Saturday, September 29, 2012

Musings from the HC

A few quick and disjointed thoughts:

.....returned from Minnesota at 11pm, back at the RC at 7am

.....Rare sight seen: for the First time ever(well in my 24 years at Coe) a beautiful day and a nice weekend projected for the Men's ITA Regional in St Peter MN. 70+ degrees and no wind. All Coe Alums are shaking their heads in collective disbelief.

 .....River Rock Coffee in St Peter is the best! Got 4 visits in in my two trips to Minnesota. And, despite what Coach Brad says, a good cup of coffee DOES make the day!

.....after a less than pleasing doubles performance(A flight) in the Iowa Conference tourney, Coach Brad and the Team have somehow placed THREE pairs in the top 16 of the ITA tourney. Kudos to Mike/Sean and Jeff/Woolfie for upsetting seeded pairs. And of course, to Curtis for carrying Noah (wink-wink!) thru two matches.

.....Coe did drop two matches in singles due to Fitness collapses( you know who you are!). Coach Brad was beside himself that one of his players could lose, because of fitness, to a rival player who was easily carrying an extra pound or two.....or fifty. That won't happen again. I know Coach Brad and Coach Kris way too well!

.....On Tournament Scheduling......what does it say about the tournament when the matches scheduled for 6pm finish at 11pm.....hmmmm. Hope a fix is found before next year. Speaking of which, did you know that the Men's ITA is a full 128 Singles, 64 Doubles? Yup, a Grand Slam size draw.....done in 3 days! Too bad it becomes a fitness contest that is draw dependent, rather than a battle of tennis acumen.

.....Homecoming at Coe today....5K race starts in 5 minutes.....Women's Basketball Team just ran by the Office window, dressed in football uniforms and chanting loudly....including one injured player in a wheelchair.

.....Baseball update: my Reds, and Coach Kris' Braves have clinched playoff spots. Coach Brad's Rangers lagging behind with a magic # of 3. Looks like all three teams will be playing next weekend.

.....Women's Tennis Team has two home matches today. Two wins would give Mr Clark's Racquet Center its 17th Conference title. Thank you, Mr Clark! 

.....On the differences between coaching Men & Women:  well the Men's matches, even the long ones, are a lot shorter! Woolfie played a three set match in an hour......Tai played a 63 61 match that lasted two and a half hours! Moral of the story? Make sure to visit the bathroom before coaching Tai and Michelle....(and when watching Woolfie, don't turn your back. You will miss 2 games!)

.....my comments to Jeff after his 1st round triumph(?) 
     me: Jeff you need a shower.
     Jeff: why?
     me: because you stunk!
     Jeff: Yeah, I know.

.....Other Comments:

     me, to a very visibly nervous ZD:  "try breathing"
     me, to SS having a miserable time on court, " this grinding thing isn't working today, hit winners"
          (I NEVER say that which shows you the depths of despair SS and I had reached)
     Coach Brad describing RG's 1st match: "he won, but he was just awful"
         (Coach Brad also used the word palpable in a text--really!)
     Opposing Asst Coach on phone to Head Coach while watching Sushi playing highly seeded foe, "you had better get down here in a hurry, he's down 3-1.....no, I don't know WHO this guy is!"
     Opposing Head Coach when I offered him some healthy food (fresh rye bread)  "uhh, no thanks, but I will take a handshake"

.....Here's hoping at this time tomorrow I am BACK on the road to Minnesota, to watch Noah in the singles semifinals and two of the Coe pairs in the doubles final!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Picture of the Week

Tai teaching Zumba class on Tuesday evening.  Will again state that Tai can move!  Anya (one of my students) and I joined the class.  Anya: "The best part is that nobody cares what you look like."

