Cindysphinx
G.O.A.T.
You know how they say that a plane crash doesn't happen because of one mistake -- it takes a series of mistakes, and catching one of those mistakes will prevent the accident? Well, my team had a crash the other night, and it cost us a defaulted court.
The match was scheduled for 8 pm. That is an unusual start time in our league and at this facility, as matches usually start at 9 pm.
When I sent out the match reminder two days before the match, I designated an acting captain because I would not be there. The second sentence of the match reminder said: "**Note the early 8 pm start time!** My acting captain (call her "Linda") replied that she hoped I would send out another reminder the day of the match about the early start time.
Mistake No. 1: On the day of the match, I forgot to send another reminder because that is not my normal practice and I was busy.
Mistake No. 2. A Court Two 3.5 player (call her "Kelly") got the reminder and confirmed, but forgot about the 8 pm start and believed the match started at 9 pm.
Mistake No. 3: Opposing captain called to say they would default Court Three. We notified our Court Three players. Both said they would come anyway and just practice together. The 4.0 player planned to be there on time in case of a default, and she incorrectly assumed the 3.5 player (call her "Carol") would also come on time.
Mistake No. 4: Linda got a late start and then hit a traffic jam at about 6:45. She called Kelly to tell her to stay off the freeway. Kelly said she was just leaving the office to take the train home. Linda thought that it was weird that Kelly was cutting it so close, but did not say "Good lord! Are you going to make it by 8?" Kelly thought it was weird that Linda was leaving at 6:45 for a 9:00 match, but she didn't say, "Why are you leaving so early?"
Mistake No. 5: Linda arrived 10 minutes before match time in a frazzled state. She called Kelly and asked where she was and learned Kelly was at home chilling out. Kelly said she could never make it by 8:15, so Linda hung up. Kelly then decided to try to make it, but did not tell Linda.
Mistake No. 6: Linda decided that Carol might make it on time, but did not call Carol to find out. Linda decided to exchange the line-up to put Carol on Court Two and hope she made it.
Mistake No. 7. The opposing team was struggling with the same traffic jam and was short one player on Court Two. That player showed up 10 minutes late. Our rules say the 15 minute default period does not run until both partners have arrived, so that meant we had until 8:25 to get our people there. Alas, Linda did not understand the rules and assumed we defaulted at 8:15 so a default was taken.
Mistake No. 8: Kelly arrived at 8:17, within the default period. Because Linda had submitted the scorecard with Carol instead of Kelly, it made no difference. Had Linda made some phone calls before exchanging the line-ups, this could have been avoided.
We won Court Three by default, lost Court Two by default, and lost Court One -4 and -2.
Ahem.
The match was scheduled for 8 pm. That is an unusual start time in our league and at this facility, as matches usually start at 9 pm.
When I sent out the match reminder two days before the match, I designated an acting captain because I would not be there. The second sentence of the match reminder said: "**Note the early 8 pm start time!** My acting captain (call her "Linda") replied that she hoped I would send out another reminder the day of the match about the early start time.
Mistake No. 1: On the day of the match, I forgot to send another reminder because that is not my normal practice and I was busy.
Mistake No. 2. A Court Two 3.5 player (call her "Kelly") got the reminder and confirmed, but forgot about the 8 pm start and believed the match started at 9 pm.
Mistake No. 3: Opposing captain called to say they would default Court Three. We notified our Court Three players. Both said they would come anyway and just practice together. The 4.0 player planned to be there on time in case of a default, and she incorrectly assumed the 3.5 player (call her "Carol") would also come on time.
Mistake No. 4: Linda got a late start and then hit a traffic jam at about 6:45. She called Kelly to tell her to stay off the freeway. Kelly said she was just leaving the office to take the train home. Linda thought that it was weird that Kelly was cutting it so close, but did not say "Good lord! Are you going to make it by 8?" Kelly thought it was weird that Linda was leaving at 6:45 for a 9:00 match, but she didn't say, "Why are you leaving so early?"
Mistake No. 5: Linda arrived 10 minutes before match time in a frazzled state. She called Kelly and asked where she was and learned Kelly was at home chilling out. Kelly said she could never make it by 8:15, so Linda hung up. Kelly then decided to try to make it, but did not tell Linda.
Mistake No. 6: Linda decided that Carol might make it on time, but did not call Carol to find out. Linda decided to exchange the line-up to put Carol on Court Two and hope she made it.
Mistake No. 7. The opposing team was struggling with the same traffic jam and was short one player on Court Two. That player showed up 10 minutes late. Our rules say the 15 minute default period does not run until both partners have arrived, so that meant we had until 8:25 to get our people there. Alas, Linda did not understand the rules and assumed we defaulted at 8:15 so a default was taken.
Mistake No. 8: Kelly arrived at 8:17, within the default period. Because Linda had submitted the scorecard with Carol instead of Kelly, it made no difference. Had Linda made some phone calls before exchanging the line-ups, this could have been avoided.
We won Court Three by default, lost Court Two by default, and lost Court One -4 and -2.
Ahem.
