003 | Online Chaos Transcript

 

Morgan:  My guest today is a legend within the game not only as a player but as one of the hardest working organizers out there. She’s an accomplished coached working all around the country and beyond. Generally, she’s an all-around lovely lady. Please welcome none other than Dee Davison!

 

How Are You, Dee? [0:43]

Dee:  Hello, Morgan.

Morgan:  How are you doing, Dee?

Dee:  I’m great!
Morgan:  Excellent. Well, it’s tough to find anyone of the planet that’s doing great right now but we’re all getting along, I guess.

Dee:  Yeah, we’re doing great, I guess, in the circumstances that we have in front of us today. It’s a choice whether you wake up in the morning and to feel awful or you wake you and go, “What am I thankful for?”

Morgan:  That’s a good attitude. The people will come out of this well are the ones that figured out how to make lemonade out of these lemons.

Dee:  That’s true, very true.

Morgan:  So in that sense, what are you doing with your time these days?
Dee:  Well, still involved with Pickleball whether we’re talking about Pickleball in a podcast today or just kind of really helping the beginner to maybe 3.5 player that for the first time in their life, they’ve had to live a day without playing Pickleball. How did they navigate off-court and prepare for the day they get to come back on the court, and can they be a better player when they do come on the court. So helping some players navigate that because right now, everybody kind of walks around shellshocked, just kind of like I still have hope. I’m fortunate enough to live in an adult-active retirement community, so people have a positive outlook because they’ve survived many things over life. But to be locked out of a lifestyle that they come to enjoy every day, how do they navigate that?
Morgan:  Yeah. Maybe you could start a well-spaced out sort of support group.

Dee:  We do have, actually.

Morgan:  Oh great!
Dee:  So we got a 15-minute notice, 9:45, Monday morning, one week ago that our courts would be shut down in 15 minutes. And so, I stepped off the court — I played a lot of Pickleball, so I stepped off the court so somebody can enjoy 15 minutes left of Pickleball. And I just kind of walked around our court complex and I’ve mentored lots of players as they navigate through tournaments and you see the ups and the downs, and the emotional stresses in a tournament. But to watch people that day on an emotional roller coaster that was in rapid-fire motion was heart-breaking. And so, we were walking off the court and just a group of 2.5 to 3.0 players have started asking questions just anything about Pickleball. So I thought we could still keep this conversation going. So we called a 9 AM, bring your cup of coffee, bring your lawn chair, we’re going to sit in the parking lot, like a campfire circle but have a six to 10 feet spacing so they could still talk about Pickleball and talk about what was happening and how do they move out of that.

So we’ve had our third 9 AM Coffee, Pickleball Parking Lot Chat in a week.

Morgan:  That’s great!
Dee:  And we’ve grown from six people to 12 people, so they’re learning together.

Morgan:  That’s fantastic. It’s inspiring! Maybe I’ll try and get that going out here or you could come and show us the ropes.

Dee:  Yeah. Am I allowed in California though? You know, I don’t know if the border’s closed.

Morgan:  That’s a good question.

Dee:  Will I be able to get fuel? Will I be able to get food along the way?

Morgan:  Well, gas is actually much cheaper than it was. We were getting up around $4.30, $4.50 mark, and now I think the most expensive is around $3.19, $3.20.

Dee:  Yeah, it’s getting cheaper but that’s knocking into my other livelihood

Morgan:  Oh…

Dee:  Yeah. So that’s shellshocked. I lived my whole life on an up and down roller coaster in economics because I grew up in Western Kansas. So you either had farming or an oil industry, and most oil industries in Kansas are small business owned, it’s not majors. So there’s a lot, a lot of people barely scraping by in trying to get that industry alive or barely on a heartbeat – that’s a whole another story. But I’m sure 99% of the population is enjoying cheaper fuel.

Morgan:  Yeah, I feel like when I look at it, I just want to get in my car and drive as far as I can go, try to find someone playing Pickleball and then I don’t know what I would do. But it’s hard to run away from this one.

Dee:  It is. You know, there are a few public Pickleball courts available in the valley. I have been near some of them, and sometimes it’s just really to watch out people move and navigate through the crisis as they’re trying to get their fix. They’re definitely practicing social distancing. The courts are not packed. You would think that there would be people waiting to get on them – they are not. And over the course of the last two and a half weeks in the valley as more and more courts have been shut down, people really just do play it in a controlled pocket and you see a lot of Clorox wipes out, you see their paddles being wiped down after every match. It’s a different norm and it’ll be interesting if it continues.

