Cedardale vs. Winchester

A Halloween bash in my street
is a night that will never repeat

the spirits that come

are tequila and rum

and I end up drunk on my feet!

October 31, 2008. Cedardale had many reasons (not that we need any!) to indulge in apres tennis libations; first, for our three match points won. Betsey and Lisa rocked a major win in Position 5 with fluid partner play and few unforced errors. Lisa and Leslie in Position 6 also gave us cause to celebrate. And, kudos to our court-smashing subs for delivering Cedardale Green a third point. We tip our glasses, too, in honor of tennis ink reciprocity. Shawn: Giver and Susan: Receiver. We raise a cold one to Danielle and Marybeth who were strongly in the lead until Danielle tore her gastrocnemius or soleus muscle away from her Achilles tendon (well, she pulled a calf muscle and it really, really hurt!) and went down in tennis point flames. Grey Goose and Lavender cheers go to Dorian and Kathy Hocking for keepin' their cool in the presence of court hostility. Though I cannot tell you much about Vegas owing to the National Tourism Honor Code, know that I was doing my part from the sidelines to celebrate in your collective honor...

Cedardale vs. Willows

October 17, 2008. We took on one of the toughest teams in the league and came up short. OK, really short. We did, however, give them a good run on many of the courts. Dorian and I played one of the closest team matches, losing by only one game in the tie break. Dorian delivered three beautiful overheads in a row (shoulder turned, left hand toward the sky...just perfect). But, I'll let Dorian's own words speak the rest:

Actually, my partner (pahtnah) Kathy decided she was playing too well in the first set so she tattooed herself in the second. She hit herself in the eye bone (that's medical terminology), bled and bruised IMMEDIATELY, and then took the deuce point!. She is no delicate flower, that one. Shawn, you still have that eye patch??? Pass it on to blondie.

I think we were paid a compliment because one opponent said to us, "that was a really good game....our matches usually only last about 40 minutes." Can anyone say Humility 101? During post-match debriefing we heard them ask their coach what they could do so that that wouldn't happen again. (I'll refrain from any McCain debate references here in the spirit of straight up, non-partisan tennis blogging). Lisa and Leslie, taking on the hairdressers, served one tight match (playing an hour and fifteen minute first set - winning it 7-6!!!) and gave everyone some really great tennis to watch. Even better, they made their "we really don't want to sweat....we have to go to work after the match" opponents SWEAT. As usual, there were antics-a-plenty on Court One. In addition to making her opponent duck in order to avoid a tattoo induced hematoma, Shawn decided that she could control the ball via command. Yes, she screamed at the ball to "SIT!!!" but like most dogs, and children for that matter, the ball chose its own path. Shawn maintains that it was a golf reference. All in all, Arlene and Julie are right - good fun and sportsmanship were had, KATE GRONDIN showed up to cheer us on before heading into work, no wraps were served, and the eye that I popped open in the second set off my own bloody racket while running down a lob in the back court is still purple but a whole lot less swollen this morning. Life IS good.

Evenfall Restaurant & Bar

Off the court at Evenfall. At the bar and looking rather fetching, I'd say ~ Lisa, Kristine, Kathy, Leslie, Betsey, Marybeth, Dorian, and the Cap'n Shawn (first outing post flu - no SOLID food consumed).

Coach Vernon and the A1Lower Ladies of Cedardale. Cap'n Shawn, Betsey, Marybeth, Lisa, Arlene, Kathy, Dorian, Ann, Leslie, Kristine, and Julie.

Ann, of the love-ly accent, and Dorian, of any and all accents. It's called DISCLOSHAHHH...


We love to celebrate each other! Kristine, making a wish...

Cedardale vs. Andover

October 10, 2008: three team points earned, zero wraps served. Your blogger apologizes for heading to NYC for two (I suspect related) reasons: One, clearly my pacifist karma travels with me, and Two, Jeannie (thanks for subbing for me???) crushed a first serve into the back of my partner's head in my absence! Admittedly, there is not one among us who hasn't enjoyed watching Jeannie's driven net play, especially when an opponent unwittingly floats a short ball anywhere near her. As Cap'n Shawn will tell you, "Jeannie makes them eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!" Their match win, coupled with a boatload of organic Lavender, Inspiration, and Thieves spritzah (essential oils from Provence, duh!), helped salve Dorian's injury. Danielle, fresh off oral surgery, took a ball to the eye in the first 15 minutes of play. Triage informs me that her contact lens stayed in place, which leaves me wondering, at this point, about the condition of her cornea; hopefully, she has a few leftover painkillers. Arlene drove a not-so-happy ball into Julie's umm, well, "backside," though after the thrashing the partners apparently came to a consensus on the etymologies of the words "bounce" as opposed to, say, "out." Yet, all was not awash in team injury. Liz earned herself some tennis ink, and Susan and Ann held their own having moved to a higher position. AND, Dorian ripped her first match ace of the season. Coach Vernon, who clearly heeded the message that WE call the shots about how to dress, showed up in team colors proving, again, that he is one smart man. Ultimately, though, it was Cap'n Shawn wearing a red bra and an eye patch; it was our cuisine du jour, our ability to stand firmly together against the wrap, that made us downright tennis mavericky...

