Special Olympics

Last month Bob had the honor of attending the National Special Olympics Games in Lincoln, Nebraska. He spent an entire week there umpiring at the tennis tournament. As many of you know he has coached the Special Olympics tennis team (The Kern County Crushers) here at home for several years, but getting to go to Nationals as an umpire was a pretty big deal. Most of the other umpires had a lot more experience than him, many having umpired at the US Open and other big tournaments. Needless to say he had the time of his life. I had thought about going along and volunteering, but I think it was best that I stayed home since he was in his element with the other umpires and I would have just felt a little out of place. It was fun to hear all of his stories about the people he met, especially the athletes. He met wonderful people like Reatha and her family. He said that every time she played her family held up these signs that spelled out her name. She was from the south and turned the name Bob into about 3 syllables!

At the very start of the week Andy Roddick and his wife Brooklyn Decker came out to the tennis venue. Andy played a little exhibition match with his hitting partner and then they took on some of the athletes. Bob got to be on the court to call lines. That is him in the picture with his face hidden by Andy's racquet. That was certainly not something that will happen to him everyday!

Special Olympics has a special place in Bob's heart as well as mine.