Force 6 Friday - February 25, 2011

This day would best be described as blustery. The wind conditions have been Officially rated as a Force 6 on the Beaufort Scale. Seven showed up to play anyway, including Albert, who drove all of the way from Oregon to join the UPGers for some hard-core P'ball. Albert and his family were waiting for us when we arrived. The courts had a wet area - so, right after introductions we handed Albert a push broom and he attacked the puddle with considerable vigor and a fair amount of good humor. Below: Albert @ work.

Also present: Mike, Steve, Anne, Gary A, Sharon & Ron. Spidy brough a very nice batch of cookies and his paddle was returned to him unharmed. The cookies WERE NOT a bribe, as payment for the return his paddle which was left behind the last time Spidy played. Really.

As noted the wind was very strong and gusty - with enough force to blow over our chairs and to deposit all loose balls against the fence at the NE corner of the courts. Turns out Albert is a very good player and a good sport. We played for about 2 hours and had a good time. The 2nd plus: it was easy to shag the balls! The 1st plus is that it's better to be playing p'ball in squirrelly conditions, than not playing at all! Below: Albert & Stevie Wonder finish a match with Spidy and Gary A 

Above: A prototype UPG logo. At this point, it is NOT protected by copy write laws so feel free to have it applied to your sporty wearing apparel, bedclothes, undergarments, paddle-face or to your torso.

P'ball again on Tuesday. Watch for the announcement.
Spike

Tuesday P'ball - 2/22/11 - What About Bob?

Yo P'ballers:
We had 10 players on this bright, blustery day. As follows: Joanie, Jan, Carol, Johnny, Steve, Bob H, Ralph, Gary A, Sharon and Ron. What about Bob? The first photo below (taken on 2/15/11) shows Bob H (Buckeye) as he cozies up to his fellow P'ballers. He is a social animal, as anyone can see.

But, something must have set Buckeye off during the week (or, perhaps the other players were avoiding him), because in the 2/22/11 photo below you might notice that Bucky is pretty much by himself. The rest of the players were against the opposite fence taking advantage of the little shady spot there.

Even though Mr. Hopp tends toward standoffishness, we keep him in the UPG organization because he: can hit the ball smartly; is the most consistent provider of goodies; is the only one among us who always knows the score and who is serving.

Short on players, but long on good matches we had a great time in spite of the stiff breeze. 2nd photo above: Joanie de Arc hefts a serve. Above: Jan poaching from Cupcake, but at least the ball cleared the net. Below: Ralph demonstrating his p'ball prowess. When he wasn't playing he serenaded  Carol (Lash), Jan and Cupcake in Spanish. They were like putty in his hands - figuratively speaking, that is!

End of scoop. Stay tuned and watch your email for the next P'ball event. Spike

Funday Friday - 2/18/11 - P'ball & bull session

Fifteen players were in action today including explosive Catherine the Great and Cupcake shown above. The group in no special order: Spidy (visiting from NC), Bob H , Johnny, John, Gary, Gary A, Muriel, Jan, Anne, Joanie, Catherine, Lynne, Steve, Sharon and Ron. This was a beauty of a day; made it to 70 degrees; a breath of a breeze; sunny. Fifteen players makes for a crowd on two courts, so there was a little too much down time. But, we carried on.

Some of the troops were still standing after 3 hours. We played doubles and worked in a few singles matches as well once the crowd thinned out. Three highlights of note: One: When Spidy left the courts on Friday, he was not as fully equipped as he was when he arrived. He motored home without his paddle and as in all other cases - and there have been several - the paddle will be held hostage. It will be returned (redeemed) - unharmed - if Spidy pays a minimal bribe - in the form of yummies to share. He has been officially advised about the "arrangements". Two:  Jan is a new Grandmother. Her 2nd Granddaughter Ava Taylor was born about a week ago. Jan is as proud as a peach. Congratulations. Three: Lynne (Ace) was on fire today and wore her nickname on here sleeve, where in one match, she served 3 aces in a row. Could very well be a record. The archives are being searched as you read this.

