JULY 16, 2008………Wednesday

Grass Nationals.....day 3

I had the worst day competing in my entire 34 years of playing tennis

When I was suffering emotionally and lost during my divorce, I could deal. Almost dying at Forest Hills while losing to Gerda, I could deal. Losing to Yukie Koizumi of Japan unable to swing over and over due to anemia last year and my "twins" literally sucking the blood from my brain, making it hard to think to construct a point, I could deal

Today, healthy, strong, fit, knowledgeable about grass.....lost to Joanne Russell 63 76. I am having a tough time dealing. Today is effing with me

Why????

I am not match tough. I was not match tough. I have played one tournament in 2007. Now this one

I just have not exposed myself to "that" level of competition on a consistent basis in order to "bend and deliver" during the tough points

Match tough. You have certainly heard that repeated more than once on tv. Well, it is a reality for me

I don't think I was mentally strong or stroke strong as I have been in past tournaments

My ground strokes failed me. My volleys failed me. At times, my serves failed me. I could not even put it together for an ugly win

And you know I am not ashamed to win "ugly". As long as I win. I have played -drop shot, lob- strategy to win matches. I am not above ugly. I will deal with the ugly during my bath. Wash it right off. And prepare for my next match

Ugly was not working for me today. I tried. I failed

So, I am going to book a few hours with the "tennis shrink" to work through this

Watch the "F" out when I get off that couch.......

April 27, 2006………Thursday

Safari.....day 3

515am I am up ane ready to start the day. I finish some last minute packing and dress for my last game drive. A little sad that it has to end today. 3 days was not long enough at all. We have rusks and coffee and we are off. Miss Cape Town......Babs, is moving to another camp 6 hours drive away. Elton is taking her. He will be missed. He knew so much about everything. And as our "spotter" at the back of the Range, saw animals we would never identify in the high grass. On our drive today we saw a huge male elephant first. 6 feet from the road. Huge mother. We saw Zebras way into the forest and giraffe at the same distance. 3 female elephants for the first time. We have only seen males up until now. Males are always by themselves. And the best, a hippo in a breathtaking lake. What a treat. A pack of male Impala and across and down the road a pack of female impala. The males fight each other and the winner gets to join the females to mate. Magnificent morning. Breakfast was good too. So sad to leave my Safari mates. We exchanged email addresses and shot film of each other and took pictures. 3 of us being driven to Joburg.....5 hours away have from 9am to 1pm to do last minute things. We head to the bar at 1045am. I have a rum and coke, Paul from New Zealand originally has a beer and Guy from France has a beer. We munch on chips (french fries) and talk. No one would sneak out the gate to explore on foot with me. I am itching to do something adventurous and "against the rules"

We walk around camp. It is getting crowded. Today is Freedom Day. Everyone is off and the weekend is long. Don't like it this crowded. Tents are going up everywhere. Massive tents. I saw a refrigerator being lugged from a truck. And many blow up mattresses. Insanity. This is serious camping

We spot some baboons on the road on our way out. A few yards from the gate. And a Kudoo. He crossed our path. Wow. One last "lap" in the store at the head of the park. Paul buys a carved elephant. We spend more time in the back of the store filming 2 guys carving what they sell up front. Amazing. They are so talented. I have my eye on a beautiful rhino. Then wonder where I will pack him to come home and will he arrive in one piece? I put him down sadly.

Our driver gave us 10 minutes in that shop. Time is up. We drive onward toward Joburg. I am really happy that I chose this mode of transport rather than flying. The country side is so diverse. I sleep through the mountain pass and wake for the half way rest stop. 2 1/2 hours later.

Jo burg sunset is lovely. We arrive at 530pm. I am booked on a 9pm flight to Durban. Try standby. I am issued a boarding pass. Have to come back at 630 to have luggage sorted out. The boys and I find a Pub and share our last drink together. At 625pm I hug them goodbye and safe journey to Cape Town and off I go. Standby!! 7pm flight to Joburg. No time to check my email at the cafe. I am 4 days behind.

