Most of the time when reviews or lists of restaurants and dining are written, the ones selected are at a very high level in terms of costs and formality. This is a lower brow list based on my limited budget and accessibility.
On Sunday, I actually watched more of the PPA Cincinnati tournament on Tennis Channel then I did pro football, including the Eagles game. What a huge difference in production value are pickleball games televised on Tennis Channel or CBS Sports network! I was pleased to see that both Tyson McGuffin and Simone Jardin won gold medals in their respective competitions. Both are being prematurely written off as serious competitors due to their age and the influx of younger players. I identify with older athletes trying to stay competitive and relevant.
I did notice that the Cincinnati crowd thinned out for the men’s singles final in Cincinnati. Possibly it was because it was a long day with five finals being decided and the men’s singles final was the last event of the tournament OR fans are just not that interested in singles competition.
I have heard some positive reviews from local players using the Selkirk Vanguard Power Air Invitka. The paddle has a steep selling price of $250 but these players seem to think that the potential results and benefits are worth the cost. They feel it provides more “pop” to their drives and touch to their third and drop shots.
Professional pickleball has not yet developed any significant rivalries like Nadal vs. Federer, Evert vs. Navratilova, Cowboys vs. Eagles or Army vs. Navy. But it is coming. On court, I don’t have any “rivalries” but I do have people I use as “measuring sticks.” These are players whose skill levels are better than mine and I contrast how competitive I am to their game. My measuring sticks include both men and women who help me improve my game.
I really am enjoying the competitive level at Berlin Intermediate meetups. The styles of play vary and I was able to play a few games last weekend that focused on the soft game including third shot drops, cross court dinks and a more cerebral approach to shot selection .
Five Takeaways on the CBS Broadcast of The Sketchers International: (2) Anna Leigh Waters / Leigh Waters vs. (1) Callie Smith / Lucy Kovalova (2) Riley Newman / Matt Wright vs. (1) Ben Johns / Collin Johns
1. First network broadcast of pickleball. Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters showed why they are the #1 players in mens and women play. Excellent commentary by Morgan Evans. A great introduction to pickleball for newcomers and the general sports audience. Best selling point: quickness of the games; 10 second rule. Play occurs so fast that they weren’t able to show replays on some points. 2. I may have missed it but I did not see a commercial by Sketchers promoting their new pickleball shoe. What a missed selling opportunity! They promoted their walking shoes instead. Strange marketing move? 3. Who says that pros don’t lob? In both matches, offensive lobs were employed and were successful. Even at the pro level, one sees some confusion at covering and defending lob shots. 4. Ben Johns covers the court from net post to net post. I’m guessing he hit about 75% of the shots for his team. He dominates play. I’ve seen him play with Anna Leigh Waters and he seems to be more deferential to her play than his brother. (As an aside, I have seen a few guys in recreation mixed doubles play try this but not with the same results as Ben Johns and not with the cooperation/patience of their female partners.) 5. Ben Johns’s experience in playing table tennis is so evident by his hand speed and how deft he is at cross court dinks.
Sound of Music: iTunes has music for pickleball. You can download an album titled Pickleball:Songs of America. However, here is my suggested playlist of hits titled suitably for a pickleball theme. Hit Me With Your Best Shot Pat Benatar Inka Dinka Doo Jimmy Durante Let’s Stay Together Al Green Play Me Neil Diamond Games People Play The Spinners Sultans of Swing Dire Strait Fun, Fun, Fun The Beach Boys As Good as I Once Was Toby Keith It’s My Party Leslie Gore
Sound Off on Sound Offs
I enjoy hearing the following: the bounce of basketballs on a hardwood floor, the thud of a thrown baseball into a glove, and the crack of the bat against a pitch. There is a symphony of sounds generated within each sport. So I’m against efforts to reduce the thwacks of pickleballs by significantly modifying the pickleball or the paddle. A well hit smash or soft brush of the paddle for a dink have their own sounds that are part of the game.
Kitchen Komments
After playing outside so much this summer and ending the relentless heat and humidity, I am ready for fall weather. When the heat index is over 90, I feel like I am playing with 20 lb. ankle weights on each leg and a mask covering my mouth and breathing.
“It’s my belief that pickleball will be the largest participatory sport in the US eventually” – Bahram Akradi, CEO Life Time. A very bold statement made by a CEO but he is also putting his money where his mouth is by investing in building more pickleball courts at his facilities.
Let’s wait another 25 years before we begin to designate anyone as a GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in pickleball. Way too early…
South Jersey: Pickleball = Alabama: College Football
Serena Williams intends to play her last game competing at the U.S. Open Tournament in New York before retiring. When I’d play my last pickleball game, it would be at the courts at Browning Road in Pennsauken. It’s where I started and in many ways, it was where I had the most fun. Opponents to be named later. But I do know who I would want to be my partner…Cookie Sey.
