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…”

Mixed is done – here comes Summer!

And so another season has passed us by. Thank you to the team for the exceptional spirit and dedication to our practices, tournament and matches. Everything is possible when we work together. We finished 6-2, tied for 1^st but ultimately we finished in 3^rd with the tiebreakers.

Unfortunately we did not advance to post season play this year. We had a very talented team and the blame lies squarely on my shoulders. I goofed with some of our lineups and didn’t pull out a few necessary wins. Oh well, if this season has taught me anything it’s how to keep things in perspective. We have had such success from the very beginning and we haven’t had to deal with the mental anguish of not living up to expectations. Another lesson learned (again) is to keep the team size more manageable. We had such talent and so few matches to see what each member could contribute.

What is important is family, work and having fun with your spare time. We have dealt with a few out of the ordinary situations this year but it’s fruitless to devote an ounce of energy to things you can’t control. As Oscar Wilde said, “It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” The USTA caterwaulers will continue on doing what it is they do. Our goal is to win and have fun doing so. That’s it. Nothing changes and I appreciate those around me more and more.

Highlights of the season start with our first team match with the individual matches split 1-1. Margie Hamilton and Canh Ho survived match points, broke their opponent for the first time after being down 30-0 – two points from the match and pulled out the match in a dramatic 7-6 3^rd set win. Practices were great and we got a nice mixture of 4.0, 4.5 and guests that played with us often. Thank you to Kathy Joy Hammer, Dave Chow, Ed Daou, Karen Loomis, Cindy Basile, Irene Acosta, Ron Rubenstein and Chris Kyper, Eric Markowitz, Chris Flouris and Liz Henkin for making Fridays so enjoyable. The Kings & Queens tournament is wrapping up. Canh & Liz will play the winner of KJ/Dave vs. Jackie/Russell. Can anyone knock them off?

So in conclusion of the Mixed 2008 from this amateur wordsmith, we tried and came up short. I know my tennis game is improving and I hope that most of our teammates enhanced their game this season, made some new friends and had fun. Perhaps next year we’ll be on top again because as Ben Franklin said, “Well done is better than well said.”

Pork chops cooked

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill. We have not lost our enthusiasm but then again I wouldn’t say we are successful either. The Pork chops got left in the oven a little too long as we lost 2-1 to Kinetix on Friday night. But don’t stick a fork in us just yet, our playoff hopes ride on winning the individual matches won/lost record as the first tiebreaker with Kinetix. We are both 13-8 in individual matches. We play the Rally Cats and they play Boomers2 in the final regular season match on 4/4/09. If we sweep and they lose one court we’re in. Goooo Boomers – here’s to Al Ortega rolling out a strong lineup against Kinetix like they did when they played us. Al’s team was in first place early in the season and can certainly be competitive with Kinetix.

In the match on Friday we were outplayed on 2 of the 3 courts. It isn’t something that happens often but sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug. The important point to remember is that what’s really important is certainly not winning every match although we try to do so. This season more than ever before in my memory I have seen conflict and strife over benign issues. And, to reiterate, when tennis is not fun then it’s time to examine your priorities to see if you have spending your time wisely. It’s fun to learn and grow as a player and person. It’s fun to confront challenges and weaknesses. We’ve had a few good runs and all we can do is keep our heads up, be gracious to our opponents and get as much enjoyment from our limited time available for tennis.

Regarding our match, I will skip the highlights except for congratulating Jackie Shaw and Eric Markowitz for a nice win on Friday against us. They are both ex-teammates and they played well. Eric gutted out a tough mid-match calf injury and together they sealed the win for our opponents. Well done Jackie and Eric (*&$%#*&$)!

We have made progress on the Kings & Queens tournament. We are in the quarter finals. Please try to get your matches in. Fortunately or unfortunately we have more time on our hands to get this tournament completed if we don’t make districts but we welcome the challenge if we are fortunate enough to squeak into the post season.

It’s good to have passion in your life

And to quote Tracy Chapman – I lose my head, from time to time. I make a fool out of myself, in matters of the Tennis errr heart, heart, heart.

Where to begin? We lost to TST on Saturday 2-1 in a very bad way. It was sloppy play with no focus. There are two sides to every match and I must start with Kudos to TST and especially Ezra Felker. They have heart. Despite everything that happened, we had a sitter on match point in the final court that was hit into the net. It was really an impossible thing to have happen. I had already jumped up thinking the match was over because it was a miracle that the ball even came back over the net. Ezra essentially threw a racket at it and it somehow went over. We lost five match points in that final tiebreaker – unreal. I’m still grimacing from this set back. However, if we make Districts; it was a positive thing to have happen.