Thoughts/Quotes:
- Told Justin that re-tooling his forehand was like riding a bike (once picked it up, would do with ease).....his response, "It sure is taking a long time to learn how to ride this bike."
- Jordan:  "We need t-shirts that say Net Ninjas on the front; and Drift, Pinch, Poach on the back."
- While in MN last weekend:
        Amy:  "We're almost to Canada.  This is as close as I'll get to studying abroad."
        Hoff:  "You'd actually have to study here for that to be the case."
* Amy completed her studies/homework before departing to ensure that she had time to count each of the 10,000 lakes in MN (actual # is 11,842 for those wondering).  Amy also snapped a picture of the Welcome to Minnesota sign while informing us that it was only the 6th State she'd been to.  Little did she know, we were 6 hours from Canada and the last 6 hour trip she took (from IL to OH) took her 2 days.
-  Informed Brad that the library was cheaper.  Although, that wouldn't allow him to one day "display" his knowledge.
-  Also while in MN:
       Kris:  "Tamara, bet you've never been stuck behind farm equipment before."
       Tamara:  "No, can't say that I have."
- In speaking of the weather and given matches:
        Jordan:  "It always seem to rain for the Coe / (fill in the blank) match."
        Hoff:  "That is because (a higher power) cries when the (fill in the blank) come to town."

Ran a Mixed Doubles Tiebreaker Tournament for those at practice yesterday.  Mark & Diannah took 1st place, Laura & Amy (we were short on men) 2nd place and Jordan & Justin 3rd.  The highlight was Mark imitating Amy running from the net as Justin volleyed (which ended up bouncing 3 times before it would have gotten to her).  A close second was Jordan's mid-point surprise / jaw drop when Amy (randomly and by choice) served and volleyed.  Will say that she hit 3 quality volleys when did so......before again, taking retreat, and losing the point.

The men take their turn in St Peter today.  Tournament Website.

The women wrap up Conference play tomorrow at Clark Racquet Center.  Dubuque at 10 AM; Loras at 1 PM.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Noble


---Once again this blog post doesn’t relate to tennis in any discernable way. Don’t worry, next week’s post will be all about the trips the team has taken over the past few weeks---

When I was a freshman in college, I took a grammar and composition class just like every single student at my school. However, this class was a little different from most composition classes in that my professor had us write memoir style papers in the creative nonfiction vein instead of boring literary essays. While the rest of the grammar and comp classes were enlarging the periods at the end of every sentence to reach their required page length over Walden’s Pond, we were penning papers about trying to light farts on fire while in high school (my professor would be so proud of the alliteration in that sentence). No joke, I wrote a paper about sitting around a campfire in high school where everyone was mesmerized by the act of flaming flatulence and setting a can of Easy Cheese on fire.

It explodes. Oh, it explodes

Of course, since I was a college student and paying for my education and getting a grade for these essays, I put very little effort into them. Now that I’m not paying tuition to write or getting a grade for any of my writing, I absolutely love writing these blog posts. I would love to go back and have a chance to be in a class like that again. If you’re fortunate enough to still be in college, here’s some advice for you: don’t take any of your classes for granted. It’s pretty rare to be in an environment where learning is the whole goal. I consider myself lucky that I have a job that allows me to write for fun over just about anything that comes to mind. Those opportunities are rare, just like the short time you have in college.

Now that I’ve done my good deed for the day and doled out sage wisdom, let’s get back to talking about what really matters. Me. If I were in a writing class I know my essays would be much more robust since I’m no longer an inexperienced, peasant freshman, but a well versed man in his mid-twenties. Okay, maybe I don’t have the life experiences of an old man – say my dad – but I’m more versed than that putrid idiot who started college at the age of 18 (my 
parents and friends call that idiot Brad).

He still won't wear pants

One particular assignment we had was a place piece where we would write about our favorite place and what it meant to us. I wrote something, something, something; it sucked. I would describe that paper like I would describe all of the ones I wrote that year. It was boring, boring, very very boring – just like that last sentence. With redemption in mind, I want to tell you about a place that I love.

This place can be found in most cities. It’s really a portal to anywhere you could want to go, and learn anything you could possibly want. I might not have come to Cedar Rapids if there wasn’t one here. I’m talking about Barnes and Noble.

My love affair with The Noble started back a few years ago. In the summer of 2009, I took a  Behavioral Health class that I absolutely hated. However, one day we watched a TED lecture by Dan Ariely that deeply interested me. After class was over I went out and bought Ariely’s book, Predictably Irrational. This seemingly innocuous event, coupled with my roommate’s own broad array of knowledge, eventually led me into a reading frenzy bordering on drug style addiction.

