EK topples Great Valley 3-2

And so our regular season comes to an end.  We finished our season against Great Valley who is our primary competition to represent the Men’s 4.0 “Red Division” at Districts.  The Great Valley team was formed team last year and in our four meetings with them we are now 2-2.  Unfortunately for us, it appears that Great Valley will advance to Districts this year.  Congrats guys – you’re an admirable team. The primary reason GV will advance is their dedication and commitment.  They have a cohesive group of solid players and the requisite ringers to make waves in the post season.  Go get ‘em.

What a sad week with the recent deaths.  There is one more Angel in heaven now.  They say celebs die in threes. Leave it to Billy Mays to throw in one extra COMPLETELY FREE!  In fact, I knew Michael was in big trouble – he was white as a ghost (sorry)…

GV will still need to get past the West Chester Aces to make it official.  The Aces defeated us once this year by playing us real tough when several of our top players had outside commitments.  I am in favor of a flight championship for the top 4 teams so that player availability does not decide the winner of the flight.  Let the best team advance.  This format in so many other districts repeatedly shows the 2nd and 3rd place teams advancing to Sectionals and sometimes even Nationals. 

As is our tradition for the last home match of the season, we don our dress blues.  We have almost always purchased a team shirt and one year we went with team shorts.  It has a nice effect of building a sense of purpose and unity.  When our opponents this weekend saw our shorts the comments were “nice pajamas.”

On to the match, at #1 Singles, new EK teammate Cameron O’Donnell of Allentown, PA faced off against Dave Umbach of Miami Springs, FL in an unexpected matchup.  Cameron plays 4.5 singles for Tennis Zone and we met when he played our 4.5 team in the first match of the year.  Cameron played against Steve Beers and did quite well for a 4.0 computer rated player.  He accepted our invitation to join our 4.0 team but unfortunately his tennis schedule and ours have been mutually exclusive until last Saturday.  Cameron is a rock solid addition and he won 2&4 against Dave.  Welcome Cam and thanks.  Why Great Valley filed a grievance after the match against Cam is beyond me.  He’s a three year computer rated player. 

At #2 Singles our soon to be a poppa Canh Ho faced off against Great Valley’s Brett Siegfried for a PATD 4.0 heavyweight match.  In fact, I have seen many a 4.5 lineup without such a powerful matchup. (By the way, Canh’s wife is due, she’s already dilated and starting to have contractions.)  Canh is one of the best “adapters” and so is Brett.  Brett is a counter puncher and you have to be smart and consistent to beat him.  Brett continued his EK dominance and won this match over Canh 6-3, 1-6, 7-6.  Canh had 2 match points at 5-4, 40-15 in the 3rd set and he was up in the tiebreaker but credit Brett for a phenomenal win.  It’s hard to think of a better 4.0 player except for perhaps, hmmm, lemme think, Greg Heck?!  Who knows how Brett is able to remain at 4.0 year after year– he’s an exceptionally talented player.

At #1 Dubs we rolled out Tom McAvoy and Hap-py Phout-more.   Tom is an exciting player who teamed with Eric Markowitz on 6/6/09 to defeat Lonnie Cooper and Mike Ruhl in straight  sets.  In my opinion, Lonnie and Mike are the Gold standard in our league for 4.0 competition.  If you beat them, you are 4.5.  Tom McAvoy is also doing well at 4.5 this year so this probably will be his last year at 4.0.  Hap is a Delaware native who was 11-0 on the season coming into the match.  Tom & Hap played Greg Heck and Rich Trach and lost 2&5 – ouch!  I had a 30 minute chat with Sean McElroy from Kinetix last week and we discussed many tennis related things.  Sean made the comment that Greg Heck, “regularly beats him in singles.”  For those of you who don’t know Sean, he won at the 2008 5 Men’s 5.0 National Championships.  I think Greg did indeed limit himself to 6 beers the night before and let me be the first to say congratulations on the win, welcome to 4.5 and inevitably goodbye (to the 4.0 ranks.)

At #2 Dubs long time partners Eric Markowitz and Tom Faith showed why I’ll never separate them (any more).  They just win.  They played a less difficult match the week before and needed a 3rd set breaker to prevail.  This time they faced the formidable German duo of undefeated Holger Mackenthun and singles ace Michael J Schmidt.  We won this match in straight sets – go figure.  Holger and Mike are a super pair and just plain fun.  Unfortunately I couldn’t understand what they were saying most of the time – something about Ralf the Red Nosed Racing Boar, Schweinsöhrchen and Claudia Schiffer.  I did hear that Michael is going to move back to Germany soon – you will be missed.  Great playing guys! 

At 3rd doubles, Ron Rubenstein and I faced off against Ken Werkiser and Guy Van Alstine.  The comment they made about our team shorts was “how did the sleepover go last night.”  Hardy Har Har.  The individual matchup was curious.  It began with Ron and I desperately trying to give them free points.  We were down 0-2, Love-30 on my serve when I complained to Ron that we are giving them the first 3 games.  We finally settled in and rattled off the next 7 games for a 6-2, 1-0   lead.  That’s when the Great Lobsters went to plan Bob, I mean Lob.  And lob they did from both sides of the net in the considerable wind with devastating effectiveness.  We were perhaps too aggressive as we needed to hit several overheads per point and we were making errors.  We lost the 2nd set 2-6 and we were down 3-4, Love-30 in the 3rd set before something clicked in my head.  My opponent’s wrist band which had originally appeared red to me now seemed like it has been washed so much it had faded?  I thought about all of the teasing and the compliments and the excessive eye contact.  Hmmm.  I decided to switch shirts.  I relaxed for just a minute mid-switch and then marched back to the deuce side of the court.  With my best smile on my face I was prepared to do what I had to.  Our opponent seemed distracted.  We took the next 3 games and closed out the match. 

After we walked off court I learned that we took two other courts already which meant we won the team match which was as sweet as a late night slice of cake from my favorite diner.  I gave everyone a high five hard enough to leave a mark – ahh, it’s great to behave like a little kid.

Last week I realized that Great Valley has their own blog http://gv40tennis.blogspot.com/ – kinda of a sister team blog right?  It is well written and very enjoyable to hear to their thoughts and insight as they navigate towards the post season.