Hope I have taken you on my trip with me with these reports. Definitely putting together a Safari for April 2007. Are you in??

April 26,2006……..Wednesday

SAFARI.......day 2

515am alarm comes too soon. I snooze for another 10 minutes. Coffee and rusks (which I rename "tusks") which are small and as hard as rocks. Our Biscotti's are softer. I am dressed for winter. Some of you know how I teach in winter. Hat, scarf, 3 layers and a fleece jacket. Some of my safari mates make fun of me. Par for the course. As we drive out at 6am, and it's chilly, those who laugh last, laugh best. I am certainly dressed for the chilly morning. Our guides supply fleece blankets. Everyone is under one......but me. More Giraffes........then.......lions. Wow. Just lying in the tall grass. I have no idea how they were spotted or who spotted them. They blend in so beautifully with the landscape. Could not care less that we are there. We drive to the lake near by. Several cars and trucks are congregated. Must be something.........4 lions across the lake. Near a tree. My binoculars come in handy here. They are so majestic in their natural habitat.......Zoos suck.......We shoot them for what seems like half an hour. Off we go again. Several trucks stop us to tell us that Buffalo are up ahead so our driver guns it......when we get to the spot, they are gone. So far we have seen 2 of the BIG 5....Rhino and Lion. 3 more to go. The Buffalo on the farm before we got to Kruger does not count. A farm is like a zoo. We spot more giraffe and rhino, impala, water buck, kudu.

9am.....we return to camp for breakfast. Coffee is good here. After breakfast a camp tour. The shop looks interesting and the pool is very different. A granite rock formation is one side of the pool. What you see looks like a big rock in the pool. Awesome. Different. I take photos of termite mounds and an old, old tree.

At 2pm we have lunch. At 3pm another game drive. On this drive we spot a hippo in a lake. She pops her head out occasionally and goes down again. We travel along and Elton spots 2 Buffalo way out in the distance. A football field away. How he did that, I have no idea. I zoom in. They are grazing. 1 more BIG 5 down. 2 to go. This drive is very different. We are on different dirt roads this time. Wow, there is an elephant. 1 lone male. He is big. Another BIG 5 spotting on this drive. 2 so far. What luck. We have a leopard to shoot and the Safari will have rocked. There are many other animals spotted. Small catlike creatures. Can't spell their names. Hyenas. Monkeys with blue balls......I have pictures and birds of course. The BIG 5 though are what we are all stalking.

At 430pm we have very little time to collect out imdemnity signed sheet, freshen up, grab more film and a charged battery to go out on a night drive. The truck is full. 30 strong. I am in the last seat with my 2 camp mates from the UK, Paul and Guy. We missed a male lion walking behing the cars earlier today. We might catch something good back there. Our driver from Kruger Park.... Not out safari tour company driver, gives us the run down on rules. He is packing a gun....just in case. He asks us to please follow the rules. He does not want to shoot an animal because we did something stupid......uneventful 3 hour drive. We saw Zebras, a herd of Buffalo, rhino, owl, small catlike creatures. No Leopard. We 3 in the back are dissapointed. I dose off. The fumes are putting me to sleep. And it is freezing. Blankets, hat, scarf, fleece is not enough. The open air truck is a wind kicker. Will not do the back again. Heaven when we pulled into camp at 815pm. 15 minutes late for dinner. An Indian couple has joined us. She is in all white. Not a good Safari color. We eat and sit to talk for awhile. 545am start tomorrow.

I pack up my luggage getting ready for check out tomorrow at 9am. Right after our last game drive

April 25, 2006.......Tuesday

SAFARI...day 1

445am alarm. 530am taxi pickup to airport to start my Safari.

A familiar taxi driver comes to pick me up. My 3 major pieces of luggage are locked and stored at the Hotel.

I get to the airport in time. Get to the counter and.......my ticket is for May 25 not April 25.......nightmare???? The lady tells me to go to ticketing and try to change it. Ticketing helps me by changing May 27 to April 27, sends me to counter #33 to try to get on standby. She helps. I am on the 630am flight. Seat 21D....Phew.....

