Archive for "Pickleball"
Post-Pickleball Grub at Poblano Grill
Posted on December 7, 2022 by Ching under Community, Food and Drink, Pickleball.
We crashed the Bartlesville pickleball crew group dinner while at the Smash tournament a few weeks ago. I think my “party crashing” ways are starting to rub off on my friends. LOL.
There were so many of us that we had to take up two booths. I ended up in the same booth as Kumar Krishnan, Erica Dennis, and Marva Stroman.
The other Wichita peeps went to the larger booth. Clockwise from left: Ryan Kellenbarger, Karen Fox, Deana Holman, Kali Wilson, Cyndi Conley, Jenny Corley, Cindy Egan, and Chris Wilson.
Here are some pictures of our food…
I only got food pics from our booth because everyone else was far away. Anyway, there was a bit of drama at dinner. I think there was something wrong with Karen’s food. She is the one person whose food you really do not want to mess up. Everyone else will be super chill about it but Karen will not let anything slide. True to her name, she won’t stop until the situation is resolved to her satisfaction.
There was also a bit of drama surrounding dinner itself because some felt left out. Honestly, there was no official dinner invite. We just kind of crashed the Bartlesville dinner and, luckily, they had enough room for all of us party-crashers.
I had no idea what we were doing because Molly and Corey Sager were still playing in their championship matches and so I knew the Bartlesville people were going to Poblano Grill but was holding out for what the Wichita people were doing. When my friend Katie Merrill was ready to return to the hotel, I ended up riding back with her (because I didn’t have my own vehicle that weekend and was just hitching rides with everyone). I was literally in the middle of showering when my phone rang. It was Cindy and Jenny calling me from the hotel parking lot, asking if I needed a ride to Poblano Grill. They were both starving and wanted to eat early and Cindy said she cleared it with Molly and that Molly was okay with us not waiting for them.
As I did not have a car, I made a game-time decision to just roll with it. I have never gotten ready so fast in my entire life! I’m pretty sure I didn’t even put lotion or deodorant. I just dried myself off and put clothes on. I was in such a hurry that I tried to get in the first car that I saw was running in the parking lot, startling a total stranger. LOL. Ryan and Chris both said they were coming too. Luckily, there was still room at the big booth for the two of them.
Dinner was wonderful. I had a great time catching up with Erica, Marva, and Kumar at my table and I had no idea about the whole super awkward bill issue at that happened at the big booth until later. Oh, Tanner Rice (not pictured), also came to hang out but he arrived after everyone was pretty much done. Erica and I stayed while he ate dinner. The three of us had a really nice visit.
I just love my pickleball friends, specially my Oklahoma pickleball friends. I enjoy every moment I get to spend with them and always look forward to when we can all get back together again. Until the next time, GNG.
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Smash 5 Pickleball Tournament
Posted on December 6, 2022 by Ching under Events, Pickleball.
I had the opportunity to play in Gene Click’s Smash pickleball tournament for the first time last year and, even though I didn’t bring home any hardware from that tournament, I had so much fun that I vowed I would return. This was the fifth year for Smash and my second time participating. And, I’m proud to report that I did bring home home medal this time.
Here are pics of me and my awesome women’s doubles partner Nicole Mathis.
We had the potential to take silver because we actually beat Deana Holman and Kali Wilson (aka Team Razzle Dazzle) in the main bracket but they ended up beating us when we had to rematch in the bronze medal match. Ultimately, I was happy with how we performed and glad that I was able to earn a bronze medal with my first time partner.
I first met Nicole at the WPT Kansas City Pickleball Classic tournament in Overland Park this summer. She and her partner ended up taking silver, while Kimberly Howe and I took bronze. I just loved her sense of humor and was super excited when she agreed to play in the Smash tournament with me. It is her first tournament in the state of Oklahoma so I felt quite special that she was willing to venture out of her bubble to play with me.
Nicole is just the right amount of goofy and she loves pictures just as much (if not more) than I do. I had so much fun with her both on and off court.
For mixed doubles on Saturday, I played with Isaiah “Big Z” McAllister (the youngest of the McAllister kids). I was originally signed up for 4.0 35+ with Jason Doll and already had visions of sitting atop the Smash medal podium but, alas, it was not to be. Jason had been nursing a knee injury and he wasn’t sure he could play both days. Ultimately, he chose to play with Ramon Lozano in men’s doubles on Friday and skip mixed doubles. Totally fair since the two of them were set to play together in the Diamond Amateur Championships and could use the additional practice. That left me without a mixed doubles partner but, luckily, Karen McAllister was able to loan me one of her children. Isaiah was already signed up for 4.5 19+ (I think by then 4.0 19+ was already full) so I ended up not only having to play with someone I’ve never played with before (essentially a “blind date” except that I know that he comes from a great pickleball family and we did meet on Thursday night for open play) but also playing down in age and up in skill. So yeah, I basically made my path to the podium a lot tougher.
Isaiah and I didn’t make the podium (it was a tough bracket) but we did have a couple of great games considering we’d never played together before. I really didn’t want to play 4.5 because I knew Ramon was playing 4.5 and — this never fails — every single time we are in the same bracket he ends up being my first round match (because the universe hates me). And so, I’m immediately sent into the back draw. However, Isaiah and I actually won our first round (13-11, 11-8) which is amazing because it’s the first time ever that I’ve come out on top playing against Ramon.