Morgan: I wonder how long it’ll take for the idea of going out to play under these strict guidelines is socially acceptable. Everybody is kind of divided at the moment in terms of if you just shouldn’t even try to if you should be getting that kind of exercise that helps us so much but in a very controlled sense. Where do you stand on that?

Dee:  You know, I’m kind of in-between. I have a compromised immune system. I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2006, so I have to be a little aware of what’s going on. I think if you do live or if you have lived with a compromised immune system, you have been aware of how your body feels and reacts. So when it’s starting to get run down, you shut it down, take a rest, maybe you’re doing that a little bit sooner rather than later. A little bit conscious of friends in the surrounding. You can still – like in our neighborhood, we pop open the garage doors, sit outside and maybe talk to the neighbors at the edge of their driveway but at least they’ll have some social interaction.

Morgan:  Yeah.

Dee:  That’s kind of nice.

As far as being a little selective of who you might be playing Pickleball with; are they practicing some sort of distancing or are they just haphazardly going “I don’t care who I’m around” – I don’t want to be around that type of person particularly. I may like that person but in these circumstances, I need to be a little careful. I’ve got an elderly neighbor in her 80s that I do shopping for, so I need to be a little cautious too as I go over and help her do some things or pick up items for her. I need to be aware of who I’m around, how they’re doing. I need to make sure some controlled environment. I’ve been lucky to get out and do some hiking in the White Tank mountains on paths that are not crowded, so that’s been nice to get some exercise. Having to be a little more cautious, I think if you are a hugger, this is really hard right now. If you’re an extrovert, this is really hard right now because you go to finish a conversation with a hug and it’s like you can’t. So it’s like the conversation is like – or the greeting is kind of like un-ended.

Morgan:  Yeah, that’s right. Before I moved to America, I was living in Italy, in the south in Sardinia. The first three or four months at least when I moved here, I was still kind of programmed to have a lot of kisses for just standard greetings; guys and girls, it was just the norm that I had to learn to live with over in Italy, it took a long time to get used to it. But then it took even longer – well, actually it took a few months to go back to the normal kind of greetings that you find in most of the western culture. But I wonder now, if you look at what the stats are like in Italy, how much of that has played a huge role in how hard they’ve been hit by it. Everyone is so touchy-feely that it would be impossible to have it contained as early as it needed to be contained.

Dee:  Right. Just learning about different cultures and the way we act. It’s been noted, I guess, in my conversational circles that America is very social. We’re an extremely social society. Even back in the SARS day when people would Clorox and sanitize, how fast we dropped that once they found – I don’t know if they found a cure for SARS or we were just allowed all of a sudden to go back to normal living, how we dropped, how we washed our hands and we sanitized and it’s like I don’t want to walk around everyday with Clorox wipes but having some in the vehicle and using them as needed, maybe just becoming a little bit conscious. We handshake, a business deal is determined sometimes where I grew up by a handshake and the power of a handshake, the meaning of a handshake – do we drop that now? That’s just kind of weird.

Morgan:  It is. I mean even the whole touching elbows things…

Dee:  Yeah.

Morgan:  People are on the fence on that and now it looks like just a distant sort of wave. And I wonder what the long-term effects of this kind of new social norm, cabin fever when that starts to infect an entire country, let alone world – jeez, it’s going to have some serious implications.
Dee:  It will because it’s our mental psyche. I was pondering early on why do I feel – I don’t want to say good but okay staying at home which is weird. Anybody knows me is like, “Dee’s at home?”

My neighbors are like, “Wow! You’re at home. We can have a conversation with you,” because I’m always on the go.

But for the first 43 years of my life, I lived in rural America. We were 60 miles from a Walmart or 180 from a mall. So our small town of 1,100 people relied on each other. I guess you can jokingly say in Western Kansas for 43 years, I practiced self-isolation.

In the winter months, at 4 o’clock when it’s dark and you’re like, “I’ll just go home and I guess I’ll do crafts.” Hibernate, per se, did a lot of canning and things like that. At least here, I wake up and I have the sunshine. I know the electricity is going to be on. I know the pipes aren’t going to freeze, so I’m going to have water. Yes, it’s just a little different but definitely being thankful. I think today, people are maybe a lot more thankful for the little simple things in life.

Morgan:  There’s that. And I think when we do return to let’s start with an if and when we do return to a level of normality that we’re used to, we’re then going to look at all the kinds of things that we took for granted, that we didn’t realize just how much we were taking them for granted until they were taken away – all the little liberties that we were enjoying three weeks ago that suddenly have been stripped away.