Ok. That's the report for Friday, 2/18/11. We'll be playing again (probably on Tuesday and Friday). Misc: The bathrooms at Timmons will be opened by March 1st, so you'll have to hold on until then! Good luck. No new info about the status of the court re-surfacing at Gowers, but we are hopeful that they will be ready by Spring (2011). Spike

Tuesday P'ball - February 15, 2011

Eleven showed up to play - here in the Upstate, that is. At Timmons: Bob H, Peter, Steve, Anne, Joanie, Ralph, John, Gary A, Gary, Sharon and Ron. The weather was kind to us - maybe too kind - as indicated in the photo below. Who's playing P'ball? We had 11 players. Seven are parked and one took the picture. This is not trick photography.

Eventually we filled both courts and kept at it for 2-1/2 hours. Good matches and scads of fun, but a little too quiet. Why? Because Spidy was no where to be seen (or heard). More to come*.

Above: Pitt Bull serves while Stevie Wonder looks on.

Below: Ralph in pursuit; Gary ready to pounce on a return shot.

Below: Buckeye laces a backhand deep, while Cupcake heads to the net.

*BOLO for Spidy (aka Mike, Mighty Spidy, Mike-the-Long and Loquacious). There is an APB in effect. He was last seen heading north in a late model Japanese sedan (but, Made In The USA). He is armed. His MO is usually a 'kill shot' typically in or near the kitchen. The UPG Security Bureau believes that the suspect may have defected to a safe house (or, court) in NC or perhaps he is being held against his will. Description: Too tall, 181 pounds, prematurely slight of hair, cruddy ruddy chin. Do not try to apprehend this fugitive. Victim? To be determined.

Otherwise, we will be playing P'ball, in all its glory and mayhem, on Friday, February 18, 2011. Spike

Friday P'ball - 2/11/2011

No pictures today. Lucky you. We had a splendid day and a good turnout to boot. Fourteen players: Bob H., Steve, Mike, Peter, Joanie, Lynne, Johnny, Carol, John, Anne, Ralph, Gary A, Sharon and Ron. Bob (Buckeye) H. brought a nice batch of brownies lovingly prepared by his darling wife Geri. Bob (thinks-of-everything) even brought a little serving table and ziplocks in case anyone wanted to take home some of the goodies. Which, they did. We also played Pickleball. Lots of exciting action including one game that went to 14-12. Due to the crowd - players lined their paddles up on the fence and picked them off one-at-a-time when they took their turn on the courts. A partly sunny day, about 50 degrees with a breeze and a bunch of pals playing Pickleball and gabbing between matches. It doesn't get much better than that. Looks like we'll have favorable weather next week, so polish up your paddles, dress those wounds and get yourself ready for more action!
Spike

Puddle-pushers + P'ball Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011

The courts were covered with puddles, so our maintenance crew went to work with squeegees and made short work of the task. The sun and breeze did the rest. In the mean time 14 players showed up to enjoy the day. Johnny and Carol were on the scene, having been vacationing in FL for a while, but keeping up with their P'ball skills by playing 4 times a week. Our group: Steve, Mike, Bob H, Johnny, Carol, Peter, Joanie, Anne, Jan, Catherine, Ralph, John, Sharon and Ron. It was such a beautiful day (50 degrees), that some of us stuck it out for 3-1/2 hours. Others lounged around, during breaks, like they were at the beach. A beautiful sight! We played hard and long and had some exceptional matches and perhaps a few lesser ones, too. But, it's all about fun, socializing and exercise. We accomplished all three. Enjoy the pictures below. See you on Friday. And, don't forget we are collecting $6 per head for the 5 dozen P'balls that have been ordered. Spike



Four players... Thursday, February 3, 2011

Four players showed up for P'ball on another 'off-day' forced upon us by the weather. We took one court and two tennis players took the other and we got along famously. P'ballers: Steve, Jan, Sharon & Ron. Weather: Overcast, cooler than it should have been at 42 degrees and no wind. Four players adds up to 3 possible doubles combinations. And we went through that cycle several times. There was, as expected, a winning and losing team each game. How's that for a coincidence? We had a great time. Even though were were short on numbers, we weren't short on enthusiasm. We'll see how the weather treats us next week. See you then.

Spike