I killed a bird playing tennis tonight.

[ATXtennisaddict]

I killed a bird brutally (well ok, not quite). Before you PETA members start hounding me, it was an accident.

I was playing tennis and when I hit my 2nd serve, the ball cleared the net but hit a friggin bird mid-flight that was flying low. POP. It fell and we all gathered to check the bird out.

Its wings were spread out, it was still alive. I didn't know what to do. Later the poor thing convulsed before flopping over and became motionless. So I found a box in my friend's car, put the bird inside (with an empty water bottle for no reason) and threw it in the trash can.

What the heck were the chances of me serving and hitting a bird mid-flight? Ball was spinning, timing was pure coincidence.

Reminds me of Randy Johnson blowing up a bird throwing 96 mph. But my 2nd serve was weaker and evident because it didn't instantly kill the bird.

 

[raftermania]

Well, you weren't playing golf - but you still managed to hit a birdie.

 

[ProStaffTour90]

haha.............ha :|

you could have put it out of it's misery earlier, instead of just starig at it.

 

[equinox]

Ah well, that's a really freaky accident.

Just be glad you didn't kill a human with your serve.

Like stefan edberg did during us open juniors.

The bright side is you can now claim to have a "killer serve".

Poor birdy.

 

[K!ck5w3rvE]

What happened with edberg?

 

[ProStaffTour90]

he hit a centre line judge with a serve, who toppled over on his chair backwards and struck his head on something, fracturing his skull, causing fatal injury to his brain..

 

[equinox]

Not sure of exact details.

Edberg accidently killed a lines person. The serve hit him and he toppled over hitting his head on floor.

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

Well, you weren't playing golf - but you still managed to hit a birdie.

LOL that was a good one! Good thing it wasn't an eagle.

 

[Frodo Baggins]

I remember Carlos moya hit a bird an killed it.. when he was first starting out on tour.. he says I'll never forget that..

 

[raftermania]

Yup, during the finals of the AO which Nestor/Knowles won - their opponents killed/hit a bird too.

 

[CrazyScheiner]

Your as bad as Randy Johnson.

 

[FREDDY]

damn that sucks. pretty coool though if you cut it up for a science experiment. hehe

 

[Baseline Basher]

Didn't somebody hit a bird that was chasing a moth and killed the bird? Then they said that they were thankful they could save the moth, or something like that. I think it was a forehand, not a serve, though.

 

[peter]

Not sure of exact details.

Edberg accidently killed a lines person. The serve hit him and he toppled over hitting his head on floor.

From a Google search:

RICHARD WERTHEIM - THE ONLY LINESMAN KILLED IN THE 'LINE' OF DUTY. THE 60 YEAR OLD RICHARD WERTHEIM (USA) WAS THE CENTRE SERVICE LINESMAN IN THE 1983 U.S. OPEN JUNIOR BOYS FINAL WHEN HE WAS STRUCK IN THE GROIN WITH A BALL HIT OFF THE RACQUET OF STEFAN EDBERG. WERTHEIM TOPPLED BACKWARD IN HIS CHAIR AND FRACTURED HIS SKULL WHEN HIS HEAD HIT THE GROUND.

 

[CrazyScheiner]

RICHARD WERTHEIM - THE ONLY LINESMAN KILLED IN THE 'LINE' OF DUTY. THE 60 YEAR OLD RICHARD WERTHEIM (USA) WAS THE CENTRE SERVICE LINESMAN IN THE 1983 U.S. OPEN JUNIOR BOYS FINAL WHEN HE WAS STRUCK IN THE GROIN WITH A BALL HIT OFF THE RACQUET OF STEFAN EDBERG. WERTHEIM TOPPLED BACKWARD IN HIS CHAIR AND FRACTURED HIS SKULL WHEN HIS HEAD HIT THE GROUND.

Dude, that sucks. Struck in the groin by Edberg... ugh.

