situational awareness

I'm at work and I don't have any pictures and I don't have anything interesting to say at all. Well that's not true. I always have something interesting to say.

That's not true either.

Tennis season.....let's see, when did I last update? We went to Mesa, and scraped out a 5-4 win. It was interesting. That was the first week of October. None of us played particularly well, and that's really the last time anyone on the team got along with anyone else. I can't take a couple of those guys anymore. They're either bitching about life and tennis and how shitty our coach is or their calling me at 1:45 in the morning to prank my ass out of bed. I'm probably going to start killing people. I can't believe it's November already.

I'm playing a local tournament this weekend. It might be stupid. Playing some dubs with my little brother and some singles. The singles draw looks small and stupid and the doubles draw is a pretty tough round robin.

Liverpool......what to even say about you!? I get up early in the morning to watch you and you underachieve week after week. Fuck! The draw with Arsenal was all right; I guess it was only a matter of time before Arsenal's cumulative sexiness allowed them a goal. I was proud of the way LFC played despite being exhausted and physically broken down. It might be a rough month. I trust Rafa, but I'm pretty anxious to see what's going to happen. I hope Agger comes back soon because he is a bad ass and one of my favorites.

The Nuggets are looking OK, and that's OK. Melo and AI and Kmart and Camby and Nene and JR (if his head's right) and Kleiza and Najera.....good lord, everyone's looking good so far. We're 1-0 so I'm not complaining -- this isn't some sort of early season rant. But fuck yeah, Nuggets...come on. I'm going to the Nuggets-Bulls game on the 20th, and I'll be 21, and we got first row club seats for $40 (love that student discount), so I'm psyched in more ways than one.

That brings me relatively up to date. We've been having off-season "practice" so far but most of them have been illegal. Coach doesn't care much for NCAA rules, I suppose. It's a dumb situation. No string, no shoes, no uniforms, no new balls....whatever. I felt more legit in high school.

I'm just trying to keep my head above the water. I have four weeks of this semester left and then two more semesters at the most -- then I'm graduating. That seems exciting. I'll get back to you.

Grrrrrr.....

So our sick match the other day, the one where we won 5-4? Ya. Didn't count. Our newbie coach played Andreas, who was and is still currently ineligible according to the NCAA. Neat. And we play again Saturday and will probably be down two players for various reasons. Andreas will still be barred from playing and Kyle has decided that he has better things to do that day, more or less.

I haven't been doing much homework later. Been doing a lot of other stuff lately, like taking a few pics and playing a shit ton of tennis. Classes aren't even taking up that much time. I spend more time each week at work and tennis than I do at class, and I'd bet it's not even close if you actually figured it all out. But last night was very thought provoking for reasons that have nothing to do with any of that stuff.

My name is, as you know, not Jamison Parker. It is James Albert MacIndoe, and ya, it's a sick name. The James came from James Herriot, who is actually Alf Wight, the Yorkshire country veterinarian. The Albert came from my great great uncle named Albert McCoy, who died in WWI. And you know where my last name came from. But anyhow, I never knew much about Albert except that he moved to America with his parents and lived in Baxter Springs, Kansas, was drafted at the end of 1917 or so, and was shot and killed the day the Armistice was signed, November 11, 1918. I found out a lot more last night. And I know, I know, this is a sports/whatever blog, but this has been on my mind all day, so I'm leaning heavily on the whatever part.
*****
My sister is teaching history at a local high school, and she is doing a WWI unit, so my dad dug up all of these old documents and letters that we have had buried somewhere downstairs. I'm gonna try to scan some of them, because they are amazing. Just the fact that we even own them is cool to me. I like history, historical things, whatever...not to sound generalized and cliche, but I like stuff like that. So having a 90-year old letter that was written from a trench in France is mind boggling. Albert literally started off one of his letters, "Somewhere in France..."

But anyhow, after reading just a few of those letters, and one of the letters that his family had sent him (not sure how we have that one...), I feel like I know a bit about him. He was not very literate, and I wonder how much education he had. His letters are really hard to read because he was a terrible speller. "Been fine" was "bin fine," and he never really used much punctuation. Most of his sentences just ran into each other, and he never capitalized his I's. His handwriting looks a lot like my little brother's actually, which is funny. And at the end of his letters he always signed "by by," which I assumed (and found out correctly) was supposed to be "bye bye." That's because in that letter that his sister wrote him (that we somehow have), at the end it says, "Pearl says 'bye bye.'" Pearl was my dad's mom. So that's evidently how that started. All of the letters were very sweet, and it was really sad to read them.

But the saddest letter of all was the letter that another soldier sent home along with a letter that Albert had written his parents, telling them that he had been killed. I didn't find that letter, but the other soldier...man, what a job that must have been. He took the time to write this letter to Albert's parents, letting them know what really happend. I guess the Army had wired home that Albert had been killed in an explosion near the Meuse River in France about 1 pm on Nov. 11. This marine who wrote home told, very simply and eloquently, that he found Albert on the afternoon of the 11th and that he had been shot in the leg and bled out. He said he covered him in blankets, reported him to his officer, and made sure his letter and his money got sent to his family. Then the soldier said something I don't think I'll ever forget. At the end of his letter he said that he was just trying to do his duty, and hoped that it would bring some comfort to the family. He closed the letter and said, "Been here over 18 months. Expect to be here most a year. I remain a homesick soldier. Your's, Sgt. Leonard Pruitt"

That really touched me. It was the saddest letter I've ever read, and all of those documents brought such a strange sense of emotion to me that I'm still grappling with it. Plus, that letter could have been written yesterday!! It never changes!! People my age were in trenches in France, fighting people they'd never seen, never had anything against...they were just told to keep their heads down now and then and charge from time to time. But I digress.........

The letters. Those are 90 year old letters that were written from a trench in France! And now I have them and can read them and feel some of the same things that Albert's parents felt. It's amazing that just reading a letter like that can help me picture the man so much better. But somehow knowing that he was on kitchen patrol for a week while he was doing his basic training makes him suddenly very real. He's no longer just a name or a person. He's more than my middle name now too. And I'm going to try to honor that. I'm not sure how, but I want to. And I want to travel some more too. I found out through those documents that my dad's grandparents were both born in Scotland: he was born in Airdrie and she was born in Bathgate. I'm going there someday. I don't really even know why, but I want to.