Try this Game of Thrones. It'll rock your world

Going to The Noble, for me, is like going to a candy store for a kid (or REI for Coach Rodgers). My last trip lasted a good two hours; two hours of euphoria. I love everything about bookstores: the intellectuals in the science section, the socially awkward people in the fantasy section, the tin-foil hat freaks in the New Age section, the old men in the history section. I can’t get enough of it, and I want to buy EVERYTHING. Most people would think I’m just using hyperbole here to make my point (once again my professor would be proud), but here are all the books currently in my queue.

Unbroken- Laura Hillenbrand
The Last Unicorn- Peter Beagle
Russia and the Russians- Geoffrey Hosking
The Vikings- Mark Harrison
All Quiet on the Western Front- Erich Maria Remarque
Song of Wrath- J.E. Lendon
Seven Summits- Bass and Wells
High Crimes- Michael Kodas
The Poison King- Adrienne Mayor
Scipio Africanus- B.H. Liddell Hart
Running on Empty- Lars Ulrich
Blind Descent- James Tabor
The Lucifer Principle- Howard Bloom
The Toaster Project- Thomas Thwaites
Cool, Calm, Contentious- Merrill Markoe
Why We Run- Bernd Heinrich
The Dictator’s Handbook- Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
American Machiavellie: Alexander Hamilton- John Harper
Stumbling on Happiness- Dan Gilbert
The Righteous Mind- Jonathan Haidt
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter- Seth Grahame-Smith
The Know-it-all- A.J. Jacobs
Eat and Run- Scott Jurek
Breasts- Florence Williams
How We Decide- Jonah Lehrer
Deep Survival- Laurence Gonzalez
Where They Stand- Bob Merry
The Survivor Personality- Al Siebert
Marcus Aurelius: A Life- Frank Mclynn
Soliders and Ghosts- J.E. Lendon
A Strange Wilderness- Amir Aczel
DNA USA- Bryan Sykes
The Rise of Rome- Anthony Everitt
Joseph Anton: A Memoir- Salman Rushdie



Yeah, I have a lot of reading to do. Perhaps if I medicate myself with caffeinated coffee I can stay up all night and have more time to read. I think you can understand that I enjoy me some Barnes and Noble, but my level of addiction is worse than you think. Here's a little example of my bookstore addiction. 

Last spring I took a girl on a date. I know that shocking in itself, but there's more to the story.  We had a nice dinner, and the conversation was lively and very enjoyable. After dinner was over we left the restaurant in my truck.

At this point you’re probably thinking, “No Brad. Tell me you didn’t take her to Barnes and Noble!” Oh, I did. Yes I did. In a fit of absolute nerdism we went to The Noble. By the time we left, I bought two books and she bought three. Oh great Noble she is worthy!

Also, how do you feel about marriage?

The reason for all this reading is because of a simple desire. It is a desire my roommate and I both share, and he summed it up pretty well when he told me, “there’s stuff out there that I don’t know yet, and I have to know it.” Pretty simple really, I want to know everything there is to know which is why bookstores have such an allure to me.

At bookstores you can learn and read about anything you want. Dan Ariely’s take on behavioral economics, Susan Casey’s scientific look at waves and the people who surf them, Bill Bryson’s hilarious travels around the world, George R. R. Martin’s epic tale A Song of Ice and Fire which is the absolute opus of the fantasy drama. My roommate and I were fully aware that we were making ourselves veritable jacks-of-all-trades and master’s of none. But that didn’t matter. There was information out there and we needed to know it.

I prefer the term polymath

Where does this quest end? Besides knowing everything, I also have an ulterior motive. One that is much less noble than the quest for knowledge. I want to have a room in my house that is my own library. Kind of like the library in Beauty in the Beast, but without all the talking house wares. Basically, I want to arrogantly show off all that I know. I realize this quest could put me on par with those smug coffee aficionados of which I have already established my hate for. At least in my own case, I will have earned that smug smirk that others will daydream about wiping off my face with their fists

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Kroll Report 3



Let me first apologize for missing last Tuesday's post and nearly missing this weeks as well.

