Posts Tagged tennis

Ehhhrrr..

March 20, 2009 at 1:43 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged ,

Today isn’t my day. I just lost a watch. Not A watch. THE watch. Lucy’s, given to me by Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Winnie in 2005, after her funeral. It was very thoughtful of them. I rarely wear it and today took it to change battery. I probably did not buckled it tight afterward. When I sat down to eat, realized it was no longer on my wrist. I traced my footsteps back to the store, but didn’t find it. I just wanted to slap myself and scream.

It could have been a nice day. I won three sets this morning with a James (what’s his name?) against Clay and a lady. Then Power came and he teamed up with the girl (I got dumped .. wa wa wa) .. somehow we gave them a bagel.

Then I saw Charles Zhang was at Next court, threesome. So I went to play with them. I haven’t played with Charlie for a few years. He improved tremendously. The very first time we played was few years ago, one morning .. Sunny and I had a date to play doubles, as we were about to strike the first ball, Sunny spotted an Indian male player who dressed in black, looking really cool and looking for a game. So dear Sunny told me,
“Irene, you go play next court.”
I looked around, next court? There were only two guys playing.
Sunny was busy with the new MIB, as he was hitting, he spotted Charlie, who was looking for a game, with his racket on his shoulder wandering around the Cunnigham Park .. ..
“You,” Sunny was busy hitting and telling Charlie,
“You go play with her.”
So that’s how we met.
I was pretty mad at Sunny who got me up early to the court and dropped me like hot potato for MIB :). That’s very Sunny .. but I love him anyway – unrequited. Ya, I have no life.
Charlie is pretty cool: he has not been playing for long, about 10 years or less (I think 7 or so) but as soon as he started to play, he’s been taking two weeks off every year to work at USTA during the Open. We are talking about the dedication and craziness about the game. He’s really a solid player now and won’t be taking a cast off from Sunny any more cause he has large playing base now.
The guy I was teamed up with, IF my memory served right, was a coach from Shanghai whom I took a lesson with once, about 13 years ago. He was odd. First he said he couldn’t run because he had more lessons to give, “too tired” was what he said. Then he took the shading site of the court because he didn’t want to stand under the sun. I think he probably just got here. I never called him again.
I didn’t know the other guy’s name but saw him around. He and Charlie were nice, didn’t smack down on me. We actually had a break then the fourth guy arrived.

Btw, I just cheched, thank lord my head is still on my shoulders. I kicked myself so hard for losing the watch, it hurt! I probably won’t have the good fortune at finding it this time around. Not sure I was hungry or mad but ate extra dumplings and stuff that I didn’t know the name. Emergency room next?
.

 

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Working for Lenny Dykstra?

March 17, 2009 at 9:48 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged

 

It was every New York sports journalist’s dream come true: working for a Mets legend on his glossy new magazine, leaving behind the daily newspaper grind for the world of private jets, high finance, and $18 million estates. But as Kevin Coughlin found out, when your boss is Lenny Dykstra, you’d better be ready to get beaned

By Kevin Coughlin

Oh poor Kevin .. I’ve heard Lenny been making waves first in car wash then became the stock picker .. baseball never thrills me but Lenny kind of did. He was pretty exciting to watch, like the Knicks’ John Starks, tennis one-slamer Michael Chang, even Evan Lendl*: not terribly gifted but max out on what they had, worked very very hard at their craft. They all fairly known amount the fans in their respective sport. Asking your employees to foot the private jet is the first. .. Hope Kevin’s article would yield enough monetary reward to make up the salary Lenny owed him.

*Lendl once said

People will sometimes ask me, ‘How much talent did you have in tennis?’ I say, ‘Well, how do you measure talent?’ Yeah, sure, McEnroe had more feel for the ball. But I knew how to work, and I worked harder than he did. Is that a talent in itself? I think it is.”

Am I a snob if I admit that I only enjoy watching Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Boris Becker, not Lendl and Chang?

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Citi Field and C

March 12, 2009 at 9:03 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged

 

Not a bad day for tennis. Ben and I won 2:1 against Powers and another gentleman. Larry and Josh were there too. I suspect that few of them might just live at the USTA. Wish I had that much of time too.

