LAST WEEK’S RECAP | FEBRUARY 13 – 19, 2017

It’s interesting that just when you think tonight’s tennis was so much fun, then you feel that way the next night, and the next. Maybe they’re just all fun, just good to make note of them all.

FRIDAY

I usually don’t mention names of players in the weekly recaps. However, this is worth mentioning.

There were 6 Dave’s tonight, from: the Bronx, NY, Hillsdale, Nutley, River Edge, Teaneck and West Caldwell. To differentiate, I call the one from Nutley “Dancing Dave” because he’s so quick on his feet. A player from Jersey City call him Ninja Dave because JC player would serve and by the time he looks up, Ninja Dave would already be at the net as soon as he returned the serve. Ninja Dave shocks everyone as to how speedy he is. Dave from West Caldwell is just plain funny. This week as people helped me carry stuff into the club, I said “Here Dave, may I give you the bananas to take.” He replied – “I don’t think I can eat all that.” I haven’t seen him have a bad day yet. Spinny Dave hits with super topspin and thus the name. Other Daves remain unnamed for now.

I assigned a match to a player from Butler. He looked at everyone’s name in that match and said “Hmm that’s a 10 dollar match.” What do you mean by that? “He said, well that’s a big match, just how the saying goes – do you want the $1 answer which is small or short or $10 answer which is big.” I see.

A player from Jersey City said to me “You’re like Julius Cesar, a great general.” A player from Fair Lawn overheard and said he second that. They were referring to how commanding I was as I made court assignments for a large crowd tonight. Well, someone’s got to do the dirty work!

This was really funny to me. During the 3rd hour break, I had a chance to catch up with a player who went back to Taiwan for Chinese New Year. I then introduced him to another player who’s also from Taiwan. A third player said he was also from Taiwan. And another, and another; no more than 5 in total. Even a player whose heritage is Puerto Rican said he was Taiwanese, but then came clean and said his great grandfather was Chinese but not Taiwanese, though there is a hint of Chinese in him. Finally, the only one not standing (sitting on the couch) said “Yo, I’m from Taiwan too!” And we all burst out laughing because he was no way Chinese but was quite funny to make us laugh so hard.

How uncanny, one more teenager newcomer joined the Friday party, making it two 15-year-olds and two 16-year-olds! They not only find the Friday parties a good place to practice but also a nice place to enjoy the evening in a friendly environment. Even the parents were talking of doing mixed doubles with their children against each other. I’ve never done any other sport like soccer, softball to know how parents meet but these are good beginnings of new friendships….

It’s also interesting that the parents of the teenagers did not participate the first time, thinking that it would be fun for their kids. However, the second time the children attended, the parents would also participate in the tennis games with other adults, as they realized that the tennis parties are great for all levels and age groups. The Kinnelon parent/USTA captain joined the tennis for the first time and had fun. Hopefully, he will participate again.

Two of the teenagers teamed up at their first meeting here and had such a great time. It was a great feeling to come back to win in a tie-breaker after trailing 1-5. They liked the friendly competition. It’s really nice to have this experience before their real tennis matches starting this March.

SATURDAY

I asked how the match was and a couple of players said “We played BAAAD but they [the opponents] were blind, I have to say” … and “he had one screw loose.” — the way they said it was just so funny, I couldn’t stop laughing, about how players view themselves and others.

I also love how tennis players can recount a point or a match from years ago as if it was yesterday. A bunch of players from – I can’t say where or it would be a dead giveaway – compared notes and said they liked playing with Flying Tiger, referring to a player from Englewood Cliffs. He’s got another trait where he tends to stretch some expressions during play. It was just really funny all the scenarios they recounted, which I can’t even remember right after.

One said of one player from Edgewater who said – “You can redeem yourself in the next point.” The next player said oh yes he’s the one who couldn’t see the ball because he forgot his contact lenses, or his back hurt, etc.

I kept introducing a player from Middletown, NJ as the one who made New Year’s Eve so memorable. And I said too bad New Year’s Eve is almost a year away. He said “Who said we can’t have New Year’s Eve party in June? ” I agree, let’s! Maybe we can have a Mid Year’s Eve party.

SUNDAY

At the end of the night, we all gathered in the hallway of Fairfield Racquet Club. A player from Bridgewater said he enjoys the 2-hour tennis because it’s 2 straight hours, there’s no delay, no waiting for the next court assignment, no interruption. Another player from Fort Lee said he likes it because it’s a small venue than Saturday night, more intimate and 2 hours is just what he needs. When I was his age, 30’s, I enjoyed the 4-5 hours of Saturday night tennis parties, though I would be sore and walk funny from Sunday until Wednesday before it started all over again on Saturday. Ah… the routines we love.

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