Sunday, October 19, 2025 (Court Day #863)

It was sunny and 64°F when I pulled into Brommer Park at 10:02 a.m. and only about half the courts were in use.

Jared of The Kitchen

Dan, Kim, and I needed a fourth for a game, but curly-haired Rob Sandle said he was waiting for his friend named Jared who was visiting from Austin, Texas. I learned that Jared runs a pickleball media company called The Kitchen, which I’ve seen on social media. We managed to convince Rob to play a game with us until Jared arrived.

First Game

So, Dan Dewey and Kim played a game against Rob and me. They were targeting Rob. On our very first serve to start the game, I watched about 10 shots of the rally before I had my first opportunity to hit the ball, which I turned into a winner.

Rob and I lost that first game.

Jared had still not appeared, so we started a rematch.

Mid-game, Jared arrived but said we should continue our game and not stop for him, especially since he was late. He sat on the wall and patiently waited.

Rob and I won that second game. 

Games with Jared

Jared and Rob teamed up and beat Kim and me twice. The second time was 7-11. Jared is a solid 4.0+ player.

Between games, Jared said they have an MLP team named The Chefs. He said their team performed well in the Challenger series against teams with a million dollars of salaries and his team had less than $5,000 of salaries. He was proud of how his team did given that disparity in financing. Well, that is impressive, indeed!

We mixed things up and this time, Rob and I played together against Kim and Jared. We lost badly 2-11.

Ouch

There is one speed up that Kim made, where the ball bounced off the edge of Rob‘s paddle, ricocheted off of my wrist, and hit me in the mouth then my nose. Even with those extra bounces, my nose and mouth were stinging for about five minutes afterwards!

After Jared got warmed up, he played quite well. Yeah, he outperformed me today, not that I was playing all that great.

I overheard Jared talking to Rob, commenting how I had fast hands. That’s always nice to hear.

More Games

Kim and I played against Oscar and Mary Kay. We lost the first game 5–11, then had a rematch and also lost second game was 2–11.

I don’t know if it was lack of sleep, or what. I was not focused. I had some I had some highlight shots, but overall, I was not playing well. (‘Whine, whine’, right? ‘Just play better! No excuses!’)

The last game wrapped up at 12 o’clock sharp, it was time for me to go get ready to teach.

And?

Today was bad. I was not consistent. I really need to start recording my games to analyze what is happening from an objective perspective. It’s very hard to analyze your own play in the heat of the moment.

I left the courts feeling dejected, and hoping that this wasn’t the start of another slump in performance.

The Kitchen

I looked up one of Jared’s assorted YouTube videos, here’s a screenshot of Jared:

Monday, October 20, 2025 (No Play)

There’s a new facility in Ft. Lauderdale in Florida featuring what they are claiming is the world’s first pickleball stadium:
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2025/10/19/worlds-first-pickleball-stadium-opens-with-new-facility-in-fort-lauderdale

Now, the word “stadium” might be a bit of a stretch. It looks like it might fit 300-400 people. Maybe more of a “mini-stadium”, but nonetheless, it’s a building spotlighting just one court. It is also surrounded by over 40 other courts, most outside, but some covered.

Those bleachers are as tall as the seating gets at The Fort’s stadium.

Monday, October 21, 2025 (No Play)

Eye injuries caused by pickleball is in the new again with a study that was released five days ago in a journal, JAMA Ophthalmology The study says that pickleball eye damage is getting more common as pickleball continues to grow and get more popular. (Not that that is a huge surprise!) Here’s an article about the study:
https://www.livescience.com/health/black-eyes-orbital-fractures-and-retinal-detachment-pickleball-related-eye-injuries-are-on-the-rise-in-the-us

I continue to be an advocate for eye protection. I’ve been hit once in the eye on a court. That was years ago now. Since then, I’ve been hit in the face, glasses, cap, etc. and every time it happens, I’m glad that I’m wearing sunglasses, Kitchen Blockers, or some kind of eye protection.

Monday, October 22, 2025 (No Play)

Heavy metal rocker pickleball. I’d never heard of Avenged Sevenfold, but the lead singer got addicted to pickleball about a year ago. A couple of article have appear this week about him and here’s one:
https://pickleball.com/culture/avenged-sevenfold-lead-singer-m-shadows-i-like-to-fancy-myself-quite-the-pickleball-player

Pickleball for Apple Vision Pro

A company call Resolution Games has released a pickleball game for Apple Vision Pro. Here’s an article:
https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=345525&ck_subscriber_id=2490057637

And here’s a promotional video for it on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/uga4Y9hyqiQ?si=EvjkXC4rjE9iGYYs

There is no net. There is no ball. There are no paddles. There is no court.

Number of days on a court: 863
Number of total hours: 3,305
Number of paid coaching hours: 178

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