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said in a letter to employees that the bank had operated at a profit for the first two months of this year and was on track, based on historical trends, to make $8.3 billion for the quarter.

So C rose a grand 40 some cents to close at $1.45. Big deal. Still a penny stock thou. The new development on College Point and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing is coming.

Stadium Is Citi Field, but the Subway Stop Has Other Ideas: the transit officials met with the Mets over the last few weeks, in hope that Mets would share the $20m Citi shell out each year for 20 years. But the Mets said no.

Mr. Soffin [a transit official ] said $18 million had been spent so far, on refurbishing the platforms, painting the stations, installing new lights and improving wheelchair access.

I looked around, above and blow at the subway station there and saw no improvement what so ever. Who pocketed the $18m? It must be the greatest job to be a contractor to New York City.

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Attend Global Tennis Summit for only US $ 328 (EUR 260)

March 10, 2009 at 7:49 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged

I got this in the e-mail, a spam or what?

Tennis Summit will be held in Paris, France from June 3 – 5, 2009 (that is the final week of Roland Garros). Dedicated exclusively to tennis, Summit’s goal is to create synergies between the tennis core market and tennis related branches. Summit will assemble grand slams, most of federations, masters and tournaments, sponsor & suppliers which will provide to all of attendant opportunity for open communication with world of tennis.

Tennis Summit are the leading event providers for the global tennis industry. Renowned for delivering unique networking platforms, the Tennis Summit event calendar culminates in a 3-day convention encompassing the ‘Tennis Experience’. Tennis Summit truly is a portal into the tennis industry.

Find more informations about Tennis Summit and registration forms on www.tennis-open.net

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Tiger Woods at the Inauguration .. 国母 is white

March 8, 2009 at 1:51 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged ,

I’m glad to see Tiger’s speech when he mentioned only the military at Obama’s party. Both he and Obama are half black. Actually Tiger’s dad Earl was a mixture of Black, Chinese, and Native American. When the black people clamoring for the first black president (are they really that insecure?), I think in the process as if to say Obama’s white mother didn’t exist? It’s the same way with Tiger, as if to say his Asian Mom isn’t in the equation. We Asians could care less if Tiger claims himself a Black or Asian or even orange or eggplant i nthat matter, we love him equally, not becasue of his skin color but for his contributions to the world. Race should only be skin deep. I think we Asians have that confidence. Why didn’t Obama stand up to reiterate that he’s half white? 国母 is white, no matter how you dice the story.

Danny Lee is a new kid on the block of the golf green to watch. I think he’s probably more of Korean Lee than Chinese Lee 🙂 It’s so remarkable that so many good Korean golfers around nowadays.

Today March 8th, is the Ladies’ Day 三八妇女节 and I lost 3 sets in a row this morning – 6:3, 6:1 (with John) and 7:5 (with William). What can I say, just not my day. And I did a pretty disgusting thing by giving up a game. We were on serve and I was serving duce at 1 set to 2. It was perhaps the 8th duce and I double faulted it. Not entirely intentional but it could have been avoided. I was really tired – not a good excuse.

Last Thursday was a better day for me tennis wise, won 3 sets convincingly with Larry. The 4th was a give away that I threw in the towel: couldn’t move my feet any more, and I was experiencing new symptom: cramp in my thighs. First it occured in my right and then the left didn’t want to be left out so it joined in by third set. I was so relieved n happy to won the third set.

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Two records were set

March 2, 2009 at 7:06 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged

This past weekend: we started to play at 5:40 and Simon cracked his first Bud at 6:32. That’s morning if you’re wondering. And yes Simon had his first beer before sunrise.

I set alarm clock at 5am but woke up at 4:14. Too early, I went back to sleep; then 4:30; then 4:45 .. what’s the heck, got up and got ready .. Simon and I won 6:4 and 7:5 for the first two sets – I think I got all my first serve in. Apparently my wrist isn’t hurt as much as the ankle, because we were served a bagel: 6:0 the next set when my ankle felt very tender and couldn’t really run.

