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All was right in the world of Jim Morrow (right) after his teammates completed their practical joke.
© Juan Ocampo
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Jim Morrow: Man reunited with his weapon of choice.
© Juan Ocampo
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By J. Fred Sidhu, special to USTA.com
SURPRISE, Ariz. – It didn’t have to be April Fool’s Day for one team at the 2011 USTA League 7.0 & 9.0 Super Senior National Championship to pull a good-natured prank on one of its own team members.
On Thursday, the Mid-Atlantic Section 7.0 Super Senior men’s team from Silver Spring, Md. got together to practice at a resort in nearby Litchfield Park located about 10 miles from the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex.
After they finished practicing, team member Jim Morrow, a 69-year-old retired statistician from Bethesda, Md., left one of his racquets, a Wilson 5.3 Hyper Hammer, on the court. It wasn’t until later that Morrow discovered he had lost one of his racquets.
"When I got back (to the hotel) I looked in my bag and there was no racquet. It was my favorite racquet and the one I had picked to play with," said Morrow. "I was almost panicked. I was disappointed. I had it strung especially tight because in Arizona the air is crisp, there is no humidity and the ball bounces higher."
Morrow asked his teammates if they had seen his racquet, but they all said no. However, unbeknownst to Morrow, a teammate had indeed picked up the racquet and a plan for the prank was put in motion.
Later on Thursday night at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex, the traditional player party took place as dinner was served and there was music and dancing. As part of the festivities, each player received a raffle ticket for tennis related gifts.
Team captain Bob Helms then made arrangements with tournament officials to raffle off Bob Morrow’s racquet. It was pre-determined that the winning numbered ticket to be called would be Morrow’s ticket.
One of the first items of the night to be raffled off was the tennis racquet. "I’m sitting there and they call my number. They said it was for a tennis racquet. I go running up…and it’s MY racquet!" Morrow said.
Initially Morrow thought that he had won a brand new racquet like the one he had lost earlier in the day. However, when he took a closer look, he discovered it was his own racquet. "It felt good to get it back. I was totally fooled," he said.