 

[Rickson]

Was he struck after the bounce or was the ball in flight? Even though he died, I'm sure he would have preferred the ball after the bounce.

 

[ShooterMcMarco]

i had my first roadkill last night. i hit an opossum on my way home from applebees. it was ridiculous because it ran under my car, and hit the back tire. i felt really bad, but now i realize why i see a bunch of dead ones on the road, its because theyre so damn stupid

 

[Deuce]

Was that dead linesman related to Sports Illustrated tennis columnist Jon Wertheim?

Anyone know?

 

[Baseline Basher]

i had my first roadkill last night. i hit an opossum on my way home from applebees. it was ridiculous because it ran under my car, and hit the back tire. i felt really bad, but now i realize why i see a bunch of dead ones on the road, its because theyre so damn stupid

Can someone please search for a more random post, please? My curiosity is piqued.

Made me chuckle, however. Kudos.

 

[mabuhay]

who did you hit? lol!

 

[anirut]

Hitting a bird with a tennis ball hadn't occurred to me. Hitting a BAT, yes.

I was playing one evening around 8 PM. Tossed the ball to serve and as I was just about to make contact there was this black thing in the way. Too late, mate. Both the bat and the ball were whacked over the net. The poor thing probably died instantly.

Am I a qualified 'Batman'?

 

[rommil]

I killed a bird brutally (well ok, not quite). Before you PETA members start hounding me, it was an accident.

I was playing tennis and when I hit my 2nd serve, the ball cleared the net but hit a friggin bird mid-flight that was flying low. POP. It fell and we all gathered to check the bird out.

Its wings were spread out, it was still alive. I didn't know what to do. Later the poor thing convulsed before flopping over and became motionless. So I found a box in my friend's car, put the bird inside (with an empty water bottle for no reason) and threw it in the trash can.

What the heck were the chances of me serving and hitting a bird mid-flight? Ball was spinning, timing was pure coincidence.

Reminds me of Randy Johnson blowing up a bird throwing 96 mph. But my 2nd serve was weaker and evident because it didn't instantly kill the bird.

If Tippi Hedrin played tennis, you will have nothing on her.

 

[Tennis Psycho]

That is okay. You didn't mean too. It was the bird's fault anyway!

 

[Rickson]

It's not a bad thing like if you killed a kitten. Now that would have been a tragedy.

 

[Match Point]

I guess it was a double fault and you lost the point!

 

[Tenny]

Was that dead linesman related to Sports Illustrated tennis columnist Jon Wertheim?

Anyone know?

I was about to ask the same thing. BTW, I think it's a bit odd. Edberg's serve, as we all know, kicks high. I cannot make a good picture of his serve hitting a centerlinesman's groin... Maybe his serve in his junior days wasn't much a kicker? Or he was hitting hard flat serves in his junior days a la Roddick...

BTW, putting the poor bird in a box with a bottle for no reason was a nice thing to do but throw it into a trash can, ATX?

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

I hit the bird before the serve landed.

Tenny>>What do you want me to do? Dig a hole in the park and bury it? It was at night too so there wasn't any light but on the courts.

 

[krnboijunsung]

One of our varsity kids got hit right in the eye at net, and he's blind in that eye.

 

[Jonnyf]

in the caribean i hit a frog with a ball I SWEAR
it was like 8pm and i was out on my own practicing and served it it the wee frog man i was soo upset (11 at time)

 

[Tenny]

I hit the bird before the serve landed.

Tenny>>What do you want me to do? Dig a hole in the park and bury it? It was at night too so there wasn't any light but on the courts.

He he, I know you've done your best!
BTW, don't the birds or wild animals have excellent senses? Your serve must have been very fast or have lots of spin (curve) so that the poor bird couldn't adjust its flight path in time... Yeah, you have a Killer serve indeed!

