Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, everybody. Slieve senior Pickleball report is brought to you by TNC Network. Get ready for an exciting episode of People of Pickleball with me, Mike Slieva. We're about to dive deep into conversations with influential figures from the world of Pickleball.
So let's get it going.
Today in our people of pickleball episode, we have two OKC punishers from the National Pickleball League who are having one heck of a season together. Paul Olin, number one in the world, and men's senior pro singles for a lot of years and making a big impact lately in the doubles game, mixed and gender, and his partner, Tommy Ho, if you remember the 1990s. Tommy Ho, man, heck of a player in professional tennis. Played in a lot of grand slam singles and doubles. Now making his way into the National Pickleball League senior pro level. All right, folks, if you like this content, consider subscribing to the channel. Hey, check out all the links in the description and subscribe to that newsletter. All right, let's get to that interview with Paul and Tommy.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: All right, we have Paul Owen, who's been on the show before, and Tommy Ho, first time, are on the show for the OKC Punishers from the National Pickleball League. Welcome to the senior Pickleball report, fellas. Good to have you.
[00:01:25] Speaker C: It's great to be on.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Well, we'll start with you, Tommy, because Paul's been on the show before. I had him on with Matthias about a year ago, and we talked about their rivalry in the singles game and partnering up for doubles, and we got a little bit of background on him. And we'll have a link in the description if people want to revisit that interview between Matthias and Paul and myself, so check that out. But Tommy, you're obviously sort of new to the pickleball scene, but a public figure. Obviously, you played high, high level tennis, but talk about how this game sort of came into your life, because it's fairly recent that we're seeing you play at the pro level.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: No, it's probably a story that's very familiar to many. I was a Covid player, and Helen Wilhelm and Kim Forsythe in Dallas introduced it, took four or five of us ex tennis players and said, hey, you, four or five are coming out and playing pickleball. And I had no idea what pickleball was. This is 2020.
I think it's probably march, April.
Yeah, springtime of 2020. And they got us out. And I'll say, like right at the beginning, I wasn't really sure about it. But as we played more and more and the group really got into it and they were terrific. They really showed us the game. Probably a little bit different than others who kind of go out there and they just kind of figure it out on a social basis. You know, we.
Helen was such a student of the game. She just really talked about the transition because Kim Porsite was a tennis player, and so they could kind of get us kind of quickly aligned, and we fell in love with it. So we really enjoy it. I love to compete and pick a ball, but I still love to go out and hit a lot of tennis balls, so.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Okay. Right, right on. Right on.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: And then the tournament piece kind of came in this year. I'd say this year is the first time I played out of state. And then this and then having the opportunity to join the NPL and participate in the NPL has really been an eye opener for me to meet just wonderful people, but also be part of OKC, be part of Paul's team. And I learned a heck of a lot about pickleball through Paul. And, you know, I think we've got just a terrific, terrific culture in our team. And a great team.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, you got a great owner in Carroll, and obviously, you know, this sport has brought a guy that lives in a yurt in the middle of nowhere, a guy that played high level pro tennis, and a guy that's got a bronze star altogether on a podcast. So that tells you a little something about what this game has done. Paul, obviously you played in the league last year, and you've been playing, obviously, in the pro scene for a while, and we see tennis players, high level tennis players come into the game more and more. It seems like each week, you know, obviously, you and Tommy have had a heck of a season for OKC. So talk about, like, what. What's impressed you about his game thus far as a partner, too?
[00:04:32] Speaker D: Well, first off, I'll start off as a partner. He's just incredible. Such a calming presence.
You know, I always know he'll be there and, you know, I get wound pretty tight sometimes on the court, and he's been a very good calming effect for me.
So his demeanor is just incredible.
So I've learned a lot watching him now. Being a professional tennis player, he's obviously, he has all the skills, um, and has all the shots. As you know, most tennis players coming over to the game do have all the shots. It's just a matter of putting them together in an effective way because, you know, they're.
And you know, when I first met him in Daytona at a. At a tournament this spring, I think it was played against him, but even in the middle of the match, like, he could tell he was a student of the game and just wanted to get better and is incredibly receptive and asks great questions and, you know, I knew right then and there that he was going to be really good just from his approach to the game. A lot of times, you know, in myself included, as old tennis players, you come back, you come to the game, you're like, all right, I'm going to do it my way.
