Tuesday morning (Logan's report) , Nov. 18th - MTA Gym

Hi Pickleballers,

TANTRAMAR PICKLEBALL SUMMARY

“It was the best of times…”

Well, not the very very best best. But hey, pretty good! At our peak, we

had six courts in operation with four players waiting. Not bad, not bad.

Antoine Dubois (aka Tony Wood) gave us a quick lesson in the translation of

names, after which I insisted on being called Lhogan MacAtkinson. No one

seemed to care. But it gave the morning a bit of old world charm, if only

for me.

Games were fast, spirited and competitive. My old doubles partner Brent

made an appearance, and by all accounts he acquitted himself well. It’s

that reach, man. Almost impossible to get one over his head. And that big,

sweeping smash? Real trouble to defend. But…

“It was the worst of times…”

I heard rumours of two separate pickle games, 11-0 on two different

occasions. But hey, they were only rumours. Evidence is sketchy and no

one seemed to own up to being on the zero side at least.

And how can it ever be the worst of times when 28 hardy souls show up at

the gym on a dreary November morning to play this wonderful sport?

Which reminds me…

“It was the age of wisdom…”

I had the wonderful opportunity to play with Richard five times today. Five

times! Now you be the judge as to whether he’s the wise one for playing

with me, or me for playing with him. Suffice to say that Richard put on

quite a show – power, speed, spin, finesse, athleticism. We won all five

games, and I don’t remember touching the ball more than a couple of times

in each match. Wow! What a player he is!

At the same time…

“It was the age of foolishness…”

For those of us of a certain age, retreating to the baseline in an attempt to

return a pesky lob is something that maybe ought to be reserved for the

younger crowd. How many times have I staggered back to the baseline and

set up for the return, only to have the ball land on my head, or even behind

me on occasion? It’s a high risk part of the game, and the only question is:

Who or what will hit the floor first? Me or the ball?

But, as always during our pickleball sessions…

“It was the spring of hope…”

I hadn’t played with or against Freddy in many weeks. Finally got to play

against him toward the end of the morning, and then immediately after

that as his partner. Is there a finer gentleman in our entire pickleball

group? How many times have I stood ready to receive his serve, when he

yells out “10-1-1,” but then “Never give up! Never give up!” The spring of

hope indeed…or possibly…

“It was the winter of despair…”

If it hadn’t been for Richard carrying me for most of the morning, it might

have been desperate indeed. As with most sports, one day you’re a hero

and the next, well, you’re buried in the “winter of despair.”

But not such despair that we won’t keep trying, Wednesday night at 8:00 at

Salem School, and then Thursday morning at 9:00 at the Mt. A. gym.

New players especially, don’t forget to pass along your name, email address and

phone number to Logan Atkinson. He is helping the Steering Committee by

building a database of players in our group.

Send your info to

tantramarpickleball@gmail.com and it will be forwarded on to Logan.