21 E and F is an Indian couple. Comedy routine. Or cultural observation. Don't know which yet. She is young and gently tells her husband what to do. Then here is the kicker (would not happen in the US). She plants her on board luggage in the aisle and says "someone will help me" hubby does nothing. They both sit down and go about phone calls etc. Several passengers trip over the bag and climb over it. The couple goes about their business. I am writing this as the plane pulls away from the gate.

I find out when we were both dissatisfied with our breakfast that the couple next to me just got married and is heading to Rio to honeymoon. She spoke to me first upon hearing me bitch about the slop in front of me. She was given "pork" and sent it back. We had a very long and nice conversation about Durban. Hubby was mugged days ago. She was in Buffalo once for a white Christmas. She took my email address. Wants to keep in touch. Until she heard me speak, I was just another "black" she had to sit next to. She warmed up after USA accent. Very strange country. I would not survive here with my big mouth. I would have a lot to say to each group...blacks, indians, whites. Snap the hell out of it......you freak....

740am....luggage is waiting for me. How quick was that? I have time to kill. Upstairs...very familiar....remember my bag I left on the plane a week and a half ago? I buy something from the bakery, some milk...ugg...whole milk. And wait to walk to the Intercontinental Hotel for my transport to Kruger.

9am.....Nice hotel......nervous......I always seem to have a small obstacle to overcome. Really don't want any.

Prompt 930am pick up to Safari. 2 guys from England are my travel mates. Our driver tells us it is 5 hours to Kruger and we will stop half way there. 2 hours later we stop for food. I already had food. Fat Edna goes nowhere without food. I am still a little sleepy. Was up so early today.

The landscape is flat and farm like. I feel like I am on a road to Rehoboth, Delaware or to the Jersey shore. No better yet Lancaster, Pa. Wide open spaces. Mostly farms. As far as the eye can see. Left and right.

I fall asleep and wake near the town of Nelspruit. 1 more hour to the "gate.” Very Jurassic Park. The village that borders Kruger Park is called GAME Village. HUGE. Hilly terrain. Our driver tells us most of the villagers work in the park

.

We finally get to the gate and I have goose bumps. Wow. I am finally here. I have heard the stories. Now I see for myself. First stop is for the driver to pay our entrance to the park. Nice local "shop." We spot our first "animal." 2 beautiful blue birds. Not like in Pa. This blue I have never seen on an animal before. I film them. I shoot them. I am tickled. Almost bought an Impala drum for $60

Safari camp is a tent camp. I booked it this way because I like to camp out. I notice the sleeping bags are not to my standard. When have these suckers been cleaned? I am NOT sleeping on that. What to do? One guide comes over and literally rescues me from my thoughts by asking me if I booked a tent or a bungalow? I am ready to upgrade. We will handle that later. Lunch, then our first game drives. Right after lunch I check out the Bungalow a lady from Cape Town booked. NICE. Upgrade express.

10 of us pile into an open sided, elevated, green Land Rover and head out around 330pm. We spot a Rhino. HUGE MOTHER. Like a Ford 150 truck....no joke. I have pictures. The Rhino's at our zoos are toys compared to this free animal. Miss Cape Town remarks that in 20 trips to Kruger Park she has never seen a Rhino. Yeah baby. Luck. One big 5 down, 4 to go.

We see Impala. They are like squirrels at home. Everywhere. A dime a dozen. We see a Water Buck. He is huge and has a bull’s eye on his rump. Water is near when you see him. A band of baboons. We watch them for a long time. Giraffe's. 4 of them. I am starting to want to boycott zoos. Animals need to roam free like this.

We go out again around 5pm. The sun sets on this drive. All we see are those 4 Giraffes. One crosses the road in front of the Land Rover. Sweet. Could not have directed any better.

