Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024 (Court Day #642)

I went to Easter services last night, so I was free to open Derby Park this morning and play.

When I walked out the door, I found wet patches on the ground. The big question was whether I should’ve delayed play until 10 o’clock. I just had to wait to get to the courts to see. It was a very chilly 50°F and it was cloudy with no sun, though there were patches of blue on the horizon.

Derby Park

When I got to the courts, they weren’t too bad, but there were some puddles. I quickly and tardily sent out a club email blast via my phone delaying play until 10 a.m. It was a last minute notice, so some people showed up anyway. (Plus not all players are club members, unfortunately. ) In the meantime, between towels, the electric blower, and a push broom, I was able to get the courts in pretty good shape. The swampy court in the far corner continued to be a problem for most of the session since water would percolate up through the cracks making the court slippery.

While sitting on the bench waiting, two games finished and the players were walking off. To let the next group know, a few of us yelled, “Two courts open!” I was a bit bored, so I added on a few more yells:
“1 + 1 courts open!”
“Square root of 4 courts open!”
“Absolute value of 2 minus 4 courts open!”
Never get someone with engineering background involved! Nerd!

Newbie

There was a new player who goes by “G” (short for Gerald) who come for the free club beginner training at 11:30 a.m. I showed him the ropes and got into a game with him against a couple of newer regulars that I don’t really know—Rich and Joe, if I recall correctly.

I felt that I played ok today, though not my best. I didn’t get into any really good games with the exception of one or two. First one was Brandon and myself against Dave Cox and Alan Greenberg. We lost by a hair. Dave was playing pretty well . . . it’s nice to be retired and be playing nearly every day! The second game was Eric Schmidt and myself against Brandon and Brian. In that last game, I was fading fast as I was quite hungry. Eric and I lost, and it was a relief—I was starving and ready to go eat!

I left the courts at 1:15 p.m. My brother John would be hosting an Easter gathering for our extended family at 2 p.m.

Monday, April 1, 2024 (No Play)

This will be my last blog post.

April fools! Sorry, no plans for not subjecting you to more posts!

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 (No Play)

I got text today from Linsday at Rec.us saying they are in final talks with the City of Scotts Valley about taking over reservations and classes for their courts.

Thursday, April 4, 2024 (No Play)

Lindsay has been texting/emailing and followed up with a phone call today asking about my participation in a “launch event” at Skypark later this month, assuming talks with the City of Scotts Valley pan out. The event would be late in the day, so that should work for me.

Tennis Pro Makes Good

Folks, including me, were giving Genie Bouchard a hard time for seemly not taking pickleball seriously before jumping in. She kind of embarrassed herself. Well, times have changed—or at least partially changed. Genie upset Lauren Stratman 11-5, 7-11, 11-0 in singles at PPA tournament this week. Granted, singles plays far more like tennis than pickleball doubles does . . . there is a lot more baseline rallies and very little soft game in singles.

Thursday, April 4, 2024 (No Play)

PickleballUnion.com did a survey of pickleball players asking, “Do you follow professional pickleball players and rankings?” 113 people responded and I didn’t find the results a surprise at all…

Yes, two-thirds of players are not all that interested in the happenings of pro players, they just want to enjoy their rec games and perhaps local tournaments.

Number of days on a court: 642
Number of total hours: 2,766.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 24.5

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