Anyhow, I think that I am so drawn to Albert and that period in history because the first book that I ever had an emotional reaction to was about WWI. It was called War Game, by Michael Foreman. It is an amazing book, and completely describes my feelings on WWI and all wars. You should try to find the book and read it. It won't take long, but it will leave you feeling something, I'm sure of it. And the first poem that I ever had an emotional reaction to was also about WWI. "Dulce et Decorum est," and it was written by Wilfred Owen, who also died in the war. Just read it.

I guess I'm done spouting. Feel free to ignore anything I say.

F'ing Broncos!!

Only the Broncos would do that to me! How about letting the Raiders appear to win the game, then call a time out, then let them donk the next FG off the post, then take the ball down and score! GEEZ. Good thing Jason Elam has been kicking game winners since I was a little kid! Anyhow, change of subject.

We played against Mesa State on Saturday and we won. It was pretty sick, actually. Kyle and I lost in dubs, Mitch and Andreas won (thankfully), and then Beau and Richie somehow lost at 1 dubs. So we were down 1-2 going into our singles matches, but we won 4 out of 5 to take the victory. I lost my first set 0-6, and then somehow rebounded and won 6-2, 6-0 after that. I clinched the victory for the team even! It was the first time I had done that, and I'm really glad that I pulled my head out of my ass. The guy I was playing is pretty solid. He was serving huge in the first set, and I was leaving all of my groundies short so he just kept teeing off. So at the start of the 2nd set, I just decided that I was not going to hit him another forehand, I was not going to miss anymore serves, and that I was going to be more aggressive by hitting deeper shots and coming into net more. I actually managed to do ALL of those things, and then I won. Tennis is really pretty simple when you aren't being a complete tool.

So I did what anyone would do after winning a match like that: Stayed out late even though I was exhausted and ended up paying for it all weekend. I haven't really been "sick," but I haven't felt well all weekend. Just really tired, feeling kind of crappy, and my stomach has been upset with me all weekend. Plus my mom's creation of what only can be dubbed as "fire and cheese" for dinner last night didn't help the situation. But whatever. I'm glad we won.

another year, another...year...

Well school is up and running, tennis is sputtering along, so life moves on, I suppose. This year is hard to read so far. I am just taking 12 credit hours because I only need about 30 to get my degree, which is sick (thanks, England!!). It's really nice having a kind of laid back schedule, but I guess it's just the honor student in me that gets a little restless when my classes are inconsistently brilliant and shitty. Like I will have some moments of enlightenment, and then I will go to my next class and sit and not have anything happen. Such is life.

Tennis is a glorious pain in the ass. We have a new coach this year, don't know if I ever got around to talking about that. The old coach was great because he simplified the game and talked shit about everyone's mom. He was also amazing at tennis. But he's gone to New York with a lady and a swank country club, so we have "Tom." He's OK, but not really. He is really enthusiastic about the game and the team, but his promise of "more structure" has really not held up. He came into the season wanting to make major changes to my game, which has been OK until more recently. We tinkered with my forehand a bit and that was OK because we made a solid improvement and I've been hitting better lately. But yesterday the coaches decided to completely alter my serve motion (again! what the FUCK!?) so it's been a bit of a bungled couple of days. I was really confident two weeks ago, and now I'm searching for it again. We played against Metro State last weekend in Denver and we play against Mesa this Friday. I'm looking foward to it I guess...shit.

It's just been kind of a weird year so far. I'm in a pretty good groove as far as living is concerned...for me, life centers around getting to school, eating, getting to practice, eating, doing homework and then sleeping. It works for me, I guess. Life has been odd since getting home from England, and I really really REALLY want to go back, but I gotta finish this piece of my life first...ahhhhhhhhhhh

Been taking a few random pics too. Still trying to do the "let's look at something in an unusual way today" thing. None of these are too special but whatever. I'm taking a photography class that is filled with overachievers with $2000 cameras too -- no offense to good photographers...I just don't think that these people are that great at what they do...............

Tennis is tricky -- searching for that spark

Recently, Pete Sampras was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Beach. Pretty nice, I guess, if you like that sort of thing. A lot has been made about how he was inspired by his 1992 loss to Stefan Edberg in the US Open final. I lost a match last night. Instead of feeling inspired or sparked or anything cool like that, I just felt pissed off. I was playing a men's open singles match in a tournament against some guy that lives here in Pueblo. He's OK, not a bad player. Good backhand, not much of a forehand, solid spin serve, really damn fast, covers the court well, very unpredictable, makes some amazing gets and shots. So really, since I didn't play my best tennis for more than 20 minutes, I should not be too upset with that loss. It was 4-6 in the third. It was OK. I guess now that I'm typing this I feel that I'm not satisfied with OK, but I'm still more mad than anything else. It's all about a lot of growing up to do, I hope.

I won the first set 6-3 and then got lazy and then got complacent and then started pressing and then I lost. It was annoying. I feel like I should be past that point at my career. I have been playing tennis for a while now. I haven't played much singles lately though...I feel like I am rationalizing to myself. It's an annoying feeling. But oh well. I have two doubles matches tonight and I want to play well.

I couldn't concentrate last night and I think it's because of everything that's going on at my house. I don't feel like complaining about that right now though, so I won't. But I want to be able to concentrate. Oh what do you do when you feel like you should be past something but you're not!? It's very troubling. Some nights you have it and some nights you don't. I'm in repair. I'm not done yet but I'm getting there.

Some more England

I put about 660 pictures on facebook last night and it took me three hours. You all are lucky that I'm not burnt out on uploading pics yet. So here are a couple more. I will put some more pictures of London up soon...I'm pacing myself.

Back home...forget to tell you I left!!

I have been to England. I am now home. You are pretty smart and probably figured that out already. I took a lots of pictures -- 700, to be precise. I am not, however, going to put them all on here. It was more difficult than you might think, picking the best ones to throw on here. One of the first ones is a pic of me and my mates at Wimbledon, which is a whole 'nother story. There are just a couple pics of London up right now because there are too many to choose from and London is a lot bigger than my capability to explain it.