So all is well that ends well.  I want to offer a special thank you to our team for the eventful season and to our opponents for the strong competition.  I know that I had a lot of enjoyment this season and I hope that we can all continue to play the game we love.  We should value our tennis contacts and relationships because having fun in our spare time is why we do this.  Right?  I think I’m violating the Man rule that tennis is not social but c’mon.  I do want to acknowledge a few teammates.  Ed Daou was new to the team this year.  What a guy – improving player, practices, communicates, usually available.  Thanks Ed.  Mel Navea played with us for the first time from CPD, very helpful – thanks Mel.  Justin Bussinger was also a new addition and he’s exactly what we need to continue our winning and having fun. Phil Cannavo, Joe Sassa, Chris Flouris and especially Mitch Reading – no one could have better teammates.  Mitch really kicked up his game this year.

My philosophical comment is that people need to chill on some of the strange behavior we see in the league.  Case in point, Lakeside is defaulting a team match in protest to USTA matters they don’t like.  This possibly advances one team over another which is not a good thing.  Can you summarily blame Lakeside? – not exactly. I am not saying I agree with them nor am I even addressing the issues at hand.  I can understand their frustration as I see it so often in my role as a USTA league coordinator.  Many people who we all play against have ultra competitive personalities so some conflict is to be expected.  I think many people do not fully understand the rules which lead to unfortunate misconceptions about ratings and policies.  If you have questions – talk with someone who can address your concerns.  What is often lacking is the “big picture” view of league tennis.  It’s just tennis after all.  TENNIS!  If someone is out of level, they’ll get bumped up.  A line call or two does not change the outcome of a match.  The only legitimate reason to get upset in a match is if you believe your opponent is trying to intentionally cheat or manipulate you.  As a USTA veteran with over 10 years of league play experience – that is rarely the case.  As I tell captains in every captains meeting I speak at; be generous, give the benefit of doubt, be flexible, reschedule graciously and be accommodating.  It will come full circle before your own eyes.

And speaking of things we never knew, how many can say that they know the lyrics to this song?

“Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night” (A “deuce” is a reference to a 1932 Ford Pickup.)  “Some brimstone baritone anticyclone rolling stone preacher from the east Says, “Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in it’s funny bone, that’s where they expect it least.”

Tennis junkie weekend

Easy Killer defeated the West Chester Aces 3-2 on Saturday, June 13, 2009 to improve to 6-2 on the season.  We won easily at singles but had to hold on for dear life with a 7-6, 3rd set victory (and we were down in the tiebreaker) at 2^nd doubles.  All’s well that ends well and we have 2 matches remaining. 

I will deviate from my usual format of primarily reporting on our PATD 4.0 team (Easy Killer).  I wasn’t at the match on Saturday so writing a recap would be more fiction than usual.  I will instead recap my own tennis weekend.  It started at 8pm on Friday night by playing a match for my Central Penn (CPD) team in Landisville, PA under the lights.  The Hempfield Rec center is an amazing facility with a superb layout, a viewing stand, indoor courts and a vibrant membership replete with strong tennis players.  We faced one of the tougher teams and unfortunately lost the team match 2-3.  What was really nice was my own doubles court where for the first 90% of the match we got our butts kicked.  We dropped the first set 3-6 and our opponents were serving in the 2nd set up a break at 4-3.  My partner who I had never played with was Ryan Jeckel.  Ryan is a strong player who likes to communicate.  He constantly harped on being positive, communicating after every point and adjusting to what our opponents were doing. 

I’m not sure how I would have handled the match without Ryan as my partner.  I can get real frustrated when things don’t go my way but one thing Ryan said mid-match was “don’t give them the satisfaction” (by looking distraught after a particularly frustrating point).  He was so right.  Move your feet, talk, adjust, be positive, just like Clint Eastwood’s mantra in Heartbreak Ridge, “improvise, adapt, overcome.”

Ryan told me we had to break Rich who was serving at 4-3 in the 2^nd set.  “We must break him now.”  We went down 0-30 but we remained focused and we took the next 4 points and broke him to level the set at 4-4.  It was Ryan’s turn to serve and we held easily at love for a 5-4 lead.  Our opponent Bill, who went to 4.0 Mens Nationals last year, was serving next and he had been winning his serve at love in the first set.  We were adjusting to his game and at least putting a little more pressure on his serve although we hadn’t broken him.  Ryan told me for the first time all night to hit every single ball to Rich.  I hit my first two returns down the line (basically at Rich) and we raced out to a 40-0 lead – triple set point.  Bill served an ace out wide and then they won a long point to make it 30-40.  Bill served to Ryan and after a few shots on both sides they hit the ball wide.

We started the mandatory 3rd set tiebreaker immediately as we did not want to lose our new found momentum.  We stayed aggressive and won the tiebreaker 10-2.  We got a few breaks in the tiebreaker but by this point Ryan and I were playing as a team and starting to be effective.  This was a great win for us as our opponents are solid players.  It proves that you can talk you way to victory when you are up against a wall. 

Saturday morning I played with my regular partner Ron Rubenstein for the Delaware team (DD) we are both on.  We faced two crafty seniors who have won most of the matches they have played.  They lobbed us with surprising effectiveness but our challenge was primarily to stay aggressive and remain focused.  We jumped out to a 6-2, 3-0 lead before dropping the next 3 games which included losing Ron’s serve.  As a team, losing Ron’s serve should never happen.  My strength is by far my net play.  Ron’s strength is his powerful 1st and 2nd serves.  But, we got broke and found ourselves in a match that we thought we had already won.  Fortunately we managed to win the next 3 games, the match and the team match 4-1.  A very nice way to start what turned out to be an unexpectedly rainy Saturday. 