Back to camp to upgrade. My Bungalo is clean, warm and nice. Thank God no tent. I would be miserable. I saw the Southern Cross. Very nice. The Milky Way is as clear as day. Dinner at 8pm.....tell you more later...if I don't fall asleep. Must be the African air. I have been sleepy a lot

Dinner was beef stew, garlic potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Red and white wine. The 2 Asian girls are speaking their native tongue throughout dinner. New Rule: English at dinner. Our guides have riddles for us. We barely solve them......I love to camp out but this feels so different. Have not figured out how or why yet. Will let you know. Gotta sleep. Our guide’s want us on the Land Rover at 545am for the day's first game drive at 6am.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/22/06

WE WON THE CUP TODAY. WE BEAT FRANCE 2-1

ASK ME ABOUT TODAY ON OUR BALL PICK-UP..I COULD NOT POST WHAT I WAS TRULY THINKING OR MY EXPERIENCE OF THE LAST 2 DAYS

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/20/06

We slaughter the Swiss today. Spain tomorrow

FatE is way too beat down to write much at this time. More later. After I eat

I woke up at 5am and just could not go back to sleep. 630am I started getting ready for breakfast at 7 and preparing for another competitive day. Dragging my butt all day though.....except when we were playing. As soon as I was still……sleep grabbed me.

Austria played South Africa today. What a great match. Wow. How great sitting and watching the best in the world battle. We play the Swiss. Renatta won and Gretchen won in the singles position. Then about 12 noon Marianna and I walked on to play doubles. 75,63 win. We had them 52 in the first set…then went “walkabout.” Spain tomorrow at the other club.

Big ITF dinner tonight for all the countries at 7pm. 1pm your time. The show should be awesome

1030pm.......ITF dinner at the Internastional Convention Center in Durban. After many speeches and a very cool film on events so far, we finally had our meal. Our table....women's 40 and men's 35 are so tired. Our name cards are the professional photos taken a couple of days ago. The guys scarf down dinner and leave us. At 930pm about 12 of us call for taxi's and leave as well. I am so sleepy, max strength somonex is NOT needed tonight.Early start again tomorrow. More tales to tell then

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/19/06

830am.......practice at Bellvue. I feel good. Left lung is a little conjested. Post nasal drip will not get me down. I consume mass quantities of green tea to break it up.

Renatta goes on first for teamUSA. She wins in less than an hour. Gretchen is up next. She slaughters. Beautiful warm day for tennis.

Breezy hy noon......Marianna and I are heading out to play doubles. We have won both singles easily against Canada. Hope my green tea helped my left lung. Will let you know.

138pm.......we finally won 63, 75. They were a nice team to play first. Get the International jitters off. I served well and volleyed well. Finally measuring my lobs with and against the wind. Struggled since Friday with that. Ready for the Swiss tomorrow. I like playing with Marianna. I know she is there ready to finish the point. We both have the same disposition. We like to win.

More green tea later. It really is helping break up my conjested lung.

We (Carol, Renatta, me) take a short walk over to the other club with 6 teams competing. I am watching England v France, (a really good match). Ireland just lost to Spain and we are scouting Belgium. Our biggest competitors. They just trashed Germany.

I ask the 2 Zulu ladies at the food counter for a Zulu remedy for my post nasal drip. The response? "I don't know what you are talking about. " One of the English girls tells me that "they don't talk to anyone". Very sad. That remedy would probably cure me.

Going to the Casino again tonight. Food is good and I "might" win again.

MY NEW EATING PLAN IS WORKING.

ADDENDUM..........

630pm.......Renatta tells me that she read in the newspaper today that the Zulu's have an herbal "remedy" for HIV/aids. The concoction known as UBHEJANE is registered with the Traditional Healers Organization. This thing is working since there are only a few patients left in the Hospice in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. I was in that valley on Tuesday. It is really a thousand hills.....no lie. Beautiful valley. The ex-patients from that Hospice say it is thanks to the herbal mixture........Now, here is our theory about why the ladies would not talk to me about a "remedy" for my conjestion...... During Aparthied, the goverment would not allow the Zulu's to have the medicine for HIV/aids at all. The stuff we Americans were using to combat AIDS. So, now, the Zulu's have a "remedy" for it.......I step up on the day the article is in the newspaper and ask for a "remedy" for my conjestion. Why would they share it? Why would they share any "remedy" with any outsider?.......what do you think? Plausible theory????

