Apparently, you’re not supposed to play outdoor sports in
the rain.
This concept always baffled me. I mean, it’s just
water.
Friday, both the UCLA men’s tennis match and the UCLA
baseball game were postponed due to the rain.
Chickens.
Since the UCLA and UC Irvine tennis teams weren’t going to
give their fans a match on Friday, someone had to give them a show,
rain or shine.
So why not me?
It’s kind of hard to play tennis by yourself, however, so
I challenged fellow Daily Bruin columnist Ben Peters to a duel on
the rain-covered Los Angeles Tennis Center courts.
“That’s the lamest idea in the history of
columns,” said Peters, but he accepted my challenge anyway,
probably because there is no surer victory in tennis than playing
against me.
In my sophomore year of high school, I was given the “Most
Inspirational” award by my tennis team because when it was
each player’s turn to play against me in the ladder system,
it was good reason to be inspired, happy and thrilled. Yes, they
told me that, and yes, I was only on the team because there were no
tryouts.
The rain had slowed to a light sprinkle by the time Peters and I
arrived at the LATC, but the courts were wet with puddles
everywhere. I have never seen the LATC more empty in my life
““ but then again, who really has the time to watch me play
tennis.
The only sign of life was the people using the LATC elevator
because they were too lazy to walk up the small hill at the edge of
Bruin Walk.
Unlike the varsity teams, Peters and I decided we didn’t
need time to warm up, a decision with immediate consequences as I
failed to return a ball cleanly in the first game. I blame the
weird bounces caused by the puddles more than my lack of talent or
the fact that I haven’t played in over a year.
Hitting the ball was kind of strange ““ there was a flying
tail of water every time contact was made, and I frequently got wet
when returning the ball out of a puddle. Tossing up a soaking wet
ball before a serve was weird too, because when I gripped the
racket afterward for a two-handed backhand, it got all wet.
But Peters and I played on ““ we had to give the crowd of
zero in attendance something to watch, since the UCLA men’s
tennis team wouldn’t risk quality of play, an added chance of
injury or ruined equipment.
After Peters won the first four games, the fourth one ending
with me slipping my way into the net on the wet court, he said,
“This might be the quickest match ever.”
Just to show you there’s no place in this world for
cockiness, Peters then ate his words as I won the next two
games.
Still, the comeback was short-lived, and Peters won the set and
the abbreviated match 6-2.
“Beating you 6-2 is the low point of my athletic
career,” said Peters after.
Considering I’ve lost the last three matches I’ve
played against non-beginners with scores of 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 and
6-0, 6-0, only beating me 6-2 is pretty bad. And if Peters
hadn’t chickened out and not played a full five sets, I may
have won the second set and then the match. You never know.
So what if playing sports in the rain gives you an added injury
risk and ruins your clothes, equipment and quality of play?
It’s fun. And that’s all that matters.
This was Gilbert’s 100th column and he’s had fun
writing them. E-mail him your thoughts at
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.