A small word of advice; don't take three writing-emphasis classes in the same term. It is nothing short of ridiculous. I am currently writing upwards of 5,000 words a week plus reading a book every two weeks for one class. It is intense and no human could possibly finish all this work the honest way (without SparkNotes).

My first collegiate tennis experience took place this past weekend for the IIAC Individual Conference Tournament. It was certainly a weekend to remember: A weekend to remember that maybe we were literally at the least capable school to host a tournament. I played one of my matches on glass and that was really exciting. I have never shanked the ball so many times in my life (though I have certainly come close). If your timing wasn't spot on, chances were that ball was being shanked to the next court.

The weather in general didn't help out any. It was cold, and rainy and windy for the whole weekend. Those three weather conditions worked really well together all weekend. Often times, it was miserable. Especially with all the waiting. So much waiting.

Some of the other things I was exposed to this weekend was all the support from the parents. We were constantly being asked if we wanted food and the parents really looked after us. It was great. I'm used to having to beg for somebody to bring their leftover granola bar to my match. Also, the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins were definitely the best muffins I have ever had. Thank you, parents.

I learned that bringing a pillow is a clutch decision for any road trip. It was also brought to my attention that I have no regard for people's personal space while I'm traveling. Apparently I looked for a shoulder to lean on more than once on the trip and for that I would like to say sorry to Mitchell and Ryan. I will say though that at one point I offered my shoulder up to a fellow teammate. I guess not everybody is as willing as I am to have somebody leaning on you for two hours.

Though the tennis playing conditions were light years away from perfect, the rest of the weekend was full of team-bonding and cracking jokes.

A shout out to the women for their success at ITA's this past weekend and good luck to the Men traveling to ITA's this weekend. Go get em', boys!

Health & Wellness - Power Down

Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that my weekly Health and Wellness posts have been random, and not necessarily connected or themed.  Reality.....you are receiving bits and pieces of the book that is SLOWLY being pieced together in my head.  Well, the first book that I release tied to overall health and well-being that is.  Expect to author the following in my lifetime:

-  The Power of Pumpkin (will once again state that pumpkin is a SuperFood for the rare reader of our blog that is still unaware of this fact):  Infamous pumpkin muffin recipe included....batch in my oven now....amongst other pumpkin favorites; to be announced/created.
Hmmm....beaten to the punch!
-  The Imperfect 100:  As a numbers/spreadsheet geek, I am in the process of creating a system to track one's overall health.  Hope to release the first draft of this spreadsheet yet this Fall and on the Kohawk blog.  To be expanded upon over time, via trial and error (need victims), until it is a fool-proof system....just like the Cabbage Soup Diet.  ;)
After 7 days straight of only cabbage soup, pretty sure that Oreo will look even MORE appealing!  Or, 12 of them!
-  Who Really Cares?:  A given individual's (mine) take on life, and inspired by a remark made by my Grandma.  This may stem from, or be, a personal blog first.

-  Parenting - Try Again:  Not to be taken literally (the child itself).

-  How to Cultivate a Division III Tennis Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, IA:  Titled now, and off the cuff.  Hope we're doing something along these lines though.  Life principles, and that program being a "family", at forefront of. Results attained/expected, but never the focus.

-  Dynamic Doubles:  Again, little thought put in to the title.  System for under daily scrutiny (by Coach Rodgers, Coach Brad, etc) and might as well capitalize on / profit from those around me.

-  The World of Recruiting (and/or How to Deal with Rejection)

Okay, enough.....I started this post apologizing for the randomness in my thought, and then gave you more of it.

For this week, I ask that you Power Down your life.  Even if only for 10 minutes a day.  In my opinion, our lives have been taken over by the digital age.  Place cell phones, computers, televisions, etc. at bay.  Pay attention to your child, or that which is in front of you. Take the dogs for a walk.  Stretch.  Yoga.  Read.  

On many occasions when with the teams, I have considered implementing a one hour no phone / electronics policy (or rather, experiment).  Know they would balk at the idea.  Would be intrigued to see it play out though......no access to the outer world, reliance on each other and/or time to think/reflect??  For those players that stay up to date on the blog.....beware, and give fair warning to the significant other or friends that you may be out of touch (Heaven forbid) for up to an hour at some point.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Weekend Recap

A long weekend for the entire Kohawk family!  Still coming down from it myself; attempting to transition back into a typical, but never mundane, Monday.....expense reports, blog post, fitness class, practice, etc!