PS…lost 100 Rand at the Casino. Just was not feeling it

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/18/06

I am up at 630am and start packing the few more things to get into my racket bag. I am beat. Transport comes at 755am to take us to Bellevue Lawn Tennis Club. In the 90210 neighborhood. I hurry to breakfast. See Carolyn Nichols. So, I sit with her. I have not eaten enough "energy" for the work I am putting out. Have not figured it out yet. So I start with cereal then bread then eggs. Maybe that will do it. BTW.......it is raining.

The transport leaves exactly at 755am. Renatta is no where to be found. The Bus leaves without her. Canada, Turkey, USA. The Swiss have the day off.

We are in a really nice area to play Canada. Very different from our practice courts the last few days. 90201. 4 hard courts. Wet. Wet. Wet.

The ITF official tells us we cannot leave until "she" says we can leave. German lady.

930am......still raining. We are STUCK here. No one in a high position is making a good decision about the day. My thoughts.......we all go back to our hotel, then the official calls the front desk at a certain time to tell us when to return to play. We hop a taxi, and return.......instead of hanging here on very uncomfortable wooden park benches. The club made lunches for us and the main thought is not to waste those lunches.

955am........We are on the transport going back to the Hotel. To return to courts at 1130am. If it is "raining" we are to call the club. I am hungry. As usual. I order Penne Bolonese. Very good.

1130am.......Gretchen calls the club and we will have a decision at noon....one of the ladies on the Canadian team.....originally from Jo-burg answer some questions I have on the state of SA after Apartied. My take on it???? It will take a very long time for education, housing, infrastructure to get to livable standard

The weather is bleak.

7pm......4 of us head out to the Casino. 5 minutes away by taxi. Mike from Australia/Dubler Cup, Marianna, Sissy her friend and me. The Casino complex is huge. Mostly restaurants though. We eat a great meal at a Seafood restaurant and head to the Casino. We are scanned for contraband and (the 13 yr old)lets us in.

Roulette table. 5 Rand table. I convert 50 Rand to chips and start to bet. I lose 30 Rand quickly. So, I decided to get 50 more Rand in chips and start betting BIG. 50 Rand on RED. I win. 50 more on RED. I win. I get brave and start betting bigger. I walk out of there with 420 Rand. Yeah baby

Canada tomorrow..Hopefully, no rain

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/17/06

Cloudy day. Best practice yet at the Durban Country Club. All other courts have heated competition going on

We headed out to Zulu village. Great show. Learned a lot about the culture.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/16/06

Awesome Easter Service on the beach at 815am. 12 of us Americans. And we had wine. Good 2 hour practice as well. 130pm team photos. 5pm opening ceremonies. The Zulu dance troup was awesome. Pictures soon.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/15/06

Early start today. Cloudy, misty day. 10am pick up to the practice courts. We are on line waiting to book a court. We get court #4. Down 50 steps and across 6 courts to #4. Have to climb back up those stairs after practice. Yikes.

Courts are sooooo slowwwwww. Goodness. Move Defeat means more here than in Bala.

Practice was good though. Drilled with Gretchen Rush. Remember her from the WTA tour 20 years ago? She is on my team. She is our captain. We have a very strong team and should bring home the Cup.

Started to mist heavily then rain a bit around 115pm. Transport comes at 215pm to get us back to the Hotel

Huge weekend here in Durban. The beach walk is packed with all kinds of activities. Motorcross jumpers and sand sculpters and surfers. Music. I even played cricket with a group of guys. Of course as a woman, they were sceptical. But, I am an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago. Cricket is like your baseball. I bowled(pitched) and almost struck his wicket(strike out). Was a good experience.

