My friend Kathy asked me to check out the sock fashion at the tournament and so I did. Looks like anything goes to me.
Should you not have read part one of this series, here is the link. And while it is not necessary reading for this post, it might be helpful to know what is what.
With a title like this one, it's time to pony up and so I shall. As those readers who read post number one already know, the Orlando Squeeze struggled to win their matches. Not for a lack of trying though.
Our team is across the net from Daniel De LaRosa, the top racquetball player in the world. While true that a background in a racket sport is a huge plus, he still gets beat regularly. But not this time!!! This game was the knockout punch for the Squeeze.
Ultimately, the team in blue pictured below, the Bay Area Breakers, won in our division.
They are owned by a bunch of tech folks in, you guessed it, the Bay Area. Much has been made of all the new team owners, one of whom is Tom Brady. Here are your Orlando Squeeze putting the squeeze on his team the Arizona Drive.
Arriving at our lodging, Al told us that it had been reported in the local news that Tom Brady rented a home in the area. Not for him though or so it seems as he was a no-show. It was nice of him to house his team though as traveling around the country to all of these tournaments, and there are a bunch of them aside from MLP, is very expensive as anyone who has done any recent travel can attest to. The added fees are what kills me the most. Credit card fees are nothing new but they have always been absorbed by the seller but, sadly, it seems as if those days are long gone.
Families are well represented in the professional pickleball scene including the dynamic duo in pink pictured below.
Riley and Lyndsay Newman are so good! The last player to be drafted was the girl in black on the left. Let me tell you, Lacey Schneemann played far above her draft number. A really clutch player. When she's not at tournaments, she is a Boeing engineer.
Age is no barrier as well. Lee Whitwell, pictured below, is still going strong at the ripe old age of 49. Now that does not sound very old, but wait until you see the next pictured players.
Tim Klitch, owner of the Ranchers, is pictured in the background. I suspect that you can pick him out without any help from me! Lee is a fan favorite for her good natured exuberance on the court.
Either someone told me or I read somewhere that Carson Klinger , on the left side of the court is but 17.
His family travels the country in an RV to give him the opportunity to play tournaments. Homeschooling is the answer to his educational needs.
Anna Leigh Waters, the #1 ranked woman player just turned 16!! That's her in the red.
Jorga Johnson, on the nearside is also 16 and another fantastic player.
She's not only young, but her brother JW and mother Julie also play. Most definitely a family affair in that household.
When we began watching professional pickleball, not too long after learning the game three years ago, Simone Jardin was untouchable, winning every single tournament. Now that she is 42ish, she is amazing to us, but the youngsters that are becoming prevalent in the sport are now making things very difficult for her.
She would be the one on her tip toes. Speaking of young, wow, Bruce and I went to Dover Shores on Saturday for the first time. I was stunned at the number of young people. All six courts full, as well as the paddle rack that holds another six courts worth of players. Wow, just wow!
One of Bill's favorite players, Tyson McGuffin getting down low.
His arch rival in singles is the #1 men's player, Ben Johns, pictured below through Andrea Koop's serve.
Speaking of Andrea Koop, an attorney from Grand Rapids, MI, she and her partner played the most incredible women's doubles match I've ever seen. If you never watch a pickleball match again, this is worth a few minutes of your time to witness the incredible quickness and agility the ladies showcased.
In the video they mention the owner of the New Jersey 5's Gary Vaynerchuk who, if you can imagine, bought a wrestling card from none other than your favorite couple's son, David! Pretty bold statement about your favorite couple, right? I wanted to write something clever about the prediction of this match but then again, that might spoil it for you. I am pretty sure Ann will watch!
Another April Fool's Day, another birthday for Bill and David. Sheepishly, David had to remind me that they were 44, not 43 as I was thinking? What was I thinking?
The play continued into the evening, including this day when one of the other Florida based teams, the Florida Smash, were beginning play at 7 at night.
As it turns out, we left before it got going and from what we heard the next day, it was an exciting one.
Championship Sunday morning and we were trying to race through our breakfast in order to get a good seat. Not to mention renting our little stadium seat for $5.00. We did manage to get there about 30 minutes ahead of start time, however, much to our chagrin, all of the seats were already sold out! Boo hoo! I went to the car and we used a folded-up quilt to increase our comfort level over the next seven hours. We saved seats for our friend Susan and her son Andy who were watching professional pickleball for the first time. Both are terrific players for the record. Anyway, they were blown away, repeatedly expressing their amazement over what they were witnessing. They got to see the match included in this post. I was thrilled that finally someone we knew got to experience the best in our favorite participation sport.
This is Andrea Koop again in the finals who played lights out.
Florida Gators fans were thrilled to watch Danny Wuerffel and his son playing an exhibition match before the finals.
Interrupting the flow of this, or maybe adding something fun to it, I just got off a Facetime call with Matt and Tom and when I mentioned MLP, immediately Tom chimed in with Matthew Lee Peck. Good one Tom, good one. Why did I not think of this before???
There is a gentleman in the white shorts filming this shot with his phone, who along with the man to his left, started a nationwide Facebook group devoted to all things pickleball that now has 86,000 members. Although they both live in Austin now, they are Florida Gators as well.
Finally the championship match happened and most were unsurprised that Ben John's team won. I was sad about that because he wins everything and I was going for the underdog. People are of two minds when it comes to athletic pursuits aren't they? Do you celebrate continued exceptional play, or do you hope for an upset? That is the question.
No post from Gail would really be complete birdless would it? Is that a word? Let's pretend it is. A heron's nest on the other side of the parking lot!
Well I bet you are glad this is over and we can return to our regular programming, aren't you? Overdose for you, super fun for us!!
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