And then you quickly learn that there is a method to the madness, but they bring new tools and new tricks and that's what's changed in the game, too. So, you know, the old way is not always the new way, but people like him bring things, you know, different things to the game that make it better.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And the game, obviously, you know, I was in Kansas City, obviously this year at Picklecon watching, and I was there a year ago when you guys were playing at the chicken and pickle. And I can tell because I do a lot of paddle reviews and I can tell just in that one year, the technology of the paddles has impacted not only the open play at the pro level, but NPL and the senior champion pros as well because I see a lot more of driving the third, dropping the fifth this season than I probably did last season. There seems to be more power in the game. Tommy, what do you, you know, obviously you probably had a particular style when you were playing tennis.
Is that style adapted a little bit to pickleball? And what are some of the things that have been challenging making that switch?
[00:07:11] Speaker C: I think it's that.
It's a good question. I mean, I could probably point to a number of things and that's where it's been a lot of fun with Paul. Paul and I have had so many interesting discussions and philosophical kind of approaches to the game, and it's, I think the biggest part, the hardest part is probably being patient because there's only so much you can analyze and try to theoretically implement versus just allowing time to. Just time on the court, time to experience it. I think there was a period where everything was very reactionary and then I went through a time, I think probably mid early part of the MPO where things started to slow down a little bit on the court. So I could actually kind of see things before they happened versus being very reactive.
And so when you go through that state, kind of like in tennis, the anticipation piece of it makes a huge difference in being able to set structure and strategy on the court versus being reactive and hitting, and you're not quite sure where things are coming. And so in your other question around being able to transfer, there's definitely aspects of court coverage, and when you drive, there's just some innate kind of intuition on the court that I think tennis does help. You know, just kind of shadowing on the court. That's just very natural. Paul played tennis prior, you know, played for Navy, and so was a high performance tennis player. So when we move on, it's not like we have to tell each other to cover. It's just very intuitive. So those pieces make a huge difference when you're talking about inches and fractions of seconds. So when you look at, you compare the tennis and the pickleball court, you're just dealing with a fraction of time and the fraction of distances. So those things matter a ton. So anything that you can do that's intuitive, in my opinion, becomes even more magnified on a court and then creates even that much differentiation, an advantage when you're out there as a team.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
I talked to Daniel Gold last week. He plays for Austin, and, you know, he's a high level tennis player. I believe he played at Wimbledon, and he said the thing he noticed about at least the pro level game of pickleball is that the holes that you think are there are not there. Sometimes in most cases, he said, like, you see a hole and you're like, yeah, I can get there. And he goes, nine times out of ten, that hole is not there. And I've watched Paul for a lot of years, and he's one of the greats because he's a high level player. He's one of the guys you always see. He's not a podium a lot. And what I noticed about his game is even if somebody has his number for a while, he tends to, he adjusts. And it might be small, like you mentioned, you know, little things incrementally, but he's got a very analytical mind, and you can see that he's. He's dialing it in and he's dialing it in.
Paul, have you ever played a lot of tournaments with a lefty?
[00:10:21] Speaker D: Not a lot, because it's different.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Was that interesting? Because I'm a lefty. When people play with me, they're like, this is hard at first.
[00:10:31] Speaker D: Yeah. I mean, I've played a bunch, you know, with lefties and rec. I don't think I've played a ton. I've played a few tournaments with Dan Granad.
Yeah, right. You know, and. And I like it. You know, I like playing both sides of the court, so, you know, and I think that's what makes I like being on both sides of the court. Cause sometimes you can get stuck in a rut being on one side or the other. So I'm very comfortable on the left. And then Tommy and I, we don't always play. Sometimes we go on the opposite sides, you know, to change the flow or do something different, you know, and with that, you know, bring some different challenges, you know, and we try to set different, different patterns out of that, but, you know, it's something different. And, you know, his back, his forehand is just an elite weapon, you know? So everything we do on the courthouse, in my opinion, is to set up that weapon. So, you know, it doesn't matter kind of where it is. We just need to feed the ball and get it to his forehand.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Yeah, Elite's a good word because last year, Alex Simon, who played for OKC, was in Las Vegas, and he plays a lot of practice matches with Andre Agassi. And he told me privately, he's like, I've never seen a forehand like this in person.