If you’re smart, you believe half of what you hear. Brilliant is when you know which half. Robert Orben
In my younger years I had a friend who was a great storyteller. He spun stories of his various adventures in travel, career and financial success and seducing women. His stories enthralled many a stranger or new acquaintance. My friend’s tales were entertaining and always showed him in a positive light. The sad part was that my friend was starting to believe in his stories. He could not differentiate between truth and fiction. He believed in his lies.
Lies and exaggerations are the verbal currencies of politics, business, advertising, culture and social media. The more outrageous and fanciful the lie or exaggeration, the more likely it is to spread and to be believed. Indeed, in politics, many campaigns spin fake news in order to stoke contributions and support.
Followers of professional wrestling are labeled as “marks.” Marks totally buy into the character branding of the wrestlers, the contrived storylines and rivalries and that the match results are not scripted. They have not understood that pro wrestling is entertainment, not sport. Great athletes performing choreographed feats of strength, agility, strikes and body slams.
Politics also has “marks.” They are known as “Trumpsters.” Donald Trump has worked with World Wrestling Entertainment in the past. He has participated in a Wrestlemania storyline and his casinos sponsored Wrestlemania events in the past. One of Trump’s Cabinet appointments was Linda McMahon who along with her husband Vince owned the WWE. January 6, 2021 was Trump’s political version of Wrestlemania. Trump promoted the event and his “marks” thought that they could overturn the results of a fair election process. Just like a “battle royale,” Trump’s followers battled Capitol police and even used not so hidden foreign objects just like “heel” wrestlers do to cheat in their matches.
George Washington purportedly said in his youth, “Father, I cannot tell a lie.” There is very little evidence that Washington ever said those words. It’s part of the myth around our first president. Sadly, no modern day politician could ever say that phrase with a straight face.
I have picked on politicians and their lies. However the business world is replete with lies, exaggerations and spin. One cannot trust the accuracy and integrity of quarterly corporate results, CEO guidance, product and service capabilities, mission statements and denials of corruption, regulatory malfeasance, sexual harassment and mismanagement.
Coronavirus has killed over 1.01 million Americans. 74.2 million people voted for Donald Trump in 2020. What’s the greatest national tragedy? At least, we have developed vaccines and other medical protocol to control a pandemic. The Trump plague will be with us for decades and will not just affect us but future generations too.
After his testimony at the January 6 Congressional hearing on how Trump pressured him to appoint phony electors, Rusty Bowers, the Arizona House Speaker said a truly remarkable thing. He said that he would vote for Trump again.
Really?
You’ve just testified how Trump tried to override an accurate and legal election result plus you witnessed the storming of the Capitol fomented by Trump and you would vote for him again?
For a man who has witnessed 70 years of American history, these are very depressing times. While advances in technology, medicine and science have largely been mind boggling positive, our national politics, culture, civility, judgment and educational systems have remarkably declined.
We are a country that cannot agree on facts, science, history, truth and the meaning of decency. Civil conversations today? How? We are cursed liked the workers on The Tower of Babel, unable to communicate civilly or constructively. No greater example of this is to watch a session of Congress or a political debate. Or better yet, postings on social media…
So now there is a “wailing and gnashing of teeth” about this week’s Supreme Court rulings? Did you really expect the wisdom of Solomon to emanate from men and a woman appointed by a failed businessman, corrupt politician and reality star? Democrats, liberals and journalists expecting a different result are as naive as the stupidity passed on by the Court.
While I appreciate the calls to vote out pro-life politicians and pack the Supreme Court, to quote Carole King, “And it’s too late, baby, now it’s too late.” You are now at the mercy of a noted judicial scholar and husband of Ginni Thomas and at least four or five others who have an agenda to roll back social and racial justice progress for the past seventy years.
My guess is the current furor over the abortion rights decision will sadly dissipate. There may be some demonstrations and continued expressions of anger and grief. Do I think abortion rights will be the focal point of a national referendum? Maybe. Our national memory is very short. We’ve already largely forgotten the young children massacred at Uvalde. As their dust was scattered in Texas, so was our national attention.
Congress congratulated themselves for passing a paltry gun control bill that was quickly offset by the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down laws limiting guns in public places. So the Supreme Court is taking us back into the 50’s. No, not the 1950s but the 1850s.
I have read a number of books about Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. What strikes me is the utter denial of the German people as to what was going on particularly as it related to the inhumane treatment of European Jews and the curtailement of civil liberties for many groups. We seem to be in a similar state of denial. There is no unity. There are very few principles that we agree upon. Very few shared sacrifices. We are led by old people with their old ideas and prejudices. I keep waiting for new leadership by a younger generation.
Esot-eric 