On Sunday, Ron and I again played for our DD team.  As most of us tennis veterans do, we take our tennis seriously.  Our team showed up a half hour early to warm up and by match time we were ready to go – except that we only had 7 guys and we were still waiting for our 8th and final teammate.  We were all standing at the net much like friends on a street corner.  Our group at the net was one guy who is about 30 and the rest of us are all 40+.  We were laughing and wondering where our final man was.  On a side note, “lateness penalty” does not seem to be in the lexicon of the Delaware players which I think is terrific.  One of the reasons for this is that the Delaware league coordinator (who does an awesome job) handles all of the scheduling for the teams.  This is great but you end up playing at some strange locations.  For instance, we played aDuPont as a home match on their courts and then this weekend we were playing an away match on our home courts – go figure.  So, with not everyone crystal clear on home team/away team there isn’t any pressure to start the match promptly at the start time.  The rules state that if you arrive 16 minutes after the start time you can be defaulted.  On rare occasions I have been late before which is always a stressful situation as I like the calm mental prep time before I compete.  Arriving late would disrupt this process so I am almost always early.  At 20 minutes past the start time we hear loud dance music coming from the road and getting louder.  Our player had arrived.  He pulls in, takes a few minutes to exit the car, keeps the music pumping and then gets out, hair styled, looking great and ready to play.  Paul Bradbury, our captain, turned to us all and said, “ahhh, we were all young once too.”

Ron and I played a younger pair than the day before and they were hitting the ball with pace and spin.  They served to start the match and we barely got the serves back which were poached and pounded by the net guy.  I decided we would both play back in the next service game but I didn’t want to make the adjustment in the first game as I didn’t want to give our opponents the added boost in confidence.  Ron held his serve and we got on a good roll.  We were up 5-1 after Ron held again.  With our opponents serving 30-40 on set point Ron hit a driving groundstroke that was weakly hit back to us just over the net.  I pounced and aimed my volley at feet of my opponent closest to the net.  I was off by about a foot and the ball went between the knees of my opponent for a winner.  However, the swift reaction by our opponent to protect himself caused an injury to his shoulder.  We played two more games and then at 6-1, 1-1 – they retired.  It’s a real bummer to have a match end like this and hopefully our opponent is OK and heals quickly.  My apologies and they are two real good sports.

And that’s it for this update.  We play Healthplex on Saturday (assuming it ever stops raining) and then Great Valley 6/27.

K9 advances to Sectionals!

K9 will represent the Philadelphia district for the 2009 9.0 Mixed Season.  Congratulations!!  It was a long and rocky road but the team persevered and came through with a tremendous win over a truly fantastic Kinetix squad.  The “Kinetix” team went to Nationals in 2008 but only four of their players from that team were allowed to play on the 2009 squad.  We were able to pick up three players from the 2008 Kinetix Nationals team: Gino Carosella, Kathi Rees and Mike Simonetti. 

The problem was that Gino missed signing up for K9 by just hours.  When the early start ratings were released Gino published at 4.5.  When the year ends published he was 5.0 and because he played in the post season last year he was affected by the new rule that Benchmark (players who played in the post season the previous year) players are not eligible for appeals. Therefore, Gino had to compete this year as a 5.0.  If Gino had signed up a day earlier we would have had the option of playing Gino and Kathi, a winning combination at Nationals from last year’s Kinetix Nationals squad. 

K9 lost to Kinetix in our regular season match 1-2.  Dejan (Dan) Blagovcanin teamed with Melinda Lee to defeat Lynn Dickson & Brian Zansitis but Dan suffered a season ending injury in this match.  We also got a firsthand glimpse of the talent behind the partnership of Lindsay Brown & Simon Key.  They are simply awesome and on this night they topped Kathi & Mike 4&1. 

In the season continuance match towards the end of the season we lost again to Kinetix – this time 0-3.  We played well enough against Lindsay & Simon to get it to a 3^rd set but we still lost.  We also encountered David Blumeris who I have to declare the most talented player in PATD playing 9.0 Mixed.  He’s an unbelievably good tennis player. 

This left us at 7-2 for the regular season.  Clearly we had talent but getting our players out when we needed them was difficult – that’s where Lynn Dickson comes in.  She is player/captain extraordinaire.  Lynn has dealt with the trials and tribulations that come with the honor of running any USTA team – last second cancellations, unreasonable requests and the politics that come with our favorite pastime. 

New this year, thanks to our coordinator Fenton Martin, was a district championship format.  We decided on a single elimination format where the first place team in our flight plays the 4^th place team (Kinetix vs. the Soul in this case) and the 2^nd place team plays the 3^rd place team (K9 vs. Kinetix 2) with the winners playing for Sectionals. 

In the first round match at districts, our player Chris Lewis had a seizure after being up 2-0 in the set.  I won’t go into much detail here because this is not the place for such serious things but suffice it to say, it was terrifying experience.  Chris is fine now.  I was not there because I was playing a USTA men’s match but it’s something I still think about daily.  I am still struggling to come to terms with Chris’s partner’s reaction (Liz) as well as Lynn and Melinda Lee’s reaction.  When you are right there, can’t do anything to help and you think you are losing a soul I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been.  We are all so glad that Chris is fine and thank you as well to so many people that were there and did so much to help.  Members from all four teams playing showed a high level of concern and compassion.  For the most part, all of the matches under way were postponed.

We rescheduled the remainder of the match and since Chris Lewis had to retire we needed to win the other two courts to advance to the District finals. This came down to Lynn Dickson and Wasyl Manko needing to come back after dropping the first set to Chris Herdelin and Karen Brashear.  Lynn and Wasyl came through with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory but it was a very hard fought battle.

The Districts final was played Friday night, June 5^th at Kinetix.  I witnessed the best USTA tennis I have ever seen.  Every court was great to watch.  I had a nervous feeling about the match and Wasyl and I agreed that we were fortunate to get exactly the matchups we desired to give ourselves a chance.

#1 Dubs:  Kinetix wins- Lindsay Brown & Simon Key over Karin Ptaszek-Kochis & Anthony Dececco – 6-3, 7-6.  This was a great match.  Kinetix raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set before Karin & Anthony started to gel.  Lindsay & Simon have played a lot more together than Karin & Anthony.  We expect only great things from this pair as they get more experience together.

#2 Dubs:  K9 wins – Lynn Dickson & Brian Zansitis over Diana Felker & David Blumeris -  6-3, 2-6, 7-6.  This was a 4.5 combo on the K9 side vs. a 5.0/4.0 combination for Kinetix.  David is the cat’s meow as I stated so this was a classic Mixed match where you focus on the weaker partner.  This meant that much of the heavy lifting was on Diana’s shoulders and it was an amazing chess match.  Well played on all sides – it could not have been any closer.

#3 Dubs:  K9 wins – Liz Henkin & Gino Carosella over Melinda Lee & Sean McElroy – 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.  I’m pretty sure Gino and Sean had just played together the day before and so did Melinda and Liz.  No surprises on this court – we knew it would be a battle as the score indicates. 