Dee:  Yeah, not just stripped away from one part of the country but the whole country – that’s a little shellshock in itself to imagine. I know right now people are a little apprehensive about talking about the future and how we can out of this but I think it’s important to look forward and say when we do come out, I hope we come out nicer to each other, less angry as a society, more thankful. Myself, I hope I can enjoy a slower pace of life – not slow; slower, enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning before I race to the Pickleball courts because I know the Pickleball courts will be there and they’ll be people there. We have 850 members on 24 courts, somebody will be there. Am I going to be okay playing with whoever is there or I’m going to be searching for that high-level game.

Morgan:  Yeah, maybe it’s going to be an entire planet of people that are going to take a little time to smell the roses.

Dee:  Yeah, and that’s not all terrible.

Morgan:  Yeah, I know, and perhaps leave the rat race along for a little while and not be in such a rush to get back to…

Dee:  The crazy life.

Morgan:  The crazy life – exactly!

When you look at the cities in America especially those that have been hit hardest by this thing, it’s the crazy cities – New York.

Dee:  The overpopulated. I can remember the very first time I did a lot of my early Pickleball up in the northwest, in Seattle. I flew into Seattle and traveled around and then drove down to Portland not knowing that their norm is you sit in traffic a lot on four lanes – A LOT. I was like you couldn’t pay me enough millions in the world to move to an overpopulated city. But again, I came from a very rural city where mindless driving was 70 miles an hour on a two-lane highway. There’s hardly anybody on the road.

Morgan:  Yeah.

Dee:  And so, to be sitting in traffic, wasting time, I was like, “No, that’s not for me!”

Morgan:  Yeah. If you don’t mind, could you come up with a vaccine relatively soon. Do you think you could do that?

Dee:  I come up with what? A vaccine?

Morgan:  Yes, that would be great, if you could somehow…

Dee:  I’ll work on it, Morgan.

Morgan:  Yeah, before lunch would be great, if possible.

Dee:  Okay, okay. Maybe I can work on a mental exercise (laughs…) so we would come out of it mentally ready.

Morgan:  That would be good.

Sponsor: CoachME Pickleball

 

Competitive Mode [16:33]

Morgan:  I am curious, what do you think is going to be the long-term effect I guess in sports in general but localized to Pickleball? Do you feel like it’s going to set us back a notch? Or do you think that people are just going to find more inventive ways to improve their game?

Dee:  You know, that’s an interesting question, and I think the sport really exploded in the adult-active communities which before the crisis, there was a report that retirees were happening at the rate of 10,000 retirees a day projected over a 10-year period. So I feel it can continue to grow in that population. I often wonder as it was growing in the population of 20 to 50-year-olds, will they have the disposable income to continue to go to tournaments and follow their passion for Pickleball or will the realities of life require them to be home more and take care of just the balance of life. So I think tournaments will continue to – my hope is that tournaments will continue to grow at the rate they were growing which was phenomenal. There may be a slowdown period in that but who knows? People will do what they love to do and find a way to do it. There may be more families out on the public courts actually playing which is so cool to see.

Morgan:  Yeah, I think you’re absolutely right. The sport will find a way. Players at every level are just going to be more inventive with how they get their practice and when the sport returns to an active, actual sport that people can go and play as opposed to just talk about on the Pickleball forum.

Dee:  Yeah. Will it be more recreational play enjoyed or will a tournament play still be healthy and viable? And I believe it will because again, I have the privilege to be around people 15 to 25 years older than me, and when they discovered Pickleball, there’s this kid that comes out in them because it’s the competitive spirit that they once had that comes alive or they never had and they have to navigate it and just kind of figure it out. So it will be interesting, it really will.

Morgan:  Yeah. I always love meeting a family of players. Often, there has been at least one competitor, someone who’s played tennis, maybe badminton or ping-pong or something like that, and they immediately take this papa bear role of trying to teach.

Dee:  (laughs…) Protector…

Morgan:  (chuckles…) Yeah, protector of everybody, the way their competitive nature comes out in tournament play often makes the rest of the family – I don’t want to say cringe but certain some eye-rolling going on for sure.

Dee:  Well, yeah. I mean when you do have a competitive side, I’ve been told that when I go into competitive mode, my face changes. I’m like, “Is it good or bad?”

They’re like, “Well, we just know that you just went in competitive mode.”

And I’m like, “Okay, well, I’d like to know if it’s a friendly look or not-so-friendly look? Or how did I get there?” That’s another thing – can I command myself to get there and then pull myself back out when I need to?

