My Perfect Tennis Day
Yesterday was one of those days I live for.
After an 8:45am pickup from home, my friend and I arrived around 9:30am at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center -- you know, the place in Queens where they play the U.S. Open. From 10 to 11 we participated in a clinic where I was standing next to Martina-freakin'-Navratilova for awhile. She watched me shank my forehand -- I was dying!!!! Then came Mary Joe Fernandez and Malavai Washington. All on court with us, all giving us tennis tips.
But the best was saved for last: for at least 15 minutes we got Billie Jean King on our court. Billie-freakin-Jean-freakin-King! And she was soooo nice and so enthusiastic about tennis and... I mean, she picked up tennis balls with us, man oh man. And then we got a moment to talk with her: I mentioned that I was from Philly (she liked that!) and that I had played on her home courts in Southern California before, which she liked even more. I'm not sure I how stopped myself from wetting my pants.
(ok, taking a deep breath... in... out... in... out...)
The only thing that made me sad was: I got no opportunity to take a photo of myself and Billie Jean or Martina. Big ole sighs from me, esp. since I had the good camera with me in my bag.
So anyway, after returning to Earth my friend and I did some Wii Tennis (gosh I hated that) and then got an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Arthur Ashe Stadium (pics coming soon). I've never even entered that stadium before, and now I have a photo of me on the court. How awesome is that?
Did I mention this was all free?? All because I'm a USTA member living in New York now?? YES!!!
[Edit: it may have been free for me because I make a certain amount of money per year, and the sponsor Lexus was looking for that demographic. If that were true, it dampens my joy a little bit... But still: Billie Jean!!]
After the tour of Ashe Stadium I played doubles tennis with friends from noon to about 3:00pm, and then from 4:00pm to 8:00pm more doubles at a monthly gay tennis party.
By the time I got home I was exhausted, achy, and probably dehydrated. But I had done tennis from sun-up to sun-down, I had met a few of my idols, and I had seen a few things I might never see again. All and all, a fantastic, splendiferous day. :-)
After an 8:45am pickup from home, my friend and I arrived around 9:30am at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center -- you know, the place in Queens where they play the U.S. Open. From 10 to 11 we participated in a clinic where I was standing next to Martina-freakin'-Navratilova for awhile. She watched me shank my forehand -- I was dying!!!! Then came Mary Joe Fernandez and Malavai Washington. All on court with us, all giving us tennis tips.
But the best was saved for last: for at least 15 minutes we got Billie Jean King on our court. Billie-freakin-Jean-freakin-King! And she was soooo nice and so enthusiastic about tennis and... I mean, she picked up tennis balls with us, man oh man. And then we got a moment to talk with her: I mentioned that I was from Philly (she liked that!) and that I had played on her home courts in Southern California before, which she liked even more. I'm not sure I how stopped myself from wetting my pants.
(ok, taking a deep breath... in... out... in... out...)
The only thing that made me sad was: I got no opportunity to take a photo of myself and Billie Jean or Martina. Big ole sighs from me, esp. since I had the good camera with me in my bag.
So anyway, after returning to Earth my friend and I did some Wii Tennis (gosh I hated that) and then got an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Arthur Ashe Stadium (pics coming soon). I've never even entered that stadium before, and now I have a photo of me on the court. How awesome is that?
Did I mention this was all free?? All because I'm a USTA member living in New York now?? YES!!!
[Edit: it may have been free for me because I make a certain amount of money per year, and the sponsor Lexus was looking for that demographic. If that were true, it dampens my joy a little bit... But still: Billie Jean!!]
After the tour of Ashe Stadium I played doubles tennis with friends from noon to about 3:00pm, and then from 4:00pm to 8:00pm more doubles at a monthly gay tennis party.
By the time I got home I was exhausted, achy, and probably dehydrated. But I had done tennis from sun-up to sun-down, I had met a few of my idols, and I had seen a few things I might never see again. All and all, a fantastic, splendiferous day. :-)