 Dave Hemenway returned... |
With Michelle... |
"So many hours must I tend my flock;
So many hours must I take my rest;
So many hours must I contemplate;
So many hours must I sport myself;"
-King Henry VI
King Henry VI, Part iii
"The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall." -Mitch Hedberg
Last week we wondered how the numbers would work out this week: would regular members leave in droves for vacations on the Vineyard? would incoming Summer Members make up the difference in numbers? in busyness? We wondered wrongly. Seems like the Summer Members went to the Vineyard and regular members played, well, regularly, i.e., in their regular time slots. And the club was busy. As it should be.
We haven't missed a whole day to rain since, like, early May. We've been closed for some hours due to showers, but no days.
|
Dave Hemenway returned... |
With Michelle... |
to play...
Kids' Camps kicked off this week: every weekday but Wednesday, from 12:00 to 2:00 the club's Outreach Program hosts groups of kid campers from various schools and programs in Cambridge. We've had as many as 30 campers and counselors out there on our courts with Rick and Johanne. The club has donated court time and pro time and spare rackets to welcome the kids. The kids smile and laugh and drink epic amounts of our lemonade. Epic.
And court maintenance? We see that some courts are blocked off for a day for MAINT. Well, the courts are being played on continuously and need some work. The staff is adding clay to keep the courts level and some calcium chloride to keep them moist and delicious. Be patient: you'll be rewarded with great courts.
The staff kindly requests that members observe the rules regarding advance reservations. (Advance reservations may be made from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and again from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) Please don't try to trick the staff, or cajole, confuse, or conjure the staff into giving you an advance reservation at, say, 7:59.99999. No heart breaking stories, please. (My llama is sick. I have to rush her to... I can't wait 'til eight. My Volvo just blew up. I have to save my children. My Golden Retriever just...)
The old house clock was triangulated to the mighty atomic clock in Berne and the Great Cartesian Grid Clock in Oblivia, but now in 2007, we are even more accurate: we use our cell phones and Lennie Singer's cell phone. Lennie's is state of the art. It is something to behold. It just radiates precision. Reservations are not taken until the 8:00 a.m. flashes across the face of what are possibly the most precise timepieces on the planet (and perhaps beyond).
The 'dedicated' court? The club is trying something new this year: a court dedicated all day for the use of the pros. Court 3, usually. The idea is that you members can come to the club any old time and find a pro or a hitting partner and a court and perfect your tennis. The dedicated court is released if no pro has reserved it by 8:00 a.m. the day before. Capiche? (You want a court for 6:00 on Tuesday and they're all booked except for the dedicated court? Call at 8:00 a.m. on Monday. Be happy.)
Please take a look at the new schedule of clinics. This year the club is offering a number of clinics that we haven't had before, some with our new assistant pros.
William Gibson, of Neuromancer fame, said that the future is already here, but that it isn't evenly distributed. CTC has its share: a wireless router. So, if you have a wireless card on your laptop and you want to go somewhere, check with the staff about our password and send your avatar off on adventures.
| The next Round Robin is scheduled for next Wednesday, July 18. It will be competitive and the meal will be catered. |
In case you haven't noticed, we've added some features to the website. Check 'em out.
The club book should be in your hands by now. Much of the information in the book is updated and available on the website.
Some useful links:
Here's a link to the espn site, with pro ranking.
And a club member (let's call him Sol) suggested a link to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. The site is rich.
We still have the tournament draws (from 2001 to 2004) available on-line (including all of the results), thanks to the Java Kid. We are re-locating the links, however.
"On the court, tennis players exchange not only ground strokes but lots of information. It's a richly interactive sport, both verbally and non-verbally. If players communicate clearly, simply, and consistently, the game will proceed more quickly, and with less fuss and misunderstanding. Here are a few guidelines that can make the game more fun, friendly, and fair for all...."
We've had some requests to run Craig Lambert's piece, sampled above, on Tennis Communication. (We'd better leave this link up on the newspage permanently.)
Take a look
Yearbook link will take you to the last newspage from 2006. From there you can see the whole of the Persistent Archive of last year's news.
Website Note: The time and temperature icon below is a link to a Boston weather site.
Webmaster
Website Note II: The honey-comb icon is also a link. It takes the clicker to an archive of all the past news pages so that said clicker can read the news pages for the whole year (2006). The less-than link (<) next to the honeycomb icon will take clickers to the previous issue of this year's newspage. (Skywriter is for Initiates.)
