FoolishOne.Com

August 8, 2010

Nevada State Junior Open

Filed under: Family, Singles, Tennis, Tournament — foolishone @ 8:42 pm

This weekend I had the privilage to be apart of a tournament that is more than just some adults getting together to flex their old muscles and attempt to compete over some random junk trophy. This weekend I took 11 – 16 childredn to Reno Nv to play a fun game vs other kids who are just as talented and share in their individual experience and persona.

I’m not sure if that made sense but I will tell you this, regardless of level the kids that attended this tournament all played their best and then showed what they have learned.

Let’s get back to day one, Thursday August 5th…
I was so excited to take these kids to Reno! At the beginning of the day I had to work, but I was happy having something to look forward to. Both Alec and Joshie are my little buddies but I was excited to see Curt and the other guys Alec is close to. Finally I was off work to meet up with the kids.

I caught the bus just after 3pm, trust me it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, to reach La Canterra by about 20 minutes after 3pm. I walked up the long driveway to meet the kids. Upon entering the grounds I did not see a van. Going into the club houe I did meet the majority of the kids.

Let’s see if I can remember all their names… it’s easier to mention them in groups… Alec’s buddies are Mad Max of Newman Doom, Dylan “the good guy” Tasker and Curt “Stay Cool” Fischer. Let’s bring in Miriam, Carli, Taylor, Mariah and Jackie, A.K.A “The Girls”

Now, “the boys”. Peter, Encore, Daniel, Matt, Stewart Cole and

Good Ol Herby…

Filed under: Family — foolishone @ 7:53 pm

OK, so I got on to blog about my weekend in reno. Due to technical malfunctions, herby is all I have while watching “Merlin” on my MAC Mini.

I just wanted to share with you guys that old Herby has a great monitor and is running XP like  a champ. Thanks Herby, I’m sorry you’re only an iPhone charger for V these days buddy!

Onto the blog I came to do…

August 5, 2010

Low Rating Scum!

Filed under: Singles, Tennis, Tournament — foolishone @ 9:46 am

This will be quick, so i don’t spam up other posts complaining about this…

When I signed up for the USTA I had not played a single match and had no training. I did understand the game a bit so I self rated as a 2.5. Now, a year later I feel a bit bad about continuing to try to play at that level but looking back, I havn’t done anything to show improvement enough to rate higher. I do play a lot of 3.0 Singles and get slaughtered and have now lost 2, 2.5 tournaments UGH!

My first loss was too a decent player but maybe not quite the 3.0 level. He did play well and I rose to the occassion but the scores were close and it involved a 3rd set so although i lost, I didn’t feel as if this guy was low rating himself for easy wins.

Santa Clara comes along, Dan Diaz and I were all set for that one and some unknown comes into the picture. he was even removed from the tournament for a questionable rating, or lack there of, but was replaced after “his coach called in and vouched for his 2.5 rating”, his words, not my assumption.

According to the USTA’s website, “2.5 You are learning to judge where the ball is going, although your court coverage is limited.  You can sustain a short rally of slow pace with other players of the same ability.”

This guys wasn’t learning anything, while he was hitting down the line passing shots on me. Winning 6-4 6-1 and then beating Dan 6-1 6-1. 3.0 players don’t beat me like that unless they have lots of experience and are normally the person who  won, if not a finalist. He low rated himself so that he could enjoy winning instead of competitive and fair play. New players, even one as experienced as I am now, do not enjoy cheaters or sand baggers who low rate themselves so they can get easy wins. Thats like being a high schooler and beating up on elementary students. UGH!

The next time I see this guy, I’m not only going to destroy him but I’m going to put the fear of god in him. I’m already pumping up my top spin hits, I have V set to help me work on my top spin lobs, side angles and i will be working with Luke on how to hit the overhead from behind the service line. I would rather hold him while letting Dan beat his face in because he really took away our ability to enjoy that tournament.

I asked the judges to give my 2nd place award to Dan, hoping to raise his spririts but he has already told me he is going to avoid tournaments fora while. At 2.5 you shouldn’t be beaten that badly, it’s demoralizing, and I dont’ want tosee the guy stop playing because of it.