I am still processing everything, and I have been home for exactly one week. God DAMN it was an amazing trip. I think the thing that amazed me the most about England is that it is actually real. The country exists -- it is a place in the world other than Colorado. It's not in the United States. It's not in Pueblo county. It's far away and really unbelivably cool. I wish I was there.

Anyhow, the pics ended up in order exactly opposite the way I intended, so be courteous and start at the bottom. And yes, I will post more in a bit.

Boats, blues, and BBQ...and white people dancing

So my buddy and I went downtown the other night to this riverwalk thing we have in town because we have a shared love of guitar music and smoked meats. We were not disappointed. Or kind of. Some of the bands sucked my ass, but the food was all amazing. So much so that we ate a lot of it. A LOT of it. We went to the first bbq tent we found and ordered up a couple of massively stacked bbq pork sandwiches with onions and peppers. Scarcely five minutes after downing those, we found ourselves attacking a pair of turkey legs. It might not sound like that much food to you, but it was. Trust me.

But on a much more amusing note, Dave Chappelle was right on with his sketch, "White People Dancing." Just watch this video and then imagine what would happen at a riverwalk blues festival with a crowd of about 50% white 50% hispanic people in attendance. It was pretty funny.

That was tiring...

I remember the second time we went through Kansas this past tennis season; we played I think five matches in like four days. It was pretty rough on everyone, and because we play singles AND doubles, it makes for a lot of tennis.

This trip wasn't that bad. Not even close. But it was still really tiring. I played four matches in about two and a half days, and I split sets in two of them, one of them was a pretty tight little straight set match, and one kind of got away from me. Anyhow, the good news is that I finally won a little bit and got through to the semi-finals in Men's 4.5

singles.

I played the top seed and lost in three sets. It was kind of stupid -- I was gassed by the second set. I played OK in the first set and won 6-4, pretty decent little set, but then after that I just started to play like ass and lost. Simple: You don't play your best tennis against a good player, you lose. I'm really glad that I went on the trip though. It was a fun experience in a cool little city, got to see some friends, meet some new players, get my ass kicked around a little bit...hmmmm.

Tonight I started court supervision at the City Park here in Pueblo. It is by far the sweetest job at the park -- I'm sure of it. Especially this week. The city is resurfacing the park courts next week so we are not charging any court fees or anything for two weeks. I am leaving next Wednesday, so that puts me in a perfect little span of time where all I have to actually do is inform people that come to play that we will be charging two weeks from now (when I will be thousands of miles away). You see, people get pretty cranky when I try to collect a $2 court fee from them. Some of them grumpily pony up the two bucks, some of them just get mad and leave, and some of them threaten me with violence. Oh well though, I won't have to put up with it for a while!

I just remembered that I took a few pictures of the courts and stuff in FoCo. They are not anything special -- I made no effort to take cool pictures, I was just snapping things off in a hurry. But whatever. The park that housed the tennis courts was an amazing place. Everything was so green, and the park itself was huge.

The thing I liked the most about the park was that the road to the courts was not a "through" road. At our park there is a road that goes all the way through the park and encourages cruising. At this other park, the road only went so far and then there was a parking lot. No one could cruise by and shout at the players, people didn't drive around and smoke...blah blah.

Alllllll byyyyyy myyyyyyyyyyyyyyseeeeeeeelf

All right, I have a lot of things to get out and I want to do it eloquently, but let me get this first thing out real fast. FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!! I was walking past the dresser in this little Super 8 room while I was throwing my Qdoba wrapper away and then BAM! I smashed my head into this little shelf that just kind of juts out into the room. SHIT.

But back to business. I am sitting here in a crappy recliner with a warm Qdoba burrito sitting nicely in my belly, a giant bump on my head (no blood, thankfully), Baseball Tonight muted on the TV, Until June oozing through my speakers, and feeling a little lonely. Humans are weird. Today was weirder. Let me tell you how I got here.

I woke up and strung a racquet, went to the Pantry with my dad and my sister and ate a ton of food so I wouldn't want to eat later, packed up my shit and hit the road. I left Pueblo at noon and got to FoCo at about 2:30. This trip is already a lot different than any trip I've taken for tennis before.

I really like the whole team camraderie thing. I didn't think that it was going to be such a draw for me, but I really like being around the team, knowing that we are all out to do the same thing, there is always someone to talk to. It's less chore-like. Driving 160 miles just to play tennis seems like an absurd thing to do anyhow. I kind of get the sense of what it must be like to be a journeyman tennis player, some guy who can never get his rank past 600 in the world or something. You're just kind of out cruising around, seeing different parts of the world while playing tennis. That seems pretty idyllic, right? Well I guess it can be if you are winning all the time, but if you can't crack the top 500, you probably aren't winning all the time, you probably aren't making that much money so you probably aren't traveling with a coach and a little entourage the entire time. Roger Federer I am not. It really makes you lonely to lose your match and then sit back and watch people greeting each other, talking, watching matches, having a good time -- meanwhile you are just sitting there wishing you were still playing tennis. It makes you feel like, "Well, I'm not winning, so what the fuck am I doing here anyhow?"

And something else. I was sitting in my dad's car today while he was at the bank before we went to eat -- yes, that was important -- and I was looking down the street and realized that I could name every building that I could see down the street. It got me to thinking about towns and cities and moving on and people getting excited about leaving and crap like that. Now, understand this. I go to college in my hometown at a school four blocks from my house. I learned to drive my car in the same parking lots that I walk through to get to class. I still go to my brother's high school tennis matches at my old high school. I am relatively happy with my situation as it is right now. I am not burning under the collar to leave this instant because I know a good thing when I am sitting in its lap.