Our next match was against Morgan Douglas and Matt Mauldin. Matt is a 5.0 player so we had absolutely no chance but we actually scored a decent amount of points against them. Our 6-11, 9-11 loss was quite respectable considering our opponents’ experience and skill level compared to ours.
Honestly, I’d rather not play 19+ if I can help it but Isaiah was such a pleasure to play with that I would totally make an exception if he asked me to team up in the future. I cannot recall another time that I had this much fun playing with anyone and I’ve been really blessed to have had an opportunity to play with some really great partners. Best. Blind Date. Ever.
I have lots more to get you caught up on so come back soon! Until next time, GNG.
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New Friends from Minnesota
Posted on November 21, 2022 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
I met another one of my Facebook friends in the flesh last weekend. Mang and Sou Vang were on a road trip to visit family and decided to come through Wichita on their way back to Saint Paul (Minnesota).
They asked me where I would be because they wanted to play pickleball. It was too cold to play outside so I told them I would be at the Pickle Club and they actually came! They signed up for guest accounts and added themselves to open play and everything! With the addition of the two of them, we had quite a few people for open play that day. It was awesome!
If you have not been to check out the Pickle Club, you should. It’s in the former Nahola facility so you know that the lighting is great and the court spacing is perfect. It is hands down one of my most favorite places to play. The only down side is that it is so far from my house.
Anyway, I’ve had some conversations with Mang on Facebook so it was wonderful to finally meet her in real life. Her husband and two girls are lovely as well. I hope I can make it out to Minnesota next year and play with their group. Until then, see you at the courts! GNG.
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Spooktacular Sunday Funday
Posted on November 16, 2022 by Ching under Community, Events, Pickleball.
We were all so very excited about the new pickleball courts at Sedgwick County Park that we started using the courts as soon as the nets were installed. We even had a cookout the very next day. I couldn’t believe how well the cookout turned out with very little notice (just a few hours and some notes on PlaytimeScheduler.com) and absolutely no planning whatsoever. So for Halloween, I wanted us to have a proper cookout with at least a few weeks to plan ahead.
This is our group picture from the September cookout.
Anyway, my birthday is the day before Halloween so Brian wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday. When I need something, I usually buy it so I didn’t really want anything — except I did want him to grill for us at the cookout. That was the one thing I wanted for my birthday — I wanted him to come out and bring the portable grill and be grill master at the Halloween cookout.
He still let me buy things so I think I got a new pair of pickleball shoes and a new pickleball paddle but grilling at the cookout was the most meaningful to me. Stuff is just stuff. I think I used to like getting gifts but over time my love language has transitioned to “Acts of Service” because I feel like that requires more effort from the other person. Also, I don’t ever like when Brian buys me stuff because he usually pays twice as much. I get discounts on everything so anything he gets for me I can usually get waaaay cheaper. LOL.
Here is an awesome view of the pickleball courts at the park.
Some people came dressed up, which was so much fun!
I think the funniest part is that only 2 people got Noi’s costume. The rest of us had absolutely no clue what (or who) he was supposed to be.
The event had a huge turnout. A couple of days before the event, I checked the list to see if the 32 burger buns and 36 burger patties that we had purchased for the cookout would be enough and, at the time, it looked like it was. However, that number doubled to over 60 the day before the event. It turned out okay though because there were several of us who double dipped (we had the cookout and also Tim Satterfield’s 40th birthday celebration at Chicken N Pickle) so not everyone ate. I think some people waited to eat at CNP.
Here’s a fun video montage I made from the pics and videos taken at the cookout. The drone footage is courtesy of Jonathan Thorne.
After Brian packed up the park and went home, I went and stopped by Chicken N Pickle to make the last part of Tim’s birthday celebration.
It’s always kind of hectic when you go from one event/thing to another but how often does a friend turn 40? I wanted to be there for that too.
I didn’t play at CNP but I was glad to be there for Tim’s celebration. It looked like everyone was having a great time. I just love how pickleball brings everyone together. I met so many new people and made so many new friends at both events that day. Now that it’s the holiday season, the next round of get-togethers is about to begin and I cannot be more excited. Stay tuned for more fun events and pics!
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Pickleball Lawrence Visitor
Posted on November 8, 2022 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
I hadn’t been able to set up any DUPR match sessions in a while because of my crazy tournament schedule. There was like a six week stretch around September-October that I was out of town every weekend. Anyway, I finally got a break so when Steve Berndsen from Pickleball Lawrence reached out and asked if he could visit and check out a DUPR session, it worked out that I could put one together.
I didn’t actually plan to play that day because I had enough participants but Jim Spencer started to cramp toward the end so I ended up having to play a couple of games — without socks. Luckily, I had shoes in my backpack that were still there from the last time I played. I just didn’t pack any socks because I didn’t think I was playing. It felt a little weird but it all worked out.
It was wonderful to meet Steve and his wife DeAnn. She didn’t play so she ran the last two rounds when I was playing. They are both lovely and I think everyone had a great time. I always love meeting other pickleball players from far and wide. Making new friends and connecting people is kind of my jam.
It turns out we have some mutual friends, Nicole Mathis being one of them. I cannot wait to make it up to Lawrence and meet the rest of the players from their club! Until next time, GNG.
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