I go downstairs to meet Marianna for dinner at 7pm. 1pm your time. She is late as usual. So, I sit and talk to the Australian team. Natalie, we met in Austria and Turkey. Introductions to Alan and “Disco” and the gang. We plan to eat in the Hotel….again because going out after dark is frowned upon. They are heading to JOE COOL. A sport bar/restaurant/dance place down the beach. We look at the group. 7 guys and 4 girls. We decide we will be safe with them and venture out. We sit at a huge table, order a bottle of SA red wine for the 4 red drinkers and start the night. The rest do beer. What a great night of food, drink, conversation and dance.

The beach walk is packed on our walk back to the Hotel. There is an Indian(India) festival going on and everything is well lit and busy. We feel very safe.

We are definitely going out with them again. Marianna wants to hang with the Irish team. She did in Perth last year and had a great time.

I have some pictures to up load. SOON....

10am practice tomorrow HAPPY EASTER

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/14/06

Practice ROCKED today. Courts have just been resurfaced. So, they are SLOW. Not like Riverside at all. Windy day. Ball SITS up to be put away. So hot here. Ken Smuckler would love this weather

We are being advised to stay indoors after dark here. Bummer.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/13/06

I am in Durban, South Africa. Can see miles of the Indian Ocean from my 14th floor room. WOW!!! Beautiful. Very warm here. Food is good too.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....4/12/06

4am pickup. 415am arrival at the airport. Smooth Sailing. No one on the sureKILL expressway

First in line at the counter. My luggage is too heavy though. My suitcase is "89" pounds. The one with "stuff for africa" is ok at 50 pounds. He wants me to phish out 14 pounds from mine and put it in the other. I open all 3 locks and try to guess what weighs what. In public.

I had to pay $125 to get my luggage through. Who can travel on 50 pounds of luggage?

Smooth sailing through security. A few of the TSA are yawning. I hope they pay attention through the yawns for items NOT allowed on a plane. Have to take my belt off. What a PITA. Try looping that thing back with a line waiting behind you.

Everyone wants to know where the tournament is being held. And good luck. Kick butt. Go USA. Very nice at 430am.

I am starving, as usual. Nothing on my walk to the gate...yet. ah, a BurgerKing..NO. Keep walking. Ah, a bagel place. I load up with bagel, bananas, apples and a Cranberry juice with NO "high fructose corn syrup. It's 530a.....

My jet lag lit tells me to carbo load and drink lots of water to combat jet lag. Will let you know how it works.

Airport is starting to fill up. It's 530am

9am.....uneventful flight to Atlanta. Packed plane

Several USA players are on this flight to Jo-Burg. Great. Company. Some awesome players. Susan Wright played Chrissie back in the day..and won. Fran Chandler from Tennessee. A relentless baseliner. Kathy Vick, my 2001 teammate in Austria during 9-1-1. We all bonded like sisters after that event. Nice to see her again.

Midnight...6pm your time. Just landed in West africa..Ilha dos Sol. Interesting. Have to look that one up. 8 more hours of flight time to Jo-Burg

I am swollen like a tick. These long flights take a toll on the body. Jeez, I don't like feeling like this. I am going to burst

We have to get our luggage at Jo-Burg airport and go through customs. My USA mates want to know why I did not tell anyone I was bringing an extra suitcase with stuff for kids. They would have done the same thing

Long walk from Int’l terminal to domestic terminal. Susan, decked in mules gets 2 porters to carry her bags. The rest of us push a full luggage cart uphill and over bumpy sidewalk to domestic. Up 2 escalators to re-check

We stand in a slow line for about 15 minutes then…..”Where is my small bag of food and drink and my malaria pills?” S*it, left it under the seat on the plane in the Int’l terminal. Yikes….I leave all of my luggage with teamUSA and run down 2 escalators to find lost luggage. ‘No ma’am, you must go to the Int’l terminal because you just landed there.” Back up the escalators, check my luggage to Durban and off to the Int’l terminal. This time with my racket bag on my back and pulling my computer bag. Hello Miss, “where is lost luggage?” She does not know. The twilight zone music is starting to cue. She asks a peer and I am directed around a corner, through security and to “lost luggage.” It’s not there.” A gentleman is looking for a book he left on the seat pocket. We are taken to a Zulu Lady who takes us through a few locked doors and whammo…there is the plane we were just in….being cleaned by a crew of 30…no lie. I literally run down the aisle like OJ, jumping cleaners to 47H. Half way up. Not there. So, I start to describe my bag of goodies. Apple, half eaten. Chess set, electronic. Whammo. It is in “first class” on a seat waiting for me. Thanks, thanks. And off I go. Miss Zulu tells me I have to wait for her. “But I have a plane to catch in domestic terminal. Please hurry.” The gentleman cannot find his book. Someone has claimed it as theirs already. Am I lucky or what?DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF MY SHOES