I didn't think anybody could hit a whipple ball this hard. And so that's a nice weapon, obviously, to have on the court. So, Tommy, like, talk about, you know, obviously the adjustments of you're playing in a league, you see some of these teams often.
Paul knows a lot of these people well that you're playing against, but he can talk all you want prior to the match, but you're learning in real time out there. So you've talked about as the season's gone on, how things have, you know, slowed down for you a little bit. So maybe expand on that a little bit. Like, you know, what were some of the things in the beginning of the season that you were like, oh, this could be a problem, and I need to. I need to work on this because this particular maybe opportunity or shot keeps coming up or, you know, maybe you're in a situation that you find yourself in often, that you need to adjust.
[00:12:55] Speaker C: No, it's a great question. The thing I definitely can say with conviction that I didn't appreciate until I started playing with Poland and the NPL caliber that we're in is how effective the dinking can be. So the group I play with in Houston, they are very, very good players, but they're in their late twenties, early thirties, and there's a lot of disruption and chaos all the time. So, you know, the thinking is aggressive. They're looking to Ernie almost anything that's even slightly to the sides and deep, and they're athletic. I mean, they're, they're leaping, you know, half the court. You don't even see them, and they're flying through the air and they're, they're hitting an earth. You don't see that at the 50 plus too often. Not like that.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:13:41] Speaker C: So one thing I've become and I've appreciated is just how effective moving that ball around, even on half a court. I didn't even realize you could move the ball as much as Paul does on half a court. Like, when I look back at the video, it's like a step and a half here and a step and a half there, and then he'll attack on a ball that's going about 1 mile an hour, and it just kind of pops him in the shoulder, which has happened. I would have popped that ball, like 900 miles an hour, and Paul's just, like, deep, deep and just like, throws it up there into the right shoulder and the points over.
So I think that that piece of it I definitely have appreciated and have gotten a lot better because I've taken that back to my practice and try to look for partners that are trying to move the ball around versus crashing and crossing all the time.
[00:14:32] Speaker B: Yeah, right, right. So, Paul, what do you attribute the success to? Obviously, it's nice to have a guy like Tommy who's got incredible paddle skills and elite forehand, but at the same time, it's a new team, somebody you haven't played a ton with, but yet you guys have done very, very well. Why is that?
[00:14:54] Speaker D: I don't. I mean, that's a good question. You know, I think that we've had a strategy and, you know, we've done a decent job of sticking to it.
And, you know, I think that's what it's about is, you know, if your strategy is good and you can execute it, you're going to have success.
You know, we've had a couple losses where I think the other team played better than us, but there were things that we could correct. And, you know, in our losses, we recognized what we had to do, but we just couldn't correct it in time. But a lot of times that has to do with the opponents and how well they're playing. So, you know, there's a lot of really good teams out there, but I think the success is, I think we have a good on court relationship. And, you know, we do our best to stick to the plan and it's worked out so far.
[00:15:53] Speaker C: Mike, also.
Yeah, I'd say the contrast also, it's a really interesting contrast. We contrast each other really well. So in tennis, the compliments are as impactful as the individual skill sets and experience of the individual players. You'll see that and hear that all the time. At the top level in tennis is the complement and the partnership. Paul talked about chemistry, which is massive, but also the skills, you know, our skills are very complementary. It's with one that's got the ability to go softer, hard when need be, and then people know when they're coming to me, you know, they're going to see, you know, mach one to three on quite a few balls. So, so it's like there's, there's that, that contrast. It really kind of throws you as far as timing. Like you can't really get great rhythm because if you're going to one or the other, you're going to get a very big contrast in timing and pace.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And Paul can appreciate mach three, I'm sure.
So, Tommy, talk about, you know, you played out your top 15 in the world, doubles player tennis, in the doubles game. You know, for tennis, does any of it transfer to pickleball? I mean, obviously a little bit of pattern recognition and stuff like that, but like, what does transfer?
[00:17:11] Speaker C: You know, the hand skills, I think definitely make a huge difference. And then I came from a world back, you know, where it was more kind of traditional doubles playing. I think in the last 20 years, you get a lot of like heavy baseliners, people are not serving volley, but all of us back in the nineties, all, we all serve in volley, first and second serves. So the skill set and the touch and the feel, you know, it's definitely transferable to reset and being able to find angles, those pieces, I think we don't have to train as much. Also, when you look at the evolution to Mike, what you're saying is seeing it, even in a year where there's more third drives, it does advantage. Like if people see the drives, people don't realize that I've hit 10 million forehands. So the technique there is, you know, the compact and the technique piece of it isn't something that, you know, you can pick up really fast if you haven't really had that racket paddle recognition. And I think when the paddles continue to evolve, you know, those skill sets will start to magnify with individuals that have that type of stroke production off the third drive. Forehand and backhand.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: Right, right. Did you play a lot of doubles in tennis or not?
