I don't regret starting tennis at 24. Before tennis, I had already made 4A in California surfing (the highest rating next to world touring pro, there are a total of 50 at that level, I was 31.), had played 3 years of varsity basketball AND football for high school, was #7 in the whole California college level in Novice Fencing (after ONE semester, eligibility goes to 3 quarters or 2 semesters), had my 3rd overall trophy for 250 ProductionRoadRacing for AFM, had already got drummed out of the Army, and was delivering sailboats for a living in the fall, winter, and spring, and salmonfishing on a 50' steel boat in the summers out of HalfMoonBay.
With all that life experience, it was an easier transition to competitive tennis than most anyone could have. Don't forget the 3 years of high school basketball, and 2 more in junior high. Lots of moment, ball handling, passing, and balance practice.
In football, I was, of course, the smallest starter on all 3 teams. And I played OLB mainly, and starting TE (then a blocking position 99% of the time).
I threw rocks as a kid, on the beach, and in low 7th grade, could throw a softball 180' thru the air. I couldn't have been 4'3" and 50 lbs. then.
I had the luck of the draw to never really have to work, except the 3 hours after school sports cleaning up my Dad's restaurant after closing. Dad died at 16, just after I got my motorcycle (250 Yamaha), while I was still playing football and basketball for high school. That gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted as long as I made the house payments for Mom. Bro and Sis had moved out already.
JV football, ONE other guy my size, and he was the pass sit nosetackle (102lbs.). Everyone else was at least 5'8" and 140 lbs.
Varsity football, no one on the team within 40 lbs of me, but that's OK, both our all city runningbacks hated to be tackled by me on one on one's. I was all bones and elbows, knees and hips, and most guys got bruised from my tackles, thos I got totally bowled over backwards most times. I never threw for distance after making varsity as a 11th grader. In JV, at 5'2" and 102 lbs., retrieved and tossed back the football as an OLB. Distance in the air right past 75 yards. MikeHolmgren was our starting QB, the coach of the Seahawks. He couldn't throw much farther than 60 yards, but the ball bounces much more.
Surfing. I was shop sponsored by WiseSurfboards, got Oneill wetsuits at 60% off retail +shipping, got free clothes from them, TimBessell and RobinProdanovich my board sponsors which I ended up paying about $150 for boards including shipping up here. I still get the wetsuit deal, but only order one wetsuit every 3 years. Don't want to push my luck and deals. Nobody paid me $$$, but contest entrees paid by Oneill, and Robin would sometimes pick up the gas for distance travelled. Tim didn't care so much for me, as I think he thought I was only a big wave surfer, not a tiny wave SoCal contest surfer. I did win a couple of heats for him in 4A, but his boards were high strung and best only in really clean, glassy conditions.
Guy I toss footballs with is a 6' tall, 210 ball of muscle, a USF gymnastics coach, who can hit a 6 iron well over 250 yards in the air. I go about 10 yards farther on football throws, and his ego gets bruised. He's quite good at tennis, so he gets even with me by splitting sets mostly.
I"ve seen Kiteboard only once at the RoseGardens. He's a big blond electrician, and was hanging out at the street, not down on the courts.
I have hit with his buddys, JeffWilliams and HermanBauer, who was a top 3 ranked National 18 in the nation.
I'm not as tall as KevinKan, but at 5'11", taller than most other's.
Life is all about choices. I decided at 12 to never try to have kids, as I knew I would be a kid til the end.
Right around then, I decided that one of my goals, besides going to the GreekIslands, and Iceland, would be to live homeless for a while. From around 10-15, I would wander downtown SanFrancisco by myself after dark, and met lots of cool, but rather smelly, homeless people, hang around them for hours, then streetcar it back home well after midnight.
Having had the luck to live most of my life in new houses, or housing, it's a rather nice treat NOT to have to live in them for a while. For a while. Next year, I'm getting SocialSecurity around 200 more than I make now, so we'll see.
The taxi job in SanFrancisco, if you're a night driver, is full of highjinx, broken dreams, and peaks into unreality. Paid well, supported a full on motocross career for 7 years, but also landed me in jail a few times, besides being shot at from the backseat of my cab two different times, stabbed while being robbed, and teens of runaways which I decided I had to persue. I did it for the 7 years I persued motocross.
$$$$... well, you make do with what you gots. Yeah, no Honda, got $650 from CleanAirAct and bought a longbed Ford150 van. My home now for 1.5 years. Showers and bathroom at the Marina, food from DollarStore or GroceryOutlet, lots of first and only dates. I'm one of the better windsurfers in the area, so attract lots of young good looking women. They see my lifestyle and run. That's cool. Let live, be happy.
Work 2 days a week gardening, 2 hours per. Every other Sat, work at CalAdventures, for half the day, but I gotta have my afternoons off to windsurf.
