Ramon in Wichita
Posted on August 4, 2022 by Ching under Community, Food and Drink, Pickleball.
My friend Ramon Lozano came to Wichita on the last weekend of June so we could play some games together before the Newport Beach tournament. We decided to play in the Y’s Men charity tournament benefiting the Greater Wichita YMCA so that we could kill two birds with one stone – we’re helping the community raise money for a great cause and we are getting to practice.
We didn’t fare as well as I’d hoped in the tournament but it’s always a good time playing with Ramon. There’s a reason “Everybody Loves Ramon” – LOL. That was our team name for the tournament.
Ramon drove into town early on Friday to get some games in with Kyle (Starkel, aka “Soapdish” also “Pornstache”) and a couple of other guys. Brian and I needed stamps for our Wicked Brew passports (something that we do every summer) and so we were game when Kyle suggested we meet up at Norton’s.
Here are some pics of our delicious food… BTW, you cannot go to Norton’s and not get bacon crack. It is a must!
Here are some pictures from the charity tournament at Chicken N Pickle the next morning. I had to get a picture with my friend Erica Lopez because we both were playing with Joola paddles that day. Formerly, we both played with Electrum Pro paddles. So we still managed to match somehow.
Here’s a pic of the top two teams of the tournament: Ian Carr and Jen Reifschneider vs. Karen Fox and Chris “Sexy Legs” Heck.
Karen and Chris won, obviously. Chris always wins. But, not too shabby for Ian who has come in second to Chris every time.
Anyway, that’s all for now. Until next time. GNG.
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Leslie Coffee Co.
Posted on July 30, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Chris and I went to Leslie Coffee Co. one day to get stamps for our Wichita Wicked Brew passports. This place is so cute!
Pictures of our breakfast…
It was a little expensive for what little food you got but it was definitely photogenic. Anyway, fast forward a few weeks and Chris finally completed the ten stamps he needed on his passport to claim his Wicked Brew shirt. Hurrah!
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Wind Surge Games at Riverfront Stadium
Posted on July 29, 2022 by Ching under Things to Do.
I sometimes get baseball game tickets from my work. These are some pictures from the last one I was able to attend. The weather was a bit sketchy that day.
I ran into Danielle Dillon and Crystal Torres at the ballgame. It was a wonderful surprise as I feel like I haven’t seen these two ladies in ages.
The tickets we had were for the Fidelity Club, which included a buffet. The food was decent. I liked all the options that were available and the fact that you got dessert. Brian attended a game from the Coors Light Party Porch (I didn’t get to go to that one because of pickleball league) and he said the burgers and hotdogs were cold so this was definitely better.
The yummy bread pudding was my favorite part.
I also liked that it wasn’t crowded at the Fidelity Club that day, probably due to the weather. Anyway, I’m always grateful whenever I can get free tickets to these things. Until next time, GNG.
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Celebrating Grandma’s 100th Birthday
Posted on July 28, 2022 by Ching under Events, Family.
cen·te·nar·i·an noun: a person who is one hundred or more years old
Grandma officially became a centenarian last month. We celebrated the momentous occasion with Brian’s parents David and Donna Brubaker, who drove up from Oklahoma for the weekend, by having dinner at Rio Grill & Cantina.
Here are some fun pictures from her birthday dinner…
Pictures of food…
I got fried ice cream but also got to have some of grandma’s tres leches birthday dessert and it was delicious. Tres leches cakes are the best!
Here’s a picture of our group after dinner when we dropped off grandma back at her place. I love birthdays when we can all get together.
Until next year for grandma’s 101st! GNG.
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Helping Pickleball Players Get Accurate Ratings
Posted on July 27, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball.
As a USA Pickleball ambassador, I can rate other players based on official USA Pickleball player skill rating definitions and assessment sheets. However, because most people think they are way batter than they truly are, even though there are objective checklists and assessment sheets that I can use, I have always found this whole business awkward. People often get butt-hurt and offended if you rate them lower than what they perceive themselves to be so I avoid this whole business at all costs. Thankfully, there’s DUPR to the rescue!
With DUPR any player can get a rating and you don’t need a third party to do it for you. You simply plug in the results of your matches and voila — a few matches later — you’ve got yourself a pickleball rating. I know I’m oversimplifying it here, which is completely unfair, because DUPR’s algorithm is sophisticated and beautiful. You can follow this link to learn more about it.
Anyway, nowadays if anyone wants me to tell them their rating, I just invite them to play in one of our DUPR Match Sessions. Then the amazing DUPR algorithm assigns them a rating based on how they performed against the other players. It’s not a rating that is subjectively assigned by me based on how I feel they performed but rather it’s assigned by DUPR after the algorithm crunches its complex calculations from the inputs (reported scores).
I started hosting DUPR Match Sessions last month in an effort to get as many of our recreational players rated as possible. Here’s a video from our most recent DUPR Match Session over the weekend.
I was originally hosting these events at Riverside Tennis Center. All of the players would split the cost of the court fees. Each session was about two hours. Players would have a different partner each round and I would record the scores and input them into DUPR later.
Here are some pictures from our sessions at RTC last month.
We typically have 16-24 players who participate. At Riverside we can book 6 courts but they don’t open until 9 AM on Sundays and lately it’s been too hot. I decided to move the sessions to Wichita State University where there are 4 public courts that are rarely used in the mornings. We start at around 7 AM and go through 10 AM, right before the temperatures get too hot. The nice thing about doing these at WSU is then it’s completely free for anyone who wishes to participate.
Here are a few more pictures from another session at Riverside.
These sessions have proved to be quite popular. Players not only want to establish ratings but they want to continue to improve and increase their ratings. Currently the Wichita Pickleball club on DUPR has about 300 active members and half of them are now rated. Until next time, GNG.
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