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Pickleball Picnic/Party 9-19-09

Lynne S. & John
John invited the pickleball group out to his house on Lake Keeowee this afternoon. 12 of us took him up on his offer and had a great time. John was a wonderful host and entertained us by taking us out on his pontoon boat for a tour of the lake. Also he had the Clemson football game on tv for those that wanted to watch it. It was kind of a rainy afternoon but we all had a good time and good food. John's house was really nice and a great place for a party. Those in attendance were Steve, Nicki, Jan, Joanie, Ron, Sharon, Lynne (with an E), Bill, Carol, Johnny, Ken and Lynn (me) and of course John.
Thank you, John, for a wonderful afternoon!!! ....Lynn

Sharon, Ron, Joanie & Nicki

Sharon, Joanie, Ken, Jan, Lynne, Bill (hidden) & Ron

John, Ron, Bill, Sharon, Lynne and Steve

Pickleball Friday 9-18-09

Wet courts......so wet we gave up trying to dry them off. Lynne aka ACE, Ron aka SPIKE playing Sharon and Ken aka THE SHEIK

PICKLEBALL REPORT
FRIDAY, 9/18/2009

Well, here goes the report, which should be of special interest for those who didn't participate.

Never-say-die PICKLEBALLERS PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR: Lynn & Ken (welcome back), Lynne (Ace), Sharon (see nickname contest below*) and this chronicler.

We, the designated interim UPG administrators drove in slight drizzle to Timmons park. We only had our wipers on the LOW INTERVAL setting. Thus, it wasn't really raining.. We arrived at the courts where Lynn & ken and Lynne were hanging out by the cars, eyeing the - I guess you might say - sorta damp courts. We decided to clear one court and give it a go.

We gave up on drying the court because we couldn't keep up with 'mist'.. So, we 5 played on one court rotating the 5th player in each game. During lulls, Lynne took the squeegee to one persistent puddle that was no more than ankle deep.

We played for 3 hours and the footing was surprisingly good. Too bad some of other regulars didn't show up, because we could have used a few breaks. We had many good games, didn't break any balls, weren't too pestered by ants and only had two or three rubberneckers, gawking at us when they drove by, with their windshield wipers hardly moving. Lynne had more than her share of killer serves today and some aces as well, thus earning her the nickname ACE as noted above.

We have hard proof that we played PICKLEBALL in what some folks might consider inclement weather:

DIGITAL PHOTOS, see the attached, authentic, authorized, undoctored photos (AAAUP) taken by Lynn & Ken, and; WITNESSES. Johnny and Carol just happened to make a visit to the park. They made a short stop to say hello and to find out the time of John's lakehouse gathering on 9/19. If necessary, they will testify that we were in fact playing PICKLEBALL, we were having fun and it wasn't raining.

*Sharon needs a nickname. We tried out a few today: Uno, Zilch and Zero. They kind of have a negative tone, but she volunteered a few of them after having a bad game. If you have any ideas, and they are printable, please let me know. Whoever (or whomever) comes up with an appropriate and usable nickname will be given a generous award, the value of which cannot be divulged at this time. The winning suggestion will be as determined by the UPG Awards Committee. The names of the members of the 'Committee', must remain anonymous for security reasons until further notice or, perhaps even longer.

Lynn & Ken are back in charge.

Hope to see you at John's gathering and at PICKLEBALL next week.

Ron (Spike)

Lynne (Ace) & Ron (Spike)

Lynn & Ron

Pickleball Tuesday 9-15-09

Pickleball Report - Tuesday, 9/15/09
Timmons Park

We did have weather as predicted. Overcast, slight breeze, low 80s and humid. Doesn't get any better than that. Be sure to thank The Upstate Pickleball Group Weather Coordinator (TUPGWG) the next time you see him/her.

Twelve Upstate P'ballers were present as follows: Jan, Joanie, Mike, Bob H, Ralph, Johnny, John, Steve, Anne, Lynne S., Sharon & Ron.

The games were hard and fast, and no one had much time to rest between games. Consequently, the Unofficial Assistant, part-time, photographer was unable to take photos for this session. In lieu of the photos, attendees of today's session are encouraged to imagine several world-class photos of themselves in various death-defying poses - lunging for balls, diving over the net, sliding along the court - paddle extended, inches from the ball. This will enhance your reading experience and make you an all around better person.

We are looking forward to two things: Pickleball this Friday, the return of Ken and Lynn and the Saturday gathering at John's lake house.