I’m not sure how many matches K9 would win if we played Kinetix a 100 times.  I’d have to guess that it would be well less than half of the matches.  We needed the right matchups, great play from everybody and the intangible “bounces” that we all need to win our matches.   We are fortunate to come out on top this time and congratulations to Kinetix too – they are a super talented, fun and classy group of tennis enthusiasts.

Sectionals are June 19th – 21^st in Landisville, PA.  The winner advance to competes in the first ever truly national, Nationals in Las Vegas, NV November 20^th-22^nd.  How sweet would this be?  I know K9 has every chance to do well.

Let’s play two!

Let’s play two tennis matches that is.  Easy Killer won twice this past weekend topping the Drunken Fools both times.  Our first match was our regularly scheduled 6/6/09 match at the Fool’s home courts – Phoenixville High School. 

Here’s a little history about the local tennis in Phoenixville, PA.  The Phoenixville High School (PHS) tennis team coached by the legendary Leo Scoda (the current 3^rd term Mayor of Phoenixville) and PHS team is 196-0 since 1987 during regular season matches.  We have four PHS alumni on our team: Brandon Dinh who played #1 1987-1990, Canh Ho who played #1 in 1994-1997, Mitch Reading who played #2 2003-2004 and Tom McAvoy who played #2 and #3 in 2003-2006.   Our opponents also played two PHS alumni against us, Ben Potts who played #1 2003-2005 and Wanzell (Wonzie) Flemming who played #1 dubs in 2003-2006.  Our guys were pumped to play on their home courts and as Mitch Reading said at practice on Tuesday, “we don’t lose on our home courts. “

Tradition held and we took all 5 courts for the first time this season.  Some say it was the intense focus and determination from practice last week.  Perhaps it was Coach Scoda’s presence that made all the difference.  In 2001, Mr. Scoda was named National High School Tennis Coach of the Year, and was inducted into the Middle States Tennis Association Hall of Fame.  Mr. Scoda is a man who teaches us all about life and of giving back to one’s community.  And then there are still others who seem to think it was Mitch’s girlfriend Erika who attended our match for the first time this year and brought us good luck.

I will briefly recap the matches but do any of you remember the old days when the Aces (now the Drunken Fools) Greg Snoberger, Joe Benford and Bernie Prazenica used to lace it up and play Saturday mornings?

At  singles, Canh Ho topped Ben Potts and Mitch Reading ousted Wonzie Flemming in straight sets.

At #1 doubles, Eric Markowitz teamed with TomMcAvoy for the 2^nd time in 3 years.  The chemistry is starting to show as the beat Lonnie Cooper and Mike Ruhl in straight sets – a very impressive result.

At #2 doubles, Joe Sassa and Ed Daou won in 3 sets over Geoff Chan and Subba Kumpatla in a long hard fought match.  Nice playing on both sides, some real nice points.

At #3 doubles, Ron Rubenstein and I split sets with Joe Dixon and Jeff Horwitz before getting into our groove and winning the 3^rd set.

On Sunday morning we made up the rain out we had at our home courts for what was supposed to be our second match of the year.  We won the match 4-1 to wrap up a successful weekend.  This was a fun match.  I hemmed and hawed about including this next part.  I decided to include it, then exclude it and then to go ahead and write about it because I can’t make this stuff up. 

Both teams warmed up by themselves Sunday morning.  We overheard our opponents individual claims about being faster and quicker and wouldn’t you know it, a 40 yard dash broke out when two of our opponents tore off racing each other.  We didn’t pay much attention to it at the time.

At #1 singles, Mitch Reading was paired against a surprisingly game Lonnie Cooper.  Lonnie is an ace at doubles and his partnership with Mike Ruhl is just about as tough as it gets at the 4.0 level.  I’m assuming Mike wasn’t available for the Sunday match so Lonnie showed that he can play great singles too.  We have all long thought that Mitch would evolve into one of our killer singles guys and for the most part he has.  He hasn’t faced the ferocious competition at Districts yet but he has done well in the opportunities he’s been given.  Mitch and Lonnie played well over 90 minutes to a 5-5 tie in the first set before things started to go Lonnie’s way.  Lonnie won 5&2 for a solid win.

At #2, Canh Ho played Don Johnson.  Canh won – sorry Don.  We really expected to see Shawn Minnier in this match.  Shawn is the Fools regular #1 singles guy and a very smart player who notched a key victory against us last year.

At #1 dubs, Mel Navea and Tom McAvoy won what seemed to be a very competitive match 4&3 over Brian Schweitzer and Wonzie Flemming.  I saw a lot of long points and had no idea who had won until I heard the score.  Nice playing guys.

At #2 dubs, Eric Markowitz and Tom Faith teamed up for the first time in a long while.  And, truth be told, they didn’t look that good.  They faced Jeff Horwitz and Geoff Chan.  Jeff is more of a singles player but I like his style at doubles because he absolutely goes for certain shots, occasionally.  Geoff Chan is a smart and steady player and every time I looked over I saw long points, lots of touch shots and several winning points for our competition.  We won 1&3 – go figure?

At #3 dubs, Ron Rubenstein and I faced off against Joe Dixon and Kevin Pattinson.  This was clearly their #1 team and I have great respect for both Joe and Kevin.  Ron and I welcomed the tough test and played well.  We were up 5-1 in the first set when I hit a lob over Joe’s head.  Joe never reacted and I started to grimace anticipating an “out” call for a ball I thought would surely drop in.  The ball did drop in, it was called good, we won the set 6-1 and Joe retired.  He pulled a hamstring in the sprint before the match.  So sorry to hear that gents – this would have been a good fight.  Hope you heal fast.

On a side note, in my role as a league coordinator, I received a grievance for a participant in a woman’s match for bad language.  One of the players in the match wrote in the complaint that their opponents said that they “F-ed up the score.”  I’m all for good sportsmanship but if that person that was offended by this, she would have turned pale and fainted if she was in attendance at our match!  In fact, I’m quite sure that she would have learned a few new words especially after one the players we faced got broke after being up 40-0 in a critical game.  I’d call it a 60 second tirade – quite impressive actually.