Morgan:  I don’t know. I think that’s tough. I think it’s in the same way that they say a smile is contagious.

Dee:  Right.

Morgan:  And at certain triggers, you just don’t have a choice. You can control a frown but you can’t necessarily control a smile. And I think when someone’s competitive juices get going, the kind of facial expressions – you’re on autopilot, it is what it is and you hope no one’s taking photos.

Dee:  Yeah, exactly!

Morgan:  I know. I don’t look good out there when I hit a particular shot. My jaw seems to come out as weird – I hate it.

Dee:  (laughs…) But if it was a successful shot, you can rejoice in that privately or publically.

Morgan:  I suppose.

Dee:  So, I know when I’m coaching or mentoring, especially younger players that are fascinated by the sport, when they go a high-level tournament which is the USA Nationals in Indian Wells, and they’re just mesmerized by the play or the players, or they finally put a name with a face and they’re watching that player. They so want to go up and say, “Hi” and “You’ve inspired me!” and it’s like there’s a time and a place for that. When they’re in their competition mode, you kind of need to leave them there. Go up to them – it’s hard to go up to them after they’ve lost, that’s not the time to go either.

Morgan:  Yeah.

Dee:  But as a competitive player and a coach, you have to find a unique balance. It’s fun to navigate it. Maybe not so much yourself when you want to be competitive and you’ve been disappointed and you’re trying to navigate that disappointment, at the same time you’re trying to put that smile on your face and move around.

Morgan:  Yeah, I feel like one of the things I come back to as I’ve been playing for five or six years now, and podium finish has become less and less – the thing I keep coming back to and the only solace I find is I’m the only one that gets to define what success if for me.

Dee:  Absolutely.

Morgan:  And if I can leave a tournament either developing new partnerships that are going to work well in the future or I’ve just had a great time, getting good memories with old or new friends, I can come away and think that’s a win. Or if I’ve helped with coaching, done some commentary, anything and everything that is either fulfilling for me or useful for the game, that has to be the kind of mindset I go into the tournament, then maybe I will be able to get to the end and take gold, maybe I won’t. There’s a lot of factors that I can’t control but I can control my attitude towards the whole thing.

Dee:  Absolutely!

 

Battle of the Sexes [23:06]

Morgan:  We’re going to hold it there for just a moment for a little game show. This time, a classic Battle of the Sexes!

[background music plays]

Welcome to our Battle of the Sexes. We’ve got one person from each sex here today. We’ve got Jamie from Greenbay, Wisconsin, and Matt from Tampa, Florida.

Jamie, you’re going to be contestant #1 and we’re going to see how well you know the other gender. How are you today? What’s new in your world? Tell us about yourself.

Jamie:  Hi, Morgan. It’s good to be here. Thanks for having both of us on.

I’m from Greenbay, Wisconsin. It’s pretty cold and cloudy out today, so we’re definitely not playing Pickleball here. But I am representing the Packerland Pickleball Players group.

Morgan:  Oh…

Jamie:  They’re going to be very excited to know that I’m on. I’ve been playing Pickleball for about four years. I played my first Pickleball game in Arizona and instantly became hooked on it. And coming from a tennis background, it was a pretty easy transition. I played my first tournament this year at the Middle States Regional in Minnesota last summer. And then I played at the Southwest Regional in Arizona this January, and have a couple of more tournaments hopefully coming up this summer, and then hopefully going to Nationals this fall, so I’m excited!

Morgan:  Oh, that does sound exciting! Jeez! You’re basically a professional. What kind of level are you?

Jamie:  I play around 3.5 right now but I would definitely like to get better. I think I’m pretty conservative with my rating, and one of my goals this year is to play more competitive players.
Morgan:  Good! Hopefully, we’ll see you out in the California area once the borders open up.

Jamie:  Yes, exactly!

Morgan:  Alright, and we’ve got Matt Neilsen from Tampa, Florida. How are you doing, Matty? What’s going on?

Matt:  Awesome! Thank you for having me. Kind of just a quick thing, I teach Kindergarten. It is 85° right now but I am doing my part to not go out and actually stay inside and do some online teaching here for the kids. Been playing Pickleball for a few years now. Lucky enough to have been able to play 5.0 for the last few years. And yeah, I just love the sport, so l love being a part of Selkirk and excited to be here.

Morgan:  Good man! Good man! We’re happy to have you when you medal. When you don’t, ehhh – it’s dead weight, really.

Matt:  (laughs…)

Morgan:  No, no. Good stuff!

Are you ready for the Battle of the Sexes?

Matt:  Let’s do it!
Jamie:  We’re ready!

