I'm shedding points at an alarming rate. It's liberating really, it was a lot of pressure wielding so much point power. I feel strangely, happily - lighter, as if I'm floating.
Good bye cruel world, I meant you no harm, but alas my great sin was in loving too much that which loved me not in return - humanity...
"The horror" Marlon Brando, Apocalypse Now
Hi everybody, a few minutes ago Alvaro went in for surgery on the knee he injured last year. I hope you will join me in wishing him the best outcome.
Am enjoying Houston from home, and wanted to offer more support and encouragement for your efforts. The quality on every level is going up. The broadcasters are doing a steady, even job of relaying a fast game to a remote audience, the consistency of scheduling is going up, and the quality of the picture itself is better than ever.
The new layout is organized and user-friendly.
Thanks, from the comfort of my seat at home.
Wasn't there a shootout this weekend? Any results?
hey - they stopped posting results for the tourney. It appeared that Mike Orr and Greg advanced to the men's open, and the Open doubles adding Craig and Chris Crowther to the pair was not resolved. Any updates?
Solis/Lane on racquetballonline.tv - 6pm Pacific time
May I pay a compliment? Having the names on the back of the shirts is a super nice touch. Even from home I could read them on my pc screen, and it's an inclusive gesture, to boot.
PS - even though I never got my trivia question, I'm not bitter, even though I really want to win a shirt...:-"
There used to be a database on one of the equipment sites that would let you see the balance point of racquets.
You could do a search on multiple racquets in the db, and then it would list in a catalog format, the racquets in the db, their weight, and their balance point.
Does anybody know of such a database? I can't find it.
Daurio Tourney - need a left side men's A partner.
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Should sunny, and lots of games.
It's coming up in a minute. I'm thinking Allan Engle again, but not sure who is going to be playing on the women's side. Janet Tyler won States.
The weather did not quite hold out all day long, and the courts were bothered by a little rain, but it was a pleasure just the same to head out for lunch late in the day with Stormin' Normin and Mr. Grandy. What a couple of charmers - and each comprising one half of Florida's top outdoor teams.
Whether or not they are the better half or not is still up for grabs. In fact, they could still be sitting at the table debating it, but why split hairs on such a lovely day.
No Alejandro Herrerra today, and no surprise appearances from other top Florida players, but no matter, that "same ole same ole" group of guys at the same ole courts is pretty delightful without any added ornamentation.
Happy Easter, fellas. See you next week.
Are there any public records of Draw Sheets from Previous Outdoor Nationals? For example, on R2 sports, tennissystems, or on the WOR website?
Thanks in advance.
What a great weekend.
I'm not going to name names, in case anybody wants to go in stealth mode, but the women's players are crazy-good. A lot of shooters, a lot of speed and agility, a lot of accuracy. The draw was nice and deep, and that format is like a Christmas present to female players that are starved for peers. So thanks for that.
The weather was perfect. The guys are sooooo nice. It was flat out fun to meet women from other places, and see these awesome women. This is just a place to be. My nose is burnt. Whether you like racquetball or even play, people are just hanging out with a nice attitude. The food was good, but JimmyBan was better. He and Johnathon made sure nobody went hungry. Gary kept the tunes going (yes BluntBrad, that was me, having a weird joke with Jimmy), and Greg kept everything moving along orderly. Kris K. seemed to have gone to some extra trouble putting on the finishing touches. That was really sweet too. And you could tell that there are a lot of players that make this outdoor machine run, in addition to the guys on the front line. So any omissions, perdoneme. Trust me, you all inspire me not because of this sport I happen to enjoy, but because of how you work together, and show a brighter side of people and teamwork than is very common in the day to day.
There were several others I chatted with from the forum, and those were nice moments, to meet people I enjoy in the virtual world and put the personalities to the character they have expressed here. That was very rewarding and memorable to me. Pinata, I brought a book for you, but upon reconsideration, figured your schedule is pretty packed right now and you probably don't have time for distractions. Next time you are in Florida, if you are interested, check with me and I'll drop it with you.
This weekend and this event are a perfect time for me to stop talking about life and just appreciate. As I joked with Coach Keyes, it's time for me to quit this highly glamorous paid position as meetandplay forum poster and make room for someone else to advance. .
I have enjoyed writing on this forum for several years, but this seems like a perfect high-note upon which to depart. Thanks to the outdoor guys for putting together such a nice moment. That is one helluva a dream team you have going on out there.
In lieu of dropping off the face of the earth, I wanted to take this moment to say how much I have enjoyed this community. It's virtual, but it is real and has value to me. I will take the things I learned, and the gifts I've received from people's words and ideas here, and hopefully use them to move to higher places.
