Not that any of you care...!!!

I think it's great that you've found out the draw for tennis. Do you have any information on how to find out about the draw for the pool/billiards competition? Thanks in advance if you do.

I do care, BPJ. Deeply. And I hope you win the gold!

Good Luck BPJ. Kick some Outsports ass!

Good Luck up there buddy! You'll do us proud, I'm sure of it.

On a side note, that is one hell of a tournament. It's huge!

Over the weekend I hit with someone who's playing at the Games. Chicago at this time of year will be sweltering -- good luck and bring lots of water!

I'll be there for the last two days, and I'm hoping to catch the tennis finals.

Anybody else going? Playing?

I've got a lot of friends going, but I just couldn't. That's too many gay people in one place for me. As I've said before...for me it would be man-overload.

Damn Shep, I could've given you your black-n-white cookies, etc. there. Now I have to mail them, and I havent forgotten. Pvt me your address and I will mail it out.

I know...I forgot you owe me a lot of cookies, after your double or nothing Mardy Fish debacle. Let's wait and see if we can make some sort of triple or nothing bet at the Open.

Do you ever play any GLTA events? You can bring the cookies then. And to bring this back around, I met BPJ at a GLTA event. It was fun. He was practising for the Gay Games, he said. He's going to do just fine!

I see more hardware in his future.

[ July 12, 2006, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: shep71 ]

Well, given that my partner pulled out on me on Monday, it's unclear whether I'll be competing in doubles. Singles is still a go, however! And doubles MIGHT still be...

I would sub in, but too late to get a flight.

Not that you asked me to. wink

Shep, I'd love to you have you sub and would gladly pay for the last-minute tickets, put you up in style, and feed you for a week but sadly, registration is closed.

More to the point, they wouldn't let you near the D division with a 50-foot pole!

Sadly, of all the things you listed that you would have to pay for, the feeding me is what would have done you in.

Good Luck anyways in singles. Can't wait to hear the updates.

I have several friends from Charlotte going to the Games, but I don't think any of them are actually playing, which is weird.

Shep, I havent yet played any GLTA events as of yet but I hope to real soon. I just joined MTG here in NY this year, so hopefully I'll be choking at a tournament near you sometime soon....and WITH cookies.

Mardy Fish retiring with an upset stomach?!?!?!?! Grrrr, my crazy prediction looked possible for a brief moment anyway.

Any tourneys coming up I should know about?

I'm planning on playing Indianapolis for the first time in September, GoodGuy.... Heard it's a decent tournament. I believe Atlanta is supposed to be one of the real big ones, that's in September also. We've got a New Hoper on the boards; Provincetown is still to come; one in DC; and two biggies in Texas in the fall. Tampa. Palm Springs. MILAN!!!!

Schedule here

So, guess who's playing A Singles and 40+ Doubles at the Games? Billy Bean! No idea he was into tennis. Thanks to Canmark for pointing it out. He's even seeded!

Oh no! This means we will soon meet in person. I hope we don't get into an immediate catfight!

Thanks for the schedule, BPJ. I always think of a PBJ sandwich when people refer to you by the initials.

And we're back.

No catfight, WWCD. I think you may have taught me not to take things so seriously and enjoy the back-and-forth banter without taking it personally. I used to do that a lot actually and maybe still do, but def not as much. How funny would a catfight be though? Right before the final....ok for me, 2nd round maybe.

He's been playing a while. He's been in Miami the past several years. Billy seems nice ... he's way too good for me to have ever actually had any interaction with him on the court, although one year he did ask me for directions in the parking lot. I kept trying to figure out if I had met him before or something and then I realized who he was. ha ha.

Gaga,

Goodguy seems to be implying that he and I would actually play against each other on the SAME COURT. I want to respond with:

"Goodguy, the only time you'll ever appear on court with me is when you're paying me for a lesson!"

Do you think that's too mean? Let me know.

If only Grudge Match were taking applications.

Well, I've never seen GoodGuy play, so I dunno. WWCD is a very good tennis player, though. I want him to be my coach, because this is my forehand:

One thing's for sure: G4G is worse than both of you!