Ron

Pickleball Friday 9-11-09

Steve

Pickleball report for September 11, 2009
Timmons Park
It was a beautiful day for pickleball with temperatures in the mid 70s, overcast skies and not anywhere near enough wind for players to use it as an excuse for wayward shots.
We had a good crowd of players hungering for competition and courtside socializing and everyone got plenty of both.
14 pickleball players were present and sometimes accounted for: Mike, Steve, Lynne, Ralph, Bob H, Johnny, Carol, Jan, Claude, Joanie, Anne, Fran B., Sharon & Ron.
We played hard and long and sometimes we were even able to keep track of the scores and servers. Only a few people’s ears perked up when they heard this score announced: “8-6-3“.
Seriously though, there were a lot of hard fought battles and many great shots. More than a few games got up into the 12 & 13 range. There were a few 11-0 games, but who wants to hear about them?
Injury report: Bob (Buckeye), was on the receiving end of two “below-the-belt” kill shots as he was playing the net. He doubled over both times. He finally almost straightened up 3 games later and his voice returned to its original alto by the time he returned to his car exactly 2 hours after he arrived. And:
Anne (Pit Bull) took a direct hit while guarding the net. She got the yellow pill between the eyes and her shades were dislodged. She and her sunglasses only suffered minor damage. The ball, unfortunately - was destroyed. Also:
Fran (Crash-and-burn) took a lot of diggers - too numerous to describe in detail. He’ll never be accused of slacking off if there is even a prayer of getting a ball.
We had a great day and if weather permits, we’ll be at it again on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 AD.
Ron

Sharon & Spidey

Bob H. & Claude

Johnny & Carol

Claude & Johnny

Pickleball Tuesday 9-8-09

Spidey

Semi-official P'ball activity report.
Tuesday, Sept. 08, 2009 - Timmons Park - 9:00AM start
Ten were present for the event. We were lucky enough to have nice, sunny weather with almost no wind.
Present: Jan, Steve, Mike, Joanie, Johnny, John, Bob H, Claude, Sharon and Ron
No one got much rest because two folks cycled in at the end of each game. The only respite was frequent breaks to take in fluids and to munch on cupcakes that Sharon made in honor of Jan’s birthday a few days ago. We had to work the cupcakes hard because the local ant population made a move on the goodies.
We had many fine games - some were tight while others had pretty big spreads.
At about 11:00 AM some players started peeling off, so eventually we were down to 5 and played on one court shifting in the odd-player at the end of each match.
It seems like the last match of the day - at least recently - has been one of the better ones (or, at least one of the longest ones). The last match was between Ron & Mike (Spike & Spidey) vs. Steve (Stevie Wonder) and John. Originally, we were going to play a marathon game to 56, but we couldn’t interest the folks from the Guinness Book Of World Records in our attempt at athletic notoriety, so we cut the game back slightly - to 11.
Never-the-less, it was an exciting game and finally the good guys won 12-10 much to the glee of the gallery, which at the time was composed of one fan - kind of a captive audience - named Sharon. You’ll have to figure out on your own who the ‘good guys’ are.
It looks like there will be a good turnout for the outing at John Russell’s Lake house @ Lake Jocassee on Saturday, September 19th. Note it on your calendar and don’t forget to bring a covered dish.
In the mean time we are planning to play P’ball on Friday, 9/11/09.
Ron

Steve

Jan

Jan & John

Steve & Sharon

Jan & John playing Sharon & Steve

Sharon & Johnny

Claude & Mike

Claude & Mike playing Steve & Jan

Joanie & Claude

Steve & Sharon

Pickleball Friday 9-4-09

Johnny & Joanie

Wow!! We didn't have to clean the courts this morning. That was the first time in a while. No rain lately. We got to Timmons Park this morning and were joined by Steve and Ron. After warming up and hitting some balls we started a game. Ron and I played together against Steve and Ken....... and we beat them. Guess we started off the morning right!! Players were coming and going but after all was said and done I think the total of pickleball players today was 14. Present for our pickleball session today was Steve, Ron, Fernando, Mike, Joanie, Claude, Fran B., Johnny, Bob H., Jan, Anne, Carol, Ken and I. The games were very competitive today and a lot of fun. Claude brought his son, Fran, to try pickleball. He did great! As you can see below I got some good shots of him. Ken and I also know Fran from playing disc golf. Ron is going to be the organizer of the pickleball sessions for the next week and a half. I had a great time and I hope you did too!! Lynn

Fran

Steve & Fran

Mike & Johnny

Carol & Anne (Who is in the Kitchen??)

Ken & Fernando

Claude & Ken

Fran & Ron

Fernando

Ken & Fernando

Ron & Claude