Our next match is Saturday, June 13^th vs. the West Chester Aces.  We owe these guys one. 

Our picnic this year will be June 27th at the casa del Faith estate in Wayne, PA.  Start time is 3:30pm – please let me know if you can make it so we can plan the logistics (a.k.a. beer).

EK slips past Kinetix 3-2

Last weekend my Saturday started on the hectic side. I had to force my kids out of bed, pickup my son’s baseball uniform, feed the boys, get my haircut at 9:30am, take one son to T-Ball, leave, take my other son to a T-Ball field 20 minutes away, go back and get the first one, get the second one, feed them again and then play my 1pm match at Kinetix.

I got to Kinetix and learned that our #1 singles player went to the wrong location but fortunately was in route now with an ETA of about 25 minutes. We were light on available players for this match and none of our regular singles guys were available. I was reviewing the lineup with a teammate before the match and he recommended that Hap play singles because he was equally good at doubles and singles. 

Relieved, I informed Hap that he’d be playing singles as I was writing out the lineup and his response to me was, “I’ve never played singles in my life.” OK then… We juggled the lineup some more and then I screamed “Yahtzee” err, we gave it our best.  Brandon Dinh, our #1 singles player du jour showed up at 1:27pm – 12 minutes past when the rules say he can be defaulted for lateness.  Our opponents fortunately did not default him but they did enforce a 3 game penalty so we started #1 singles 0-3.  My assumption was that we’d win 2nd and 3rd dubs and take #2 singles narrowly escaping with a victory. So here’s how it went –we won 2nd and 3rd doubles which both finished in about 90 minutes. At #2 dubs, Eric Markowitz and Hap P. won a fairly straight forward match 3&3 – thank goodness because Eric tweaked his wrist warming up with me. During the match I could see that his opponent John Keefrider was playing well but then I heard one of our opponents on #2 doubles saying, “if that’s how it is why don’t we just shake hands now.” They managed to get past the concern but that’s a good indication of how seriously we all take our Saturday afternoon tennis.

At #3 dubs, I played with Ed Daou. Despite having a volley glance off my racket and smack me in the face we won 1&3 – hot lips and all. Great playing Ed – I was impressed. In fact, I told him after the first set, “gee Ed, you really play well with all of the guys on the team, you have neat handwriting and you dress nice.  That’s why everyone wants to be your friend (the scary thing is that I actually said this).

After the match I learned that our #2 singles lamb lost 1&2 in a quick match. We were overmatched and truth be told, Kinetix has some good players on their roster. We faced an uphill battle at #1 doubles and lost in straight sets but we were trying to guarantee ourselves 3 individual courts and thus the team match.  I was totally bumming about the match, when Brandon Dinh walked off after his match against a quality opponent and good guy Jim Vesci Jr.  I asked Brandon how he did and nonchalantly he said, “won, 5&1.” You rock Brandon – because of that the team won and we are still alive!

Here is part two of my tirade about our level of commitment this year. Facts are facts, when we formed the team in 2002 we were tennis junkies with girlfriends and wives. In 2009 we have a lots of young children, families with activities and all sorts of other responsibilities. Being available Saturday mornings for tennis matches in May and June suddenly isn’t so easy. But, we still have a strong team and we must never give up, throw in the towel or allow ourselves to lose without a suitable fight. It’s not as simple as “make yourself available” or is it? In the days when we had more passion I recall a cooler filled to the top with ice with all sorts of drinks for every practice. Where did those delightful beverages go?  We have the month of June left to put up a fight that we can feel good about until next season. Winning is a catalyst for winning and vice versa. We must rise above our current frustrations and keep our eye on our stated goals which are to advance to Districts. To do that we must practice and be available for matches. We must sacrifice and the small improvements will enable us to become a cohesive and effective tennis team.

The Drunken Fools put out a nice lineup vs. Great Valley this weekend. GV won 4-1 which is impressive because they had to get their guys out to face a tough team or they would have lost. They did and they won a competitive match. We must follow this example. We must strive to be the best we can be.

I will finish on a personal note since I started off that way. On the way to the match we passed the Audobon/West Norriton fair at Route 363 & Egypt road.  My boys got excited and I told them that if they behaved we could stop by the fair on the way home.  They market part of it as having the flavor of “Mykonos by the Sea.” I’ve been to Mykonos and in no way do those beautiful beaches remind me of carnies in wife beaters taking overpriced tickets for old rides cranking Joan Jett’s “Do you want to touch.” On the positive side, my youngest son said with a big grin on the way in to the fair passing the ice cream man, the large stuffed animals and some of the rides, “this is the best day of my life!”

EK can’t get past Great Valley

The weather at 8am Saturday was beautiful – the beginnings of an 80 degree day.  The playoff picture was seemingly “in the air” as we warmed up.  There were several spectators including Mitch Reading , Joe (a.k.a. Joey Zaza) Sassa, Brandon Dinh, Rob Attman, Bobby Fagen, Joe Virgulti, Ron’s daughter and Mrs. Hap, as well as a few others.

Great Valley defeated Easy Killer 3-2 on this peaceful Saturday morning (May 23^rd) at Great Valley High School.  Four of the five matches were straight sets and one was split sets.  We didn’t have our absolute best (shocker!) but we had a respectable lineup to face the toughest team in our flight…  I will take it a step further – the toughest team in our District.  I play a little in the Central and in the Delaware districts and there is much parity.  I can’t conceive of comparing teams section wide as there are too many variables to make much of a valid conclusion.  My conclusion for this match however is: very tough singles and too much Greg Heck.

At #1 singles, Canh Ho defeated Michael J. Schmidt.  I’ll let you guess at the “J” for his middle name.  Canh won 4&4 in this battle of heavyweights (thought you’d like that Canh).  Both Canh and Michael are extremely capable of winning at 4.0 Men’s Nationals and we are fortunate to have Canh on our side as there is no better teammate and tennis player than Canh.  Canh is instrumental in making things happen and he is undoubtedly going to be a great Dad in the next few months.  Any wagers on when the baby gets its very own tennis racket?