Larry was there too, watching. He just found a new hanging out place or senior center – the newly renovated USTA. After the game, we chatted with him briefly and inviting him for breakfast. Dear Larry declined. He’d rather hanging out at the USTA. Larry and I are having a date this Thursday, not sure who the other two players are. He said he plays there e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y.

Think Irene is tennis crazy? Not even close.

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Delray Beach Champion

February 20, 2009 at 9:45 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged

Tennis Channel was showing last year’s match when James Blake is being beaten soundly by an 18 years old Jap Kei Nishikori who can play – 6:3, 1:6 and 4:6. The kid is only 5’10” or so, considered small just won his first career title. Anyway, there are two sofas on the court, so tacky. Is that one of the promotional gimmick they use to attract crowds?

Oh the Blake. He’s another Todd Martin. No killer instinct, no tools and with an sticking out butt. Good looking guy thou.

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DGF Suez Open

February 19, 2009 at 7:24 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged ,

Tennis Channel is showing semi (in Paris; hard court – too early for clay?) between Jelena Jankovic (#3) and Emilie Mauresmo #24. Both girls in red: Emilie in two pieces red and Jankovic in one pc orange-red that looks like an night gown, with the bra straps showing. Not pretty. And I’m wondering if Jankovic’s wearing padded bra? Emilie won the match with 6:2, 0:6 and 6:1 – pretty wild; good match, many exciting rallies. Ricardo Sanchez (?) – Jankovic’s coach stood up on a questionable line call. Bad manner.

Golfer dislikes Emilie very much. Hmmmm .. she does look like a man, even her manner. But she uses single hand back hand. So I’m all for Emilie.

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The seagulls

February 19, 2009 at 12:09 pm · Filed under Sports ·Tagged , ,

It rained over night. Waking up to a cleaner earth :). Everything’s just so fresh. I did 15 minutes in the pool: can’t stay too long: the water is too warm for swimming and it’s too small. The endless turning just bores me – I’m grateful that they have a heated pool, because out door is always beats the tiny ones indoor.

The clay courts would be ready to play at 10am. So I rode to the beach. When I returned to the club, there were 4 players. Yapppppy. A couple and two singles. The drill was more interesting than just me and Dana.

Looking out the window, there are more golfers on the course ..

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Port Royal Racquet Club

February 18, 2009 at 11:07 pm · Filed under Kronicle, Saga, Sports ·Tagged ,

The tennis club at Port Royal is part of Port Royal Golf Club. It has an USTA league or leagues. Today lady’s senior (50+) 3.5 played at the club – season opener. We watched a bit after our games. They were gracious in manner and generous with line calls, the southern belle’s hospitality? Their tennis bags are all frilly and pinkish. .. however, Hilton Head strikes me as more cosmo and sophisticate than many southern cities ..

Pumpkin asked if I would join a league, I first said no, that I have enough tennis groups to play with. But then I said that I won’t rule it out in the future – I did enjoy when I was with it. NY’s USTA leagues are definitely a different bred, with NY attitude, I can deal with it. The league play provides the competitiveness that I don’t find within my buddies.

The cat was cute. Always trying to find a way into the pro shop.

Quickly I found or formed my routine: swim 15 minutes then head to the drill (more of hitting) session with Dana, the Lion who reminds me of Todd Martin. He commented on my backhand that I was slow in bringing back the racquet. It registered. So this afternoon when I played with Pumpkin, I hit lots of backhands. It felt good. A process. Work in progress. We’ll see at beginning of the summer if my game has improved.

We left before the ladies. The cars at the parking lot are all premium brands. The setting of the island is very subdue and subtle. There aren’t loud facades or gates. If you come for the first time in the night, finding your resort can be a chore. There are riff raff on the island but I just don’t see them often.

Dana asked if my right wrist still hurt. Well. It does, feeling tender. Would not use it unless I have to. But it doesn’t feel hurting more. I ran more to hit a backhand than taking it forehand. My right ankle is hurting too. I should have sued the parking lot. Shheeeshi.

The golf course at Port Royal isn’t as nice as in Sea Pines. I found Sea Pines is the most desirable area of the island. King had a great day on the green. The weather was bit cloudy and rained briefly couple of times. So Golfer said they had the course to themselves and King got to play out all his rounds.

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