A No-Show

2/9/07:

Planned Match againd Stuart and J. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart (by forfeit).

I hate it when a player who schedules a match does not show up. I get ready, go out to the site, and just wait and wait. Nothing. I had a funny feeling this guy would not show up. I went to a party with my friend C. and he told me that his brother J. wanted to play tennis against me. I told him to give his brother my number and that I'm always up for a match. Didn't hear anything for a while, and then I get a call from J. about a week and a half later asking me some stuff on unemployment, and also, by the way, "C. told me I should play tennis with you." Red flag right there. Is this guy wanting to play or is his brother just setting him up on something that he thinks would be good for him? And does the guy even play tennis? But, despite my slight skepticism, I offer to set up a match with him. He says he's not available for a few days, and sounds hesitant. Another red flag. I suggest Friday night at Northwest Park, and he mumbles agreement.

So I'm getting ready to go, and I'm thinking that I bet this guy is not going to show up. I check my cell phone to try to find his number so I can call and confirm, but too many people have called me since and his number is gone. Rats. Well, all I can do is think the best about the guy, and try to not be negative, and hope he will be there, and we will get to play.

It's kinda cold, so I get all bundled up. I get my tennis gear together, and drive over to the park to play. I'm there about fifteen minutes early. I'm thinking, shoot, if he doesn't show up, that's even longer I have to wait. So I practice some serves and play against the backboard. Of course, I wait until he's about a half an hour late, and no dice. I'm not waiting any longer than that.

So now I have him pegged as an irresponsible flake, and he's on my no-fly list, unless something unavoidable happened. It's about respect, and I gave him some, but he didn't respond in kind. And it's partially my fault too; well, not really, but there are some things I could have done to determine whether or not it would happen before I showed up at the site and just waited. I should have determined if it was really something he wanted to do, and should have stored his phone number in my cell phone to confirm.

So now I've gone nearly a week without being able to set a match, which is the longest dry spell yet (other than the ones caused by prolonged rain and sleet). And I did contact a lot of people in the last week, too. But things are looking up for the next couple of weeks as I already am starting to get some responses filter back to me.