Everyone please...

...just say no.

Cedardale vs. Cedardale

October 3, 2008. Another match tie. More wraps served. But, Vern's right - we really are the best team in the club. Here's why: in the name of solidarity, Danielle hobbled in with a taped-up ankle and swollen hip fresh off her stairwell ride, later players arrived early, early players stayed late, and foregone was Dorian's beauty rest in order to sub on her bye. I, too, gave my day off to cheer and there was plenty to cheer about. Cap'n Shawn and Liz dominated on Court One, which gave them time to focus on down-the-shirt ball antics, and Jill's flashing from the viewing area. Jeannie (aka Jennie B) and Kristine Flash Gordon had good reason to fist pump (not the terrorist kind the New Yorker profiled, but the non-threatening Tiger Woods version); first, for Jeannie's usual testosterone-driven net play, then for Kristine's ability to chase down anything. Susan and Ann get the Project Runway nod for ripping out the attached sports bras from their $55.00 Nike tanks in order to look like fashionistas AND be comfortable; yeah, they played awesome, too. Julie demonstrated excellent partner communication with Arlene by reminding her about "happy balls," and Leslie and Lisa both ratcheted up their tattoo totals; in fact, I think we set a match record for tennis ink this week. I counted minimally five...

Evenfall in October

Mark your calendars for October 15. The pros and ladies of A1 Lower Cedardale Green are steppin' out. Meet at Best of Boston restaurant and bar, Evenfall, in Bradford at 7:00. Dress code: Nothing with Dri-Wicking fabric or a Nike swoosh. Don't even think about sneakers. Tennis bracelets are optional.

**Designated drivers likely needed.

September 19, 2008

Lob

verb (used with object)
1. Tennis. To hit (a ball) in a high arc to the back of the opponent's court.

Ok. But how do we defend against a Lob Queen? According to USTA.com, "the answer to this query is dependent on the players' athletic ability, tennis skill, mobility, and teamwork, as well as the exact type of lob hit."

• The net person hits the lob if 1 - The lob is a decent/bad one (not one that lands right near the baseline) and she is more athletic and/or is a much better player than her partner or 2 - The lob is fairly short, within a couple of steps of the net player.
• The baseline player hits the lob if 1 - It is a very good lob right near the baseline or 2 - If she is a much better player than the player at net.

Basically, we have two shot options: take it outta the air with an overhead smash OR lob it back. Coach Vern has suggested, too, that we can agree ahead to just cover each other's lobs. Onward ladies.

September 12, 2008

Cedardale Green vs. Lynnfield, Friday morning match. Newly formed partnerships and new players to the team served up one respectful first match and brought home an overall dead-even point tie. Vern is pleased. Now, at the beginning of the season, it seems like the perfect time to qualify the following concerns:

One - No need to apologize when you tattoo someone UNLESS you tattoo your own partner AND it results in an injury. At this level of play it is your opponent's responsibility to keep her racket up.

Two - We all know that tattooing is really accidental anyway because according to HRH Jeannie, Queen of the Tattoo, when you actually do take aim in order to hit that rotten linecalling, snotty attitude, skirt wearing opponent you can't!

Three- You never, ever need to proclaim that you really are a nice person (whether or not a tattoo is involved) because we also know that we ARE nice people. Cap'n Shawn said so. Plus, Dorian has noted that the more someone declares that they "really ARE nice" the less likely it is to be true.

Ok. I really don't know exactly how to phrase this, so I'll just put it out there. Kristine is having cravings. I don't know why, and maybe it's just too early to know. BUT, when wet cement and other foul industrial/construction odors at the Boston Sports Club smell like baked goods from Cinnabon, well, you have my attention.

Thank you thank you to Betsey for driving to Lynnfield to support the team, and kudos to everyone for kicking off the season with great team camaraderie and play...

September 8, 2008

Monday morning practice and the beginning of our North Shore A1 Lower 2008 run. Under the direction of Coach Vernon (who has declared us the BEST team playing out of the club) enter the Tennis Women of Cedardale Green: Cap'n Shawn Licari, Liz Torrisi, Julie Menezes, Arlene Iosif, Jeannie DeLuca, Kristine Sheehan, Marybeth Sampson, Danielle Tjalsma, Dorian Brown, Leslie Bisson, Lisa Raess, Ann Tavener, Jill Formichella, Betsey Natale, Susan Dwyer, and your blogger, Kathy Nielsen-Dube. And we are ready to play: we voted in our captain, picked our team colors, and after having Leslie, PLAYER DOWN ON COURT ONE!!, show us how the follow through on the serve is really done, we are equipped with ice packs, bandaids, and steri-strips. Yeah, we're ready...