Howdy. You all known that I don't like to embarrass anyone who's part of the Tribe (pro tennis players are something else; criticizing or poking fun at them is a TennisWorld levy I think of as The Celebrity Tax that the fortunate and well-compensated must pay now and then), but I want to call attention to one of our most faithful, astute and modest posters, even though it means passing up a post opportunity on the events in Madrid - not that y'all won't do just fine without my two cents on that one.
Some of you will remember that I've posted a number of items on the state of tennis in Iraq (if you're interested, start with my post, An American Twist in the Green Zone, in the Miscellaneous category), mostly centered on the inspirational efforts of Haider Abbud, a U.S. adviser to the Iraqi government, to keep a tennis tradition alive in that war-torn nation. This month, in Tennis, Haider told the story of tennis in the Green Zone - it's a moving read, despite the tragedy at its core.
You may notice that I posted an email link at the bottom of that piece, which enables anyone interested in helping the tennis effort in Baghdad to get in touch with the right people. Among those taking up the invitation was someone named Siva Shankarnarayan. As I've been kept in the loop on this effort, I was intrigued when I saw a very grateful thank-you note from Haider to Siva, thanking him for his contribution.
Out of curiosity and thinking I might post on the matter, I emailed Siva and asked if he wouldn't mind sharing what he exactly contributed, and tell a little about himself. I'm reprinting a very lightly edited version of his reply:
Hey Pete:*
Not sure how much detail you are looking for but here goes. My original thought was to donate money to the cause. This seemed to be the most effective way of making sure he (Haider) was able to get exactly what he wanted. When I spoke to him on the phone, he explained that he wasn't set up to collect money and sending supplies was more practical. [So here's what I sent]:
2 Wilson titanium 6.6 OS and 2 Wilson hammer 7.3 from their liquidation sale*
2 reels of 16g string.
I bought a couple of Wilson junior racquets at the local sports authority (I didn't really intend to go all Wilson - just played out that way). And a few wristbands.
And, lastly, I tossed in a
Wilson* hammer racquet that I bought a few years back which I don't use anymore.*
I mostly stopped here because I was on a budget. I figure I will be able to do something like this every other month or every quarter.I do hope Haider is able to find people who can use these - not all of them can be used by kids.
Additionally, as I mentioned, I had asked a few of my friends to pass on racquets that they no longer use. If/when I get a few of those I can make another shipment.
I am Indian (grew up in India). I relocated to the US a while back and have been living here ever since. I got into tennis from watching Wimbledon when I was a kid. In fact the first 2 matches I saw were the Borg-McEnroe wimbly (sic) finals. Doordarshan - the state run TV station - had just started this fine tradition of telecasting wimbly (sic). You don't get much of an opportunity to play tennis growing up in India.In fact the first tennis court I saw was the one at my undergrad university (grass court too). I didn't actually start playing tennis till I came to the US. You could say that, like BJK, I was a product of the parks system too. It was actually quiet amazing to see so many courts.
Back then, I usually went to the courts and waited for any one to show up.
Nowadays I play on this organized ladder called the AT&T Tennis Club (not affiliated with the company itself). It's run by an AT&T retiree and anyone who works for AT&T or one of it's child companies (from the divestiture) is eligible to play. We do league play for about 5 months and then have a year ending tournament.
I learned about Tennis in the Green Zone through you. Originally, there was no real motivation beyond that it seemed like a nice thing to do. But when I think about the ramifications of Haider's efforts really taking off, it occurs to me.
1) It would have been nice to have this kind of thing going on when I was a kid ( although I don't pretend that my circumstances were as dire).
2) I have always liked the Ljubicic story and it would be nice for that to happen again (at least the good parts)
3) It would be nice if one of these kids made it to the Iraqi Davis Cup team or played at a grand slam or something.
I really don't want to make a big deal about my small part in this. It would however be nice for Haider's info to be available for others, so that anyone else who wants to, can also contribute. Further, if more people from the tribe want to act on it it, they can coordinate and make sure all aspects of Haider's requests are covered.
*I just realized - you work very close to this place on *
Park Ave. where I used to come for a class over the summer.
Regards
-Siva
Oh, i forgot this line from Siva's email: *
In case you didn't already know, I hang out at your blog under the name of ptenisnet.*
Muchas Gracias, Siva/ptenisnet. Way to step up. Can I buy you a beer in the neighborhood when I get back from Montana?