Greetings to all my loyal readers out there in Clipperland. I certainly apologize for the lack of blogging and am humbled by the numerous requests by fans to start posting again immediately. Of course, I am sure that there are also plenty of folks out there hoping that I do not post ever again. Well in spite of those hopefully few and to please those remaining hungry for as much Coach Dano as possible, I write!
So, what is on my mind...or at least the less scary things that I am allowed to print for the public. It has certainly been an interesting beginning to the fall and Clipper tennis. First of all, in a bizarre turn of events, I have come out of short retirement to resume my duties with the men's team. I just could not let Coach T. struggle alone this fall given his difficult injury. I also realized that it was unfair to the four new players to have been recruited by me and then to bail on them. I just didn't feel comfortable with that. In addition, the women's coaches unfortunately abandoned the program just as the school year began. I don't really want to get into the long and the short of that situation but suffice to say that the program and the terrific young women were left in a bad way. As a result, Coach T. stepped up to the plate so as to provide the team with the great season that they deserve. I felt called to help him through this and joined him in the cause. Working with the ladies is quite different in many ways. However, I am enjoying it so far. They are really a nice group and are eager to learn. We may not be the favorite this year with only a roster of six, losing key players and no new recruits, but I have a feeling that that CACC Championship is not going to leave Bronxville that easily. Time will tell.
We are quite young on the men's side this fall and that presents a few challenges. Finding cohesive doubles units and forming a team identity hopefully will come with time. We really need the returning players to embrace the talented freshman and bring us together. I have tremendous confidence in the character of our upperclassmen and am looking forward to what our talent can be with solid effort on the practice courts. Things are already changing for the better.
On a different note, I stepped out onto the practice court today. I really enjoyed hitting and drilling and I can actually hit the ball pretty well when the ball is hit to me. Game situation...another story. I can still hold that old serve in doubles but yikes, not covering enough ground out there. Hence, no Ben and Jerry's for a while...
The gents will hit the match courts Saturday at 10am versus Bowdoin College, a nationally ranked NCAA D3 school. In a sense, this is a homecoming for Bronxville High School grad Peter Davis who is on the Bowdoin squad. We look forward to beating Peter wherever he plays...Also making the "Wins List" is Andrey Boldarev who was able to get 5 ATP points last week qualifying at the Tashkent Challenger and thus obtaining an ATP world ranking of 1084. Way to go Andrey!
I hope that this has satisfied your yearnings and I promise to be more attentive to your reading needs going forward. If you are around on Saturday, stop by the courts and pay me a visit. I am always happy to see my peoples.
Be well. It is good to be back as there is still work to be done and some unfinished business.
Nuff said...