As for me, I’m looking forward to 3.0C in December. I’m confident I will have a very good 2011 year and will be entering every tournament I can, especially all of the Grand Slams, to get 3.0 Player of the Year and hopefully win the Grand Prix in 2011. This year I’m going for that at 2.5, if I dont’ get bumped early?

June 29, 2010

Pre Napa Valley Classic

Filed under: Tennis — foolishone @ 8:47 am

the upcoming Napa Valley Classic is a Grand Slam event. This means that winners receive double the standard Grand Prix points. This is exciting because I am entered into 3.0 Men’s Singles & 3.0 Mixed Doubles (with Robin Olson). A win in either will put in the running for a Grand Prix slot, provided I continue to play that level and win, otherwise 2000 points won’t be worth diddly in October.

It’s going to be quite the weekend. Nick & Danielle are coming to stay with us Friday, Saturday & Sunday night. We have a huge birthday party on Saturday and let’s not forget that I know a large chunk of the players in this tournament, so I want to root them on and see them win!

I’m also hoping to borrow Nancy’s camera so i can get some exciting action shots. I hope someone takes some of me, I’d like to post something other than that shot from Florida with my gut hanging out, ugh! Thanks Steve! hee he hee!

I haven’t played since last Thursday, it was a bad night so I’ve kinda lost that loving feeling but I’m hoping to rally with V tonight, maybe work on return of serve. I need to get that forward momentum going at that serve and so I need to work on timing. I think that motion, as poorly described as I did, would help V’s game too but if the serve is coming at you that fast and you’re moving forward, that is gonna take a lot of timing!

June 28, 2010

The Yuba City & Gilroy Disaster

Filed under: Tennis — foolishone @ 10:38 am

the weekend of June 26th was to be quite the time! I was going to Yuba City to play in a 2.5 match and hang out with Nick & Danielle. The wife was off to Gilroy for a 4.5 tournament with the Wong’s. Simple enough…

The coordinator of the Yuba City tournament wasn’t willing to play 2, 2.5 players and wanted us to play up. My opponent said yes while I was not having it. I only split from my group (v & the wongs) because this would affect my 2.5  GP points. I was quite surprised to find a tournament coordinator requesting 2.5’s play up, the last one I dealt with was happy to help new players get into their tournament. anyways, that refund is pending!

Now, Gilroy is closed but I email the coordinator about that. he replies stating it’s past the date and they are already working on the schedule. I wasn’t excited by his respone, adding one more 3.0 wouldn’t be a problem for anyone else, but accepted it. Looks like no tournament for me, that sucked.

The draws come out less than 48 hours to the tournament and the coordinator has V & Blain playing at 6pm on a friday afternoon. It takes us 3 hours to get there, give or take basedon traffic. of course V& Blain drag their feet in contacting the coordinators but since there isn’t a 4.5 match again till Sunday, they justify it.

Emailing back n forth with the coordinator shows that he is not only lazy (as he showed to my request) but that he is unwilling to help players. Granted, it clearly states on the website that if you cannot play on Friday, please advise. It also clearly states that due to the format you may only enter 1 singles and 1 doubles and at the same NTRP level. V&B’s opponents were each in 2 doubles event and the woman was playing at 2 NTRP levels. They even asked to start later, V and I would have to set land speed records to make it, but he refused stating he would have to staff that time period and other such lamesauce. BUT WAIT he had people playing at 8pm that night at that location so his story was BULL SHIT! The only reason, that we could find, for such blatant disreguard was that Blain had beaten this guy in a Grand Prix and so he may be holding a grudge, but even that was a bit far fetched.

Nancy finally got to play on Sunday, lost at singles to her Doubles partner. They won the doubles, YAY, so I guess that balances out. Back to Yuba City, nick lost 3-0 in Men’s singles, Danielle went 2 sets and tie break to lose 10-7 in Singles. Fortunatly they won doubles, but by no means destroying thier opponents… more to come on this in the next post

After Lakeridge

Filed under: Tennis — foolishone @ 10:11 am

To start off our trip to Reno I had forgotten to get a Sub for Thursday night tennis and so we had to stay in town till 9pm. We lost that night so it sucked even more! Onto Reno at around 9pm, arriving at almost 1am. no big deal, we didn’t play early anyways.

