For anyone who is interested in my writing, here are links to free versions of all of my books. Just tap the book title to access a free PDF file on Google Drive.
Little Green Book of Tennis (3rd edition) A new 2023 digital-only version of the Little Green Book edited to only tennis related writing, including some new chapters from the past few years. You can also download the3rd edition— a revised edition. Play is Where Life is is the first book I wrote.
Em Ole Coaches Lessons learned from my family, friends, and colleagues over my career. This book is a personal collection of insights from some of my favorite people.
A Level of Thinking A collection of essays on a wide variety of subjects including sports, politics, and American culture.
Helping A collection of essays on tennis and coaching, many of which are posted here on the blog. The second half of the book chronicles the impact of international players on college tennis.
Thanksgiving A collection of personal thoughts, stories, and pictures. Many of the essays were also posted here on my blog.
Nearly Fifty For almost fifty years, my closest friends gathered once a year for a men’s weekend. This book collects some of my favorite stories and pictures from this tradition. If you would like a copy of this book, please email me.
I started writing this blog in 2008. Topics range from the easter bunny to Bob Dylan. “Hits” or visits to the site are recorded. The last pickleball article had a daily total that was three times more hits than any one single day. There was still the fear that pickleball will damage tennis.
Good News 2—The pressure from Pickleball enthusiam will build more tennis courts the next 10 years than tennis only facilities! NOTE : School facilities were built for 6 singles matches. Boy’s !. There were no girls teams. Admnistrators, school boards, athletic directors—build a minimum battery of eight courts. Line them for pickleball too. Teach pickleball the first half of the semester, tennis the second.
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Not to belittle our current conflicts, a surprise portends. WW III will not be men vs women, or east vs west, black vs white, or even Israel vs Arabs. With Americans leading the way, it may be tennis vs pickleball!
NEWS FLASH: Tennis and pickleball should not fight each other. They have a mutual enemy, video games!
HINT,HINT–The two games are not mutually exclusive.
My guess is the links between pickleball and tennis and not only many new players, but some very talented players,will emerge.
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Good news 3 –Pickleball , handled properly, can add a new base to the USTA. For years minority kids have been a target for growth. Pickleball is so easy to learn and inexpensive, the opportunity is a DUH? Tennis courts lined for dual use (about 100$ ) At public schools, municipal recreation courts, empty condo developments and other unused courts.
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Pickleball & Co. is not just focused on Black people playing pickleball. It wants pickleball to be a catalyst for friendships, business relationships, and enrichment for participants. “Come in your bright colors, come with everything that you are, and you are welcome in this space,” said Brooks.
The USTA has never sold a leadup game that can match pickleball’s potential.
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My guess is the links between pickleball and tennis and not only many new players, but some very talented players,will emerge.
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Having observed attempts to teach tennis in public school physical education classes, maybe a switch to pickleball might be wiser. It is so much easier to learn (save the scoring system*). And, while the pickleball people will argue that their game can stand on its own merits, perhaps there would be a “carryover” from mastery of pickleball to the more complex and expensive tennis process. And attract some audiences that shun tennis no matter how hard we try?
Once kids have fun and realize a tennis court”ain’t a bad place” –wouldn’t tennis garner some recruits?
Unfortunately pickleball also adapted a scoring system much like badminton. And, while this idea can be applied to colleges, I would go ahead and grant a degree to any college student who can master the scoring.
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And let’s face it, if new people never play tennis , won’t new pickleballers be better off. Than Video addicts, other pitfalls? ADULTS TOO?
[Verse 1] Well, if you’re lookin’ for purpose in the current circus If you’re seekin’ respect and attention If you’re in need of a gig that’ll make you feel big Come with me and put some folks in detention
[Verse 2] Just last week was kind of tough, I put a kid in cuffs I zip-tied a lady to a van We can sneak around town, hunt workin’ folks down I hear they got a great benefit plan
[Chorus] Join ICE, boy, ain’t it nice? Join ICE, take my advice If you’re lackin’ control and authority Come with me and hunt down minorities Join ICE
[Verse 4] I got picked on at school, I never felt that cool There’s a hole in my soul that just a-rages All the ladies turned me down, and I felt like a clown But will you look at me now, I’m puttin’ folks in cages
[Chorus] At ICE, we’re respectin’ power Join ICE, I hear they got great hours There’s a sign-on bonus of 50 grand They’re in need of you needin’ to feel like a man Join ICE
Look at ’em go!
[Verse 5] Well, if you’re lookin’ for purpose in the current circus If you’re seekin’ respect and attention If you’re in need of a gig that’ll make you feel big Come with me and put some folks in detention
[Verse 6] See I failed the academy, the cops weren’t havin’ me The Army didn’t sound that fun So I found me a paramilitary operation That was keen to hand me a gun
[Chorus] Join ICE, boy, ain’t it nice? Join ICE, take my advice If you’re lackin’ control and authority Come with me and hunt down minorities Join ICE
I began college tennis and basketball in 1965. I recruited my first international tennis player ten years later. Over the next thirty years there were dozens more. The reasons? First- they could play, win, and help me keep my job. Early on tennis coaches, myself included, also realized these guys were nice , intelligent , good people.
