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Tennis Mini-break

I love tennis.  I don’t play nearly as much as I’d like to.  About half of my Qx vacations with Amy include tennis; the first day is usually frustrating as I dust the rust off my strokes.  By the third day I’m getting back into it and by day five I’m fantasizing about all the tennis I’m going to play when I get back home.  I then don’t play much, except a little in the summer.  I repeat this cycle on another Qx vacation.

My Q1 vacation in the Bahamas was fun, but for a variety of reasons I didn’t end up getting recharged the way I generally do from a Qx vacation.  So – Amy and I decided to grab a few friends, go some place warm (in this case, San Diego), and have a four day tennis weekend.  My brother Daniel and his wife are part of the group and as a teaser he sent me a photo of his first tennis racquet (it was my second tennis racquet).  Recognize it?

jackkramer

That is one sweet Jack Kramer Autograph.  Daniel and I were both pretty serious juniors; I played 8+ hours a day in the summer in the Texas heat and tournaments on the weekend until I hit 14.  At that point, I discovered computers and girls and it was all over for my budding tennis career.

Daniel and I both graduated to Futabaya’s (one of the first wood composite racquets that didn’t shatter when you threw them at the ground), but I lovingly remember my Jack Kramer Autograph.  I also remember having to buy one with my very own money ($30 with strings – had to buy nylon because I couldn’t afford gut) because I’d smashed it in a fit of anger and my parents – very appropriately – decided to teach me a lesson.

I now use a racquet made out of plutonium that weighs 0.2 ounces and has a sweet spot the size of a cantaloupe.  But I still wind up and crush the ball from the baseline as though I was using my trusty Jack Kramer Autograph.

April 8th, 2009     Categories: Work-Life Balance    
Brad Feld

Hi, I'm Brad Feld, a managing director at Foundry Group who lives in Boulder, Colorado. I invest in software and Internet companies around the US, run marathons and read a lot.

 
 
 
Startup Communities - Chapter 3