Throwing Cookies in 2017

Coming...

I only posted here three times this year, but that was more than I've posted in the past three years, so that's something.

Unfathomably, the blog which has received and continues to receive the most clicks is "How to Heal an Achilles Tendon" from 2013. Somehow over 500,000 people have visited that post.

This year's posts have averaged about 200 visits each with my post about Sloane Stevens' US Championship topping the list. Then, there was my post about Colin Kaepernick taking a knee, followed by my post about marathon training.

going...

I didn't write about the Dodgers making it to the World Series. Their loss to the Astros broke my heart, and reminded me how hard it is to have a horse in the race. It's exciting, but exhausting. Still love my boys in blue, and like every off-season, there is the optimism of waiting until next year.

I've continued to boycott the NFL, and listened with pride as a student-athlete of mine wrote about taking a knee for a speech and debate tournament. Her original oratory took home first place, and hopefully inspired others to reflect on the promises and failures of our nation.

Sloane is sidelined again with a knee injury, but she posts adorable photos of her and boyfriend/soccer star: Jozy Altidore.

And I'm still training and trying to get faster. I posted my best 10K time this past week and am feeling pretty healthy post-holiday (we'll see how I feel after Cabo next week). I'm looking forward to March and running my first LA Marathon with our Students Run LA team.

SRLA Team Emerson! 

And that's about it. Oregon football struggled, but Oregon hoops on both the men's and women's sides looks promising, so I still say, go Ducks.

I also recently learned about Left Wing Fútbol which may change my entire life and perspective on competition. Their unofficial motto is: We change the way we play to change the world, but that can wait for a future blog post. Oh, and following my niece Nicole's basketball career (she's a junior this year) is something I plan to write about in the next year. We will all have to wait to see where she decides to take her talents for college.

U.S. Open Champion Sloane Stevens

A teenage-Sloane in 2010. 

During the summer of 2010, I had the chance to go to Wimbledon. It was my first visit to a Grand Slam event, and although I didn't have a ticket to see Serena in her semi-final match, I did have the chance to catch an upcoming American on one of the outside courts.

Sloane Stephens lost in three sets that day, but I've been following her career ever since. It also helped that I met her mom and taught her brother who attended my middle school several years ago. Her brother has a big personality, and I got to coach him in baseball, teach him English, and help him plan for the future in our Emerson Sports Academy. 

That spring, in 2011, Sloane climbed the ranks and qualified for the main draws at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. So, when I saw her outside of my school on a spring afternoon, I congratulated her on her success. She smiled and was kind, and I continued to be a fan. I watched her beat Serena at the Australian in 2013, and hoped that would be the moment when Sloane would break into the top 10 to stay. But Sloane was inconsistent and struggled with injuries. 

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

Her brother came back to visit a couple years ago, as he was graduation from high school and heading off to college. He wrote me a note using the Cornell Notes we'd forced them to do in Sports Academy. It was one of those wonderful moments in teaching when you get to see phenomenal growth in a young person.

So, this afternoon, after 11 months away from the game, I cried watching Sloane climb into the stands to hug her coach and mom after winning her first Grand Slam title. Her journey has brought her maturity and positivity on the court that she was missing earlier in her career. It was wonderful to see such phenomenal growth in Sloane. I hope this is the first of many victories for her. As always, I'll be pulling for her!

Wimbledon 2010

My first memory of the All England Club was in 1980. I was six and the whole family was watching Bjorn Borg v. John McEnroe in the tv room. I was enthralled and cheered one point quite loudly until the chair umpire insisted, "Quiet, please." I settled down, embarrassed, because I was the gauche American in the midst of this proper English's championship.

The 2010 Championships at Wimbledon saw tennis' longest match, Her Majesty, the Queen's first visit since 1977, and singles titles won by Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal.

On day 10 of the tournament, I had the opportunity to visit and as I made my way on the tube I hoped I'd be able to get in. Wimbledon has a queue that some sit in for days in order to get tickets to a match, or a grounds ticket to access the outer courts and Henman Hill. But on a day when the ladies semis were to be played on Centre Court, there was no one in the queue and I was able to walk right in and buy a Court 1 ticket.

There I was, at Wimbledon, with it's grass courts and wooden net standards, chalk lines and all-white dress code. I walked past Court 18 where the marathon match had just been played. I toured Henman Hill and sampled the strawberries and cream everyone ate and the Pimms everyone sipped.

On Court 8 I caught a young American in her girl's singles match. Sloane Stephens was late and I was able to take in just how many people crowd a court at Wimbledon: 6 ball boys/girls, 7 line judges and one chair umpire. Plus, on the outer courts, the scoreboards are turned by hand, so two scoreboard keepers, one on each end of the court. Stephens hit hard, exhibited a bit of a temper and had several opportunities to win but ended up losing in three sets to Kristyna Pliskova 4-6, 6-1, 9-7.

I spent the rest of my day watching a 5 set men's doubles match (Melzer/Petzschner defeated Moodie/Norman 7-6(3) 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-3) and then strolled across the grounds, catching scores from Centre Court, and snippets of junior's matches. Throughout the day, either in the stands at Court 1 or standing alongside one of the outer courts, and the chair umpires demanded just as they had thirty years ago, "Quiet please."