Chicken N Pickle Mixed Competitive Leagues
Posted on March 5, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Things to Do.
Mixed competitive league night at Chicken N Pickle is one of my favorites. I’ve played it in when it was on a Thursday night, Sunday night, and now it’s on Tuesday nights. I’ve played in it with different partners.
Tom was my first competitive league partner and together we were “Asian Invasion”. He is my absolute favorite because he is a joy to play with. The best part about playing with Tom is that he’s made me love playing with lefties, which is a complete 180 from how I felt about lefties a year ago. I used to not like playing with them because I would get confused which balls were mine to take and which weren’t. But now I see playing with a lefty is more advantageous than not and I look forward to partnering up with lefty partners these days.
It was also my time playing with Tom that’s helped me get better at stacking and switching. I’ve learned so much from the times we’ve played together.
Steve Vetter was my next partner after Tom. There are no pictures of us from league because Steve hates pictures and matching outfits. He is also very good and fun to play with but pictures and matching outfits are kind of my thing so I felt like we were very incompatible. He at least let me name our team “Vetter Luck Next Time” so that was fun. I love clever team names.
My next partner Jacob Thompson (from last session). I hadn’t really played with him much but I’d played with his dad Rick Thompson a lot over the summer when we were playing at 5 AM before work. Jacob was a really good sport. We wore our league shirts every night we played together and he didn’t complain about them.
He let me name our team Short Stack – a name I borrowed from when Jocelyn Devilliers and Matt Conrad were playing together. I think it fit because I’m short and we stack. Jacob is also a lefty so it made perfect sense for us to stack and I felt it was very effective. I’m also playing with a lefty in Delray Beach for women’s doubles so it was great practice. I also had a bit of fun with our team shirts. I had “Shorty” printed on the back of my shirt and “Lefty” on Jacob’s.
My latest partner is Dave New. We are playing in the current session as “New-B” for his last name and the first initial of my last name. It’s also a pun on the word “newbie” so whenever people ask who we are or who they’re playing against they’ll say the “New-Bs” – I’m so nerdy, I know. I love puns!
Our first night of league was Tuesday. Dave cracked me up because he said he meant to sign up for the mid-level league and not the toughest one. He thought Mixed Advanced was higher than the Mixed Competitive league so that’s why he wanted to play in Mixed Competitive. It sure sounds like it but it’s actually the reverse. Mixed Advanced is in between Mixed Intermediate and Mixed Competitive so the Mixed Competitive league is the most challenging league at Chicken N Pickle. Though, honestly, none of the mixed leagues at Chicken N Pickle are really all that competitive. The best mixed league available right now in the area is the Monday night mixed league at Nahola.
I guess Dave wanted to pay in Mixed Advanced but he’s stuck with me now. Although I have noticed that a lot of the same people will play in both leagues. I feel like if you’re not quite sure where you fit skill-level-wise then it makes perfect sense to play in multiple leagues until you find the correct fit. I just kind of got stuck playing in Mixed Competitive because there was no Mixed Advanced group at the time and I had already outgrown the intermediate group but I will really play in any league that my partners want to play in. I just want to play.
Until next time. GNG.
1 Comment
Traveling Home
Posted on March 3, 2021 by Ching under Travel.
Pictures on our trip home…
I’m so glad I arranged for a car service because the Uber situation in Phoenix is quite horrendous. Drivers just cancel your trip at random. Our Execucar driver actually arrived at the hotel a half hour early. Thankfully, Karen and I were both ready. We arrived at the Phoenix airport around the time he was supposed to pick us up at the hotel.
I breezed through security since I have TSA pre-check and then waited for Karen to go through the regular line because they wouldn’t let her through with me. The flight from Phoenix to Houston was uneventful but it did include inflight entertainment. Karen and I watched Me Before You on the plane. I’d never seen it before and it was really good. Made me cry – bawl, actually.
We had a long enough layover in Houston for a quick lunch. Went to the food court and had Panda Express and then when I got to our gate, look who I found.
It turns out Pat’s earlier flight got canceled and he got rebooked on our flight.
Here’s a pic of Karen and Pat boarding.
Our plane to Wichita was a really tiny one.
I’m not sure what happened but somehow Karen and I weren’t seated together and Pat ended up in the seat in front of mine.
I’m not a huge fan of having to wear a mask for hours on end but I guess that’s what we have to do now in the age of COVID.
Karen was so ready to de-plane.