Morgan:  Okay, Jamie, this is to you. Your first question: What is the name of the new Avengers movie?

It is either, A. Age of Ultron? B. End Game? Or C. Infinity Wars?

Jamie:  Is it End Game?

Morgan:  It is. Congratulations!

Jamie:  Yey!

Morgan:  Alright. Now, over to Matty. Did that correct answer intimidate you at all?

Matt:  Yeah, I’m a little nervous now.

Morgan:  You should be.

Alright, so your question: What is “Pilling”? A facial mask made from Vitamin E pills? When small balls of fiber form on your clothes? Or a bowel cleanser?

Matt:  It’s the second option, the small balls of clothes.

Morgan:  That’s exactly right. Well played, young man. Well played!

Matt:  Yup.

Morgan:  Alright, back over to Jamie. We’re tied at one apiece.

Where would you find a fifth wheel? In the trunk? On the back of a truck? Or under the hood?

Jamie:  When I think of a fifth wheel, I think of like a trailer, so I’m thinking at the back of the car.

Morgan:  Hey, congratulations! You’re absolutely right. Cooking with gas! Well done, well done.

Matty, your next question: What celebrity made headlines for leaving Fashion Police? Melissa Rivers? Kathy Griffin? Or Kelly Osbourne?

Matt:  Wow, I have no clue here.

Morgan:  At least you’re honest.

Matt:  Since the last one was B, I’m going to go with C. Was it Osbourne?

Morgan:  Kelly Osbourne, that is correct!

Matt:  Let’s go!
Morgan:  You got a little lucky there, let’s be honest.

Matt:  I did.

Morgan:  That’s alright. Better to be lucky than good, right?

Matt:  Right.

Morgan:  (chuckles…) Alright, Jamie, your next question: What Olympic event did Bruce Jenner win in the 1970s?

Jamie:  I know it was running but…

Morgan:  Wait, I haven’t done the multiple-choice yet. This gets easy.

Jamie:  Oh, okay. Go ahead.

Morgan:  Is it A. Downhill Skiing? B. Weight-lifting? Or C. Decathlon?

Jamie:  Decathlon.

Morgan:  Decathlon, good girl. I’m impressed that you were going to try and get it anyway.

Jamie:  I’m just so excited I just had to answer.

Morgan:  (chuckles…) It’s an exciting time to be alive.

Alright, Matt, your next question: What size is a tall latte at Starbucks? Is it the second smallest? The medium? Or large?

Matt:  I know it’s the smaller one, so – I didn’t know there was anything smaller than it, actually, but I’m going to go with the second smallest.

Morgan:  Good man! Okay, that’s true. I think the smallest is called “short”.

Matt:  Learned something new.

Morgan:  We’re all learning, this is great!

Alright, we’re back over the Jamie. I think you’re ready.
Jamie:  I’m ready.

Morgan:  Good.

When is Lectric Shave applied? Before shaving? After shaving? If you nick your skin?

Jamie:  Could you repeat the questions, please?

Morgan:  Okay. So it’s a product and it’s called Lectric Shave. When is Lectric Shave applied? Before shaving? After shaving? Or if you nick your skin?

Jamie:  I’m just going to have to guess. After?

Morgan:  Oh, no, you’re wrong. Your incredible answership has come to an end, bad luck. It is unfortunately before shaving.

Jamie:  Okay.

Morgan:  I know, I know. What can you do? Tough questions.

Alright, over to Matt: A women’s shirt that extends just above the natural waistline is called: A baby doll? An empire waist? Or a crop top?

Matt:  Wow! A crop top is shorted. You said it extends past the waist?

Morgan:  No, it extends just above the natural waistline.

Matt:  Oh, done. Crop top.

Morgan:  Alright! Just out of interest, Matt, when was the last time you wore a crop top?

Matt:  You know, I’m going to alter my Selkirk polos a little bit to make them shorter.

Morgan:  (laughs…) Good, good. Excellent! We’ll talk to Rob Barnes about that. We always like to bring in a “If Rob is listening” situation. So if Rob’s listening, you’re going to send Matty one of these dodgy shirts.

Are you ready, Jamie?

Jamie:  I’m ready.

Morgan:  So he’s got a 4 – 3 lead at the moment, just so you know.

Okay, here we go: The little dents in a golf ball are called: Dimples? Studs? Or Teaks?

Jamie:  A.

Morgan:  A, alright that is true. They are indeed called dimples. Do you play golf?

Jamie:  I don’t play golf, nope. Just Pickleball.

Morgan:  Okay, so you’re focused – I like it.