At #2 singles, Tom McAvoy lost in split sets to Brett Siegfried.  Brett is kind of our very own EK killer like the Atlanta Braves’ Brian McCann, notorious Phillies’ killer.  Brett is top notch (top notch!) He defeated a very capable Tom McAvoy this time, he topped current 4.5 Jesse Brown last year and in 2002 he beat Jeff Tang (current 5.0).  And, now that I’m thinking about it, our non-District advancing team from last had 4 players get bumped to 4.5 – Bill Carpenter, Chris Kyper, Jesse Brown and Bob Cohen.  How many guys did District advancing GV lose?  Zero, but I digress.

At #1 dubs, Ron Rubenstein and yours truly lost to Richard Trach and Greg Heck.  Speaking boldly, I thought I played OK and served well.  I also thought the score could have been a little closer.  Then again we lost in straight sets.  Greg Heck is the best player in the Philadelphia districts with a 4.0 rating.  The really frustrating thing about this is that Greg is great guy too.   Rich is a solid player who has done an amazing job converting from singles to doubles.  Greg, Rich – hmm, I have no shot to take – great playing gentlemen.

At #2 doubles, our CPD team of Jeff Garby and Mel Navea lost to Holger Mackenthun and Tom Mead.  Jeff and Mel play a similar style to Tom and the matchup was not a good one for us.  This was a court we needed to win if we are going to get passed GV.  Tom Mead has been a nice pickup for GV and added strength at doubles could be just the ticket for them to advance past districts.  Holger and Tom have  excellent chemistry and they have already become a formidable team.

At #3 doubles, long time Blokhead Eric Markowitz teamed with Hap Phouthavongsa for a straight set victory.  Hap is our Delaware connection and we are happy to have him.  Nice straight set win guys despite the 2-5 start to the first set!

So what does the rest of the season have for us?  Good question.  We play Kinetix this weekend.  Then we have a double header with the Drunken Fools during the weekend of 6/6.  We play the West Chester Aces and then Healthplex before we finish up with a season ending match vs. GV 6/23.   We have 2 losses and GV has none.  We do not control our own destiny.  The question is can we hold our heads high and start winning the close matches.  If so, we can at least improve from where we are today.  Steady improvement over time is what it’s all about.

It’s been an interesting year in the 4.0 PATD.  A quick glance at the other 3 flights makes me think that this is a good year to make Districts.  The “Blue” flight is the only flight that looks right to me.  Despite a nice record by the Borg, the Bucks Broncs seem to have things firmly in control and will advance to Districts.  They are there every year and they made Sectionals once recently.  This is the level of consistency we strive for ourselves.   In the “Green” flight, perennial District representative Logan finds themselves behind Logan 2 after a 0-5 loss to them on opening day 4/25.  Logan lost some needed singles help (Ben Isser, Omar Benitez & Judd Davis).  Personally, I think the week one upset is a case of Logan not getting their players out but FCTC-Green beat Logan and Logan 2 so this flight is up in the air.  I predict that FCTC will advance but that prediction is worth exactly what you paid for it.  In the “Yellow” flight there is a 4 way log jam with each team tied with a 4-1 record.  The Reservoir Dogs have traditionally been the team to beat.  They have stronger doubles than singles.  The Pirates are the opposite and have better singles than doubles.  The Bad Boys have a great record but their 0-5 loss to the R Dogs is not indicative of a flight winner.   Lakeside has some nice players and they are my sleeper pick for this flight but I can’t discount the vast experience of the Reservoir Dogs.

In conclusion, congrats to Great Valley.  To our team – if this setback doesn’t motivate us – nothing will.   I am enjoying the French Open and isn’t Tennis Channel wonderful?!?!  Coverage starts at 5am and between ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel; it’s non-stop entertainment.   A few trivia tidbits, Roland Garros was a French WW1 pilot and the main stadium is named after him.  The French Open and Roland Garros are synonyms.   In 1912, the French tournament was held with a different surface (at the time all tennis played was lawn tennis), a red clay (”terre battue”), made up from the crushed wastes of red brick overtop of crushed limestone overtop of iron ore overtop of gravel.  Water and rolling keep the clay from becoming dust and also keep it flat.  The person with the most French Open wins?  Chris Evert with seven.

EK downs Healthplex 4-1

Easy Killer improved to 2-1 on the season after taking 4 out of 5 courts from the Healthplex on Saturday. The Healthplex is in our flight every year and they are always fun to play. They are not the powerhouse in our flight (nor are we it seems) but they do have a good group of guys who enjoy themselves when they play. (I enjoy myself too… as long as I win).

 A thank you for this past match goes out to Joe Sassa who had a great fight at #1 singles, to Mitch Reading for his 2nd straight win of this young season, to Tom Faith/Ed Daou for their 2nd win together and to Hap Phouthavongsa & Mel Navea for combining and playing well.

We have our next match against Great Valley on Saturday, May 23rd (Memorial Day weekend) at 9am at Great Valley HS. GV advanced to districts last June after avenging their loss to us earlier in the 2008 season. We owe them but I won’t exactly be taunting them as they look on paper to be the team to beat yet again. But, that’s why they play the matches.

I am happy that our team has responded from a mid-Spring slumber. We have started to make some noise and practice attendance is improving (we had 14 last night).  Another comment on our flight, The Drunken Fools and us used to compete for Districts. Then came GV. This year the West Chester Aces and Kinetix have certainly announced their presence with some nice wins. We have to be well prepared to win each week and there is no room for undedicated play. The season is short and commitment is paramount. I have long realized that the key to Mixed doubles is fixed partners. I have come to learn that axiom applies to Men’s doubles too. With the level of parity in the league today, two players who are a little better than their two opponents who play regularly together will lose. It used to be true (or seemed so) that two great doubles players made a great doubles team. Now, if you don’t match up deuce & ad players, have a steady and an aggressive partner, a workable strategy for coming to net and the ability to communicate and signal – then you will probably lose to a team that has addressed these fundamentals. What separates the good teams from the best teams is the ability to analyze during the match and adjust to cover your weaknesses and attack your opponent’s vulnerabilities. A big part of this is mental ability to stay focused and never give up. In years past I saw lots of doubles teams discouraged and frustrated after a bad first set. Now it seems like most teams are ready for a fight and they don’t go away easily.

It’s on to GV. We will fight – we promise that. The important thing is to have fun and the rest comes down to the work we’ve done to prepare. Lets see if we can give GV a good match.