Pat’s ride ended up falling through so we gave him a ride home. After taking care of the girls and starting a load of laundry, it was of to Chicken N Pickle — my home away from home — for a flight of margaritas because it happened to be National Margarita Day. It was so popular they ran out of paddles for the paddle flights.
The flavors were (from left) strawberry, jalapeno, peach and regular lime. They were a delicious and satisfying way to end my first out of town tournament weekend. Until next time. GNG.
Comment on This
Final Dinner in Phoenix
Posted on March 2, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink.
We were supposed to go to some place called Barrio Queen but due to a bit of miscommunication we ended up at BJ’s Brewhouse at the Desert Ridge shopping center. I didn’t mind it either way. I love Mexican food so I didn’t mind going to Barrio Queen. When we ended up at BJ’s, I was fine with it too. BJ’s is one of those reliable chains that has something for everyone. I think Karen was a tad disappointed because she wanted to go somewhere that we didn’t have in Wichita but we weren’t likely to get in on such short notice.
Besides we had a wonderful time at dinner. I got to meet her sister in law Martha (Ted’s sister), her husband George, and their daughter Kristen. They were lovely and it was nice of them to pick us up from our hotel and take us to dinner. And, I really appreciated them letting me tag along.
Here are some pictures of our food…
On the way back to our hotel after dinner, we drove through this area called High Street. It’s really neat with lots of interesting shops and restaurants. Other than that, we called it an early evening and spent the night packing and getting ready for the trip home. The weekend went by much too quickly.
Now that PPA Arizona is behind me, I’ve got my sights on APP Delray Beach Open in a few weeks. Brian will be traveling with me this time. I’m super excited and can’t hardly wait! Until then, GNG.
Comment on This
Pro Mixed Doubles Day
Posted on March 1, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Here are some awesome courtside photos from pro mixed doubles day on Sunday.
Kasandra Gehrke and partner John Cincola
Lindsey and Riley Newman
Jocelyn Devilliers and Michelle Esquivel
Ben Johns and Simone Jardim
Kyle Yates and Anna Leigh Waters
Yes, we were really this close to the players.
Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova
Had so much fun watching pro mixed doubles on Sunday.
We wore our “I Love Lucy” shirts and got a pic the woman herself.
Sunday was so much fun but also bittersweet because it was our last day in Phoenix. The entire weekend was a blast and it was the most amazing first tournament experience ever. I can’t wait until the next one!
Comment on This
Pro Doubles Day
Posted on March 1, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Saturday was men’s and women’s pro doubles day. It was a really long day. The guys started playing at 8 AM and didn’t finish until almost 10 o’clock in the evening. Saturday was also the day that I played mixed and even though I didn’t do well in my event I had a lot of fun spectating. We also got a ton of great pics.
Here are a couple of pics from my mandatory player orientation for mixed doubles on Saturday. This is how they start all of the events.
Karen, Chandi, Krista, and I with our #1 female pickleball idol, Lucy Kovalova.
Karen and I also got pics with Dayne Gingrich (left) and Dave Weinbach (right).
And also with our favorite men’s doubles team, the #WichitaBoys aka #TeamModel aka #TeamEurope — Patrick Smith (in white) and Jocelyn Devilliers (in blue).
I also got some awesome pics courtside. This is team Waters, Leigh (left) and daughter Anna Leigh (right).
Kyle Yates and Matt Wright — this is the first time I’ve seen them play together again since the Franklin Pickleball Masters pickleball invitational tournament at Chicken N Pickle almost two years ago.
Lucy and Simone, who I like to call team #Lucimone, are the most dominant women’s doubles team and super fun to watch.
#TeamSelkirk’s Tyson McGuffin and Riley Newman.
The #CaliforniaBoys DJ Young and Callan Dawson pictured below both play for #TeamProkennex.
#TeamUtah’s Tyler Loong and Spencer Smith were so much fun to watch.
Our #WichitaBoys in action — Pat in white and Jocelyn in blue.
Chandi and Krista made a Jocelyn sandwich to keep him warm.
Arizona gets really cold at night. Pat was nice enough to let us borrow his clothes to keep warm. Karen got his pants and I got his pullover jacket. Jocelyn also let Karen borrow his hoodie. Our boys are the sweetest.
Though I didn’t do well, it was a very successful tournament day for the Wichita crew. Lucy and Simone took gold in women’s pro doubles and Jocelyn and Pat took silver in men’s pro doubles. It was totally worth sitting in the freezing cold to watch.
More from the PPA Arizona tournament next time. Until then GNG.
Comment on This