Still though, there is a part of me that is just really anxious to maybe live in a city that I don't know like the back of my hand. Like right now, I am learning Fort Collins. I know at least three ways to get to the tennis court complex that this tournament is being held at, but that's just how my mind works. It leads directly to tennis too, because the tournament today was a new experience. I know all about the summer tournaments in Pueblo. I have helped run most of them. I am as big as they are. I know who buys the balls, I know who makes the trophies, I know who will enter what divisions before they enter. I know the tournament directors, I work for them, and shit, I play in all of them. But up here, I only knew one of the other players, and that was a guy that I met two weeks ago. There are all of these other studly players with fancy bags and new shoes and nice haircuts, and I know that a lot of it is because I am in Fort Collins (not exactly Pueblo). In college tennis, we don't give a shit who the tournament director is or who the other coach is. We are playing for our coach and for our team and things like that, but in this case, I am just up here playing to get better, playing because I want to, and it's a weird feeling not knowing.

I really like going out to the park in Pueblo and walking into the clubhouse and saying hi to Ed and going out and hitting with him for an hour and passing by a few other people I know and talking to them. I am established. I like that. Still, there is something very sexy about not knowing the people, not knowing anyone. Personally, I find it to be an uncomfortable feeling because it makes me feel really small. I am nowhere as big as Fort Collins. That is the root of the issue. Pueblo only occasionally makes me feel small enough to need to do something to make myself feel bigger. But going outside of the city limits, going to this strange, affluent, college place changes it all.

ANYHOW. Fuck. If you're still with me, kudos. The actual match today was less than stellar. I had to play some pro from Longmont and I lost 2 and 0. The first set started out shaky and then I closed it to 4-2 and then he just beat the fucking shit out of me. I played 10 minutes of good tennis in there, and I need to find that and try to make it 20 minutes, and then 30 minutes and then maybe even a whole match. The guy WAS really solid, but he wasn't amazing. Good pace, good depth on all hit shots, really consistent, solid ass serve. Still though, I chunked a lot of volleys, missed a lot of groundies that I shouldn't have. He said to me as we were shaking hands, "I could tell you weren't on -- I wouldn't want to play you when you are. You've got great volleys, are you gonna be in Fort Collins much more this summer? Let's hit." I guess that's nice, but fuck, it would be nice to just climb a tree and beat someone.

Last thought, which kind of nullifies some of what I said earlier. I asked the guys at the tournament desk -- before I left to go see a couple friends (who promptly left the city) -- if they knew of any public parks or high school courts that I could check out tomorrow. I told them I was looking to hit some serves at least, kill some time -- best case scenario, I would find someone to play with. They gave me a map of the neighborhood and marked out a park with 6 courts. Then the tournament director, Tom, who emailed me like four times before I even signed up, gave me his phone number, told me that he lives nearby the park and that he would hit with me late tomorrow morning if I called him. I told him that it sounded like a great idea and that I would be calling him. So that's good. I just want to get a little touch on the ball tomorrow, get a little more feel for it before my two matches tomorrow night.

So anyhow, I might be back later, might not, depends on what's on TV I guess. Might do a little workout and then get a shower and try to sleep. We shall see. Sorry if this is gay. I'm bored.

Inbetweenthings

Another Tuesday, another hellacious thunderstorm, another USTA league match washed out. Last Tuesday we got rained out, and then today was just crap. I left the house at 4:45 and it was fine. I noticed it was getting darker as I was driving to the courts, and after 5 minutes of driving I no longer needed my sunglasses. By 5:00 pm when I was at the facility it started to rain, and then by 5:15 it was hailing and blowing really bad. Didn't stop until almot 7:30. Fuck that.

Anyhow, I have that tournament in FoCo this week and was hoping I would get at least one match in beforehand. Guess I will have to get a couple of unofficial sets in and then be on my way. I am going to try to get up there and eat and then check in to the hotel, maybe take a fresh little nap, then head to the site and check the place out, play my first match, and then I might meet a friend for some dinner. I hate to plan things out that specifically in advance, but it seems like a solid schedule right now.

Dear England

Dear England:

When I gently invade your shores in three weeks, I promise to do a few things, and I promise NOT to do a few more. I will pack light, and by that I mean I will take a backpack with clothing and a small day bag to pack my essential shit in. That's it. I am going for the simple lifestyle when I'm with you. You and I will be like some weird vegan couple on a honeymoon. The simple life, you might say. I will buy some laundry detergent so I can occassionally wash my clothes, and then I'll give it to someone else when I leave. I will buy some trinkets for my friends and family and I will mail them home the next day. I will not overencumber myself, even for a little bit.

I promise not to wear anything resembling an American flag or promote anything that has to do with the American lifestyle while I am in your country. I hate people who wear "God bless America" shirts anyhow, and I'm FROM America. I will try to blend in -- I once told my brother, "Act like you've been there before, and then after the first time, you have, so you're fine." That's not to say that I won't be in awe, because I surely will be. But I won't go all giddy at the mention of Trafalgar Square, and I won't blow a load in my pants the first time I get on the tube. Don't get me wrong. I will have my camera with me at all times. I hope I can take some quality photos too instead of getting too wrapped up in myself and expending shitty shots on the usual suspects. I want to do something special with my camera, and if my mind allows me, I will try. That's all I can promise you, dear, I will try.

And when it comes to people, I will attempt to do as the locals do, but I will find that blend of touristy imitation and being a douche. Because I am the only guy in my group of 14, I will be staying with some other travelers or residents or whatever while I am in your country. I promise, and I really mean this England, I will not be an asshole. Polite, courteous, maybe a little funny funny, but not a dick. I promise to abstain from all assholery while I am in your country. We have a president for that. England, I think what I'm trying to say is that I am going to try to be as un-American as possible. That doesn't mean I'm going to start using words like "lad" and "cheers" and assume a crappy accent, but I think you understand. I am going to do my best. I hope you like it.

Much love,

Jamers

Ideas??

I'm desperate for fun distractions at work. I am pretty sure that I've seen everything on the Internet. And I mean everything. Every video on youtube, every sports article in the world...everything. It's depressing.