IIAC play recapped here.  Of note:
- Coe had 5 players advance to the quarterfinals in A Flight Singles Draw.  First year, Riley Galbraith, claimed 2nd place whilst second year, Noah Sprinkel, took 3rd.
- Coe had 4 teams advance to the quarterfinals in A Flight Doubles Draw.  Sprinkel and senior, Curtis Newman, claimed the Title.
- Coe took the B Flight Singles Title (first year, Geoffrey Brochet), and the gold, silver and bronze in the B Flight Doubles Draw.  In order, Daken Starkenburg '14 & Alex Klaas '14, Mitch Schumacher '16 & Mark Kroll ' 16, Brochet & Scott Kleyemann '15.
* Coe did not participate in the C flight.

IIAC Picture Album

ITA play recapped here.  Of note:
- Michelle Schupbach '13 and Tai Lucero '14 claimed 2nd place in Doubles.
- Lucero advanced to the semi-final round of ITA Singles by knocking off the 2nd seed in quarterfinal play.
- First year, Amy Sebastian, took 2nd place in the ITA Consolation Singles Bracket.
- 3 Doubles pairs advanced to the quarterfinal of the Midwest Doubles Bracket:  Jordan Ferree '15 & Elizabeth Hoffmann '14, Shade Hannum '16 & Tamara Washington '16 and Laura Birky '16 & Diannah Watson '16.


Michelle and Tai playing late into the evening on Saturday!
The team/fans watching intently.  Except the fan in the top row; she can't bear to watch.
Chipolte dinner Friday night.
In a pickle....
Happy Birthday Diannah!  (not a SuperFood)
The aftermath...
Rest of the crew....

New Faces of Kohawk Tennis - Amy Sebastain



Name: Amy Sebastian
Birth date: 04-26-94
Hometown: Mundelein, Illinois
Favorite Tennis Player: Roger Federer.  Every aspect of his game is of such high quality. 
Favorite non-tennis sport/hobby: My favorite hobby is watching football.  I really came to love the game watching Brett Favre. 
General background information: My parents are Ken and Robin Sebastian.  I am an only child.  I went to Vernon Hills High School and played #1 singles.  I was a two-year captain and three-time MVP.  I received the North Suburban Conference (NSC) Sportsmanship Award.  My senior year, I was selected to the Pioneer Press All Lake Shore Gold List Second Team. 
What separates you from everyone else: I am 6 feet tall.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

ITA / IIAC

Women at the ITA in St Peter, MN.  All 9 competitors survived Friday play and competing again today.  Undefeated in Friday doubles play!  Seeded players, Michelle Schupbach and Tai Lucero, still active in the ITA Singles and Doubles Draw.

Men in Decorah for the IIAC Individual Conference Tournament.  Survived the rain and shortened format.  7 guys in the Round of 16 this morning.

Bleacher seats.  Hoff:  "Are we black?" (in reference to the scorecards; Tamara's response quite comical)

Chipolte burrito the size of Hoff's head.

Coach Jordan!  She did great!

Excited by the Blueberry (a SuperFood!) waffles.

Picture of the Week

Added two study carrels in the Racquet Center.

New television for the Kohawk player lounge!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Morning Joe


Last week, I discussed my thoughts on the US Open, specifically my violent thoughts on the TV commentators. It has been noted by some that my blog posts are, “long” (I could have paraphrased that). With that in mind I will try to refrain from writing an epic saga on par with James Cameron’s Titanic and instead work to keep within Good Will Hunting range.

I still haven't let go

Now on to the real story

A few weeks ago Kris bought a Keurig coffee maker for the tennis office, and as she noted in her post, I bought hot chocolate for it. This was due to the fact that I wanted to use the Keurig even though I hate coffee. Removing coffee from the Keurig equation leaves tea and hot chocolate. I just so happen to despise tea about as much as coffee and Mary Carillo, so that left me with only one choice. Being so limited on what hot and delicious, slightly, addictive drink I could brew from the new Keurig got me thinking that maybe it was time to expand my horizons. This brought me to my new experiment: I would drink a cup of coffee everyday for an entire week. It’s like the book Supersize Me, but without me having to constantly intake 5,000 calories a day in the form of saturated fat (McDonalds). Now, I don’t intake a lot of caffeine (any) which did have me a little worried, but since I was going to write a blog post about my experience I knew I couldn’t skimp on my experiment. I was drinking for Science now!

