Tuesday, January 27, 2026 (Court Day #895)
I was hoping to leave work earlier, maybe at 5:30 p.m., but we had two people out sick today. When you run a family business, your life is not your own!
I pulled into the Skypark lot in Scotts Valley at 6:58 p.m. It was dark and seemed colder than the 54° that it was.
When I arrived, it was—by far—the busiest I’d ever seen! There were a whole lot of young fresh faces.
Ball to the Head
Matt Babb did a speedup and if I hadn’t turned my head, it would’ve hit me squarely in the mouth. Instead, he hit me in the jaw near my right ear. That stung! Matt apologized, but I know that he was not aiming for my head. It’s part of the game.
And?
The games were of no significance tonight, other than subpar performances.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 (No Play)
There are days when you wonder to yourself, “Why do I subject myself to playing this game?” This morning I woke up with that feeling. I was very unhappy with my play last night.
Actors & Pickleball
Another famous person spotted playing pickleball, this time Zac Efron:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DTRdUoljmw2
New #1 Mens
This week, Gabe Tardio is now ranked #1 in the world for men. The era of Ben Johns holding the #1 spot for months (or years) on end appear to be over.
Power Play
The Kitchen offered up their top five pickleball power players. Some are actual players, others are business people:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DT-wRhekUJU
Here’s their list:
1. Tom Dundon (Owner/investor of pickleball.com) [Wikipedia]
2. Connor Pardoe (CEO of the PPA and MLP)
3. Anna Leigh Waters (#1 Women’s player)
4. Ben Johns (#1 Mixed Doubles male player)
5. Richard Lee (CEO of Joola) [Linkedin]
Number of days on a court: 895
Number of total hours: 3,373.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 194.5
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