1998

Yoga and Racquetball

We, or at least I, but I thought Julie did too, like the first yoga class well enough that we signed up for the next level class. The yoga place we were going to, the Health Advantage Yoga Center or just HAYC, had sessions much like semesters at a college, and like a college, the classes were progressive with pre-requirements of lower-level classes. We had just finished the first, or Level 1, class and now we signed up for the next level which was 1-2 which was an odd way to say halfway between level 1 and level 2. I was looking forward to then next session. The Yoga 1 session was pretty basic in which we learned about 8-10 poses, and, in the end about six of the poses are strung together in what is called the Sun Salute which doing three or four times in a row is a pretty good work out.  The Yoga 1-2 class would go for 11 weeks.
 
At the time I was quite serious about racquetball, playing two or three times a week at the World Gate Sports and Fitness Club. I had never been much into playing sports, particularly team sports, but I really liked racquetball which most of time was played as singles but sometimes we would play doubles. I usually played on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, going directly from work to the courts and then playing for a couple of hours before getting home around seven. There were about a dozen guys that played regularly and we all got to know each other pretty well. On Mondays and Fridays one or two of us would book courts and we would play whoever showed up. Wednesday nights was round-robin night in which you add your name to the bottom of a list posted on the wall and when a game was finished, the person or persons at the top of the list would play next. If you one the game you would stay on the court for a second game but after winning two in a row, then two new players would come onto the court. With two or sometimes three courts, you seldom had to wait more than ten or so minutes. What was nice about round-robin is that you got to play people at all different levels. Players were considered beginners or C-Level, intermediate or B-Level and expert or A-Level. By this time I was playing at the top of the B level approaching on the bottom of the A level. I wrote in an email to Elizabeth:

Friday night I played my usual racquetball but had a really good night. I beat three of the A players.  They have been somewhat reluctant to play me.  With the exception of one guy they are kinda of a snobbish group, not stooping so low as to play a B player.  Well my game is picking up and I am crossing into the A group.  I played so hard and long that I was totally exhausted but it felt good. 

I remember that night, I had never played so well, I was in the groove as they say. Almost every serve and shot was perfect.  The one A player that was always happy to play me was Ken who was probably ten years older than me in his fifties., Older, a bit overweight but not fat, looking at Ken you wouldn’t think he would be all that good but no matter where I hit the ball he seem to anticipate where it would go, set up the return shot, and put the ball away such that I couldn’t get to it.  He made it look so simple and easy. Unlike many of the other A players who were snobbish about playing B players, Ken seemed to enjoy playing with me and giving me pointers on my game. The first games I played against Ken I would be lucky to get five points but after a couple of years I would get ten or eleven and on occasion, probably when he was having a bad night, I would win.

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