That picture is priceless!

But it doesn't do justice to the flair and beauty of the stroke, which both occur, of course, well after the ball has left Gaga's racket.

By "after the ball has left [my] racquet," I assume you mean inbetween points.

Oh no. I mean DURING the point. Your most graceful moments come after you hit the shot and are waiting for the ball to come back.

Sometimes you look like this.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Oversize photo has been converted to a link, in compliance with Outsports' Photo Policy - Outsports moderator]

[ July 20, 2006, 11:21 PM: Message edited by: m1 ]

I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay!

Gaga, there are pictures of you all over the net!

Gaga #1
Gaga #2
Gaga #3

[ July 14, 2006, 09:43 AM: Message edited by: WhatWouldChrissieDo ]

Those are my Chrissie clones.

Chrissie's game was like what people say about the movies of Ang Lee. Take a freeze frame at any moment and the shot is beautiful.

Photos of your game, unfortunately, bring to mind a different Lee. Sara.

Sara?

I would have guessed Ug.

So it looks like they have a new partner for me -- a guy from Oakland named Ginocchio. That's pretty cool. Plus they switched me in the draw so that I play a guy named "Klutz" in the first round...

Anyway, feel free to get back to the Gaga discussion. Just wanted everyone to know!

The Gaga discussion is so ovah!

I'm happy to hear they were able to find you a doubles partner and that you'll be able to compete in both events, BPJ! That's good news. Have a great time off and on the court

BPJ, be careful....your doubles partner sounds like a big liar! wink

So it turns out that Ginocchio withdrew yesterday! So they scrambled to place me with a new partner, and found one. He and I played today, and won 4-6 6-0 6-1. It was kind of a crazy match, but it pretty much came down to the fact that the temperature was above 95 and the humidity made the heat index well over 100. Our team was fresher, in the end. Different weather circumstances could have led to significantly different results!

We play again tomorrow afternoon, not sure against whom, for a spot in the quarters. I'll let you know how it goes!

I also won my singles match 6-2 6-1; the win was good but the guy was brand new to competitive tennis, and I think that affected his game a lot. Still, a win's a win! Next match is also tomorrow afternoon, against a guy from Palm Springs.

Weather's expected to be even worse tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Hey Boys!

Congrats on your wins Bridgeport Stud!

Friends and I are hosting the annual New Hope Open at the end of August... it is an indoor/ outdoor tournament.
www.newhopeopen.com

It is a GLTA sanctioned tournament.

For all you boys... My next few tournaments are:

New Hope, Montreal, DC and maybe Las Vegas

Go Jake Go! Definitely keep us posted!

Congrats BPJ! You do know that I'm expecting you to reign victorious this year due to your unfortunate boycotting of this year's event in Indy.

Are you heading to the Open this year?

Nick

Nice job BPJ! Keep it up.

It is suppossed to be hot as hell all week there isn't it?

Oh no!

I can't laugh too hard though, because although I can occasionally smack the shit out of the ball, I assure you...it ain't pretty!

Now my volley...that's something to behold (of course most of them fall right at my feet, but you get the picture).

Yes, it's hot as hell. Probably a little hotter, actually. Heat index well over 100 again today. Tomorrow's supposed to be somewhat better. It had better be.

Today's matches went well. Won my singles match 6-0 6-2 and my doubles match 6-0 6-0. The singles was really tough because it was the noon sun, but it seemed to affect the guy from Palm Springs more than me.

So now I'm on to the Round of 16 in singles, tomorrow. I play a guy from San Francisco who I saw play yesterday and is quite good. In doubles, we're into the quarters, which is Wednesday. We play friends of mine from Chicago -- they won their match 6-2 6-0. Should be interesting.

Nick -- no open for us this year, sorry! I still can't believe you chose Indy over Gay Games but WHATEVER!

Thanks for your support everyone. I'll let you know how tomorrow morning's singles match goes...

bpj

Go Jake go! Bring us home a medal.

Keep it up BPJ! You keep playing like this, and you'll be playing C in Indy!

