KHS New Look Tennis Team!

'Headed out to Parkway South to catch the Kirkwood Girls Tennis Team in action, sporting their sharp new uniforms!  I gotta say, they looked fabulous.  Nice going!

OK, I'll admit, I'm not a tennis aficionado. . . my college roommate, Curtis, and I used to head down to the tennis courts for a study break.  We'd start out playing tennis, but it would inevitably evolve into some other game in which you would try to hit the ball as far as possible with something other than a tennis racket, and then have to run and touch something before the other guy pelted you with a tennis ball struck with something completely different . . .  there was usually considerable bruising. . . Which reminds me of one of my favorite stories of all time.  It was a gloomy cold February in Joplin, MO, and we'd been stuck inside all winter.  Then one Saturday, it was like 70 degrees and sunny.  Everyone headed outside.  Curtis and I decided to play a game of stickball between the 2 dorms, while our other roommate, "Greek" decided to sit on the porch and study.  I was pitching and uncorked what I thought was an unhittable fastball.  Remarkably, Curtis connected with the sweet spot of his broom handle and rocketed a line drive that somehow went straight off of Greek's head, knocking him out of his chair and launching the ball completely over the parking lot.  We both looked at each other, worried that we might have killed him.  We dropped everything and ran over to see how he was, and like most people who get rocked in the head, he was not thinking clearly.  He was angry, and in an accusatory tone asked, "Why didn't you say WATCH OUT!?"  Curtis responded, "Well, it happened so fast, we just didn't have time!"  To which Greek angrily replied, "Well, you could've at least said "WHA. . . "  Might be the hardest I've ever laughed. . .   

But back to today.  The first thing you notice when you see our tennis team is "Oh, that's a great kid.  And there, another great kid.  And another, and another. . . "  And then you notice they play really good tennis.  And then you notice that they really have fun doing it.

The highlight of the afternoon for me was when I went to watch Caroline Killeen's doubles team play.  Her partner accidently sent a serve right square into the middle of her back.  You can see the great face Caroline made just after getting hit.  Curtis would have been proud. . .