[00:18:29] Speaker D: Yeah, I did in. You know, as Tommy was saying, back when I played a long time ago, serving volleying was still a thing. So by the time I got to college, I could not. My ground strokes just weren't what they were when I was a junior, so I turned into a serving volley player, which translated to a lot of doubles. So I probably did better in doubles than I did in singles when I was in college. And a lot of those skill sets magically transferred, you know, 30 plus years later when I picked up pickleball.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: Yeah. So let's talk about the paddles, because obviously the paddles change, you know, every few months, there's something else out. And, you know, I review a ton of paddles, and I talked to guys that are developing paddles who were tennis players and trying to make paddles a little more nimble, I guess.
Tommy, talk about, like, I don't. I have no idea what you play with. I didn't. I didn't really kind of look into that, but, you know, are the paddles to the point where you feel comfortable enough, where. With the paddles that are out there today, where you feel you can do most things with the ball? Because I know up until a few years ago, paddles were probably still pretty cumbersome.
[00:19:49] Speaker C: You know, I don't know enough. I used. I use gearbox.
And what's the pretty nimble paddle? Yes. Yes. It's got a lot of stick, but I. You know, I spoke to Joel and some of the key members at gearbox, and I just. The manufacturing and engineering side of gearbox is what really attracted me. And, like, I love the story behind the family owned business and how much they put into the manufacturing and engineering of their paddles, I thought was pretty impressive and aligned a lot with how I saw the world. And so paddles, and this is kind of a tennis piece, is like, the way I look at paddles is I want to use a paddle that I can maximize my power to the point I can't control.
And then the tennis background probably gives the ability. I'm speaking more generally, that I think that tennis players may have the ability to maximize power and still be able to feel where people would say, hey, that paddle is too hard to reset with. So I literally could. I think I could probably use a twelve inch paddle and still be fine. I've used a 14, but. So. So the pad that the power and what you can do the spins, I think, to me, are pretty efficient. But I, again, I haven't used the breadth of the paddle, so it's very hard for me to compare and contrast. Yes, Kirk and all these and the other paddle makers that have been around a long time, so I might be a little bit questioning.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, Paul, obviously you've seen the change in paddles over the last few years you've been playing.
Do you feel like you can put, you can, you know, I guess hit your spots better with the paddles that are coming out today? I mean, are they more nimble, more forgiving, or do you feel like, you know, they're, you know, pushing the limits or, you know, where are you on that?
[00:21:46] Speaker D: Um, I don't know if there are more. I mean, so I've been playing with, uh, since I started playing pickleball. Um, I'm currently playing with a gamma obsidian that's 13 mm thick.
Um, so, I mean, for the, for the gamma paddles, the biggest change has probably been the, the, the carbon surface, which, you know, every paddle company has that same surface, or some variant of it. Um, I think it's helped a little bit with control and maybe a little bit more spin for me. But, you know, it's all how your strokes are mechanized. Like, I don't have heavy top spin or heavy slice. I hit more of a flat ball.
So, you know, that surface really doesn't change my game too much. You know, some of the hotter paddles, like Tommy's and the Yola paddle, you know, it's just a change to the game. I don't mind it, I like it. I think innovation, innovation is great.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:50] Speaker D: And it's selling paddles, which is good for the game, you know, it's good for the companies, obviously, you know, and you have to make adjustments. You know, the biggest adjustments against those type of paddles is the ball is going to come back faster then you delivered it to them. So, you know, it's just an adjustment you have to make. I mean, we all know what we're dealing with and with anything, there's huge advantages, but you can find the disadvantages.