Back down the sidewalk to domestic and up 2 escalators and through security to gate D7. My USA teammates call out to me. They are at a Wimpies restaurant having a burger. I order one and scarf it down.

Uneventful flight to Durban. We are picked up and taken to our Hotel

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....3/17/06

"FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS" resumes when FAT EDNA gets back from South Africa

Dashields Ruins the Opposition

Charles Dashields kept Chuck Jones, Walter Watson, Tony Long and Bill Mathis at bay to win a thrilling Friday Night Fights on March 17th at Riverside Racket Club. The Murphy J-trained fighter, sixth place last fight, went five places better this time under a strong drive from his new stick bought at Tim’s Racket in Jenkintown.

Chuck Jones, Walter Watson, Tony Long and Bill Mathis, tied at 2nd fought valiantly on both sides of the building but could not quite catch the 1-2 favorite and went down by one game. Bill Fleegler and Ron Cameron, winners for the past two fights, was AWOL this time…NO SHOWS, leaving Chris Baselice our proud Veteran of “The Bush War" in Iraq and Jerome Napson at third.

Dashields trainer, Murphy J was delighted with his charge's victory. "It's nice to get back after working so hard all year," said the Germantown-based handler. "He's done everything the hard way, even today. He was up there all the way and he had a hard fight."

In other parts of the building, Charles ‘Cha Cha’ Goods and Olga Somorjai, the sole female fighter placed fourth. Damon Branch, a 1-2 shot, placed fifth and tied at sixth are Ty Aguillard and Jason Johnson.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....2/3/06

Bill Fleegler Claims Fights….again

Bill Fleegler carved his name into the annals of Friday Night Fights history by claiming a remarkable second consecutive “fights” in record point fashion at Riverside Racket Club in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

In a race where Josh Steckel was left disappointed with 26 points, Fleegler swept to a decisive victory to become the first fighter to win by such a huge number…..33

The Upper Bucks resident was hitting well throughout the 4-round fights.

Josh Steckel took the field along at a moderate pace, but Fleegler could have been called the winner as soon as round 3 and 4 was finished. He won 9-0 in each round.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....1/20/06

Bill Fleegler Bags First Stakes in the ‘fights”.... Ron Cameron tied in the photo finish

Upper Bucks homebred Bill Fleegler won his first stakes try Friday as the favorite against a group of veteran campaigners in the Friday Night Fights at Riverside Racket Club, Bala Cynwyd.

The newcomer dug in after taking the lead with Josh Steckel in the first round from the pacesetters Chuck Jones, Keith Cohen, Bill Mathis and Herve Laurent. After losing the second round to Jerome Napson and Charles Goods, he held on strong for two more rounds as the 7-2 choice.

But it was the performance of the photo finish tie of Ron Cameron with Bill that stole the show. Left at the gate in his 9th fight start, he trailed by four points after two rounds but made up ground on the third and fourth rounds and continued to close on Bill.

"What are you going to do?" said coach Pat Kelly of Bill Fleegler. "We've been working with him on his serves. He's young and he does what he wants to do. I told him not to hit balls so fast at the weaker players, especially in round one. All in all, he finished up great."

Having earned more than $20.00 by betting on himself, Fleegler walked away a very happy man.

This is three wins out of nine fights for Ron Cameron. "Not too many players can do that. He's certainly going the right way; it just took him a little while to get going tonight." said Shug McGaughey, the assistant to Fat Edna.

