This story was originally published on Aug. 3, 2012.
TULSA - Tennis anyone?
To get an idea for what it's like to play this game at an elite level, I called University of Tulsa tennis head coach Vince Westbrook.
His Golden Hurricane men's team has reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament the past two seasons.
And Westbrook let me know right away how exciting this afternoon was going to be - for him, not me.
"It's a treat to watch someone with the kind of athletic ability that you have, to be able to come out here and play against one of my top players."
Subtle. Thanks coach.
He paired me up against Cliff Marsland, a 2012 All-American who can serve about 130 mph.
Again, thanks coach.
If you've never tried to return a tennis ball coming at you that fast, give it a shot. It's ridiculous. I got my racket on a few, and with one errant shot, I nearly took out my photographer.
"I think that's the difference that you see between a club player and the players that are at this level, 'cause you know, you got to see a serve like that. Well take it to the next level, and what they're doing at Wimbledon," said Westbrook.
Big Al even got in on the action. He didn't fare much better than me.
Check out the video in the player above to see how I did.
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