[00:23:18] Speaker B: Sure, sure. Yeah, yeah. Clearly the game's still evolving. They're still working on the ball. Me, well, I'm really interested to see where the ball goes in the next few years. I think that's going to be probably a significant change. I showed Paul a ball when we were at the conference, and it was a 3d printed ball, but sort of, it almost felt racquetbally meets pickleball. It was kind of spongy but, you know, dead silence, a little higher bounce, but we'll see where that goes. So, Tommy, obviously, I think when most people enter the world of pickleball and then they find out about the pro game, they're a little surprised that, one, there is a pro game, and then two, not only is there a pro game, there's a pro game for old guys like us, and then there's. I would argue that people that are over 50 have more options to play pro ball in places than the open pros do. I mean, you can play on the app, the PPA, the senior pro tour, and NPL. So was it a little bit like, it's one of those things, like, what do you choose? So I guess my question is, like, how's it been so far? Because it seems to me, looking in on the, you know, the outside a little bit, and I get to interact with these pros, that the senior pro family is pretty cool, pretty fun to be around. They compete hard, they play hard, they have massive skill, but at the end of the day, you know, hang out and they have a lot of fun and they know what this is. Talk about your experience so far playing, you know, in the pro game and particularly NPL.
[00:24:53] Speaker C: No, that's. Well, it's been a great experience. To your point, I think that everyone does come to play, and so when we get on the court, you definitely have a lot of competitive players out there, and then off the court. I do think everyone that I've met so far has just been terrific human beings so far. So I haven't had.
I can't speak to playing.
Is it Matthias? Paul? Matthias's league's got a league, and I've played a couple here and there, but NPL has probably been the most consistent exposure to a broad set of top senior pros that I've had an opportunity. And the people have been just. They've been wonderful. I don't know if it's just the people I've been around, because you don't have the opportunity to meet everyone, but tournament, you know, I'm saying hi to probably another dozen people that I didn't say hi to before. And so I kind of gauge it on progress and progression. From the first event that I played to now I'm saying hi to, it's probably multiplying by a factor of two or three each event each month. So that's really neat. If I came in and all I spent time with OKC, which I love to do, it would be different and I wouldn't be able to answer it as effectively. To say that literally every time that circle of people that I'm very comfortable with saying hi and checking in with those individuals is growing exponentially. So that's not a factor of me because I'm more of an introvert. It's a factor of all the people that are in the league are playing for many reasons outside of gold medals, money and competition. So it's kind of like the tennis probably in the sixties and seventies wasn't back then, wasn't playing back then. But from what I hear, it's a lot of comparisons to that type of, you know, environment back in that, that day. So it's been pretty fun to be part of it on the pickleball side.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So, Paul, obviously second year in the league, where do you see the league going? Obviously it's growing. It's doubled in teams, more and more talent obviously coming into the game every month. It seems like at all levels, you know, you think pickleball is in a pretty good place, you know, for the senior pros at this point and where it's going.
[00:27:21] Speaker D: Yeah, I think the National Pickleball League is fantastic.
You know, something that you get with that, that you don't get at tournaments is just the social aspect of it. Even on the game days, there's just a lot more social activities.
And that's what's great about pickleball. I think that's what brings people to pickleball in the first place. Not only is it fun to play, but just socially it's very interactive and people enjoy that. And to me, that's the best part about MPL, is you're meeting so many like minded people in terms of hobbies and we all enjoy it and they do a great job with the Friday night event. So I think everybody has a really good time. And like I said, I met so many wonderful people that I didn't know prior to this. And even the people I did know from playing all the tournaments didn't really get to know them until now on a personal level.
So that's been a huge positive. So where is it going? You know, I think it's. It's been a huge success.
It's perfect for our age and demographic and I think they will have continued success. I don't know what the big plans are not. I've heard rumors that they're adding teams. I've heard rumors that maybe they'll go overseas. I don't know what the actual facts are, but I think that they have a good model. And I think a vast majority of the people really enjoy themselves at these events.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Yeah, and I said it ad nauseam. I think the event. I've been to three events and everybody seems to be in a good mood.
They seem to enjoy each other's company and at the end of the day, they're treated like professionals in which you are, which is a nice thing because it is different. I don't like to compare it to the PPA or app because those folks are playing to make a living. And this is a bonus time for folks like you to get another chance to go out there and show what you can do. And I always tell folks to show up in person because my sister was at Picklecon and my parents were there and my wife was there and they had never seen any form of pro level pickleball. And they're all players and they're all pretty good players and they were just blown away by the talent level of the players in NPL. And I always tell folks, it's one thing to watch it on YouTube or tv, but if you can get to an event and see what these folks can do, it's quite impressive to see because you all can play and it's no joke and it's intense and it's fired up. But at the end of the day, it's a good vibe and a good party. So before we get you guys out of here, Tommy, we'll start with you. Anybody you kind of like to give a shout out to thank and what you're looking forward to for the remainder of the season?