We're pulling for you.

Go BPJ!! Being from Chicago, I know how grueling that July sun and humidity can be...great job for getting through...Hydrate!!

Rough day today, guys. Lost in straights to the California guy, 6-3 6-4. He played at a pretty high level throughout, I kind of blew it on big points. First set I was serving at 3-2 and had points for 4-2 but he won a 5 or so deuce game. Second set he was up 5-2 and I had a break point at 4-5 but blew it and he won the next two points to win. Tight match overall, but I guess I was a little overanxious on my backhand, which had been working well for me earlier in the week. Missed a couple in that last game that could have pulled me even. Sigh. Much cooler today (still plenty hot & humid but not inhuman like before).

Doubles my partner and I are still alive - we had an off day today and we play at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. I've played our opponents before and it should be competitive... I'll give you a full report!

Great run though! Knock 'em dead in doubles!

Sigh. Doubles. Crazy day. Lost the first set 7-6 (7-5) and were doing well in the second set, up two breaks, me serving for the set at 5-1. Then it started to sprinkle. I got broken. Then it started to rain. Then one of the volunteers called the match. Long story short, we play again Thursday, starting up 5-2 0-15 on our opponents' serve. So we're down but not out.

If we pull it out, the semis are later that afternoon.

As always, I'll let you know the deets...

Hey Jake, are a lot of matches postponed....do you think there will be a lot of tennis tomorrow?

I ask because I get in to Chicago around noon tomorrow, and I would love to see some tennis but the schedule shows the Finals are at 9A before I get there. Give me the inside scoop?

Best of luck in that doubles match.

Hey Jake, are a lot of matches postponed....do you think there will be a lot of tennis tomorrow?

I ask because I get in to Chicago around noon tomorrow, and I would love to see some tennis but the schedule shows the Finals are at 9A before I get there. Give me the inside scoop?

Best of luck in that doubles match.

Good Guy, they're going to start playing indoors in about 15 minutes, but there are fewer courts available so it will be a prolonged day. For instance, my tennis partner is playing singles at approximately 1:30. Afterwards we have to finish our match from yesterday, then whoever wins will be playing in the semis. My guess is they can probably get it all done today but it will be a long day.

My guess is you won't be able to see much tennis if you get in at noon tommorrow, but since the D Doubles final doesn't start until noon, it's not a lost cause that you could catch a set or so...

Hello all. Today was probably the craziest day of all for tennis. The rain that started yesterday and then let up, started up again last night and washed out the entire morning's matches. The courts were soaked and they moved the whole operation to the only indoor public facility in the city, where there are only six courts (as opposed to 12-15 or more at Northwestern University, where everything was scheduled to be played.

So they finally got started indoors around noon. My partner played & lost his semifinal match, meaning he got a bronze in singles, which is awesome for his first competitive tournament. Then we went immediately into the conclusion of our quarterfinal match from yesterday.

We were at 0-15, 2-5 on our opponents' serve, and broke pretty easily to take it to a third set. For all the other matches today, they were playing abbreviated matches (start the set at 2-2, no ad scoring, third set play a super tiebreak) but since we started under the regular rules we just played out the third set traditionally. It ended up going pretty quickly, and we won 5-1!

Then before the semifinal match, they announced that the entire operation was going downtown, because they didn't have the indoor courts reserved past 5:00. So we & our opponents and a few dozen other players public transported it downtown to play on much less pleasing courts.

We got our court right next to where everyone was gathered, so it was a pretty decent crowd for a D doubles match. Meaning, nervewracking. Starting at 2-2 we did pretty well on the big points and won the first set 6-3. Second set was a lot more tense, and they played better on most key points, but my partner's serve was good enough to get us to a tiebreak, which we won 7-5. Amazing how tense it got out there.

So now we're on to the finals, tomorrow at noon, and it should be decent weather. Back on the very nice Northwestern courts. Either way we get a medal, but obviously gold would be nice. Our opponents will be one of two teams from Puerto Rico.

As always, I'll let you know how it goes!