Special report – Adoption – how I found my birth parents

I am adopted.  I found my birth parents one week ago and was fortunate enough to meet them for the first time this past weekend.  I want to share with you my experience in an effort to provide a little insight into this situation and so many others just like it.  I have received questions from parents who have adopted, are thinking of adopting, from other adopted children and interested parties.  Many are curious about the emotions, conflicts, grudges and potential hurt feelings that may be part of this experience for the individuals and families involved.  There are many possible scenarios but fortunately for me this has been an entirely positive experience.  I will also go out on a limb and say that I expect that it’s mostly a positive event for everyone involved despite the fear, anxiety and trepidation.  This does not imply a happy ending to a successful search.  However, meeting your birth parents/family certainly comes with a sense of “grounding” or perhaps “completeness.”

First things first, I love my Dad and family.  My father (Joseph Chamberlin) is my best friend, was my best man at my wedding and we talk every day.  He adopted me and raised me in the most selfless and generous way possible.  My hope is that if I can become 1/10 of the man he is, I will be on the right path.  He is my role model, mentor and rock.  He supported me all my life in good times and bad.  He helped me with my search and put me at ease about the entire process.  Thank you Pops.

The search started soon after my Dad handed me casually my adoption records out of the blue when I was visiting one weekend in 1995.  I knew I was adopted from the earliest age but I had never seen the actual paperwork. In fact, I had never thought any paperwork existed.  The legal documents were of no use as there is no identifiable information.  The only useful information came from my father’s handwritten notes on a small piece of paper in the packet that said that my father was a 26 year old, Italian, and an attorney practicing in Syracuse, NY.  He was 5’8” and 205 lbs.  My birth name was Stephen Patrick Howe and that my mother was early 20’s and of German and English ancestry.   That’s all I had except for the fact that baby Stephen liked cereal and slept through the night.  I assumed that they were not married and that Howe was my mother’s name.

So to take a step back, what do you think I felt about being adopted?  The answer is very little.  I had at the time a mother (she passed last year due to breast cancer), father, brother and sister so I wasn’t missing out on having a family.  It was an idle curiosity – nothing more.  I never got my hopes up and the scenarios I imagined were that my parents were injured at the time of my birth or something far worse like they were in jail or deceased.  I also thought that they probably weren’t looking for me and clearly my father being an attorney would know how not to be found if he didn’t want to.  My two questions that I most wanted answered were; why was I given up for adoption and did I have siblings?

My original search consisted of paying the State of NY for a list of practicing attorneys in Syracuse in 1967.  I looked for Italian surnames (ending in a vowel of course) and then called the 70 names I identified.  I had some potential hits but after many, many calls I gave up. It turns out that the name I was looking for was not on my list.  Howe is a common name and if my birth mother had married and thus changed her last name, it would be difficult to locate her.  In 1995 I registered with the New York State adoption information registry and the international registry.  Both work on the premise that if the parents register and the children register then they will be matched by the agency.  Outside of a medical emergency that would compel the courts to open the adoption records to determine the medical history – there was little else I thought I could do.

The Private Investigator (PI) that I hired is amazing.  He has a natural talent for this and his rates are low.  He is friends with my sister (Beverly Chamberlin) who is also adopted (from different parents) and he found her parents in two weeks.  When I learned about that I asked him to search for mine and he found my parents in two months.  Please contact me if you’d like a referral.  He is exceptional, affordable and quick.  He explained that parents essentially can’t find children they put up for adoption because they have no identifiable information.  You get nothing when you give your child up and then you have nothing to go on except a baby picture perhaps – good luck with that.  This was a major realization for me  because I had always assumed that if my parents wanted to find me or to be found they would have or the adoption registries would have paired us.

There are several fallacies about searching for parents and children involved in adoption.  The biggest one is the pairing agencies.  They lull you into a false sense of security in that you feel like you are doing everything that can be done be registering with them.  My sister and her birth family both registered.  My birth family and I both registered.  We were never matched.  The reason is simple.  These are government agencies who have limited funding and resources.  They are not on the leading edge of technology nor do they have modern applications that have reasonable data quality and the ability to generate actionable information.

How I found my birth family was by retaining a PI and giving him all of the information I had.  He sent me a 4 page report replete with potential fathers and theories about my mother’s occupation and the potential situations.  None of the pictures of potential fathers that fit our criteria resembled me.  There were some far flung theories about my mother but I mostly ignored that section and I really didn’t follow his line of thinking.  I asked him to follow up on the ideas he had for my birth father and to cold call all of the Howe’s in the Syracuse phonebook.  As it turns out, he actually listed by name my mother in his first report.  In the second report my PI listed only five potential fathers for me – 3 deceased, one in Florida with no contact info and one in Rochester, NY.  I googled the Rochester name and found a picture in a law directory.  My body literally “buzzed” when I viewed the picture of my birth father; like I was set on vibrate.  The physical resemblance was unbelievable.  The eyes, the nose, ears, chin, full head of hair etc. were all the same.  I showed it to a few friends and they all agreed that I was on to something.  The law directory that listed my birth father also provided me with the email address so I sent him an email.  He called me in an hour and said, “I think I am your father.”

The answers to my questions were ones that I had never, ever imagined.  My birth parents conceived me early on in their relationship.  As marriage was not certain, they gave me up for adoption (phew!)  They ended up getting married a year later and had my sister Meredith and my brother Jerry.  They have been missing me and wanting to find me for 40 years.

My first visit with my birth family went great.  Everyone I met was amazing and very nice.  They greeted me with open arms, trust and acceptance.  I was given a picture of my sister and her family, my father and one of my mother (who has remarried after 20 years with my birth father) with her husband Larry (my step-father).  I showed this to my boys when I got home and the immediate comment was, “Gee Dad, you have a lot of new parents.”  During the weekend I was able to get some 1:1 time with just about everyone.  I have to say I was extremely taken with my sister’s kids.  Jack is absolutely amazing.  He trusted me instantly and called me Uncle Russ.  Since I have no other nephews or nieces and one of my best friends who passed from lung cancer 2 years ago used to call me that – I was very happy to hear him say it. When he asked me what I do for a living; he listened patiently and then politely stated, “now put it it terms I can understand.” Jack, 12,  is one of many new delights I discovered.  A second delight was his sister Ashley.  She’s a great kid who works hard at school and dance.  She’s grounded and filled with enthusiasm and determination.  In the time between finding my birth family and meeting we each talked on the phone some.  I can’t tell you how excited I was to get a LinkedIN invite from my brother before we spoke on the phone (he lives in Seattle).  I was also friended by my sister on Facebook.  After the first night I  traveled with my birth sister to meet my birth mother (Kathleen) and her husband Larry.  This was wonderful too.  We ate, had some wine and my sister beat me at Scrabble on the last turn of the game.  It was so nice to feel such positive energy in the room.