Here's what we have to work with (we meaning Ryan and I here at the writing center): five aging Dell desktop computers hooked into a lackluster campus network; a few large desks; four rolling chairs; 10 stationary chairs; a telephone; some filing cabinets; a printer; two small office areas that are cordoned off from the main writing room area; four fake trees and two fake plants. That's about the size of it. If anyone has some suggestions for how we can entertain ourselves, or would like to contribute financially, please leave a comment with all of your personal information (credit card and PIN number, belly button size, etc.). It would be much appreciated.

Still here, more or less

I'm still around. Actually right now I'm at work, but it's so fucking boring that I have resorted to walking around the room in circles. It's really bad. But anyhow, I guess there are some things to talk about.

• The Paper Cup went well. Greg and I won consolation open doubles and I won one and lost one in singles. I lost to Beau from the team, and since he is a stud I'm really not too broken up about it.
• I'm playing a tournament in FoCo next week -- should be interesting. I don't really know where I am staying yet, but it will be the first time that I'm all alone, no team, no coach, no family, no nothing, just me and my matches.
• I have also decided that I am going to work a Nike Camp at Fountain Valley in CO Springs this July. I'm just doing two weeks of it instead of the four weeks I worked in Boulder last summer. Four weeks of camp is rough; two should be pretty manageable. The place looks amazing, and it IS a Nike Camp, so that means FREE CLOTHING!
• It's interesting how I even got that job. Every tennis job I've ever had has nothing to do with any sort of tennis skill or qualification -- it's just that I have known the right people or made the right connection at the right time. The camp director used to coach Colorado College's tennis team and I played against him last year and so when he spotted me at the courts a couple weeks ago he offered me the job. It's that simple.
• I am still in mourning about last night's game. Don't talk to me for a couple more days. And don't look at the ESPN soccernet headline. Christ.
• This must be one of the perks of being a professional athlete. How sick.
• I bet that Roddick would trade being on the cover of this magazine for a win over Monfils (he lost). That sucks...I don't know if the clay brings out the best in the rest of the world or the worst in American kids or if it's some mixture of the two. I'm going to do a Hubie Brown, second-person impression here, so bear with me. I mean look at Roddick: You've got THE serve, you've got a big forehand, you move well, you are coming to net with more success than before, you've got every reason to feel confident in your game, but then you go out and consistently lay eggs on the dirt. And now you're starting to feel like your performance is slipping when it comes to hard courts. That's a hard situation to dig yourself out of. (⁄ impression).

Anyhow, some guy just came in for help. I gotta get.

Editor's note: 5/24/07

I apologize for the grammar errors that appeared in this post. I was at work at even though I wasn't doing anything else, I was feeling harried. Actually, I'm not sorry. Nevermind.

Raining...

It is officially summer tournament time for a couple of reasons. One, we started playing the Paper Cup tournament last night, and also because tonight's matches were completely rained out. What a pain.

I played a pretty long singles match last night but it was a solid effort. A nice little three-setter, saved a match point even in the final set (but it really wasn't that dramatic). The match was on serve most of the time and I just got the breaks when I needed to and that was that. I was a little rough around the edges and I needed to clean up a few parts of my game, but I got through it against a good opponent so I'm relatively pleased. Then Greg and I had to play two amazing guys in dubs, and despite playing the most stellar doubles we've ever played, we lost 7-5, 6-1. No matter though. There are still some sick teams in consolation, so that will be fun.

Tonight though...balls. Completely rained out. I strung some racquets this afternoon and I'm glad I didn't just sit on my ass waiting to play. I have to play Beau (from the college team) in this next match, so I will probably lose, but I wouldn't go out there if I didn't think something retarded was possible. I am going to hop on a bike in a little bit I think, or at least do something physical tonight, so I'm gonna get going. In the meantime, pray for no more rain -- it's really annoying.

Yeah and about England...

I don't remember if I talked about this before and I don't care to go back and look. But yeah, I am going to England for a bit this summer. I am taking a school trip -- two classes, six credit hours, two weeks in England...oh man. It's going to be amazing. I'm gonna check out a bunch of plays, all the usual sights in London, the cliffs at Dover, Stonehenge, WIMBLEDON!!! I will be there in the first two days of the tournament too, so it will be tennis nirvana times TEN. I might even go to the new Wembley. I got a sick new camera, and I already plan on spending a ton of money over there, but I don't even care. It is going to be absolutely amazing. It's kind of crazy, seeing how this is the first trip/airline flight I've ever gone on. But whatever. I won't believe anything until I'm there and back. I'm still going to be ecstatic in the meantime.

Also, about this blog. It started out as a school assignment, but I think I have been able to get a little more enjoyment out of it than I anticipated. I am going to keep it going through this summer of tennis and then see where I'm at. My summer plans, as of now are pretty simple: Play some tennis before I leave, have a good time while I'm gone, and then play some tennis when I'm back. I'll still be working nights at the park (more on that later) and even a little bit at school. But I'm going to play a lot of tournaments, and probably travel to a lot more than I have before. I need to have a solid summer of tennis and make a good impression on this new coach (whoever that turns out to be). I'm looking forward to it.

50th post, and it's USTA league time

Sorry for the posting lapse. A lot has happened in the past week or so.

• The spring semester came to a close. Praise Jesus. Now only one month until I am in England, drinking a cider and checking out a foreign country. It is probably going to be the highlight of my life.
• The RMAC season ended. I made the RMAC All-Academic team too, whatever that's worth. Wish it had been for some sort of tennis-related skill thing.
• I've been sleeping in a bit and spending most of my days lounging.
• I'm starting not to do that so much.
• I caught a little cold. Start to get over that now.
• I have rediscovered the simple pleasure of the frisbee.
• The USTA league season kicked off last night. It was OK, but it reminded me why I hate the USTA. First of all, I was supposed to play 2 singles for my team -- a lineup of 1 and 2 singles and then three (3) doubles teams. My guy forfeited, for some reason. So I played with a high school kid while my team lost. Wah waaaaa...
• I am working the girls' 4A state tennis tournament this Thursday-Saturday, so that should be interesting. State tennis was always a strange thing for me, but by the end of high school, I felt like I was bigger than high school tennis, or that I could at least wrap my head around it. I will never be able to do that with college tennis.

