Beautiful Day - Pickleball Report - June 18, 2010

Steve advises that 10 folks showed up for P'ball on a beauty of a day with just a little breeze. Players: Ralph, Charlie, Gary, Muriel, Jan, Bob H, Richard W, Raylene, John & Steve. Players had lots of fun and banged out some hard-hitting matches. Rest up for the next session!

Spike & Cupcake
Roving reporters
Mackinaw City, MI

Sun & Fun - P'ball Report - June 4, 2010

Above: Buckeye looks on appreciatively as Richard W wields a potent forehand with enough zip to set his hat flying. This is how the game is played in Upstate Pickleball land. Any questions?
Below: Carol demonstrates the lost art of poaching while her partner Ray deftly studies the maneuver for future reference. We had a near-record crowd today with 17 players, including newbie Linda P, Dick H (vetern player - nickname: Smoke, visiting all the way from Lake Lure in NC -a 90 minute drive), Richard W, part of the Keowee Key gang (also a lengthy drive) and the following: Catherine, Gary, Muriel, Jan, Mike, Steve, Bob H, John, Carol, Charlie, Ray, Lynne, Sharon & Ron. The courts were thick with players. To keep things moving along we switched all 4 players at the end of each match. There was one shutout, another match went to 14-12 and plenty of other hard-fought and exciting matches as well. We played for 3 hours.

The pictures do not lie! There are no slugabugs here.

We'll be playing again next week. Check your E-mail for the scheduled events. See you then.

Spike

Pickleball funday - May 14, 2010

We had a swell day (some might even call it 'swell-tering) if the 90 degree temperature were to be factored into the equation. Not to worry. Twelve hearty players arrived including Richard W and newbie Paul who both hailed from Keowee Keys - which we are told - is within the Continental United States. Players present: Bob T (Grumpy), Bob H (Buckeye), Muriel, Richard W, Paul, John (Spinmaster), Johnny, Carol, Lynne (Ace), Mike (Spidy), Sharon (Cupcake) and Ron (Spike). Some very exciting events occurred today. Most importantly: Carol started a match @ "zero, zero only" and never gave up the serve wining the match almost single-handidly 11 - 0. I was lucky enough to be her partner and barely had to move during the shellacking of whoever the opponents were. Bob T had a few games that he'd like to forget, plus a few hard-fought beauties. But, the devastating losses wore on him and to repent he decided to officially adopt the nickname 'Grumpy' until further notice. So, Grumpy it is. Above: That's Carol with her 'matching-knees' outfit. Below: Spidy (with Muriel) is about to kill the ball but, hopefully, not the opposing players (Buckeye & Carol).

Welcome to Paul from KK. He has never played P'ball before, but has played other paddle/racquett sports before and it showed up in his playing. No problem there. Below: Muriel laces the ball from the depths of her territory.

We ended our 3-hour day of many nice matches with a few 'Alpha' matches. It just kills me to report this - but, in the last game of the day - Spidy and Ace, came back from a 7 - 2 deficit, playing against yours truly and Bob T (Grumpy) and won the game 11-8! Good show.

We enjoyed the day, as we always do. Even got some gabbing in. Some wondered about the absence of Stevie Wonder. He's probably fretting about the Cav's loss to the Cetlics? But, who can possibly know for sure?

See you next week.

Spike

Pickleball Spectacular - May 7, 2010

We had a bang-up day today that included beautiful weather and a nice visit from P'ball enthusiasts from Keowee-key. But before we could get started, we had to clear the courts that were quite puddled from last evening's T-storms. Bob T, was the first one there and he had started the cleanup. Keowee-Keyer Roger showed up early too, so we handed him a broom and put him to work. His 1st time @ P'ball and he gets to swab the deck! And, we didn't charge him anything for the privilege. All part of the game and he took in stride. Our regular crowd showed up over time. When the full contingent of visitors and core players arrived we ended up with 19 players and one visitor (Pattie*). Players present: Mike, Steve, Gary, Ralph, John, Lynne, Joanie, Sharon, Bob T, Bob H, Roger*, Peter, Dick S*, Raylene*, Richard W*, James, Pete P, Jan and yon Editor.

Once we got started, Mike (Spidy), Ralph, Gary & Stevie Wonder decided to play at McPherson Park, which worked out well, because we were still left with 15 players - and, that's a lot of action on two courts. But, we managed famously and played many games, sometimes shuffling in four players at a time. The crew from Keowee-Key are nice folks (must be a P'baller genetic trait) and played some excellent matches. Hopefully they will get some courts going in their neighborhood and we'll be able to join them for some matches on their home turf.

* The names in red are the folks from keowee-Key.

FLASH: Spidy just reported that his party of four played 6 hard-core matches at McPherson and had a swell time, but they missed us terribly!

See you next week.

Spike