Volley 4 by Chris Glass
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Play-By-Play Commentary

Little Big Man

No one makes jokes about jokes. How often do stand-up comedians poke fun at other stand-up comedians in their acts? When something's funny, laugh and let it be. Chris has come up big.

So I won't say much. The best layer tennis matches are witty and fast direct engagements, where the players don't shy from taking what they've been given and having fun. The spontaneity and cheek here are way up on the measuring stick. My wife walked into the room and burst out laughing, true story.

From my seat, Naz has three options:

1. Stay on the baseline and return. Take a strong shot and return forcefully, but stick to the game. Play on the raging doll and give us the next chapter of narrative. Up the ante by tweaking the aesthetic (layering, deepening, digging around for nuance, using type to spell out a message), but not too far that it seems like an easy exit ramp.

2. Chip and buy time. Put up a loft for variety and hope the opponent is too confused to smash it back. Some call it soft, others will say strategic. Use the extra seconds the ball's aloft to work on your game plan for what's next.

3. Throw your racket over the net. Do something weird and unexpected. If it's original enough, the crowd will love you; go Jimmy Connors with a tantrum, though, and you'll doth be protesting too much.

To Chris, I say: That's a great plan, Walter. That's fucking ingenious, if I understand it correctly. It's a Swiss fucking watch.

Play by play commentary for this match is provided, as it happens, by Rosecrans Baldwin.


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