Alright, Matt, over to you: It was recently a trend for teens to put some suction no their lips and then take a selfie to look like: Kim Kardashian? Kylie Jenner? Or Angelina Jolie?

Matt:  Man, I’m going to guess Kylie Jenner.

Morgan:  Oh, you’ve done it again, jeez!

Matt:  Let’s go!

Morgan:  Wow! That is impressive.

Jamie:  That is impressive. I wouldn’t even know that.

Morgan:  I was just going to ask, Jamie, did you know that?

Jamie:  No.

Morgan:  Alright, alright.

Over to you, Jamie: What is the all-cotton stripped suit many men wear in summer? Is it Double Breasted? Seersucker? Or Leisure Suit?

Jamie:  Maybe C. Leisure Suit?

Morgan:  Unfortunately, that is just slightly incorrect. It is in fact the Seersucker.

Jamie:  Oh, okay.

Morgan:  I know, I know. Don’t worry, the game is certainly not over. Matt is due for a mistake. I mean, he’s been getting lucky here so far, let’s be honest.

Matt:  Yup.

Morgan:  Matthew: The reigning Ms. America is not allowed to: A. Be alone? B. Drive? Or C. Buy her own clothes?

Matt:  Wow! Let’s go with C.

Morgan:  That is incorrect, unfortunately.

Matt:  No! You jinxed me.

Morgan:  I mean could you imagine if you told any woman on the planet you are no longer allowed to buy clothes, we’d have a problem, I think.

Matt:  Man, which one is it? She can’t drive?

Morgan:  She can’t drive, yeah.

Matt:  Wow! Alright, good to know.

Morgan:  It’s interesting, isn’t it? Who knew?

Matt:  Yeah.

Morgan:  Alright, Jamie, we’re getting closer. You’re drawing in back.

What color is the number 4 ball in Pool? Orange? Blue? Or purple?

Jamie:  Purple?

Morgan:  It is!

Jamie:  Oh, it was just a guess. I’m so happy I got it.

Morgan:  You know, you don’t have to tell people it was a guess. Maybe you just naturally got it.

Jamie:  (chuckles…) It just came to me. I just knew it.

Morgan:  Matthew, what can you spray in your hair to naturally lighten it? Lemon juice? Beer? Or baking soda?

Matt:  Lemon juice.

Morgan:  Lemon juice – have you juiced recently, Matthew?

Matt:  I’ve had experience with people wanting hair as naturally blonde as mine, so I have to tell them what to do.

Morgan:  Alright, alright. You’re really just a kind and generous soul, aren’t you?

Matt:  Yeah, that’s it!

Morgan:  Over to Jamie.

In golf, a hole in one is called? Birdie? Eagle? Or Ace?

Jamie:  A Birdie?

Morgan:  That is unfortunately incorrect.

Jamie:  Oh, it’s probably an Ace, right?

Morgan:  It probably is, yes.

Jamie:  Oh, okay. That’s what happens when I don’t play golf – I don’t know.

Morgan:  (laughs…) Not to worry, it was deceptively difficult.

Matt, are you ready for your next question?

Matt:  Yup.

Morgan:  Good man!

What kind of facial piercing resembles a birthmark? The Rhianna? The Monroe? Or The Rook?

Matt:  Wow! Oh, man, whatever the third one was – the Rook?

Morgan:  The Rook? It is not unfortunately.

Matt:  Jamie, do you know this one?

Jamie:  I would say the Monroe.

Morgan:  That is correct!

Matt:  Oh man!

Jamie:  Do I get a point for stealing the question.

Morgan:  Sure, why not? No, you don’t. (chuckles…)

Alright, Jamie, how old are the thoroughbreds in the Kentucky Derby? Two? Three? Or seven?

Jamie:  Two.

Morgan:  Unfortunately, that is incorrect. Matt, do you know that?

Matt:  Yeah, they’re three.

Morgan:  Ah, there you go. Boys will be boys.

Jamie:  I knew they were young, I didn’t know they were three, though.

Morgan:  They are three. Not to worry.

Okay, over to Matt: The name of the duke and duchess of Windsor’s first baby is? Richard? George? Or Charles?

Matt:  Wow! We’re due for a Charles – let’s see. C?

Morgan:  That is incorrect. Unfortunately, it is George – Georgie-boy.

Matt:  Wow!

Morgan:  That means, Jamie, you’re still with a chance here.

Jamie:  Crossing my fingers.

Morgan:  Which character is not in the recent Avengers movie? Hulk? Aquawoman? Or Thor?

