LAST WEEK’S RECAP | August 6 – 19, 2012
WEEK NIGHT
Three week night regulars got to play with another regular from a different night. The player from Jersey City expressed that – “it was a load of fun. [Player from Cliffside Park] added a different dynamic to the game. And I got to play the forehand side a couple of rounds, which worked out well too because I can trust [her partner from Palisade Park] to handle the backhand side. So another good night at Tennis Buffs!”
Here’s a story of two fierce competitors, from New York City and Hoboken, in a friendly battle on the court – “[My opponent] was playing really well. He got out to a quick 4-1 lead. Serving really well and I gave him too many forehands! I made some adjustments on my return position and started directing to his backhand and battled back to 5-5. I had a break point at 30-40 on his serve and missed an easy put away! I knew it would haunt me. He was then up 6-5 and broke me to win it 7-5.” It’s always nice to be inside a player’s mind.
On another court – “Can’t get any closer than 4-6, 6-4, 6-6. And we promised we wouldn’t mention how many times [the trader from Jersey City] aced [an advanced player from Wyckoff who is injured] and can’t move too much and how many times [the injured player] gave him the finger.”
FRIDAY
It was a special night of celebration of 7 August birthdays! The youngest was 24 and the oldest was 36! Their average age was only 30. Boy, I can’t remember being in my 30’s.
SATURDAY
Rochelle reporting for Penny.
My aunt Penny has been on her death bed, well not really, just incapacitated. However, she is confident that I will do as good a job in making everyone at the tennis parties happy.
So for a first time on the job I was extremely nervous to make mistakes and cause a major catastrophe. I survived. And so did all the players. Thanks to another player helping me run Penny’s show and stick to her plans, what a great reassurance for me. For most of the night, I was at the front desk using the phones obsessively to speak to Penny and make sure that everything was perfect and that the matches went smoothly, so much so that I could only view half of the courts. Therefore, I did not get a good enough grasp of all of you players having fun. Hopefully next time I will get front row seats to observe all the excitement and your enjoyment of the matches. Hope you all had a great party.
SUNDAY
Rochelle reporting for Penny.
Going back to Packanack was a great trip down memory lane for me. My siblings and I used to spend a lot of time there when we were younger, visiting from England. Unfortunately for me, they were the sporty ones, so I would be on the sidelines watching. So in that respect, nothing has changed. And neither has the great atmosphere. I arrived to see players warming up on court, so straight away I set up the food with Penny’s partner before calling everyone in to delegate matches. Of course I was not alone in this decision and Penny would call to make sure that matches set up for everyone’s liking. There was a great turnover of players, floating in and out of matches all day long and hopefully I held the fort from Penny well enough for everyone to be satisfied and have a great party as they usually would.
It was great to meet all the players; you were all extremely welcoming to me and I just hope I gave the same warmth back to you all, as well as providing an entertaining day of Tennis. Until next time.