So what determines who you become – environment or genetics? Clearly the answer is both.  I found numerous similar traits.  My father was a long time wrestler as am I.  My father has the same allergies that I do.  He likes strong water pressure in the shower which is something that’s important to me too.  We have so many seemingly irrelevant similarities that it’s crystal clear we are related. Environment is also a major factor but my assumption is that being raised in either family would have been a comparable experience as both families have similar socio-economic standings.

So where do we go from here?  To the family reunion on July 4^th of course!  I can’t wait to meet more of the extended family.  My sister’s (Meredith’s) family may come visit for a trip to Hershey Park and to see a Phillies game.  My brother (Jerry) is coming to Lake Placid to compete in a triathlon in July so that will be our first meeting.  My best summation is that I have found an open door.  What happens next only time will tell.  Having lost a parent I understand what that parent did for me and my love for them.  This all means a lot to me including my brother Joseph, my sister Beverly and my Dad and all of my birth family.   I think this next statement is the best thing I can clear up with this post.  It’s all good.  Everyone is supportive and you don’t have to feel shy or embarrassed to have additional relatives or worry about hurting others feelings.  You do need to be sensitive and aware that you are in unchartered ground so cautious steps are necessary and wise.  Nevertheless, It’s better than “all good.”  It’s great!

Aces upset Easy Killer

We lost to the West Chester Aces on Saturday 2-3. We consider this an upset and a wakeup call. A shot across our bow if you will. We now need to win almost all of our matches to advance to Districts. If we have any chance to make waves at Districts we must be able to do this. If we do win out, we’re in no matter what. We still control our own destiny.

In the league, what has changed is the commitment level that many teams bring to the table. I know of several teams that practice twice a week and the majority of the team attends the practices. This means that they have played with their partners in practice and they have figured out a few things about their partnership options. Also, many of these players prioritize practice dates and matches above most of their other activities.  With the monsoon Spring season and these tough economic times, it has been difficult to practice as much as we have in the past. The teams that are dedicated are giving themselves a great opportunity to do well.  Case in point, we practiced last night and two teams in our own flight had more players practicing then we did at the courts.

For our Saturday match, we had limited availability and none of our doubles teams had ever met their partner. It showed. What also showed is a solid performance by our opponents. Kudos to the Ace’s – good job fellas – can’t wait to play you again.

What can be done?

This is a team and we win or lose as a team. What I’m asking each of our teammates is embrace the team, put it on their own shoulders and get it done. We can take it if we want it – we have the talent. Our flight is very competitive and Great Valley sets a high bar for the minimum level we must attain. We need positive, can-do attitudes. We have to keep moving forward and start dictating play.  We need to be proud of our team.

Time is short. If we don’t advance, come July 1, USTA men’s tennis in our district is done – that’s only the next 7 weekends.  Would the real Easy Killer team please stand up.

Easy Killer starts the season

And so it begins, our 2009 Men’s tennis adult season.  We are enjoying the changing weather and have actually been able to play outdoors a little bit. We had a good start to the season on Saturday, April 25^th and out beautiful new home courts at Rustin High School in West Chester, PA. We pulled out a victory 4-1 against Kinetix and we are now 1-0 in a six-team flight.  We play everyone twice and only the winner of the flight will advance to Districts. 

At 1^st singles, our ace Canh Ho pulled a hammy and very cautiously finished the match.  This is a classy thing to do instead of defaulting and we hope Canh will heal this week in time to play our match on Saturday against the Drunken Fools!  Congrats to Jimmy Riggs, Canh’s opponent – I wish I could say I beat Canh in straight sets!

At #2 singles, Mitch Reading stepped up and won a nail biter 7-6 in the 3rd set.  Way to go Mitch!  Mitch was definitely thrown off by his opponent’s unorthodox style and hed almost did not come away with the victory.  It was 6-2 Mitchy-poo in the tiebreaker at match point and fortunately Mitch was able to close it out for a nice win. The sky is the limit for Mitch and this is a good confidence builder to start the season.

At #1 doubles we played Tom Ramsay and newcomer Hap Phouthavongsa. They introduced themselves to each other and then won their match in 3 sets.   Tom’s long time partner Bob Cohen, a.k.a. the Rodney Dangerfield or our team, got bumped up so we are experimenting with some new options, Their opponents were John Keefrider and Peangelo Miranda (wonder what his friends call him for short?)  I have to say that John played very steady tennis and I didn’t see him miss a shot.  Peangelo is a sensational player and we were fortunate to win this court.  Well done guys and welcome Hap!  Hap is a big hit already as he brought refreshments that we all enjoyed in the 90 degree weather after the match.  Thanks Hap!

At #2 doubles, another recruit Ed Daou and long time veteran Tom “Killer” Faith smoked what I thought was our opponent’s best dubs team 3&1 – Wow!  They played Dr. Dana Burkholder and Jim Vesci, Jr.  Dana and Jim are solid and experienced so all I can say is well done.  Welcome Ed and I’m sure our opponents had their fill of lefties for a while.

At 3rd doubles, Ron Rubenstein and myself won in straight sets.  We played together some in the Winter and we had a modicum of chemistry for our first official match together – nice playing Ron!

We are 1-0 and play the Drunken Fools 5/11 at our home courts at 9am May 2nd.  Great Valley beat the Fools so right away it’s clear that it’s us and GV (and the Fools if we don’t win in Saturday) in contention for Districts. The Fools are our favorite type of opponents – good tennis and the same after match philosophy as us. Life is too short – enjoy every moment.

The Englunds Main Line Tennis Classic is coming up next week – we have some of our team in this. This should be a fun event at the Great Valley Racquet club. And, just a note on our new name, the meaning is akin to “Lighten up Francis” – you remember, “and I don’t like anyone touching me, any of you homos put your meat hooks on me, and I’ll kill you…”