Jamie:  I haven’t seen the movie, so I don’t know. I’ll say Hulk?

Morgan:  Unfortunately, that is incorrect. It is Aquawoman. I do not believe Aquawoman actually exists.

Matt:  I don’t know who that is.

Morgan:  Yeah, there’s an Aquaman, and if you ever thought about watching the movie “Aquaman”, don’t – don’t go anywhere near it. It is terrible, just terrible. Shockingly bad, really. I don’t know how they managed that.

Anyway, we got a little off topic there. I’m just still emotional about the time waster watching the first quarter of Aquaman.

Okay, onto Matt. This is for the win: What hairstyle is short with hair around the jaw level? Is it the Pixie? Bob? Or Paige?

Matt:  Oh, man, I was going to say the Bob but the Pixie kind of threw me off there. Alright, so it’s around the chin?

Morgan:  Yes, well, around the jaw level.

Matt:  I have no clue what Pixie looks like so I’m going to go with the Bob.

Morgan:  That is correct! Well done!

Matt:  Oh, let’s go!

Morgan:  That is huge for the male race. Our organization is just looking a little bit better because of you, Matt. Cheers, mate – that’s fantastic!

Jamie, I do feel bad. You had some tough questions there.

Jamie:  That’s okay.

Morgan:  Did you have fun anyway?

Jamie:  I had a great time. Thank you!

Morgan:  Excellent! So at the end of the day, it was Matt with seven points, Jamie with five. Who knows? Maybe we’ll do it again. Maybe there will be a round two in the future somewhere.

Jamie:  Yes, I demand a rematch.

Morgan:  Demand – there we go!

Matt:  I love it! I thought the highlight was listening to Morgan say “Aqua” in his accent. I didn’t even know what he was saying.

Morgan:  Sorry. How do you say it?

Matt:  That was good! I’m glad I didn’t have that question.

Morgan:  Good stuff, guys. Well, this has just been way too much fun. I promise we will do it again some time.

Jamie:  Thanks for having me.

Matt:  Thank you for having me.

Morgan:  You are welcome, you two. Stay safe out there. Enjoy Pickleball in whatever fashion you can do it these days. Make sure you share and like, all that stuff that everybody likes to do online.

Matt:  Will do. Thank you again!

Jamie:  Bye, Matt.

Matt:  Bye!

Morgan:  Cheers!

Good times, good times! Okay, let’s get back over to Dee, see what’s happening.

 

Back Over to Dee [38:24]

Dee:  As a coach, a mentor, tournament director, everybody goes into the day hoping for gold, right? But after the first two rounds of any bracket, half of them are going home.

Morgan:  Yeah.

Dee:  Back in the day when I first started tournaments, most of our tournaments were round-robin play which meant when you showed up that day, you didn’t know who was going to get gold. Everybody was fighting for it but you got lots and lots of play all day long. And sometimes I wonder if we need to return back to having less people at a tournament, more fulfilling play out of a tournament, and everybody walks away feeling satisfied that they got enough play. Maybe they didn’t play their best every round or every game but they were able to come out of a funk and have a success. But win or lose, you got your play satisfied, so it’ll be interesting.

Morgan:  I would love to see a few varieties of format changes, one of them including pool play before a double elimination or single elimination if necessary. But I think that kind of thing is going to be a great way to have perhaps the teams that might be seated 15 through 30 or 40 to get more and more play against peers under pressure at a higher level at a tournament versus, “Well, we weren’t seated very well. We lost our first game and had a tough two matches in the back draw,” and suddenly, you’ve had a total play time of around an hour and a half maybe if you’re lucky, and you flew 3,000 miles to get there.

Dee:  And then there’s no available rec courts to go finish that need of fulfillment.

Morgan:  Yeah.

Dee:  Back in the day, you could stay at a tournament. If they had eight courts and by 1 or 2 o’clock in the afternoon is when courts start to become available for rec play. And we’re talking a tournament with maybe 200 people in it. Maybe the cost of entry was around $40. It was crazy because you could hang with your friends, get some great rec play, then go out to eat and start it again the next day. You’re getting tournaments now on 16 courts with 800 people, the court time usage is 12 hours. I’m not going to go play at 8 o’clock at night, I got to get ready for the next day.