[00:30:22] Speaker C: No, no, absolutely. I definitely would love to thank Michael Chen and Beth Bellamy. Rick Woodskin on. You know, it's hard to appreciate how difficult it is to, one, come up with a concept, but two, to execute the concept and strategy to make it real. Sure. You know, it's. Sometimes what I would say is just remind everybody who's part of the NPL that nothing's perfect. When you're coming into a second season, you know, you're still growing and you're looking to optimize areas and not everything's going to work perfectly, but there are very few environments that you're able to create like this, where you have an opportunity to compete at an environment like this. It's pretty amazing.
[00:31:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:02] Speaker C: So kudos to all three of them and thanking them for creating this for us. Carol. Carol's been terrific on OKC. I'd say in the beginning we had a mission statement and I thought, okay, I'm not sure how this is going to go, but when I look back, we don't have a great record as a team, but I'd say as a team, our culture is just amazing. And I think that's what's going to create a good surprise here for the back half of this whole NPL season, because I think we're a couple games here or there from having a very different outcome, but the culture is there. I can only imagine if we didn't have that, what it would be like. But Carol's been a large part of making it very clear what she prioritizes of the team, because we all bring, as Paul knows, we all come from very different backgrounds, not just racket sports, but business and types of backgrounds. And knowing what Carol has prioritized and what's important to the team has allowed all of us to bring to the team what's important. That will create the cohesion and the connectivity of the group, regardless of our background. So it's really been. Been amazing what she's been able to create, and it's been a real honor and pleasure to be part of the OKC team.
[00:32:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think that's what's great about each of these teams is they do have their own individual culture and the way they go about doing things and the way they're about doing business. And I got to interview pretty much all the ownership, and I've been impressed everybody. I mean, to take something like this on what I call this league is somewhat of a miracle. Like, if you would have told us, all of us, that, yeah, there's going to be a professional league and we're going to add six teams every year, and it's always for 50 plus. And you guys get to play and get to go to all these cool places and facilities. Oh, and hang out, we'd have been like.
So I do think the overall feeling I get from most folks in this league is gratefulness that it exists and that we're treated this way in Paul's second season in. So, any final thoughts, Paul? Because as Tommy's sort of pointed out here, anything could happen, some championship weekend. So.
[00:33:20] Speaker D: Yeah, anything can happen.
Hopefully we get Beth back, you know? And speaking of Beth, he mentioned all the other leadership. Beth, Rick, Michael, they've done an incredible job. There's tons of people behind the scenes, like best sister, Julie Weston, who just works her tail off to make everything absolutely perfect.
She crushes it amongst many other people that are doing a wonderful job. And, yeah, Carol on OKC has created, as Tommy said, a great culture I've always wondered and discussed with other people, you know, does winning create a good culture or does a good culture create winning?
I still go back and forth, but Tommy's point is spot on that we work really hard and we do have a really good team and I'm confident things will turn around here in short order. And we're all working hard as a team.
So I'm looking forward to the end of the season to play, not for it to end.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: Yeah, and you're right. I mean, this game, as we know, is a very, very momentum based sport and you can get hot at the right time and the competition is so tight, you know, when you play and lose by one and you're done, anything can happen. So I would not bet against OKC in any regard, especially with, you know, the likes of you two and having Beth on the team as well. So yeah, hopefully you get Beth back and yeah, go punish her. So thank you guys for your time. I appreciate it. Nice meeting you. Tommy, thank you. To meet you face to face. Yep. And hopefully that'll happen. And Paul, always great running to you and having you on the show and you're always welcome back as well. And hey, be rooting for you guys come October.
[00:35:13] Speaker D: Thanks slaves. Appreciate the time. Thanks for doing everything that you do for senior pickleball. Appreciate it.
[00:35:19] Speaker A: Okay folks, I hope you enjoyed our interview with Paul and Tommy. Check out all the links in the description again and subscribe to that newsletter and keep up with the pickle verse. Alright folks, at the end of the day, hey, you know what to do. Let's pickle.