Anyhow, back to the USTA league for a minute. This guy on our team, Rob, showed up last night with 6 mini-water bottles with him, no racquets, no bag, nothing. He was like "Hey man!! What's up!? I haven't played for about 11 months -- this is gonna be crazy!" I said, "Dang, let's get you warmed up!" We got on court and within 5 minutes he was hitting as well as I was. What a stud. If I took 11 months off from the sport, it would take me another month just to get back to where I was. This guy is amazing though. He was a state champ in high school but then never played in college. Had he kept it up, he would be even more amazing. It's crazy how some people work. Some people are just wired for the game. I wish I was like that, but whatever. I'm not complaining about what I have. I'm looking forward to playing more with him for sure though.

Kuyt!!! Liverpool!!! Zat Zat!!

Please ignore the happy title. This is a really sad story.

I was pumped about the game all day. I was thinking about it during class today, I was fantasizing about it at work this afternoon...I even left early because one of the guys was threatening to tell me who won. I got back to the house and ate dinner and ran downstairs to turn on my recording. I watched with glee as Agger scored to put LFC up 1-0, and then I fought off some heavy eye lids the rest of regular time. Come extra time, I'm wide awake. I'm ready to go, ready to yell. I blew the lid off of the basement when I saw Kuyt put one in the net in the 100th minute, and then I about ripped my face off when I saw he was offside. No matter. We'll get another one. Here comes the next extra time...and then in 107th minute, what happens?? THE RECORDING ENDED!!! Comcast!! Fuck you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did not manually extend the block of time for my recording, and Comcast ended my recording right when things were getting panicky!

I ran over to the computer in the basement. It was frozen. I ran to another one (ya, we have too many) and fired up espnsoccernet and found out the result. Don't get me wrong -- I am superfuckinghappy about it all. But shit. I didn't get to watch it and now I feel hollow.

I have to go study now.

Sigh...

Day one of Finals Week is in the books. I had two tests today and they weren't terrible. That's not to say that they were great, because they were final exams...

The *#&#^!% Nuggets lost tonight, and OMG does that piss me off. It apparently made me angry enough to use "OMG" in a sentence for the first time, and now I want to hurt myself all the more. Someone was playing solid defense on Tim Duncan for a change and since he wasn't getting any calls in the first half I guess the refs felt obligated to spread the fouls back around to everyone on the Nugs squad. Then Robert Horry happened and nothing else mattered. Holy shit. Kill me.

I will be recording the 'Pool game tomorrow. Don't spoil it for me! It's gonna be tough. When Gerrard was walking off the field after the last game, my buddy Mitch said (in his usual I-have-to-say-something-to-sound-soccerish way) "He knows what he has to do." Let's freaking hope so.

Nadal is a ferocious beast, and Until June is pretty decent

I don't think anyone but me could beat Nadal on clay right now. Oh wait.....ya right!! Holy shit!! He is amazing!! He beat Canas 3 and 4 and has now won 72 straight matches on clay. Most people won't win 72 matches in a lifetime -- on any surface. What a man.

Also, check out this band Until June. They are pretty solid. Kind of like Coldplay if they were from California. That's all I got for now, gotta go eat some lasagne.

Light Green

I know I was just here but I think you should read this.

Ever since I picked up my first John Mayer CD, Room For Squares, when I was 14, I knew that he was my favorite artist -- ever. I started downloading all of his unreleased and independent stuff, and then with Heavier Things and Continuum and the Trio I have only fallen more and more in love with his music. And it's not just the songs he writes or the way he plays the guitar. I really can't remember disagreeing with anything he has said. I am perfectly alligned with practically every world view he has. His interviews...amazing...he just has the right type of personality, the right sense of everything to keep him balanced.

His latest blog entry is just another step -- he gets it.

I want to share this

because it is freaking sick.

So I was finishing up some hw tonight and I was scouring youtube for some fresh music clips and what did I find? Just John Mayer at Abbey Road.

Rafael Nay-Dal

Stupid ESPN ladies. I hope you understand that. Anyhow, ESPN the website actually a pretty nice write up about Rafa. It is one of many articles that have been written (and will be written) about Senor Rafa, but I read it and thought I'd pass it on for no real reason.

Also, fucking Chelsea. They played well, it was about what I expected. Bellamy was a disappointment and then Crouch didn't do shit once he got put in except jump on a guy's back and then act like he couldn't understand why he got flagged. Gerrard's almost-goal was pretty amazing, but Cech came up with the goods on the save. Fuck. I hope they win the next leg...it will be tough, but I will be watching...

My life is empty

I have nothing to do. Nowhere to go. No stories to tell. Well I guess I have a couple of stories, but they are just sad little things. Let me take you back to what happened.

Last Thursday: The last day of practice for the 2006-2007 tennis season. The RMAC tournament was the next day and since we were given no shot to win and advance to regionals, Thursday figured to be the last day of practice. It was. And it was wonderful.

The weather started out horrible (40 mph winds all morning -- I thought the Library building was going to come tumbling down) but it turned amazing somewhere along the way. The perfect spring day. We had a short little practice at the park and then went to a park to play frisbee for about an hour, and then everyone came to my house for a gigantic spaghetti and meatball dinner. After a few solid hours of eating, ping pong, more frisbee, FIFA, and a little more eating, everyone left and I was left with a weird glowing feeling that all was well in the world. It was the best day I could remember. Our coaches had even come to the dinner, and I felt for the first time like everyone on the team was just one big family. I know, I am retarded.

Fast forward to Friday morning. I woke up late. 20 minutes before I was supposed to be across town, in fact, which takes 15 minutes. I slammed some fruit into my tennis bag, forgot half of my warm ups, brushed my teeth, didn't get to take my morning dook, picked up Ricardo at school and made it to the courts a mere 8 minutes late. Not the best start to the morning.

It didn't matter that much though, because Greg and I played some amazing tennis in dubs and won 8-1. We spanked them. Then I lost in singles. And then we lost to Mesa again, 5-4. And then in the huddle afterwards our coach said, "Well guys, this is my swan song." No one said anything for a solid minute. Everyone was just staring at the ground. I looked at him and watched him try to blink away some tears and put his sunglasses back on. He stuck his hand into the middle of the circle and asked for a "team on three," but I could barely understand him. We croaked out a little chant but no one left. We had all been preparing for it since we found out he was getting divorced this winter, but I don't think anyone was expecting it at that moment.

