Thursday, November 20, 2025 (Court Day #873)
It rained midday today, but then the sun came out for a little while, enough to assure me that the courts might be dry enough to play on tonight.
At 6:24 p.m., I left work in the dark to head to Scotts Valley. It was a chilly 52°F.
My right knee has been bothering me more the last few weeks, so, like Tuesday night, I’m wearing my knee brace tonight.
Skypark
I was walking in at 6:35 p.m. and, like two days ago, there was plenty of parking in the lot.
When I showed up, only three courts were in use. I was surprised.
Upon a closer inspection, I saw the some of the courts were still wet from the rain. As I approached, I thought that I was the odd man out. But as I hung my backpack up near the gate, Manda called from the far end of the courts. I grabbed my paddle to connect up with him, but then I discovered that he did not called me on his behalf, but for me to warm up with a woman down there by the name of Sho, whom I don’t recall meeting before.
Sho and I hit a ball back-and-forth with me for about 10 minutes before one of the games ended and we got invited to play.
First Game
Sho and I would be playing against Mike O’Brien and Thad. Before the game started, Mike had suggested that Sho play with me given how I play (strong). Initially of the game was close, but after each team had scored a few points, we started to pull away. Sho and I came out with a lopsided win.
We mixed things up in this time I played with Mike against Sho and Thad. This time it was another lopsided win for my team. Mike told Sho that she was playing really well tonight. I wasn’t familiar with Sho’s skill level so I would have to trust Mike with his evaluation.
Sho said she was cold and tired and left. Frabrizio, who was in a game on an adjacent court, suggested that we get Jesse to play with us.
More Games
We played a variety of rotations first with me teaming up with Jesse, and then Mike, and then Thad. My team won every game.
We mixed things up and this time I played with Mike again. I think Mike was getting tired. We lost that game and then played a rematch and lost that one as well. There were a few shots where I was being a bit lazy and wasn’t where I should’ve been.
Those games were very entertaining. There was a fair amount of laughing. Like in one of those last games, Thad told Mike (my partner for the game), “Nice try!”
And then I added, “…loser!” The unspoken ending for that phrase! We had a good time in that game.
When Thad and I were playing together, Pauly hit a sharp crosscourt shot that took me a little bit off the court to my right. I hit the ball back over to the net to Jessie at the kitchen who was playing across from me. She attacked that shot, hitting the ball to the opening where I had been on the court. Unfortunately for her, I was already back, stretched out and attacked her shot with a backhand for a winner. Thad was impressed and exclaimed, “You are all over the place!”
I’ll share the shot that I was most pleased with. As an opponent, Thad had hit a really nice lob over my right shoulder to the corner of the court. I raced back there and managed to get off a beautiful crosscourt drop shot. Unfortunately, Thad attacked my shot, driving the ball at Mike’s torso while he was in the transition zone. Mike couldn’t handle it and that was the end of the rally. Still, I had a beautiful drop.
The last game wrapped up at 8:24 p.m. Time to head home!
Friday, November 21, 2025 (No Play)
Some people take this game too seriously. Two rec players got into it. A video was shared on social media. Notice the guy bleeding from the forehead in the background. The headlock is by a bystander trying to get a guy under control:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRTGxpUD9Su
Late Work Night
Ugh. It was a late night at work today. I finally got home at almost the same time as if I had gone and played pickleball first. I pulled up in front of my house and the cold and dark at 8:38 p.m. Oh, the joys of a family business!
Number of days on a court: 873
Number of total hours: 3,326
Number of paid coaching hours: 182
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