OMG...HOLY FISH

OMG…HOLY FISH…This week match was like the very first match of the season.  It was a nail biting match for sure.  The Jammers took on the TopSpin team and it wasn’t an easy win for them like the last two times the two teams met.

Our doubles team of Carol Rollins and Suzanne Lennard met up against Nancy Skinner and Linda Donnelson, it wasn’t our night for the Jammers, Carol and Suzanne lost their match 6-1, 6-4.  Kelly Kramer and Lisa Powell had a tough first set against their opponents, Lori Young and Judy Daugherty.  Kelly and Lisa fought hard and won in a tie-break 7-6 (7-5).  Then they cruise through the second set with the score of 6-0.  Heidi Smith and Julie Trout were victorious together again with their match with the scores of 6-2, 6-3 against their opponents Lori Robinson and Leah Clark.

Theresa Lor played at singles again, but this time, she was beaten by her opponent, Lisa Acosta, with the scores of 6-0, 6-2.  Our princess, Nancy Winters, played the other singles for the evening.  Nancy admitted she was nervous in the first set, and didn’t think she was able to win the match.  She hung in there, fought hard, and came out victorious against her opponent, Gerri Mach, with the scores 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (10-7).  We needed that win to win as a team, and our little princess pull it off for us.  Super Kudos goes out to her this week.

Even though the Jammers won this week, it was hard for me to watch them play.  I didn’t get to watch them play the whole match since I was gone the first half of the match.  I felt like a failure as a captain since they came so close to losing the match this week.  Did I not do the line up right?  Did I not match up the players the best way it should be?  Where did I go wrong?  I kept thinking, am I the only one that wanted an undefeated record?  Am I that competitive?  Since we’re in District playoffs, the team doesn’t think the last two matches matter?

As I walk around watching some of them played, they all acted like they don’t even know each other.  There were no COMMUNICATIONS on the courts.  I don’t know how many times I’ve told them to talk to each other on the court.  If things don’t go right for you, talk to each other and change things up.  Don’t do the same things over and over again and expect a different result.  That is the same for whether you are playing singles or doubles.  I wanted the Jammers to learn from each match they played.  If they win, what did you do to win, so you know to do it next time.  If you lose, what did you do wrong, so you won’t do it next time.  I’ve read this quote once ‘Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning.  Losing forces you to reexamine.’  I like this quote; maybe I am too hard on the Jammers.  Maybe I should let them lose once in a while so they can learn from their losses?  On the other hand, if you keep losing, and learn nothing from it, what’s the point?  Correct?

I guess I shouldn’t expect everyone to be as competitive as I am.  To me, if you don’t want to be competitive, you can’t be a Jammer.  That is really a big different between the Jammers and the other teams.  If you can’t give 110% to the Jammers, you shouldn’t be on the team.  This week I looked at some of them and wanted to say ‘can you not give me that 110%?’

I met a man by the name of Jim Holcomb from Arkansas a couple of months ago.  He really wanted to form a 3.5 USTA Men’s League.  We tried, but couldn’t come up with enough players to have 2 teams, so we have to abandon the idea for 2012 season.  This week, I have the opportunity to place him on one of our 7.0 Mixed Doubles League Team.  Why am I telling you this?  Because I like this guy, as soon as I put him on a team, he didn’t really ask when Sectionals is going to be, he wanted to know when Nationals is going to be.  Now that is the kind of attitude I like all my Jammers to have.  Every time they step out on the court to play, think of why they are playing, what is their goal, why are they working so hard in the heat to win a match, is it worth it?  For all those Jammers that had been to Sectionals, I guarantee you; the answer would be ‘Yes, it’s worth it’.

Jammers are 8-0 this week; they have one more match to go next week before District playoffs.  Oh, I almost forgot, thank you Debbie O’Reilly for filling in as captain this week.  You did a great job!

Whether we win or lose next week, the Jammers cinch the Local League Champion title second year in a row.  Let’s win our third trip to Sectionals!!!  Go Jammers!!!