A GIANT Effort

"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!"