Happy Daylight Saving Weekend,
While Spring hasn't officially started (and won't until March 20), the start of brighter and longer days begins Sunday, March 14 at 2:00am as clocks move forward one hour. We'll lose an hour of sleep when our head hits the pillow Saturday night, but that wasn't the point that New Zealand entomologist George Hudson was trying to get across when he came up with this modern concept of daylight saving back in 1895. He actually proposed a two-hour time shift so he'd have after-work hours of sunshine to go bug hunting in the summer. Super idea that allows us all some extra sunlight to do whatever we please. I will say it's not a fun time of year for parents of newborns or infants as the need for darkness and sleep is paramount but that's for another discussion.
Springing forward is what our team will do this weekend following a tough Iron Bowl clash last Friday night. While I wasn't coaching at Alabama in November 2010, I imagine my feelings were somewhat similar after our match to what fans felt following the magical comeback by Cam Newton and his Auburn football team. All I can say is that anything can happen and usually does. We had opportunities to take the doubles point following Patrick and Riccardo's impressive win on court 1 (their first set without a tiebreaker in the past five matches). The Tigers served, returned and executed at a higher level down the stretch and jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
We responded well in singles winning four of six first sets, sprinting out to big leads on several courts. Alexey Nesterov kept his winning ways rolling with a convincing win on court #6 followed quickly by El Toro Ortiz on court #2 (another masterful surgery). When Gabi closed out his match on court #5 in straight sets the scoreboard read Bama 3, Auburn 1 with three matches left to play. Patrick, Riccardo and Zhe were all in knock'em down, drag'em out battles, two of which, were against opponents they had seen before on the other side of the net. Patrick fell in a narrow contest on court 3 and then Riky dropped a second set tiebreaker which forced a final frame. On court 1, Zhe had lost his first set 7-5 in a tiebreaker, responded to win the second set and was getting ready for a third as well. While there was plenty of chill in the air, brave and very supportive Tide fans stayed as warm as possible in the seats above the courts while belting out shouts of "ALA! BAMA!" and "Let's go Bama, Let's go!" Both teams lined adjacent courts cheering on their teammates who were going the distance. In terms of college tennis excitement this was certainly a good one for fans to witness. Both Riky and Zhe did their best to make their opponents uncomfortable with purpose-driven execution and Cam Newton was not on court which was probably a good thing. Back and forth it went until the difference between winning and losing equaled the number 2 (ironically Cam's college jersey number) and Auburn won 6-4 in the third on both courts. That's when that similar feeling crept in. Dadgummit!
So we moved on, and like clocks will soon do, sprung forward to a week of training and preparation for a couple of conference heavyweights. Round 3 of Friday Night Lights takes place at 6pm against the University of Georgia. We've had some exciting matches against the Dawgs the past couple of seasons. In 2018, we captured a rare spring indoor match in Tuscaloosa beating UGA in front of a very supportive home crowd and the Million Dollar Band, who played pre-match and cheered passionately from start to finish. Alexey Nesterov provided the match clincher that evening which proved to be a momentum starter for our squad's late season and NCAA run. A year later in Athens, we dropped a heartbreaker without the Million Dollar Band on hand, but rather hundreds of Dawg fans screaming for their home team. So I imagine our match-up under the lights on Friday will be entertaining and intense.
Sunday afternoon at 1pm we host a strong Tennessee team who has just one blemish in conference action and is playing very good tennis. We faced the Vols in a hidden dual at Mississippi State last October and they showed us their ability, strengths and very few weaknesses. I know our team has improved a lot since last fall and I'm sure the boys from Rocky Top have too. Last time we played Tennessee at home was the 2018 SEC Championships. What a battle that was back then and now we have another opportunity to lock horns again and certainly clash with their bright orange and our crimson. Those two colors definitely don't mix well.
So join us for warmer weather than last Friday night, great competition and another opportunity to see exciting college tennis. While we won't have an extra hour of sunlight against the Dawgs we will have plenty of daylight on Sunday. Seems weird not to remind everyone to set their clocks forward on Saturday night now that we're in the device generation (where cell phones automatically make the change), but there are still a few clocks to change that hang on my wall and shine bright on the microwave and stove. We'll cook things up for you so come on out, and if you can't, catch us online at www.rolltide.com. Here's to bright days ahead, not only on court, but in our country and world as we surpass the year mark when the pandemic made the world stop. Let's celebrate being outdoors and springing forward.
Roll Tide!
George
George Husack
Head Men's Tennis Coach
The University of Alabama
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March 12, 2021 at 11:11AM
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2021 NET NEWS, Volume 8 - University of Alabama Athletics - rolltide.com
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