No more updates? Quiet weekend?
Ok, I have to add a bit more detail to the craziness that was Saturday.
Of course, with the weather, the speculation as to whether or not the match would happen had my phone ringing nice and early. I do really like how, for DC matches, the coordinators are on site the whole time, so if it rains there, then I'll know. It is very normal here for it to be pouring 10 miles away, but dry down at the courts.
So, I head out like normal, having checked the traffic and seeing things were good. So good in fact, that I drove right past the exit to Hains Point! LOL Whoops! Only, now, I have no clue where I'm going, and the lane I'm in ends up exiting on 12th ST. Ok, number streets, I can do this! LOL I make my way back over around the National Mall, and see signs for East Potomac Park. I felt like I could figure it out, but I've never one to the park from this direction, and it is tricky with all the little roads there. Sure enough, I turned too soon, and ended up driving around the reflecting pools (I think?), though, the monuments were the only thing helping me out at the point! Washington on my left, Lincoln on my right! I *somehow* found the park and the courts, and breathed a huge sigh of relief as I still had 30 minutes before our start time. Maybe that's why I didn't notice the 'no stopping/standing' sign posted?
My team all gets there with plenty of time, we hand in the line-up, and the rain manages to hold off. As we walk onto the courts, I glance over to my car, and sure enough, there is a cop writing me a ticket! And not just me, he was just going down the line of cars! Yikes! So, I throw down my things, introduce myself to my opponents like this 'Hi, I'm Topaz, and a cop is writing me a ticket, please warm up without me, I'll be right back!'. I take off running to the cop, and say that I'm fine with the ticket, please don't tow me. He says "I'm not going to call a tow truck for 30 cars, but you didn't hear that from me' and I run back to the court.
Our opponents gave us the slowest and most horrible warm-up in the history of warm-ups. They would strollllllll to get a stray ball and basically put no effort into it whatsoever. I think the run to my car was a better warmup! It basically didn't bother me, though, and I just went about business.
We get started, and it seems like it is going to be a pretty competitive match. And then, it showed signs of being a contentious match, too. For instance, I'm receiving serve:
-serve goes wide-
Me: 'out' (with a hand signal)
Opposing net person: 'Ace! You go girl!' (with a hand slap to her partner)
Me: Uh, ladies, I called it out. We make the calls on our side.
Opposing net person: That was an ace! She (pointing to my partner) said it was good.
-evidently my partner had signaled good, and nobody heard my out call (which I"m pretty sure of since I had the better look) while the other girl was yelling and screaming 'ace'-
Me: Ok, I didn't know that. Carry on.
We start rolling in the first set. They are overhitting, and serving pretty poorly as well. We wrap up the first set 6-2. My partner, however, is really having an issue with the stalling that the opponents are doing. They are playing horrendously slow (probably to break up our momentum). I know if we say something, they are just going to yell at us again, so I say 'hey, don't let them see it if bothering you, or they will get worse'.
I will give credit where it is due. They really adjusted their game in the second set and 'fixed' where they went wrong in the first set. They started rolling in the second set, and suddenly no longer stalling. My partner (love her to death) would go to get the 3rd ball, and they would try to stop her, and she said 'no, that's ok, i'm going to get it'. Hahaha!
Then this is where I needed Cindy. I will try to make this as clear as possible:
- I'm receiving serve
- a stray ball enters our court from an adjacent court
- i see it, but do not call let
- i hit the ball
- women from the other court call let
- my return goes into the net
At this point, my partner hits the ball to the server and says 'take 2'.
And that is when h*ll breaks lose. One of the opponents (net girl) starts *screaming* 'oh no you don't! Don't try to do that! That is our point' and on and on. Really, just out of nowhere, totally rude, and completely uncalled for. My partner says 'but they called a let, I was distracted by the ball'. Net girl says 'But SHE (me) hit it already'.
However, I'm also pretty sure that players on another court can't call a let on someone else's court. However, these courts are also very close to each other, and they called it so nobody would step on it.
Now, I think the net girl was right, because the let was called after I hit the ball. However, her behavior and they way she handled herself was just disgusting. Totally, again, completely uncalled for. I'm still in shock just kind of thinking about it. My partner is one of the most straight up players I know, and when she said 'take two' it was in the most calm, non-confrontational voice you've pretty much ever heard.
At this point I say 'Hey! We are not arguing with you. We are discussing what happened. Let's just play tennis.'
We lose the second set 1-6.
And won the match tiebreak 10-8!!!
Ahhh, the best revenge against opponents like these, is to beat them!
Oddly enough, they were sweet as pie after the match.
Turns out that this team has a reputation for gamesmanship tactics. There were some things going on on the other doubles courts, too (but not on the singles courts to my knowledge). My team took all the courts, and we more than likely won't see them again this season. But if I'm still around when we play them next season, I'm going to take the pages from The Code addressing time issues and line calls and lets, print them out, and give copies to my team so if/when those things come up, when they start having someone yell in their face, they just hand them the rules.
Oh, the team also tried to walk onto the courts before the designated time, and got called back off by one of the coordinators. They are not a new team...they know they can't go on until the whistle blows.
Cindy, I'd be very interested in your take on this (especially the 'let' situation), and also if you've had any similar experiences with the gals on this team.
