For the last four years, I've played racquetball in the campus gym two or three times per week almost every week except when they are closed. I love this opportunity because it costs me $50/year to use a racquetball court as much as I want, comes with a small locker, and has shower privileges. Since I don't really want a gym membership for anything else when I can run and cycle outside and lift weights in my bedroom (all of which I do), I spend a lot of time there. Mostly, I play without a partner, slamming the ball against the wall for 45 minutes or so. The people who work there can tell when I'm upset. Some of the other people took the time to play me. Until yesterday, nobody ever won a single game against me.
Now the pressure is off after the 45 year old campus engineer managed to beat me in the first game 16-14. Just like when I received my first negative review from a student online, I no longer feel obligated to keep up a perfect record. Even though I came back and won the second game 15-9, Steve is the guy to beat now because he's the only person to beat me, and because he's arrogant enough that I'm sure he immediately went around telling everyone how he beat me. He probably won't mention game 2. He also won't mention that I'd already been on the court for 15 minutes sweating when he arrived. Even though Steve rarely plays racquetball, he's now the one who's "only ever lost one game", so everyone will try to play him and leave me alone again.
I found it fascinating how Steve played. Apparently, there are distinct playing styles, because Steve played just like I do. His strengths were my strengths; his weaknesses were mine too. I was able to pull ahead by playing to my own weaknesses knowing he would falter. The other students who play do things I rarely saw when I played in college. They use the ceiling ALL THE TIME, and they love to hit the ball in Z formations to hit as many walls as possible. Steve kept the ball low, hit the ball fast, used the gutters along the wall to kill the shot and served lazily by comparison. It was very interesting to play against someone like myself for the first time in 15 years, someone who learned to do the same things the same ways. Other people get to play against me all the time, but I don't, and it was good to learn just exactly where I'm weak.
Although this loss won't stop me from playing, it will change when I go. I pretty much know when to expect Steve at the gym, and since I don't really enjoy losing, I know how to avoid running into him like I did yesterday. According to my Fitbit, our game was less of a workout for me than my regular rally or my regular Friday night partner (who beats me at least 1/3 of the time), and so I'm not sure it was as beneficial to me. He was absolutely dripping with sweat after our 25 minutes in the court, and he told me his heart never races that much for anything, which is probably why he looks like crap. His cardiovascular endurance is probably minimal at best, so I could probably trounce him even more in later games.
I don't like coming from behind, but I do like that I can come back from the verge of defeat. Never having seen Steve serve let alone play, he managed to score 6-0 before I even got a point, after which I managed to get five myself in answer. Despite his early lead, we were at 14-14 for quite some time, and I worked my way back up from lagging far behind to threaten him, and I know he thought I might win that first game anyway. It is always frustrating to lose. It is even more frustrating to lose things about which you really care. Since I play racquetball mostly for fun and exercise, I'll keep playing. As for other things, I still keep hoping that God will restore that which the adversary was allowed to take away. I get knocked down, but I get up again, and maybe that's why He smiles on me the way He does.
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