T.A. Niles falls to Dave Smith in the quarterfinals of the National Public Parks Championships and new information prompts seeding follow-up.
Biting the dust will never be as sweet as tasting victory, but sometimes you have to swallow a bitter potion because you know it’ll make you better in the long run, right?
Progress, but a Ways to Go
Well, today I bit some dust as fed to me by Dave Smith of Crsskill, NJ to the tune of 3-6, 4-6…and I’m still playing a little too much like Santa Claus to win matches against higher echelon players. Dave dictated most of the points and I didn’t execute my intended strategy well enough. It was a good benchmark of my progress and I can’t wait to get back at it!
I suspect Dave will bow out in the next round, but I made a fair match of it against a guy who is in the top 50 in the country. This being my second USTA sanctioned tourney in seven years, I feel okay about where I am. Right now I’m losing matches due to a combination of my opponents’ skill, my generosity, and a lack of conditioning. In two months, I expect any losses to be primarily to my opponents’ skill.
Writing En Route
By the way, if you’re wondering why this didn’t get done last night, it’s because I am writing this in the car on the way home to Fort Myers Tuesday night. The clock says 10:27pm and we still have over two hours to travel. MJ’s doing the dirty driving work while my fingers fly freely over these keys, much faster than my feet flew over the clay today.
The Legs are Key
If today’s match reinforced anything, it is that without well-oiled wheels, wins will be too few and far between. But that’s why I’m getting back to cycling. My best win streak (20-0) during college was when I had to ride my bike to school for three weeks. There was no ball I couldn’t reach on the tennis court. I don’t expect my closing-in-on-50-wheels to help me revisit that brand of tennis, but I plan to get as close as I can.
Sheer Fills in Blanks
Oh, did I mention meeting one of my old college teammates, Steve Sheer after my match on Monday? Well, after reading Monday’s blog, Steve emailed me that the No.1 seed, Norm Schellenger, was actually in the top 200 in the world at one point. He also suggested that Steve Bucar (who beat the No.2 seed, Gary Clermont, in straight sets) should have been seeded in the top two.
I chat with Ervin Mendel in the locker room after he played Schellenger, and Mendel said that Schellenger was at another level compared to the rest of us. Steve thinks Bucar might be even better. If Bucar pulls off the upset and wins this thing, remember you heard it here first, courtesy of Steve Sheer.
Seeding a Matter of Judgement
In case you can’t tell, I’m back-pedaling rapidly from my critique of the seeding yesterday…at least until the weight-challenged lady sings (wink). I guess that’s why the rules give seeding officials some leeway. Schellenger may not have played enough tournaments to accumulate points, but seeding officials used personal knowledge to make the decision to seed him No.1. That was a good thing, but, uh, you know the scheduling thing? We still have to hand out a “tsk, tsk” on that.
Play Time Over
In any event, my fun time at the National Public Parks Championships is done. Now the work remains. Interviews to transcribe, pictures to edit, and a real article to write. Scintillating stuff!
A Comedian in Every Bunch
One funny note before I go. A mentor of mine from a former life, Michael Hecht, had this to say in response to my seeding rant: “You're rolling. So, why aren't you on the seeding list? I hear you gave a 15 year old girl a very tough match :-).” That’s NY humor for ya. You know I was practically ROTFL…
Major Gratitude!
Until next, I appreciate all those who cheered me on and I especially appreciate Aileen and Michael Kenny (M.J.’s sister & bro-in-law) for putting up with us for the past few days. Can you imagine if I had made it to the finals! Thanks guys! Game, set, match…