 

[hyperwarrior]

From Federer: Funny Tennis Memory: "I was playing a friend named Marco when I was 14. Playing in Basel. And it was like six o' clock. And this bird just goes on the net. My friend - he didn't see the bird - and he starts serving. And he serves...and the little bird, Boom! Right on the body. The bird fell on my side of the net. And it was on the ground, like shaking, then, Boom, dead. Feathers all over the court. He didn't know what happened. I'm like, Stop, stop! There's a bird on the net. And he goes, Boom, and just hits it. That was unbelievable."

source: http://federermagic.blogspot.com/2004/12/introducing-roger-federer-aka-bio.html

 

[ShooterMcMarco]

yeah, i remember when i did that. i'm suprised he remembered that funny little incident.

 

[RiosTheGenius]

what the hell is up with all you people hitting birds!!!!..... and Marco shut it, you've never been to Basel nor have you ever hit with Federer or even been close to killing a bird or any flying creature.

 

[Frodo Baggins]

Rios I've Hit Birdies all the time Doesn't hurt them really With my Badminton Racket..

 

[TahoeTennis]

Don't worry bout a thing
Cause every little thing is gonna be alright

 

[letstakeourshirtsoff]

Don't worry bout a thing
Cause every little thing is gonna be alright

three, err, two little birds...

 

[mikeler]

I’ve clipped a bird with a serve. I tried chasing it away a few times but it was persistent on staying. Two friends of mine were playing and one of them killed a bird with a serve on match point. In both cases, feathers were everywhere.

Recently, one of my friends and I couldn’t get a bird to leave and he was playing bad. He missed an easy volley and chucked his racket into the net. Problem was the bird was in the way. It could no longer fly and we found a pile of feathers the next day.

 

[MatsPhilander]

 

[neverstopplaying]

This has to be the record for reviving an old thread.

No birds here, but I hit a squirrel with a forehand that decided to scramble across the court. The ball moved it over a few feet but then it continued on its merry way afterwards.

 

[Mr.Lob]

Congrats. Don't think my second serve would kill a bird. Probably just irritate it a bit.

 

[Goosehead]

huh ?..dead birds ?.....yikes, I gotta go.

 

[Topspin Shot]

 

[dgold44]

I killed a bird brutally (well ok, not quite). Before you PETA members start hounding me, it was an accident.

I was playing tennis and when I hit my 2nd serve, the ball cleared the net but hit a friggin bird mid-flight that was flying low. POP. It fell and we all gathered to check the bird out.

Its wings were spread out, it was still alive. I didn't know what to do. Later the poor thing convulsed before flopping over and became motionless. So I found a box in my friend's car, put the bird inside (with an empty water bottle for no reason) and threw it in the trash can.

What the heck were the chances of me serving and hitting a bird mid-flight? Ball was spinning, timing was pure coincidence.

Reminds me of Randy Johnson blowing up a bird throwing 96 mph. But my 2nd serve was weaker and evident because it didn't instantly kill the bird.

Could at least gave it a proper burial ???
Sorry to hear that... I would be shaken too

 

[donquijote]

i had my first roadkill last night. i hit an opossum on my way home from applebees. it was ridiculous because it ran under my car, and hit the back tire. i felt really bad, but now i realize why i see a bunch of dead ones on the road, its because theyre so damn stupid

Animals are pretty smart and well adopted to their environment. Make a human an ant with the human brain and thinking abilities and they would not survive a day.
You were driving on a road going through their habitat built by stupid humans.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

Your as bad as Randy Johnson.

You're.*

 

[sureshs]

I keep the pace of my serves really low so as not to inadvertently kill any birds, insects, or people.

 

[millicurie999]

No bird or any other animal was injured in the following incident.

My friend and I were standing at the opposite sides of the baseline. We didn't look at each other and both of us decided to feed a ball to the other side to start a rally. The two tennis balls collided mid-air. I thought that was pretty rare...maybe not?

 

[Hmgraphite1]

Stepped on some ants, they were crushed by the experience

 

[r2473]

Stepped on some ants, they were crushed by the experience

Are you the Pink Panther