Not perfectly, but above average for me.
NFL Pickleball
The NFL Wildcard games were today. Kyle Brandt, a host on the NFL’s Good Morning Football, had a pickleball-themed skit during a playoffs broadcast to talk about the Denver Broncos. (The Broncos went on to lose badly to the Buffalo Bills.) This was no mere few-second mention. This was a good 2+ minutes on national television. If you watch, notice the brief appearance of his opponents. You can even tell by the way that they move that they are good players—even if they are obviously taking it really, really easy on Kyle and his partner.
Fun stuff! I was a bit puzzled when he stated,”Pickleball is the air fryer of sports.” But air fryers seem to be a trendy appliance. Even my wife bought one for our kitchen about a year ago!
Podcast
So, I listened to that Jill Braverman podcast that has stirred up controversy in the past few weeks. What was shocking to me to learn is that the UPA (PPA/MLP) pays ESPN to get their matches broadcast on the ESPN network. This blew my mind. Generally, networks pay for sports content, but in this case, it’s the reverse! It sounds like the UPA are trying to prime the pump—that is, if ESPN sees a boatload of people watching those pickleball matches, then EPSN might pay for broadcast rights in the future. The UPA is gambling on the growing popularity of pickleball. It occurred to me, this may be why they bumped Genie Bouchard into the round of 16 in her first pro tournament with very little pickleball experience… the UPA was hoping that she would draw eyeballs to the broadcast. (Of course, you may recall, the Genie got more or less destroyed in her first pro pickleball outing, though she’s doing much better lately.)
They were saying on this podcast that it is going to cost about $100,000 per paddle company to their paddles certified for use in the PPA and the MLP matches. It’s a $50,000 base fee in exchange for the publicity they receive from the pro events, plus a large certification fee per paddle, which would typically total about $100,000 per company. Obviously, we will not be seeing new or small paddle companies on the UPA circuit.
Cam & Mal on Social Media
There is a young couple, Cam and Mal, who have 353,0000 followers on Instagram. Mal, the wife, is 8-months pregnant but they went out to play pickleball anyway because Mal “misses it”. Hey, nearly 1/3 of a million viewers, we’ll take the exposure! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEyhU1Ep9gj/
Genie Buchard Glasses
Pro Player Genie Bouchard, who recently got smacked in the eye during practice which resulted in a scratched cornea, appeared at a tournament last week wearing eye protection. Smart.
I will say I was a bit curious about her eyewear. Well, as luck would have it, an ad appeared in my social media feed for, wait for it… Kitchen Blockers. These are unique. What makes the difference? No lenses. They run about $70, so not as cheap as popping lenses out of cheap sunglasses, but better protection.
Number of days on a court: 758 Number of total hours: 3,062 Number of paid coaching hours: 105.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
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