And Another One Bites The Dust! Oh Yeh !

“They walked as a group through the stone arches of the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, MO. The Magnificent Seven, dressed in black, carrying tennis rackets, wearing cowboy hats and a look of determination on their faces.

They walked through this arch as players and would leave as Champions.

The other Super Senior players who were gathered near the tournament desk stopped their aimless talking and watched as the Seven approached the desk......”who are they…where are they from?”

“We are the Nebraska O’Courts”

Rose, Kathy, Mari, Joleen, Yasuko, Marty and Captain JeaneBee smiled to themselves, “yes, we're here and we’re gonna do some major damage to your egos and your team's win/loss stats”

The day was made for tennis….mid 70’s, slight wind, beautiful blue sky…the Magnificant Seven were READY!”

Friday 9/11/2009 10:30 AM
The first and only match of the day was against Oklahoma

Court#1 – Joleen and Kathy Winner: Oklahoma 7-6, 6-7, 1-0 Tiebreak
Court#2 – Rose and Yasuko Winner: O’Courts 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 Tiebreak
Court#3 – Mari and Marty Winner: O’Courts 6-3, 6-1

Saturday 9/12/09 10:30 AM
The First match was against HOA (Heart of America)

Court#1 – Mari and Kathy Winner: O’Courts 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 Tiebreak
Court#2 – Rose and Yasuko Winner: O’Courts 6-2, 6-2
Court#3 – Joleen and Marty Winner: HOA 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 Tiebreak

Saturday 9/12/09 4:30 PM
Second match was against St. Louis

Court#1 – Mari and Kathy Winner: St. Louis 6-1, 6-7, 1-0 Tiebreak
Court#2 – Rose and Yasuko Winner: O’Courts 7-5, 6-2
Court#3 – Joleen and Marty Winner: O’Courts 7-5, 6-1

Sunday 9/12/09 9:00 AM
Final Match – opponents were IOWA

Court#1 – Mari and Kathy Winner: O’Courts 6-2, 6-1
Court#2 – Rose and Yasuko Winner: O’Courts 6-2, 6-2
Court#3 – Joleen and Marty Winner: O’Courts 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 Tiebreak

The Nebraska O'Courts won the right to represent Missouri Valley in the USTA National Super Senior Tournament held in Surprise, AZ in April of 2010. It was a hard fight, the other teams were strong and as determined as we were. This time, it was our destiny to win.

Success isn't something that just happens - success is earned

To my team…..You were wonderful, magnificent, steadfast, gutsy, not to mention darn good-looking. I am proud of you all and as your captain I take full credit for your success. (who said that threats wouldn’t work… dry bread, water and no wine until we win is a great motivator)

Our next challenge will be in Surprise, Arizona….The UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION National Tennis Championships !!! We will be facing teams from 50 states plus Puerto Rico.....how great is that!

Capt’n JeaneBee PROUD OF HER TEAM!

Post Script: This week we were notified by the USTA League Tennis Program that we were awarded the X-Treme Team Sportsmanship Award in the 7.0 Super Senior Division.

This award emphasizes fair play and a positive attitude. The winners were nominated by their peers during the tournament.

Salmon and Musky fishing

Ah, to be young and have a father who both loves fishing and has a nice, big boat to fish from.

These photos were taken while on a vacation last year with friends. They live in Port Washington, Wisconsin, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee and fish Lake Michigan nearly every week.....I should mention that when fishing on Lake Michigan, it really gives you peace of mind to be in a BIG boat.

Port Washington pierhead light as seen from Lake Michigan


It may not be possible to get seasick in a land-locked lake, but from experience, it can! ....bouncing around plus swinging sideways as the big waves hit will scramble all but the hardiest of stomachs! Of course, John, Austin's father smugly says "I've never been seasick in my life".......we cross our fingers that his time doesn't come when he's captaining a boatload of fishermen. (on the other hand, we secretly hope that he will get really seasick and find himself barfing over the side for 10 minutes or so....would serve him right for bragging!)

Austin is 12 years old (2007) and has been a fisherman since he was old enough to hold a rod. I can remember fishing in Minnesota years ago with 3 year old Austin bundled up in a life jacket bigger than he was. He wasn't able to handle a rod and reel too well, but he was a pro when he fished with a bamboo pole. He put quite a dent in the perch and rock bass population of Ten Mile Lake!

This 12 pound salmon was caught by Austin on Lake Michigan. He hooked it himself and fought it to the boat, but needed help with landing it. John and Austin usually fish for fun, they believe in "catch and release" and photos are all that they keep. However, this salmon made it to the dinner table....yummmmm, grilled salmon!!

