District Tennis Tournament Delayed

I just spent 90 minutes at the Farmington Sports Complex watching the high school tennis teams' futile attempt to squeegee off the courts to play the final day of the District 1-4A championship.

Originally scheduled for an 8 a.m. start, the individual and doubles semis and finals were pushed to 9 a.m., and then a group of players and coaches spearheaded by Piedra Vista boys coach Richard Yancey took to the courts with about a dozen long-handled rollers.

The rain picked back up after they'd made progress, and the rollers -- and players -- were relegated to huddling on the concrete beneath the overhang in the center of the courts. The coaches met briefly to discuss the options, made more difficult by the inclusion of Grants and Belen in the district this year.

The verdict? The coaches will wait until 3 p.m. hoping to play today. If not, they'll try to secure courts in Albuquerque to play out the matches early tomorrow, or delay until Thursday.

Farmington girls coach Pat McGrath and the selection committee will meet tomorrow to determine seeding for the state tournament, and Thursday creates more complex logistics issues, prompting all the coaches involved to hope the rain passes.

Sitting at my desk inside what we've affectionately dubbed the Sports Cave at the Daily Times office, I can hear the rain coming down steady on the piece of plywood covering a coffin-sized hole in the roof. When I left my apartment this morning, the forecast showed a 10 percent chance of rain before noon. At least I think that's what it said; it's hard to tell on two hours of sleep.

I'm looking at the forecast now and it shows a 0 to 15 percent chance of rain between now and 3 p.m. in the Farmington area, but the rain is starting to come down hard as I'm typing this sentence.