Since then, life has been a slow, springtime spiral. Life is good, and at the same time I am heartbroken. Practice is over and I have nothing to do. I should have tons of time to do homework, but I can't focus on anything at all. I walked the dogs and did errands with my dad around town today instead of playing tennis, and it was nice and all but it didn't feel right at all. Life has no meaning without tennis -- I am sure of that.

And yes, I am very glad that the Nuggets beat the Spurs, but they need to do it again before I get too excited. And no, I cannot wait until the Liverpool - Chelsea Champions League match. I'm going to go temporarily forget my sorrows with a DP and FIFA. You figure it out.

What did I say?

That's right. I said the weather would be horrible and that I was glad I had taken advantage of it while I had the chance. It was windy and rainy and snowy for like five days after that. This weekend the weather was magnificent while we were in Denver and Greeley, but as I speak it is raining -- and has been raining for over four hours now. Joy of joys.

The trip was OK. We whupped up on CCU 9-0, and the good news is that they only have one psychotic person on their team. I find that to be good news because UNC had several of them. Or I guess the better term would be "prick." Or "douchebag." Or "vagina helmet" or even "slapdick." Whatever you want to call them, they were really poorly behaved. My guy hooked the shit out of me when I was serving at 30-40 5-all in the second set; it was the worst I've ever been hooked. Whatever though. I will be over it by the next time we have to play.

This is just a really quick update because I am still trying to wrap my head around life at the moment. I have to shower and figure out my checkbook and then probably do something else before I go to sleep, and I am making that a priority these days.

Oh man, I just found something hilarious. Let me say this much first: our two dubs team started out the season amazing. Mitch and Josh combined to make a really solid team. Then Josh tore that ACL. Kyle and Greg had been playing three dubs, but the teams got split up and moved around. Now Kyle and Mitch are playing 2, and they haven't exactly been grooving. They both kind of hate playing with each other, and the fact that they lost 4 or 5 games or whatever it was to CCU is really kind of funny. Mitch was really pissed at Kyle, in fact. So reading CCU's recap of the day is awesome. Plus, Ricardo hurt his back in singles and just tanked the shit out of the entire match after he got one break of serve anyhow. He Pete Sampras'd his way through the day. Guess that doesn't make as good of a story. Sorry CCU.

Spring for a day

Yesterday I woke up and everything was covered in snow. Today it was 70 degrees and perfect. No joke. Practice was solid, and afterwards I ran around the park because it was a nice day and I wanted to try out the new Nike running shoes. It was a successful venture on both counts. I walked up to school at 5 for a dinner meeting and took a little pic on the way home because the light in Pueblo is best at the end of the day. Wanted to share. Anyhow, it's a good thing that I managed to get maximum enjoyment out of it too because tomorrow the weather is supposed to start sucking again.

Not much going on in the world of professional tennis today. Today was the first day of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, and if you want to read about it...well go for it.

I am trying to find a relatively unknown tennis player to stalk when I go to Wimbledon this summer. He (or she, I guess!) would have to be ranked somewhere around 75 to 100 in the world. My boss and I just think that it would be funny for the 82nd ranked player in the world to have two stalkerish superfans for a couple of days. We could go to the players' hotel and rush him for autographs and what not. Man, I am looking forward to this.

Decisions!

So I am hopefully going to England this summer. The trip is June 14-28, and I will hopefully be able to go to Wimbledon for a day. I will get 6 credit hours for school, which is amazing, but I have a problem. There is going to be this amazing concert the day that I would have to leave. Ahhhhhhhh! It is the concert that I have waited my whole life for too! John Mayer with Ben Folds opening for him. Holy shit! Whyyyyyyyyyyy!? The day that I leave!?

I already know what I'm going to do................................buy an international adapter for the iPod.

I can't pass on Wimbledon, and I can't resist the idea of leaving the US for a while. I guess I have a pretty nice life if this kind of thing is a decision that I have to make. Back to reality...

F the USTA

Dear USTA:

I would start out this letter by simply saying, "You suck!" but you probably already know that, so I won't. I would just like to let you know a few things about tennis.

Some people just want to go to the park and play tennis. Some people don't have enough money to pay 40 dollars for a one-year membership to your shitty organization, and surely do not want to part with their hard-earned scranch just for the right to have a piece of shit membership card that says so. Furthermore, your league system sucks, and I think you have some wacked out priorities about the sport in general. Is your goal to promote the sport or to make money? Hmmmmmm...me thinks it's the second one. No one goes through the USTA to do anything unless they live in a big city, and here in Colorado, when someone utters the forbidden phrase "CTA," they are usually met with a sideways glance and a hard snicker. USTA, you are a disgusting tool.

In case you were wondering, USTA, what this rant is all about...I will tell you. The other day, I tried to sign up for a men's 4.5 league that will start playing in May and go through the summer. I had to "self-rate" myself, because in your infinite wisdom, everyone must have a designated skill level. I was halfway through your little self-rating program when I started to realize that I must have mis-read one of the questions, and since there is no way to go back and re-answer a question, I decided to close the window and start over. Then your program locked me out and rated me as a 6.0! What the fuck! In case you have forgotten, POSUSTA, your system ranks players from 1.0 (what is this thing called a racquet!?) all the way up to 7.0 (OMG it feels great to win Wimbledon again!). Most people are in the 3.0 to 4.0 ranks, and playing in a 4.5 league stands as a pretty respectable degree of ability. But 6.0!? What? You bastards. Now I have to appeal my ranking at send it to your office and let your degenerates decide that I am, in fact, not a professional tennis player, but am instead a mildly talented human being.

USTA, in case you didn't notice, I hate you.

Sincerely,

Jamison Parker
(and the real person who wrote this)

****************************************************

Anyhow, there is some real news at the moment. The team is idle right now -- we had an invogorating five matches in four days over the past weekend, so we had a few days off and are enjoying the Easter weekend by doing absolutely nothing. It freaking snowed here today but will be 70 tomorrow...go figure. It's CO. Fuck it. We have a week of practice, two matches, a week of practice, and then the conference tournament. I hope we are all peaking at the right time.