My Singles went well, I lost 4 & 4. The guy i played had very few shots of any mentioning, however, he did have a crap ball and an ungly under spin return of my serve that was not only aggrivating but will prevent him from reaching any higher than 3.5. You really need to hit strong shots to move up as many of the folks in this area have yet to learn. It’s a goodthing I constantly compare my play vs my wife, the Wong’s and the strong players at la canterra or I would be content to be mediocre like many of the players in my area.

The mixed doubles was interesting. I finally met Linda, an excentric type lady with a consistant game. She lobbed a lot and when the opponents were tired of that, they would rip it right to me for an easy point. Unfortunatly Linda & I would make more unforced errors than our opponents and lose. it was fun but further shows how I need to improve my game and the importance of a regular partner.

Veronica & Blain won the 4.5 Mixed doubles again! I say again because they won the 4.0 mixed last year at this tournament. They played great minus a bit of tension in match 1 and then demolished their opponents on match 2 for a dominating win over all.

Nancy had a bowling tournament to finish and had to forfeit her Friday 4.5 women’s singles. She then followed it up with 2 wins, which apperently everyone had, so no trophy for her. She did get Grand Prix points though, so that is nice!

Well, 1 year has come and gone and so far, it’s becming more fun and I’m opening up to more friends to play with… who knows what will happen next year at Lakeridge… can’t wait to find out…

June 14, 2010

Reno & Lakeridge

Filed under: Tennis — foolishone @ 9:28 pm

This friday starts a weekend long tournament. This tournament will be held in Reno, Nv. at Lakreridge Tennis Club. This tournament will mark my 1 year of playing tennis. I can still remember how excited yet apprehensive I was last year. This year I am still excited, placing high expectations upon myself which will create those same apprehensive fears. My first opponent, based on his performance vs a common player, will be a great challenge for round 1 but if I manage a win, I’ll be playing my very first opponent in USTA tennis. He’s played for more than I have and is very consistant. Can I stay calm enough to play my game? Will I keep from choking? I’m so excited!

Let’s add on the fact that I’m playing 3.0 Mixed with an older lady I’ve never met. I say “older” because by looking at her record I can see that she has been on a Senior team. I’ll have to keep my energy levels high and be ready to run at a moments notice, not something I’m good at really. This past couple of days my legs have been pretty stiff and unwilling to move. My performance during a real match is different but I dont’ want to have to force my movements. I have played for a year and I should recognize that a lob behind my partner should be a great reason to start running my ass off!

I get off work at 12:30 this thursday and then I jump on my bike to drive to the wong’s for the long ride to Reno. My wonderful wife is probably going to stay behind and work, finances being as they are, and the Wong’s most likely won’t be around for my match either. I’m even more excited to face this challenge distraction free, to be completely honest. I have played this game for a year, will I be able to show progress? Last years losses were 6-0 6-0, 6-4 6-2, 6-1 (time penalty) 6-0 in a round robin. What will happen this year?

I hope I have learned enough to progress through the 11 man 3.0 singles? I’m confident, yet still a bit apprehesive, that I can make it past my first oppoent. Can I beat Daniel Saldana, seeded #1? Beating him could mean I could win. Losing to him could mean my 3.0 Mixed round robin will get my full attention but do i want that? No matter what happens during these single matches, I know I’ve improved a lot. More towards the Doubles side of the game, but my individual improvements will not be lacking either.

I will do what I know to play the game and I will do my best to make my wife and friends proud. This is my first tournament, this is my second try at this tournament and I will make my mark in either Singles or Mixed Doubles but hopefully both! I want to be the one people are cheering for, I want to be the one who makes the great shots and I want the one who brings home a trophy and is recognized for a lot of effort over this last year.

April 5, 2010

Aerosmith’s Rock N Roll Rollercoaster

Filed under: Vacation — Tags: — foolishone @ 6:51 am

I man’d up and went on a coaster finally. it starts from a dead stop and then shoots you onto a dark room. the start was a bit scary but exciting and the multiple loops were great. I am very glad I did and knew it would make the trip even better.

The stunt show is about to begin so I will stop now. picture coming soon

April 1, 2010

Orlando Day 1

Filed under: Vacation — foolishone @ 7:43 pm

Let’s start off by saying that we landed in Orlando at 12:50am (EST) on Thursday April 1st. Now we have to ride to a hotel, Embassy Suites (highly recommend) to get a bit of sleep. I have my alarm set for 8am so I can hit up some excersise and get ready for the day before breakfast.

