Bear with me, I’m the new kid on the block

No pressure.

Yeah, right.

“You’re going to love this beat,” my editor Rich Dunn told me. “It

is the best beat to cover. I wish I didn’t have to give it up.”

But how do I fill the shoes of someone who the tennis community

has already repeatedly told me how much they’ll miss him.

“Rich treated us so well,” said one.

“He’s the best,” said another.

No pressure.

I will say one thing, you guys make it easy. The phone calls have

been rolling in with notes and items on tennis tidbits happening

around the community, as well as well-wishers congratulating me on my

new position.

But you will have to bear with me. I’ve been out in the Inland

Valley for the past year, where tennis is just an afterthought. It’s

been almost four years since I set foot through the gates of a

country club. But, I am looking forward to it and meeting all of you.

I was a little upset to learn that my hometown club, the Laguna

Niguel Racquet Club, was beaten last weekend in the Private Tennis

Club Association Championship by Palisades, but I’ll muster through

it, since the Niguelians put up quite a fight before losing, 11-10,

to the perennial favorite.

I was going to ask Palisades General Manager Irv Goldberg for a

recount, but he beat me to the punch and said he had recounted it

several times, and even did so while we were on the phone together.

The all-doubles tournament came down to the final match in 5.0

mixed doubles, with Steve Rodriguez and Sarah Collins of big, bad

Palisades defeating Hector Chairez and Vicki Peterson for the win.

I might turn my allegiance to Palisades, however, after finding

out it is giving away a $20,000 Silver Sea cruise at this weekend’s

member/guest tournament. I haven’t played in 20 years, but if any

members out there need a partner, I think I could squeeze in the time

to join the 100 other teams competing.

I’ve only been working here a week, but I think a cruise is just

what I need to help cope with an all-male staff.

*

I was happy to see upon my return to Orange County that the

Adoption Guild Tennis tournament is alive and well and ready to kick

off Memorial weekend. In my 13-year sportswriting career, it was one

of the first tennis events I covered.

This year’s event will be held in honor of Charles “Charlie”

Eaton, who suggested to the board of the Adoption Guild that the

organization raise money for Holy Family Services by staging a

doubles-only tournament in the 1960s.

Eaton, who founded the Jamaica Inn Tennis Club, moved his players

to a site on Bristol and named it the Palisades Tennis Club. Later,

Ken Stuart, a close friend of Eaton’s moved the club to the John

Wayne Tennis Club site and renamed the facility Palisades Tennis Club

in honor of Eaton.

Eaton was born in Olympia, Wash. He attended the University of

Oregon, where he was tennis champion from 1935-37. He and his wife,

Fran Hancock, played the game they loved together for 30 years.

On July 18, 2002, Eaton passed away at 85.

In his honor, the Adoption Guild has reopened the 3.0 division in

men’s, women’s and mixed doubles