On another fishing trip earlier this year, this small musky (muskellunge) weighing about 15 lbs was also caught by Austin....no help from Dad this time. After a long and really fun battle, they boated it, took photos and then released it back into the lake. Musky's have a mouth full of lethal teeth and getting the lure out before releasing it can be a real challenge. Sometimes, the fisherman/fisherwoman has a shredded finger to remember the experience. John has the scars to prove it.

Tennis ain't just for kids!

First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Jean aka JeaneBee, a 71 year old retiree who loves tennis and plays 3 times a week at the 3.5 level. I live in Omaha, Nebraska, smack dab in the middle of the great Midwest where we spend half our tennis life playing in the heat and/or wind, and the other half playing on indoor courts to get out of the snow….indoors is a great place to play, no wind, no sun and no low flying birds!

Years ago, when I was young and foolish, I used to snicker at senior players, watching them put on their knee braces, elastic arm bands, sun visors and after having a swig of water went ditzing around on the court, talking, laughing and having a good ole time, then going out for coffee afterwards. Then, somehow, much to my dismay, I turned into one!

I realize that although we’re not as fast on the court and our ground strokes aren’t as hard as they used to be, we’re out there hitting the ball with the same love for the game that we always had. And yes, we do a little giggling and talking between games (SOME of us even like to sit down---bringing our own chairs if seating isn't available on the court!!)

I took up tennis as physical therapy after having a stroke at age 29…. it was termed a self-induced stroke but a stroke nevertheless. My husband I were “finishing” our basement and my job for the day was putting plaster on the ceiling and making swirls in it with a sponge. It looked pretty good and I was at it for most of the afternoon. My husband found me unconscious, blood streaming down my chin from a bitten lip and limp as a dish rag. He called the rescue squad and I spent two weeks in a stupor, getting punctured from stem to stern. The final diagnosis was stroke, but cerebral hemorrhage and epilepsy were running a close second and third.

I was a healthy 29 year old, preparing for my 10 year high school class reunion. I rode horseback, took gymnastics for years, played softball and was an all-around tomboy growing up and kept at it after marriage. I wasn’t a couch potato, overweight or a smoker, and neither my doctors nor myself could understand why I had a stoke…shouldn’t have happened. Years later, while reading the health section of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I found out why it did.

Having my head tilted backward and looking up for hours while putting plaster on the ceiling had caused pressure on the back of my neck…reducing the blood flow to my brain….wham, bam, thank you ma’m.... and.....hello stroke.

Physical therapy after my stroke was practically non-existant. This was 1968 and physical therapy wasn't as common as it is now. A friend suggested that I take tennis lessons to improve my eye-hand coordination.....so my physical therapy consisted of learning to hit the ball against the YWCA wall and playing on a hardwood floor. Gradually I got better and better. I had good reflexes thanks to years of gymnastics (helps a lot when you take a fall while running after a tennis ball…you learn to “tuck and roll” gracefully and not sprawl all over the court) and my tennis improved.

Fortunately the stroke caused very little residual damage to my body and general health. I occasionally have trouble with speech, sometimes the words just aren't there and I need to "search" for the word I want......I almost have to visualize it and can then say it (many people think that my sometimes halting conversation is because I want to emphasize a point.....WRONG) Also, my short term memory comes and goes….my doubles partners know that when I ask “what’s the score?” I'm serious, its gone, I’ve forgotten it. Even if I’m serving, the memory is gone and I have to rely on my partners. Guess that tells you why I seldom play really competitive singles!

Now onto our senior tennis. My teammates are great! We are all over 60, actually most of us are over 65, grandmothers many times over and play in a Super Seniors league…its not a “hit and giggle” league.. we are as intense and play as hard as we ever did.. We all play on other leagues with players who are younger than our own children. And we do our share of winning, I might add.

Hey, you’re only as old as you feel – and we are a pretty frisky bunch. Most of us have played with and against each other in tournaments for years. We're familiar with each other's families, children and grandchildren. We care when one of us is hurt, sick or has a family member who is hurt or sick. We keep them in our prayers.

In April, 2007, our team, the SOMOS SOMOS represented Missouri Valley at the Senior Nationals Championships in Charleston, South Carolina. WOW, is the Family Circle stadium a beautiful sports facility. We met some great ladies and hope to see them next year.

We didn't win, but fought a good fight. And, we looked great in our bright pink and black tennis clothes. Did I mention that when our group travels, the first place we look for is the nearest grocery for snacks and various drinks (soda, bottled water and WINE....we have a couple of players who really "whine" if they don't have wine with their snacks!) and the second place is shopping malls or any place where the best bargains in tennis clothes will be. We left a LOT of money at the Family Circle pro shop!

Our Super Senior team played in Oklahoma City in September again we didn’t win our Division of the tournament , (hmmmmm, I'm really getting tired of saying that! ) but did win the talent contest! I wrote the song, and the team sang….luckily the judges liked the words since our singing was awful!