I assume most of you who are conscious know that Mikhail Gorbachev recently died. One of the most important people in history, he was denied a state funeral by Putin. Australia recently had state funerals for two famous singers and a great cricket player. —————————— Here is my Serena (and Venus) story. Many years ago, literally decades ago, a friend asked me to buy four tickets for a new tennis tournament that was going to be somewhere up in the Del Ray area at a new condominium development. I really cannot remember any of the details except that because this was a brand new event, tickets were cheap and I could have my pick of location. I do not know for sure, but I could have been among the first five or ten season ticket holders, literally on the ground floor.
I chose four seats in the first row right behind where the players sit on the changeover. As the tournament grew bigger becoming the Lipton, moving to Key Biscayne, I kept my same tickets. The tournament became really big and is now, I believe, called the Miami Open and is at Hard Rock.
The original tickets I got almost for nothing have become really valuable. Arguably, there were no better seats in the whole stadium until the tournament moved to its present location where my seats would have cost some six figure amount per year.
Before that, with my seats right behind the players, we could talk to them and hear everything they said. Often a player’s coach would ask if they could sit in our box. One of those coaches was Richard Williams, the Father and coach for Serena and Venus.
We spent a lot of time talking to him and listening to him talk to his daughters at changeovers, which was not exactly cricket. However, they had a way of communicating and got away with it.
The Father told us, without reservation or hesitation, that we should not doubt his girls would become the best in the world. He groomed them from a very early age, never rushing their progress. He did not want any young wonders who would burnout in a few years. Williams knew, without doubt, that his game plan for his daughters would result in their being world champions for a long, long time.
While they were playing, Williams would critique every little thing. It was fascinating watching and listening to him. And, of course, he was very nice to us because were were letting him sit in our box.
So the end of Serena’s career on Friday night was also a kind of passage for Barbara-and me. We saw the Williams sisters play many, many times, and at every major except the Australian where we have never been.
The end of my Serena story. ———————- I would forget going to the moon and start looking for a planet with human life. The purpose is to find a jury who can judge Trump’s trials once he is indicted. Seriously, how will they find fair and impartial jurors anywhere in America? —————————. Went back to the same restaurant last night, this time with eight people. Ate and drank very little, for me. No first course, no dessert, one drink and a delicious hamburger.
If we stayed another night, I would eat at the same place again. ——————- Spent a good part of the afternoon touring the FTX facilities and had a nice visit with our nephew Sam Bankman-Fried. He really is a genius. ————————- Marlins lost another game by one run. ——————— Sorry for being late with this post but did not get to bed until almost midnight. ——————————- We travel home today. Expect some chaos in airports at both ends. ————————— Trump is still on the offense when, if I were he, I would be trying to defend against what could be an onslaught of indictments. One thing that Trump is very good at is deluding himself. For sure, he is the undisputed champ. —————————- Go Ukraine and vote as if your life depended upon it.
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