A truth not usually uttered on college campuses

Despite my dislike of the coffee, I have actually been to quite a few good coffee shops. If you’re ever in Houston, Texas check out the Antidote. In Boulder, Colorado? Go to the Laughing Goat. In Salt Lake City, Utah? There’s a nice little place on 9th and 9th. In Fort Collins, Colorado? Check out Cranknstein which is a bike shop/bar/coffee shop.

I believe my non-love affair with the coffee stems, in part, from what is to be found in coffee shops: that putrid mixture of skinny jeans, strangely pierced baristas, and macbook pros, all slathered in a thick layering of smugness and pseudo-irony.

Get a job! Hippies!

In these coffee shops I am definitely not in my element. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed my time at all of these places. I’m just not completely at ease unless I’m with someone who can guide me through these hipster enclaves. For my friends who have brought me safely through these mine fields, thank you (and I’m sorry for reneging on our agreement to name my first born after you, Kelsey drives a hard bargain).  

My overall plan was to spend the first half of the week trying out different coffees and identify my favorite (or least hated). I would then try the best coffee with different combinations of sugar and cream. That meant all my first cups of coffee were going to be taken straight black. You know, like a man.
Card holder since last Friday

For my first cup I randomly selected a cup from a sample box we had laying around. You can see I put a great deal of thought into this first cup, but I had to start somewhere. Random guessing seemed like a good choice. Besides I didn’t have a frame of reference for what’s good or bad anyways. The lucky first brew was Van Houtte French Vanilla, a light roast. My first taste can be summed up in one word: awful.

Random guessing. Bad Choice.

This first day was definitely the worst of the entire experiment. I think this was due to the deadly combination of the coffee was actually awful, and it was my first taste. No matter what happened, I wasn’t going to like what I tried, so I must have subconsciously picked an awful roast anyways. Over the next three days I tried Pike Place Roast which is made by Starbucks, Timothy’s Decaffeinated Colombian coffee, and Newman’s Own Extra Bold.

I was often surprised by how much I didn’t absolutely hate what I was drinking. In coffee terms, that’s basically a ringing endorsement by me. After trying all four of these coffees, my favorite was pretty clear: Pike Place was the best followed closely by the Columbian Decaf. Newman’s and the French Vanilla were in a very distant 3rd and 4th.




 Drinking all of this coffee black was great and all (read: terrible experience) but being a MAN only last so long. I decided it was time to turn in my man card; It was time to up the ante. I was going nuclear.

Fat Man and Little Boy

Coach Rodgers may deride me for these additions to my coffee, but one of my aforementioned saviors in the coffee shops is an avid coffee drinker and always puts creamer her coffee. I figure that’s a good enough excuse. For the next few days I was going to drink Pike Place Roast with different additions of creamer and syrup.

Due to my still neophyte status with coffee, I had no idea how much creamer to put in my drink. How much did I put in my first cup you may ask? Short answer: too much. That’s not to say I hated my cup of coffee that day, it was probably my favorite so far. There was just obviously too much creamer in it; I should have just had a cup of milk. This is really my coffee conundrum in a nutshell. Whenever I tried a cup of coffee with creamer in it, I really enjoyed the milk/cream taste, but was always upset when the coffee taste came in. Whenever asked if I wanted to try some coffee I would often give it the ole college try, and it always went like this:

“Man this is actually pretty good. It’s like a creamy milk taste and I love milk…AAHHHH Why Is There Coffee In Here!!!”

That thought process was still present during my experiment, but this time I knew the coffee taste was coming. After a few days of experimenting, I decided less is more and my favorite cup came on my last day. There was just a little shot of cream and barely any syrup. This turned out much better than my first try at creamer which was more like a half coffee/half cream catastrophe.