Next, we are dealing with a huge distraction which is making tennis not fun. Once this distraction is resolved I will give my readers full disclosure on what happened, my opinion and the result. Bottom line, I am not a happy camper and this is an unwelcome distraction.

I have learned that I may take tennis too seriously? Nah! I know that must be everyone’s immediate reaction. What is important is my family and my job. So as this episode comes full circle perhaps it’s a good thing because tennis is supposed to be fun and when it’s not it’s time to reevaluate.

So where are we going from here? We have to win Friday against the Kinetix Krushers or we don’t make districts. We will give it a full effort and I am confident we’ll give ourselves every opportunity to succeed in this match.

On the positive side, my Central PA (CPD) team played the Central team we defeated in Sectionals last year and this time I got to play. They have essentially the exact same team again except which is very impressive.  I was scheduled to play #1 doubles which would have had me play their best team of Nicole Nickolaus and Ben Smith. I was informed as I walked on to the court that I was being switched to 3^rd doubles because one of my teammates decided to adjust the lineup. I already lost to Nicole this year in 7.0 and I was thinking I would have some tough sledding ahead of me. I believe that Nicole/Ben is the best individual Mixed Doubles team in all of Middle States. Nicole is closer to 4.5 than 3.5 and Ben is just about the most talented athlete I’ve seen on a tennis court. Nicole/Ben won their court but we took the other two.  My partner is Lesley Agnew and she is a great player too. She has a better serve and a better overhead than me and it’s a real pleasure to have the opportunity to play with her. She is also great at adjusting strategy. I played well for once and I was happy to win our court in a 3^rd set tiebreaker against a super nice and very talented team.  I learned after the match that the other team wanted my captain to play me on #1.

It’s crunch time. Time for our team to pull it together and come out on top. I believe in us. Adversity as long as it doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Enough talking… Bring it Krushers.

Pork chops prevail

Phew! We won over the TA Pirates 2-1 on Sunday night. The match was as anticipated and hotly contested. We improved to 5-0 on the season with 3 matches remaining. The top two teams make Districts and as of now we have a 1 game lead over the Pirates and the Krushers. 

 

Team Standings 

Team Name	Team Wins	Team Losses	Ind. Wins	Ind. Losses	Games Lost
Pork Chops & Apple Sauce	5	0	11	4	132
Kinetix Krushers	4	1	11	4	115
8Pirates	4	1	11	4	136
TST	3	2	8	7	156
Kinetix Second String	3	3	9	9	205
Boomers 2	2	3	6	9	162
Kinetix I	2	4	7	11	178
Lakeside	1	5	6	12	187
Rally cats	0	5	3	12	179

 

At #1 doubles, Liz Henkin made her USTA debut with Canh Ho facing off against Val Mead and Brian Zansitis. This was a 2+ hour war that lasted over 2 hours. It was very competitive and we were extremely fortunate to win this difficult court. This was a match that was much close than 6&3.

 

On court 2, Cindy Basile and Kim Zahan lost to Anthony DeCecco and Megan Faunce. This is an incredibly difficult pair to play. I have never seen Anthony play better and he’s very steady on court. This is a great combination for the Pirates and I doubt anyone will beat them this year.

 

Finally, on court 3, Irene Acosta and yours truly fought to a draw against Margie Wentz and Ron Siggs. We actually won the match but it was really close. Essentially, either side could have won and it was nice to play a close match against a good team. AWESOME playing Irene – you da best!

In this caldron of uncertainty we call Middle States, I have no idea what is brewing. This is an unusual year to say the least but there’s a lot to be said for keeping your head down and your knees crossed.

And speaking about keeping your head down, at practice last Friday, our very own “Tina Fondueit “ (the name has been changed to protect the innocent) swung at a wide ball with spin on it and broke her nose with her follow through requiring 4 stitches. We were all very shocked. What is Billy McElroy teaching her? “Tina” asked me to thank Irene Acosta who stayed with her, took her to the hospital and was a great friend to her. And I’m a great friend too, I specifically told Tina not to get any blood on the court – sheese, some people – do they listen??

Ahead for us next is TST – our nemesis. They like ourselves are not the powerhouse they once were but it will be good tennis and we are more than ready for the challenge. TST is captained by Tom James and anytime we get the opportunity to mix it up with a class act team like TST it’s a great thing.

Here’s the latest on the K&Q tournament. The following teams have all advanced to the quarterfinals. Liz& Canh will play Gina/Ron the Bobby Brady division. Marie/Kim play Kathy Joy/Dave in the Alice division. Irene/Tom R play a TBD team in the Cindy division and Jackie/Russell play another TBD team in the Sam the Butcher division. The other two first round matches will be completed by Sunday, March 15^th, Things are starting to get interesting.

So that’s the recap – onward and upward. Great team win. A special thank you to those who were able to come out and support the team!