Morgan:  Yeah. Do you think tournaments are getting greedy?
Dee:  You know I think the cost factor with tournaments – back when I started tournaments, our court time that you paid for renting a court wasn’t high. They almost gave it to you. Now, they have to pay some for the facility. You’re spending money on unique awards when in the end, they probably just go in a drawer. So if you want to cut out the cost of medals, that’s one way. We’ve developed, we’re on a second go, try of a pro circuit, so there’s money that needs to come from somewhere. I can remember back in the day, we offered the Lemaster Davidson Classic. Gigi and I put that together as a give-back tournament. So the tournament fees, I looked back – tournament fees were between $40 and $50, depending on one event or two event. We were the first tournament to pay the event desk staff, the first tournament to pay referees, and we paid first aid and paid back to the players at every skill level.

Morgan:  Wow! I remember that tournament. It was one of my favorites.

Dee:  Yeah.

Morgan:  That was a good one. I was sad when it finished but that’s for another time, I’m sure.

Dee:  Yeah, yeah.

Morgan:  It sounds like a progressive tournament.

Dee:  It was.

Morgan:  Sounds like it was ahead of its time.

Dee:  It was. And you know, we limited it to 200 people. And we actually said no more than 200 people, so that we could provide great play, a great environment. We had lunches catered by Streets of New York, we partnered with them. For every dollar we spent, they donated a dollar to the lunch, and so we had awesome lunches catered in. There’s a lot that can be done with tournaments instead of just fundraising. We’ll see how that changes.

Morgan:  Maybe this pandemic is the reset button that sends Pickleball tournaments back a couple of years to a time where after you’ve finished, you could always find a court.

Dee:  There you go. That would be great!

Morgan:  And everybody knows your name.

Dee:  Can I be Norm at the end of the bar, waiting for everybody to arrive? (laughs…)

Morgan:  You can. And everyone will yell, “Dee!”

Dee:  Yeah! Or “Morgan!”

Morgan:  Let’s go with Dee. Morgan’s two syllables. You can’t have a two-syllable name for that kind of thing.

Dee:  Oh, I think your name can be whatever you want it to be.

Morgan:  Oh, good, because actually, my first name is Robert. And I could go with Rob, I suppose. But I don’t really feel like a Rob.

Dee:  You don’t look like a Rob, you’re a unique Morgan.

Morgan:  I know.

Dee:  My original name is DeeAnne. And growing up, I love my teachers, so I want to give a shout out to all of them. But for some reason, many of them struggled and said Dianne, I mean it was just all over the map. My nickname actually developed from a job that I took in college at a university bookstore, and I wanted the job really bad so I could work on campus, and I could get 40 hours a week, and come and go as I wanted. I knew the manager and he goes, “I’ll hire you under one condition.”

And I’m like, “Alright.”

He’s like, “I already have a DeeAnna working here, and I can’t go on the PA system and say DeeAnna or DeeAnne, so you’re going to have to be called Dee.”

I’m like, “Okay, done. Good.”

Morgan:   (laughs…)

Dee:  And it just stuck because it was easier to remember.

Morgan:  That’s a good story. Now we know. The truth has come out.

Dee:  Yeah.

Morgan:  Very good.

Well, Dee, DeeAnne, Mrs. Davison, Ms. Davison – however you like to be called, it’s been an honor and a privilege. I’ve enjoyed our time together.

Dee:  Morgan, it’s been fun.

Morgan:  It’s been great. We should do it again sometime. What do you think?

Dee:  I agree! I think your listeners should come up with some subjects for us to talk about.

Morgan:  Oh, yeah, we could probably solve most of the world’s problems once we get over this first one.

Dee:  That’s right.

Morgan:  Well, enjoy the rest of your day. Take care of the entire Pickleball community in – well, at least Arizona but maybe even the West Coast.

Dee:  There you go. I look forward to talking to all my peeps!

Morgan:  Tell them I said hi.

Dee:  I will do that, Morgan.

Morgan:  Alright, thank you, sweetie!

Dee:  Thank you!
Morgan:  Cheers!

Please be aware. This interview was recorded in late March. Conversations concerning social distancing are not reflective of current norms.

Sponsor: Selkirk Sport

 

Online Chaos [46:43]

Morgan:  So what’s new, Matt? Are you surviving in style?

Matt:  Yeah, I teach kindergarten, so we are doing online learning.

Morgan:  Wow!
Matt:  And that is very interesting to have 6-year-olds on the computer following directions at home. So we did a Zoom meeting, actually, with 30 of them this morning which was crazy.

Morgan:  That’s insane!

Matt:  Yeah, it was fun.

Morgan:  I kinda want to see that.

Matt:  Yeah, oh, I mean we muted them all so that we could talk. And then we had their videos and they were waiving to their friends, dabbin’ in the background – I don’t even know what was happening.

Morgan:  Online Chaos – I love it!