Darrell Moody: Racquetball courts, please

Anybody that knows me, knows that I never discuss politics, and because I don’t believe in the Electoral College, I will never ever vote in a presidential election.

I like the fact that funds were approved for a local multi-use athletic center. I don’t know exactly what will be in the new building, but it should include 3-4 racquetball courts.

I’m not a tennis player; haven’t played since I was in junior college. I couldn’t believe it when somebody told me I had to go all the way to south Reno to play racquetball.

Are you kidding me? Racquetball is much better than tennis in the sense that you chase tennis balls more than you actually play, especially if you aren’t an advanced player. Racquetball is like basketball; a lot of quick starts and stops. It’s a great game, and you don’t have to go chasing the ball 80 feet away.

My introduction to the game came when I was a student at San Diego State. A dorm mate wanted to play, and started knocking on doors looking for volunteers for either a singles game or a doubles game.

It ended up being singles, and I was horrible. I lost the first game 21-3 and lost the second one 21-7. I had become hooked, though, and I started playing every night. It took me two months, but I finally took a game off my neighbor.

When I became sports editor of a small Bay Area paper, I found out that the local junior college, Los Medanos, had two courts. It was great. Because I knew the equipment manager, he would reserve the court for us once a week.

I haven’t played since leaving Sacramento, which sucks. Maybe the bigwigs in the city can do the right thing and make sure there is something for everybody.

Maybe some of these health clubs should have courts, too. Not everybody wants to lift weights or walk on a treadmill, but we don’t have a choice.

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Colin Kaepernick, according to reports, is seeking to become a $20-million dollar a year quarterback.

Kaepernick’s contract runs out after next season. Worth $20 million? I don’t think so. Yes, I know what Eli Manning got, and he wasn’t worth that type of money despite two Super Bowl victories. Does Kaepernick deserve a huge raise? Absolutely. Kapernick has helped get the 49ers to a certain point, but still no Super Bowl.

Drew Brees earned his money for his several years of excellence. Kaepernick has had two good years. To me, that doesn’t rate $20 million a year.

•••

Kudos to former varsity swimmer Barbara Perkins, who placed ninth in her age group and was the first woman out of the water at the recent New Zealand Ironman competition.

Perkins swam 2.4 miles in 55:55, biked 112 miles in 6-hours 17-minutes and ran a marathon in 3-hours 47-minutes.

Thanks to local attorney Allison Joffee for sending me the information.