TennisTitan is back in Yonkers chomping at the bit to get back on the Kinsley courts. Rain/snow in this weekend's forecast and an extra day (today) in winter this year makes TT an unhappy camper!
"Titan, today you are the king of all of Africa" proclaimed Jim Addiss 'Abada' titular heir apparent to Haile Selassie. The 'immobile minotaur' had led the tandem of TT/'Abada' to an exhilerating (10-8) victory in the only set played to completion this date at the Yonkers Tennis Center. The second set ended (4-3, 40-15 partial) but had the same flavor as the opener with its waxes and wanes. Indeed, 'Big Al' DioDati and Joe 'Gimpy Knees' Cruz were most formidable, battling back from 4-2 down to attempt to serve it out at 5-6, 30-love when TT decided that he would not be denied. During the 12th game the 'bloated behemoth' fought off three set points, executed 2 surprising digs at net, before evening it at 6-6. The 'bombastic bloviator' came up big consistently in the extra sessions also. The 'egomaniacal egotist' found the range on his first serve in games 13 and 17 rifling 2 aces and 2 service winners to keep the pressure on the determined adversaries. 'Abada' was crisp with his put-away volleys at crunch time, pouncing on defensive returns generated from Titan's penetrating groundies. As the boys met at net a disgruntled 'Big Al' lamented, "Titan, you are a total bore on the court with your insipid, redundant comments, "Respect, the Titan." "Feeling InTOMidated?!" "Give me something I like." 'Gimpy Knees' babbled in espanol, "El Gigante, usted es hombre malo y muy feo." To wit 'Abada' quipped, "Haile Selassie my ass, Titan is highly entertaining and he bore down when the chips were on the table. On to Pretoria!" Titan interjected, "No Jim, I'll be in Sarasota, Fl. next week, not South Africa."
"Titan, there's no other way to describe it. This was your Super Bowl" gleamed a euphoric Bill "Energizer Bunny Legs" Tully at the conclusion of play at the Yonkers Tennis Center this date. 'Bunny Legs,' I was in two-minute drill mode the entire 90 minutes on the court. When 'Big Al' told me that a balanced foursome would have him play with Tom 'FDNY' Conaty relegating the 'bloviating bullshitter' to pair with Tully, the gauntlet was thrown. TT had pop on his serve and sufficient jump to the ball to enable the Tullyville Trolley to roll to a resounding (6-1) thrashing of the upstarts. The second set was another matter, however. 'FDNY' matched 'EBL' in hustle to the ball and began to dominate on his serve. In rescue mode, FDNY settled into poaching at net to shorten the points whenever possible to limit 'Big Al's inability to cover the baseline against the placement returns from 'EBL' and the 'Yonkers Yakker's effective lobbing. The strategy brought them back from a 4-1 deficit only to succumb to the tandem of TT/'EBL' (6-4). As the crew met at net the weary, retired NYC fireman playing against the 'bombastic blowhard' for the first time opined, "TennisTitan, 'EBL' must have been on the job - he's one of New York's bravest to have you as a partner." "No way" quipped 'Big Al,' "Tully's just one of New York's deafest." Titan retorted, " No Al, that's why Roy 'Mr Spin' Marzullo is often my partner. Tully drew me because you thought you'd outplay me. You forgot I excelled at Chutes and Ladders as a kid. I put out the fire for Tully when I served it out at 5-4!"
