Paddle taps & Pickleball Vending Machines

It’s time to…. Wake up!

It’s Sunday, the PPA Texas Open champions are on later this morning and MLP San Clemente is less than two weeks away.

Let’s go! It’s DINKING time.

If you’re enjoying the newsletter or podcast, please share it. Go ahead and forward this to one person who needs more pickleball in their life.

Listen on Spotify 🎧 | Watch on Youtube 📺

Where to watch the pros

It’s Championship Sunday in the big D and yes, we’re talking about Dallas Texas. You can catch the PPA Selkirk Texas Open today on Youtube and national television!

• 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. CST on CBS

• 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. CST on Youtube

• 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. CST on ESPN

Grab a d(r)ink and settle in. It’s going to be a big day of Pickle.

Something worth sharing with your friends

Last week while the APP tour was in NYC for the New York Open they decided to pay Times Square and Good Morning America a visit.

Pickleball continues to make its presence known on a national stages time and time again.

Take me out to the ball game field

Remember the “Ballpark Series” we talked about last month where three Major League Baseball stadiums will be transformed into the Pickleball destinations of the summer? Welp, dates for each location have officially been set.

• Fenway Park (Boston) | July 13 - 16

• Oracle Park (San Francisco) | July 20 - 23

• Coors Field (Denver) | August 3 - 6

Read more about how to get involved, here.

Good luck betting against Anna Leigh Waters

Gambling has officially made it to pro pickleball

To tap, or not to tap… That is the question 🧐

Are you in or out on pros tapping paddles with their opponents in-between games?

I personally think this was pretty silly of Riley Newman to post. If we want pickleball to pave its own path, we need to stop comparing it to other sports.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” - someone smart

Pro pickleball, down under

Hey-a mate, down for a game of pickle and a bit of vegemite?

What city should the PPA add to their tour?

[chanting] Greenville, Greenville, Greenville 📢

Need a paddle in a pinch?

In the rare, rare case you’re stuck at a pickleball court without a ball or a paddle, this new pickleball vending machine has you covered 😂

All things Major League Pickleball

Major League Pickleball is back baby! Well, almost.

In less than two weeks (June 15), Major League Pickleball will be taking over San Clemente, California for their final event of part 1 (of 2) of the 2023 season.

To top it off, they recently announced that ESPN2 will be airing the Super Finals (head to head match between the top two teams) on Monday, June 19 at 9 p.m. EST.

More on MLP as we get closer to the event, but…

ICYMI, the MLP posted a video of Steve Kuhn (billionaire owner) describing the “team switch” and redraft that will happen in MLP later this summer (after the upcoming tournament in San Clemente).

I was confused, so I imagine you are as well. Here’s what I know so that you can keep up.

• The MLP season is currently split into two parts (the first part concludes after the San Clemente tournament on the weekend of June 15.

• Once the first half has concluded, all teams (& owners) that are currently in the Premier league will be moved to the Challenger league and vice versa.

• A complete redraft of players will occur this summer, prior to the start of the second half of the season in September. The first 48 player picks go to Premier level teams, and the last 48 player picks go to the challenger level teams.

  • As I learned from the President of the MLP, this is done to test and “challenge” the team owners/GM’s ability to draft and manage a team.

• Once the season has concluded, a combined “score” of each team will be used to determine who will start the 2024 season in the Premier League and who will start in the Challenger League

If you want to learn more about MLP prior to the tournament, I suggest checking out the following resources:

• Listen to Kaitlynn Kerr (owner of the Las Vegas Night Owls) on the latest podcast of Inside the MLP

• Read this article on the basics of the MLP from Axios

• Check out the current league standings, teams, and players on the MLP site, here

• See the results of the first MLP draft here

Alright folks, I’m out. It’s Memorial Day weekend. It’s time to pay respect to our troops and play some extra pickleball.

If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, share it with someone you’re dinking with later. Or better yet, send it to your entire group. Please?

Until next week…

– “Downtown” Logan Brown-