Over the years about a dozen stayed in the USA. Reflecting recently on their lives in America, I wasn’t surprised that none of them were less than stellar citizens. Doctors, Business leaders, Computer experts, Tennis professionals, coaches. Their first American great grandchildren showed up this year.
This happened almost everywhere. And it dawned on me it is a story worth telling. Perhaps the most logical access to these stories would be the INTERCOLLEGIATE TENNIS ASSOCIATION (ITA).
These stories would support College tennis. Solicited, collected,edited and published, there would a large number of public relations possibilities.
THE EVANGELICALS WHO SEE TRUMP’S VICIOUSNESS AS A VIRTUE
From THE ATLANTIC (by Peter Wehner )
Much of today’s evangelical world sees Trump’s viciousness not as a vice but as a virtue, so long as it is employed against those they perceive as their enemies, against those whom they resent and for whom they have a seething hatred. Unless you’ve spent time in the evangelical world, fully appreciating the level of antipathy that exists toward Democrats and progressives is difficult. The only thing that exceeds it is the loathing reserved for the Christians and conservatives who broke with Trump because their commitment to their faith, and to cherished moral truths, required them to speak out against him.
Using a proprietary search tool, The New York Times identified more than 5,300 files containing more than 38,000 references to Mr. Trump, his wife, his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, and other related words and phrases in the latest batch of emails, government files, videos and other records released by the Justice Department. Previous installments of the Epstein files, which the department released late last year, included another 130 files with Trump-related references.
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What are the odds?
Wonder what % of all these files and references and emails and government files and videos and records have “redactions”?
Do references to sexually transmitted disease from “Russian girls”
hint at blackmail possibilities ?
“He wouldn’t do that ! “ (Really? It would be the first evil thing he wouldn’t do.)
“The emperor’s noblemen pretend to lift the fabric’s train from the floor as the procession commences, refusing to admit that they are empty-handed. As the procession begins, the gathered crowd initially pretends to be impressed with the emperor’s fine clothes as well, since nobody wants to expose themselves as a “fool.” At last, a small child in the crowd calls out that the emperor is not wearing any clothes at all. The child’s words quickly make their way through the crowd before the whole town declares in unison that the emperor is, in fact, not wearing any clothes.
The emperor is distressed, as he suspects the townspeople are correct. In spite of this, he continues to walk on “more proudly than ever” (Paragraph 31), still unwilling to admit his foolishness.”
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Greatest Ever Quotes on Truth, Trust & Credibility
Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. ~Thomas Jefferson
Honesty doesn’t always pay, but dishonesty always costs. ~Michael Josephson
Honesty is the best policy; but he who is governed by that maxim is not an honest man. – Richard Whately
Alternative facts are not facts, they’re falsehoods. ~Chuck Todd, 2017 January 22nd, to Kellyanne Conway, Meet the Press (NBC
O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive! Sir Walter Scott
Building trust is like building a tower, stone by stone. But no matter how high or strong the tower seems, if you remove a stone from the bottom the tower will collapse. Lying destroys the foundation needed for trust. Michael Josephson
An honest man’s the noblest work of God. – Robert Burns
Lies breed more lies. Each lie requires bodyguard of other lies to prevent discovery. – Michael Josephson
A reputation for good judgment, for fair dealing, for truth, and for rectitude, is itself a fortune. Henry Ward Beecher (1813 – 1887)
A truth that’s told with bad intent/ Beats all the lies you can invent. ~William Blake
Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure. James Altucher
A lie has speed, but truth has endurance. ~Edgar J. Mohn
That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright truth, / But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight. Alfred Tennyson
Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories. Amílcar Cabral (1921 – 1973) Guinean revolutionary leader and freedom fighter. Party directive
With lies you will go far, but not back again. – Yiddish proverb.
Never forget, someone who will lie in front of you will lie to you. – Michael Josephson
He who does not bellow the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers. Charles Pierre Péguy (1873 – 1914) French writer
How many lies can someone tell you before distrust sets in? How many lies can you tell before you are a liar? Once someone has lied to us we look back on past conversations and ask: “What else has he lied to me about?” – Michael Josephson
Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half. ~Author Unknown
A half truth is a whole lie. ~Yiddish Proverb
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place. ~Henry Louis Mencken,
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on. ~Winston Churchill
Honesty pays, but it don’t seem to pay enough to suit some people. ~Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard
The cruelest lies are often told in silence. ~Adlai Stevenson
No legacy is so rich as honesty. – William Shakespeare
THE TRUTH HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME (T. PARHAM )
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In scene from the movie BLAZE, Governor Long (Paul Newman ) and Blaze Starr (Lolita Davidovitch) discuss their future together:
The Little Green Book of Tennis 