LAST WEEK’S RECAP | June 10 – 16, 2013
WEDNESDAY
Players from NY this week wanted to break their record last week. Last week there were 50% New Yorkers. This week there were 70%. As I watched the matches, I wondered why they don’t carpool. It must be that they ride the subway all week long and the chance to drive to suburban NJ sounds appealing. They drive Audi’s, Beamers, Mercedes S550, etc. New Jerseyans have toy cars of their own: Acura, BMW 650; and several cars owned by one player. Upon hearing that the Audi driver said “let’s play for cars next week.” In reality, they don’t carpool because they work long hours and don’t have the luxury of going to meet people for rides.
FRIDAY
A couple Friday regulars commented that the summer Friday crowd seems so different from the winter Friday crowd. This is true. There have been different faces surfacing here, some come from other party nights and some are coming out of the wood work for the summer! For whatever their reasons are, players make the parties fun.
I requested the Pastry King to treat us to more desserts and savories from his shop in NYC and he obliged. He has gained new admirers who will visit his shop during lunch hour and a few players gained a few pounds, which they will work off later.
Just like the New Yorkers on Wednesday night, the ladies wanted to out do last week’s stats. There were even more women this week than last week. It was really a great having so many mixed doubles.
Players from various towns – Stony Point, Hackensack, Maywood and Morristown – were happily surprised to see each other tonight. I knew that they knew each other but thought I would keep it as a surprise. They had a nice time playing each other and playing new friends they made at the parties. It was great to see old and new friends mix so well.
Two ladies from Packanack Lake, home of the Sunday parties, joined us tonight. It was a nice way to spend girls’ night out, until midnight! They both said they had a really nice time.
The ladies from Rumsen, NJ and Crystal Springs, NY live in places not so common to city dwellers or suburbanites. The Rumsen player grew up on Long Island and fittingly now lives by the beach. The Crystal Springs player turned her large land into an animal sanctuary, rescuing horses, dogs and cats from shelters, bringing them back to health and finding them home. After having done so for many years, she’s about ready to retire from the task. I hope she finds someone to replace her before she retires. All the ladies were great to be around tonight.
The guys were great, too!
SATURDAY
I said something about a player from NYC being stronger than he looks (he’s very strong). I liked what the player from Cliffside Park said – “Ah that’s a backhanded compliment.” At first I thought about backhands, being that we’re about tennis. Then I thought it meant “reverse” compliment but decided to look it up. It’s “an expression or behavior considered degrading, offensive and impolite.” Yikes, it’s not what I tried to imply! The NYC player knew I’m harmless and meant nothing by that, I think! People are funny and some say great things. Aren’t languages/words great? Just like music, they can be stimulating, change your mood, make you laugh or smile.
One of the old-timers who moved to Rye, NY, attended tonight and recognized a couple of old-timers. He had a nice time and was glad he came. I was also glad he came. He brought back memories of 10-15 years ago when I first met him, although he’s visited the last 2 years. It’s just nice to see friends from the past.
Another friend who moved to Atlanta just last year visited this year. After playing she and her husband stayed so we could catch up. She talked such wonderful things about GA and other states she’s visited that I wanted to visit all of them. One day….
SUNDAY
It was a nice Father’s Day Sunday, not too hot and not too cool.
The Peoria ladies were back! Actually, the one from Woodland Park (formerly West Paterson), NJ had relatives in Peoria, IL, while the other was from Belleville, IL. I learned that IL is one of the best states for tennis, with many kids moving on to schools with top tennis teams in the country. They don’t just build 5, 6 or 9 indoor courts like we have here in NJ. They go big – as many as 20 courts because tennis is bigger out there than CA, FL, etc. Go figure! The husband of the Belleville player played so much tennis and was good friends with Jimmy Connor’s brother, John.
What a nice surprise to see an old friend who moved from North Haledon, NJ to PA for a job. A player from Clifton said – “Is that really So-And-So?” Then another player, and another player…. said the same thing. They could just tell from afar by the way the PA player hits the ball, they’d played him so often in the past. I was happy to hear that he would come to NJ and visit us more often this summer. I have to tell all his friends he’s back so that they’ll come see him!
I persuaded a player to play on Sunday to make it funner. It was nice of him to comply even though he should have been doing homework (for MBA). He ended up playing the entire day and had a great time!