Author: dlockwood2@berklee.edu

New Leader on Top!

Greetings robust August challengers!

I have a very important update.

There is a new leader on top of the Summer Ladder and his name… is Ryan Losey! On the first day of August he challenged and defeated Sarah Evenson, who had been at #1 all summer. Congrats on your long reign, Sarah, and congrats Ryan, to you and your team, on being #1. I hope you enjoy the view…while it lasts…. : )

Remember, we play through September 24 so there is still lots of time for DRAMA!

Top 3 now reads: #1 Ryan Losey #2 Sarah Evenson #3 Alan Tang

Will Sarah seek revenge?

Will Alan reach up in an attempt to take the top spot?

Will Carlos Alcaraz re-join the ladder?

Anything could happen.

Over on the points ladder, Conroy Jackson remains in the top spot with yours truly gaining traction in the #2 position. Pengcheng Wu is right beneath me and my position feels tenuous at best. Nice job Pengcheng.  I can feel your fingers right at my sneakers!

Enjoy the tennis. Enjoy the US Open Series. Play on

-Doug of the longlegs

 

August Approacheth!

Greetings fellow Ladder Climbers!

July is winding down and things on the Challeng Ladder are continuing to heat up.

The weather looks spectacular this weeks so get out there and play tennis!

Sarah Evenson continues to maintain her spot at #1 though she’s only been tested ONCE this season! Who will take her on next? Maybe soon it will be me? I see you Sarah.

Jason Wu, Ryan Losey, Mark McDonough and Ming Che round out our top 5. Others are lurking directly below though….look out top 5! We are coming after YOU!

Over on the points ladder, well done to Conroy Jackson who is the leader by more than 10 points with 37: the Conroy Caravan!

Tied for second are myself and Pengcheng Wu with 26 points each. Bill Lamberson and Alan Gnani are ties for 3rd with 20 points apiece. Great work getting out there everyone!

Please let any friends who may be interested know that believe it or not they can STILL join the ladder! We go thru most of September!

Please remember to let me know too if you have any vacation time where you need to be ‘frozen’ for a spell. I will have one of those coming up myself the week after this.

The US Open series begins soon: be ready be inspired, be the ladder!

-Doug

 

 

Ladder Update: A Month-Ish In!

Greetings Summer Challenge Ladder Competitors!

We are nearly one month in to the 2023 Tennis 4 All Summer Challenge Ladder and things are certainly heating up! 23 Matches have been played. The fans are going wild!

Happy to report we are 46 players-strong overall. Please let friends know they are still welcome to join. There is always room on the ladder. Would love to get to 50!

Newcomer Sarah Evenson remains on top of the Overall Standings, backing it up with a victory over newcomer Jared Sawyer.  Nice job, Sarah!

Speaking of Jared Sawyer, he had a huge win yesterday over the ever-tenacious Alan Gnani, moving him way on up to #5 in the rankings: well done, Jared!

Over on the Points Ladder, Scott Enos finds himself in a familiar place at #1 with 13 total points….Steve Sage and newcomer Bill Lamberson are right behind him with 12 points each. Great work all 3 of you getting out there to play lots of tennis!

The weather has been a bit unpredictable but this week looks pretty good as we all prepare for Wimbledon.

Don’t forget about the pot luck this Saturday, hosted by the ladder’s own Dan Chak. Contact him if you need info: dan@chak.org      Thanks for doing that, Dan!

I’ll be unable to attend as I’m performing in a matinee of Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ which is entering its final week over at the Balch Arena at Tufts. This is not a museum-piece of Shakespeare hoity-toity nonsense but rather, a highly Queer production for our Times. Come check it out if you are interested! I’m the Fool.

Buy Tickets!

Otherwise, I’ll see you out on the courts!

Cheers,

Doug

 

 

 

Shakespeare’s As You Like It featuring The Ladder Master!

Hello tennis 4 all Nation

We are about to start our second week of ‘As You Like It’ over on the Tufts Campus in the Balch Auditorium. We go thru June 25.

This is a very Queer production. (Shakespeare, duh!)