Fleegler and Herve Laurent had the initial lead of 21 points going into round four but, by the time Linda Johns and Fleegler were done with Laurent and Bill Figures they had used every trick in the book to capture that round by a score of 7-2 pushing Fleegler past Laurent.

Ron Cameron battled in rounds three and four and pulled out 7 points in each round to catch up to Fleeger on the wire. Tied at second are Keith Cohen, Yulia Bolotova and Herve Laurent. 23 points.

Third place is RJ Jones. 21 points.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....1/13/06

Keith Cohen clinches 10th round

The 1-1 favorite battled to hold off the challenge of Ty Aguillard in the closing rounds to record his first win in the Friday Night Fights.

The lefty brought his game up to the challenge with RJ, against Cynthia and Jason in the first round and held steady in round two with Mark against Jim and Eric.

Although Ty and then Kenn did their best, Keith sneaked the win by a neck (1 game).

There was disappointment for the highly-rated Kenn Waibel, who held steady with about a round still to go and was in contention to the very end. It was later discovered he had no ankle brace during that run.

The victory was a welcome return to form for Keith’s coach Oluwole Okuwa. The Nigerian born Okuwa spent some time behind bars, accused of running an elaborate identity theft ring in which he stole tens of thousands of dollars to pay for fancy cars and the latest technological gadgets. He had to train his charge for this fight in the blazing sun of his home country. Never to set foot on American soil again.

"He's just a class act, and probably got pulled into this scheme by his cousin.” said Cohen “I had hoped we would train on the hard courts at Riverside instead of the red clay of Nigeria."

Aguillard did stay on well, but his racket went a little dead."A better pace would have been ideal for me, but Cynthia and Tony rallied strong to win 5-4."

Newcomer Yulia Bolotova placed fourth for the night with 23 points. She has been in training for about two years without a break to take on the women of the WTA this Spring. Go Yulia.

Larry Gardner had a series of good efforts in round one and three. In round four playing with Aaron, he ran into the impressive Kenn and Megan combo. Ouch! Only two games won there.

Huge tie for sixth place between Megan Reddish, Charles Goods, Steve Williams and Herve Laurent.

FAT EDNA'S REPORT....1/6/06

Tom Wilkinson rips locals in 9th round

CHOOSING Tom Wilkinson to bet on proved to be easy for two gamblers as he guided his red-hot Prince Shark to victory in the FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS on January 6th at Riverside Racket Club in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

The imported fighter from Merion, Pa. showed what stuff he’s made of, walloping the top local fighters in the 9th round of the 13 round FIGHTS in surprisingly handy fashion.

Only Luca put up a semblance of a fight in the (4 nine-game) FIGHT which was ruled by 4 different fighters in record-equaling style.

[I made the right decision betting on myself. I knew I had a big chance to win and I showed how good I really could be with this Prince Shark],’’ said Tom, citing the 2-year-old racket he uses for doubles only.

Tom Wilkinson came into the fight as proud winner of round four back on November 25th. The ninth round of Friday Night Fights bagged $10.00 for the 2 people who bet on Tom. With 2 wins in 2 starts, Tom is a very good bet.

Luca, beaten by Tom by a nose (1 point), wound up second and worth $3.20 for the Somorjai Stable. Larry Gardner and Keith Cohen were tied at third with 27 points.

Joe Moss, who flew in from Paris for the fight, placed fourth with 24 points, and paid out $4.00 for the Croissant Stable. Kenn Waibel and Joe had a tough 2nd round against Luca and Keith. Both teams with impressive form entertained the standing room only crowd on the sidelines.

Mark Spangler finished fifth, while Kenn Waibel wound up sixth. Tom, Joe, Mark, Kenn, Larry and Luca were tied for first after the first nine-game set, outbroke Mark and Tom but the latter quickly took command approaching the fourth set.

Nearing the third set, Larry and Luca came dangerously close to Tom and Mark, but Tom applied the final Prince Shark cruncher as they rounded the fourth set, and effortlessly swung away to wrap up the victory in front of a huge crowd.