This was a Davis Cup weekend, and it was solid action all around. The US won which was nice. JB played well, Roddick played well, the Bryan bros played well (in singles even too!), so it was a solid effort. Semis now.

I wanted to see the France-Russia singles matches so badly!! Safin is such a bad ass!! He was held out of the first singles rubbers but then comes back and saves the day. What a quote: "It was a pure accident," said Safin, who is 29-18 in the Davis Cup. "I have not been playing for a long time and won quite unexpectedly."

As has been the trend lately, I'm going to go back for another round of Ass Ranger with my homework before some Easter dinner. Stay calm today, and please don't send me any more text messages that say, "Happy Easter, He is risen!" If you do, you're going right up on the big board next to the USTA.

Liverpool d. PSV Eindhoven 3-0

So that was a pretty sick game. A buddy and I devoured some pre-match subs and watched the first half, and then I watched the first half after our match against Metro. The soccer game went well, our match did not. Everyone was tired and a little dinged up after playing 10 times in 4 days, but oh well. We will get healthy and have some days off and get ready to beat that ass at the conference tournament.

Back to Liverpool for a minute. I know PSV was missing some players, but man, Liverpool took it to them very convincingly. The first goal was efficient and exactly what they should have done, the second goal was an amazing bonus, and the third goal was just insulting. I agree with the PSV coach...this series is doneski.

Davis Cup is in just a few days, and Roddick says that he is going to play no matter what. I read that he has been getting "intense ice, laser and other treatments" on his strained hamstring What!? Lasers? As I sit typing this with a bag of ice on my foot, I have to wonder...wouldn't it be nice to play sports for a living? I could have a team of people making sure that my foot feels 100% right now instead of sitting in a computer lab with a bag of stolen ice draped over my foot. Oh well. I like this better.

You wouldn't believe me if I told you...

Life has been insane!! Where to start?

We took a trip down to Silver City, New Mexico to play a match against WNMSU. It sucked. 22 hours in a van round-trip and we got rained out after about 90 mins of play. Mitch and I won in dubs and then I played a set of singles and the rains came. End of story. Good thing we didn't play ENMSU.

We have now had four matches in three days. It is draining. We played CC today and I felt much better after I was done playing than I did at any point during the day. Yesterday we had to play four times (singles and doubles...you get it) and man, tiiiired legs today. We made it with an 8-1 victory though. Oh and I was THIS close to some deer that ran through the Broadmoor today. Yeah. I wish I went to CC and got to play my matches at the freaking Broadmoor. Back to the public park for me...

Tomorrow we play Metro State and it will be difficult. Really difficult. Looking forward to it though.

And pro tennis...Novak Djokovic is sick! He reminds me of a guy around here: robotic type strokes and just all sorts of game. He wants it, too, much more so than a lot of people around that have shit tons of ability but don't have that killer instinct.

The one thing that I already knew but have learned all over again in college is that the game is all about being consistent. All you have to do is be confident that your shots are going to go in and then you can start figuring out how to beat people. It's pretty simple, really. But Djokovic...his match against Canas was a solid example of Consistency vs. Power + Consistency. Power and consistency won. It won't always. There are ways to beat it, but you have to be good enough to take that guy out of his comfort zone, and Canas was not going to wear out Djokovic.

And get off of Federer's back. He has lost twice in two weeks to a guy who is playing out of his gord. Canas is not afraid of anyone, especially now, and especially after beating Fed the first time...

And finally, I guess I should address my lengthy absence from the "blogosphere"...I dare you to not snicker when you say that word seriously. This past week was spring break, and I was doing my best to disappear. Basically I watched a lot of TV and played some tennis and made a few bad decisions that I could not afford to make during the regular school week. The week before that we took the trip to NM and I missed three days of school and work. Then this weekend and week we have 5 matches in four days. I used to have too much time to waste; I still do, except I just waste it more dramatically and without noticing.

I am supposed to pass along some other blogs that I read (it's an assignment) so here are a couple of pretty nice ones. Exhibit A, and Exhibit B. I wish I knew people like this in Pueblo.

On another note, the team made a little spring break trip up to Denver and took in a Nuggets game. They played like shit and lost at the end to the Sonics, but they made up for it by wasting the Sonics right back last night in Seattle. They need to figure their shit out and get a playoff push going so they can play with a little momentum.

There is lots more coming in the next few days; the ATP tour is getting into Davis Cup ties and the clay court season, and the team is getting ready to try to make some noise at the conference tournament in a couple of weeks...and oh yeah, LIVERPOOL is going to dominate...er, hopefully dominate, or win, or show up. Balls.

Now I must unfortunately be getting back to letting school kick my ass and tend to my sick dog...he's not really that sick, but he got a tooth removed today and needs some nursing.

Nay-dal

Rafael Nadal slapped Andy Roddick 6-4 6-3 in the finals at Indian Wells. That's old news though. You want new news on here, and new news is what you shall get. I'm gonna do this like Fox News. I report, you decide! Yay!! Vote conservative and destroy the planet now!!

You can read about how Nadal is "not just a clay court specialist," and then you will probably roll over and say "DUHHH."

You can check out how Kim Cljisters is effectively taking her last year on tour completely off -- she is retiring after this year, but she might as well have just retired a few months ago, because she is now taking the US Open off to go on her honeymoon. I understand it and all, but what?

I found a fairly interesting piece on ESPN.com about the hazards of balancing tennis with rest on the pro tour. It was pretty interesting, and James Blake was one of the featured players.

The Pueblo team had a match today. You can check the site for scores -- I don't know if they put anything up yet though. For the record, we were playing the #17 team in the country. That's no excuse for getting whipped though.

We play again on Wednesday against The U of Rhode Island, and I am sure that it will be just toooooriffic. They have a player who is 6'9''! I am impressionable enough to be intimidated by that.

We're taking a trip down to Silver City to play WNMU...should be a fun time. More on that later. Time for.....