I am playing Touchstone…the Fool. Some of you will not be shocked to read this.

We are now offering a discount for the rest of the run, here is the information.

It’s a $35 ticket code for friends and family for the remainder of the run. Use code TOUCHSTONE35 to access this discount

Here is the link to information/tickets for the show.

As You Like It

Yours in Foolery,

Doug

Saturday Approacheth! Also, Pronouns.

Greetings Tennis4All Summer Challenge Ladder Tennis Community!

This Saturday May 27th marks the beginning of official match competition. Not a bad idea to start setting those up if you have not done so yet. Take a look at the rules again if you’re not clear about who you can and cannot challenge.

Make sure the winner emails me with the results, and please include Who challenged who as that manifests in different points.

One thing I neglected to include in my initial invitation: if you would like to, please send me a quick message with your preferred pronouns, and also let me know if I have your consent to include those with your name on the ladder. If you would prefer not to do this, totally fine of course, just make sure when you and your opponent introduce yourselves to one another, that you include this information if it is important to you.

Thanks and for those of you with matches this weekend, Enjoy!

-Doug (he/him)

The Summer Ladder Awaits…YOU!

I am delighted to announce that we are still 12 days away from the official start of the 2023 Tennis4All Summer Challenge Ladder and we are already at 28 rungs! There is always room for more and we invite you to take part in all things ladder. Here is the link but the gist of it is: $10 and a membership in good standing and you’re in! We accept new players all summer long in fact, so if you’re not sure now but you decide later in June or July you’d like to join, you can!

2023 Summer Challenge Ladder

Also, though again official matches do not begin until the 27th, if you’re already on the ladder and would like to engage in what we call a ‘friendly’ match, by all means, do! Contact someone and set up a match, enjoy the beautiful weather we’re having. Just don’t report the score to me, as it won’t count until the 27th. That’s when everything counts. Every. Thing.

-Doug

 

 

Shakespeare-Tennis Man!

Hello tennis friends.

I recently sent a message about joining the Summer Challenge Ladder. You should totally do that.

You might also wish to see me playing Touchstone in Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s production of ‘As You Like It’ over on the Tufts campus in the Balch Theatre. It runs pretty much the month of June. Come out and support the Arts and I believe it will be a very good time to boot!

While we all know Shakespeare lends himself to all things Queer, I will add that this production will be extra Queer. The director is Harold Steward from the Theatre Offensive.

Here is a link to all of the info:

As You Like It

If some of you want to get together and go as a ‘Group’ there are Group Discounts available if you email the lovely Evan Turissini at: evan@actorsshakespeareproject.org

Cheers!

-Doug Lockwood

 

 

 

 

 

Winners of the 2022 Challenge Ladder!

As Ladder Master-2022, I am pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 Summer Challenge Ladder. You will also see each winner here depicted with a prize for their efforts.

#1 Player: Scott Lee! (pictured with tiny silver #1 thing) ; Scott simply never lost a match.

Biggest Leap up the Ladder: Thomas Le!  (pictured here with frog with a crown on it) ; Thomas went from #29 to #9

Most Points for Most Matches Played: Jason Wu (101 points) and Martin Romm (98 points)! (pictured with gorgeous water bottles); These two just kept playing!!

We had 35 players on the Ladder this summer. Next year….you could be one of them and you too could take home some kind of unfathomable prize.

Until then….the ladder master rests….

Winners of the 2022 Summer Challenge Ladder!

Good day.

Thank you for another excellent summer of tennis and bitchiness. I loved it.

Here are the Winners of the 2022 Summer Challenge Ladder….

End of Season #1 Player: Scott Lee (living up to his 4.5 status, Scott Lee simply could not be touched)

TOP 2 Players for Point Accumulation: Jason Wu (101) and Marnin Romm (98) (exhausting)

Highest Climber from Starting Position to Final Position: Thomas Le  (from 29 t0 9!)

Congrats to the winners and everyone who participated this year. You will all be receiving glorious prizes in the mail.

Hope to see you all on the ladder next year.

-The Ladder Master is….out!