I woke up at 8am and was doing my best to talk myself out of getting out of bed. Finally Nancy got out of bed and so I gave up and got up. I headed down to the workout room to get a simple 30 minute ride on a bike for some morning cardio. Mission accomplished, 30 minutes of 119 average heart rate, so I felt good. I go upstairs to the room, everyone is headed to breakfast but I need a shower.

Headed to breakfast I’m very hungry and my wife waits for me. We get downstairs to stand in the omelett line for 20 minutes, well worth the wait! YUMMY! I sit down and let V get her other stuff, there is another line that has other goodies. When V finishes I get up to get some fruit and some waffles. When i do, i see the waffle batter is gone and then they start closing off the rest. UGH, good thing I got a lot of protein, because other than the 1 cup of coffee I had while waiting in line and a single 6oz cup of OJ. To end this crying part of the trip, my 30 minute ride must have found me sitting funky (I’m not sure I have an actual butt) because I bruised my tailbone and it would haunt me all day long, even now as I write this.

Leaving the hotel is exciting, what should we do? Well, we should go to the timeshare and get ready to have FUN! YAY! We get to the timeshare and find out our “room” or “Suite” isn’t ready, what else should we do? OH YEAH, go to Disneyworld! YAY!

We go to Hollywood Studios, not sure of the official name. The lady that has our “Will Call” tickets is very informative and even hooks me up with a “Happy Birthday Billy” button to wear, which I let the wife wear until next Thursday, April 8th! We walk around, see Beauty and the beast as well as ride on Star Wars: Star Tours. It’s great to see they are still using the same affects and video they were using when Patrick took me when I was 18, hahahaaha. WoW, 15 years have passed, we even passed over this ride in Anneheim knowing it would be the same, but Joshie wanted to go and I thought it would be better than sitting with the girls while the boys ride.

On that note, the Wong’s really make this trip complete. They are such cool people! Blain, the dad, works fulltime as an engineer. Nancy is a mom and runs the Competitor at the same time. Alec, multi talented young man who is cool and polite at the same time. Let’s not forget Joshua, our little buddy. Joshie makes you feel very important and needed but at the same time he can become very independant. V and I are very excited to be friends with such great people! Of course there is more to say but I’m getting off track… back to the trip (I’m a sappy old fool!). I could go on but will stop at this point by saying they are very good influences, very important friends and we have learned a lot from them!

After some time wasted at 1 of 4 theme parks, we decided it was food time and headed to Costco! Florida is another state that you can’t buy alcohol from anywhere, you have to go to the liquore store, probably state run/owned. We picked up $147 worth of grub from costco, got food and then headed back to officially “check in” to our time share.

It’s great, we have the single of a 2 room place. I got to hang out and watch alec play basketball with some kids. He really is good, I admire hime greatly and wish my childhood was even a little similar to his. Later V and I went to hit (tennis) but coudlnt’ really get going because there was a family in the other court and they kept invading. Believe me when I say you don’t want me to hit a forehand into your infants head and if V did it, we would run and not stop, she is powerful! Normally, like at La Canterra, I would be annoyed they were in our way but today I felt if we had intruded on them and so we left, happily knowing they would continue this beautiful day as a family!

V and I went to get a drink, surprise and a family pointed us towards the alligator she’s been looking for all day (http://www.foolishone.com/luna). We hung out a bit and met back up with the Wongs for some pizza. The boys and I (followed by V) went swimming while Blain and Nancy ran to the store to get the stuff you don’t buy at Costco. V & I took the boys to the pool and had so much fun! There was a “nerdy” DJ teaching kids how to dance while we had fun.

Unfortunately I’ve run out of inspiration while chatting with Beau and TWiG and am ready for bed…. more to come as the week progress.

March 30, 2010

No rest for this wicked!!!!

Filed under: Uncategorized — foolishone @ 4:26 pm

That’s right! I’m done till april 12th 2010. Thats 2 weeks from YESTERDAY BABY! Wish I had vacation pay! It’s still worth it! We’re headed to Orlando, Fl. to enjoy DisneyWorld and our fav tennis family, The Wongs. I’ve got other things to write about but the wife is stressing (http://www.foolishone.com/luna) so I better get the house together or I might mysteriously run off to Cuba.

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