With my coffee experiment completed, I have a new appreciation for coffee, but I don’t plan on having another cup anytime soon. I’m just thankful the influx of coffee and caffeine for a week did not lead to a Gollum style addiction

I must have the precious...coffee!

If I find myself in another random coffee shop somewhere in the world, will I order a drink? You bet. I’ll probably even enjoy it. And then run away to avoid the hipster smugness from infecting me

For now, I’m excited to get back to my hot chocolate. 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

New Faces of Kohawk Tennis - Mark Kroll

Name: Mark Kroll
Birth date: March 24, 1994
Hometown: Castle Rock, Colorado
Favorite Tennis Player: My favorite player is Kim Clijsters. She is my favorite to watch, and I respect her the most. She doesn’t have the most titles, the most power, the most touch, the most effective serve, but she does all of these things well. She is as complete of a player you can find on the women’s tour especially. Her attitude on court is one that every player should want to emulate.
Favorite non-tennis sport/hobby: I really got into hiking this summer. I went on a number of different hikes along the Front Range. Some of my favorites are Devils Head in Sedalia, CO, and the Manitou Springs Incline in Manitou Springs, CO. (This area was one of the first to be evacuated when the Waldo Canyon Fire broke out.)
General background information: (family, pets, sports, etc.) I am the youngest of three boys, Jason, 28, Beau, 25. My brothers have a different father than I but you would never know it. The strength of our relationship doesn’t show too much but we all know the kind of bond we have is very special. My mom raised all three of us by ourselves and I consider her my personal hero/greatest inspiration/best friend. She is from New Hartford, IA and I have aunts and uncles there still. I have a niece, Natali, 15 mos., and a nephew, Caden. 22 mos. They are the two most special little kids in the world and I love them dearly. They have been the light of our family since they were born. I have two Boston Terriers named Roxie and Kratos and they are weird, and ugly but that is what makes them awesome and cute. I played volleyball, baseball and basketball while growing up. I started actually playing matches and practicing for tennis the summer before my freshman year or maybe a little earlier. I played baseball through my sophomore year and then focused on tennis.
What separates you from everyone else: (funny or serious) I will probably win a Grammy someday, because I am extremely talented when it comes to singing and often take the liberty of serenading my friends or people I don’t know. My talent shines while singing anything from T-Payne to Carrie Underwood to Nicki Minaj to a lot of 90’s pop music including but certainly not limited to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. I’m actually terrible at singing but I decided it doesn’t really matter that much and I sing anyway. On a good day though, I can’t help but dream…

Monday, September 17, 2012

Pictures!

Betty Damisch posted an album with pictures from yesterday's play.  Congratulations to the women on their Conference win over Luther College, 7-2.

Janet Schupbach has also shared pictures with us; dating back to the season opener, and including snapshots from the team dinner held at their house following play at Wartburg.

Another busy week ahead.  The women depart on Thursday for ITA Regional play in St. Peter, MN.  The men open up Fall competition on Friday with the IIAC Individual Conference Tournament in Decorah, IA.  Much work to do before then on both sides of the coin!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Live Scoring - Women - Coe v Luther


Coe 7 Luther 2

Doubles:  2-1

1.  Schupbach/Lucero v Chalhoub/White-Bear 8-2
2.  Birky/Watson v Allen/Helms 2-8
3.  Ohlman/Hoffmann v Lindstrom/Whiteley 9-7
4.  Washington/Beckley v Luther (Exhibition) 2-8

Singles:  3-1

1.  Schupbach v Chalhoub 6-2, 6-2
2.  Lucero v Allen 6-2, 6-0
3.  Ohlman v White-Bear 4-6,7-6 (2) 10-3
4.  Sebastian v Lindstrom 6-2, 6-3
5.  Birky v Helms 4-6, 2-6
6.  Ferree v DePaolis 7-5, 6-3
7.  Washington v Luther (Exhibition)
8.  Beckley v Luther (Exhibition) 

2 More Pictures

Women's match this afternoon against Luther!  2 PM.  Live scoring on the blog.


Friday evening team dinner at Tom and Jean Hoffmann's house.  THANKS for hosting!

Had an hour to myself Saturday evening.....