ball girl

this article in today's new york times reminds me of how i wanted to be a ball girl when i was a young kid. back then, i spent summers on my hometown's only set of decent tennis courts batting a ball back and forth with a small group of boys who most definitely qualified as tennis nerds. (they even had their own on-court impressions of the superstars at the time - john mcenroe and jimmy connors.)

my ball girl dreams were later re-assessed when i met a woman in grad school who recounted her very memorable experience running after and gathering balls at a professional tournament in memphis, tennessee. the story involved 90+ degree temperatures, stefan edberg, and fainting mid-court.