Con mucho gusto,
Kathy Geels
Miami, FL
PS - Paul, it's coup d'etats, if I'm not mistaken. But let Mikey google it to verify. He likes it, hey Mikey!
I was hoping to drop by Cerritos College to say hi to Robert M. and check out the O/U shoot-out. But don't think that's gonna happen.
Hi Robert.
Are any Queen of the Beach players going to go watch the King of the Beach?
So - on the rankings, is it only "straight" doubles points that are used? :mrgreen:
Are you going to print a list of how the players are lined up in advance? Just the rankings, I mean, so we know who is in our group? And using this format, does it mean that we will be grouped with those closest to us points wise? For example, if I have zero points, will I be grouped with those at the bottom of the list, so that basically, players are trying to emerge at the top of their immediate peer group? (versus typical draws, where it's top seed versus bottom-seed).
Well, even if that's not quite correct, that is such an awesome format to have hat-draw, round-robin, double-elim. It's just basically show up, no worries, and play a lot. And when you are done, just kick back and watch the others forge ahead towards exhaustion...
More questions:
Does the drop-down feed back into the main draw, or is it a consolation round?
Are the games 15, 11, or 21?
Win by 1, or win by 2?
Does it play into a bracket format in the third round after 2 round robin sets?
One serve?
Lines good, lines out?
Partner on the side line, partner at the back, or personal preference?
I'm soooooooooooo exciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiited!
The Queen of the Beach logo (unintentionally?) raised a ton of fascinating topics. The reply about Ektelon's endorsement of such a shirt logo fanned my fire to examine the topic, especially in the context of such side-issues as Rhonda's website featuring Rhonda in a bikini, as well as the choices I personally am prone to make, and the perceptions I am prone to forming when observing other female athletes, or when commenting on the manner in which their images are used within the "traditional blue-blooded male" culture.
What great essay material. If only one other person on the planet were interested! :lol: If anybody has comments they'd like to fill in, I'm interested to hear bona-fide opinions on the issues (versus sentiments on the beauty of the female form)
Based on the majority of responses, we could probably fast-track through the typical community response from many of the guys on the forum, and just draw a little cartoon face with a tongue hanging out that says "Me like big boobies!"
Save your key-strokes, fellas, we get it.
There is some interesting conversation material regarding the question of "How does a female athlete's visual image affect her relationship to the sports community of which she is a part, what does it communicate about the social relationship, intentionally or otherwise, and how much control does she and/or should she have over that perception?"
Understanding the message sending process - what does the image intend, what does it actually say?
Defining Roles and Boundaries - the athlete as performer, employee, and/or social activist
Listing Responses Social to demands for conformity and peer pressure - constructive responses vs. naive responses
Establishing Personal priorities -do we have a palatable choice in which roles we will accept, or are we greatly confined by what the community will allow?
Understanding Professional obligations - limiting factors in our range of behavioral choices.
Here's some more food for thought:
$20 per person per league. Using fake averages - 20 people per league night, 2 nights per week. 8 week sessions.
1 session = 20x20 = $400
2 sessions = $800
add 2 weeks for breaks in between each session, you have $800 coming in every 10 weeks per gym.
$800/10 weeks for one gym.
subtract $100/month for the programmer's pay = $700/10 weeks.
$700/10 = $70/week
multiply times 52 weeks per year - $3640
Divide by 12 months = $303 in left over money for rb leagues from each gym.
add the programmer to payroll. Unseen cost.
pay some people to be area supervisors. Unseen cost.
added customer service on front desk staff and sales. Unseen cost.
That's not that much money, in my opinion. Most tourneys make that in 4 hours. Especially if you have sponsors to offset some of the costs. Doesn't it seem like it's more win/win to run a tourney than leagues?
Also, consider that leagues tie up the courts for members that don't want to join. This is an ongoing conflict everywhere that results in some customer dissatisfaction. But weekends are usually much slower in most gym. Take that relative down time and get revenue out of it, that's win/win, right? It's also advertising, if they are run by a specialist. If the visual image looks good, and people can tell it's a tournament, with officials, and skilled players, it's just one more form of advertising that is good for the sport, and good for LAF. If the contractor takes on all the admin, LAF gets some bang for their court investment, RB gets a place to advertise.
If you had a contractor running tournaments for LAF, taking on every aspect of admin & risk & promotion, it seems like it would be much more profitable for LAF. I'm not saying they should or should not run leagues.
I'm just saying if you go in with guns blazing, this is a more realistic picture of what leagues do for LAFitness. It's a service they offer. They don't get much out of it.
