What is this? Three tennis hoddles post in three days? This is fitzie’s fantasy.
RealJC in shambles.
Let’s get to it
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For those of you who closely follow the hoddle of coffee, you’d know that your hoddler-in-chief featured The Beach Boys before. That occurred on 28 November 2023.
You see, fitzie was in a reflective mood after just winning his mixed doubles league in Washington DC. In that hoddle I shared a snippet of a memory shared one day. That same hoddle featured The Beach Boys as its track of the day:
“Today’s TOTD is one I listened to back in 2016. It was en route from London to Sussex. My tennis team at the University of Westminster was travelling to play another team. It was our first competitive match. On the way there I had listened to the Beach Boys.
I lost my singles that day 6-1 6-1. That loss was soon made up for. I hated losing that match. I learned a lot about myself that day. But what I most remember is how much fun I had with my friends. They are the first image that pops into my mind when I think of Brighton.”
Fitzie’s track of the day, part one: Wouldn’t It Be Nice, by The Beach Boys
I’ve been thinking a lot about that day tonight following the news of Brian Wilson’s death.
There isn’t anything I can add to the conversation that pushes it forward more than what Bob Dylan, Elton John, Mick Fleetwood and many others have already shared. But I’ll share that day in the United Kingdom a little bit more.
It was around September, and I was still questioning why I had moved to the UK. A few other guys and I at university formed a tennis team. We were pretty good and played competitively.
We had a match scheduled against the Univeristy of Sussex. I ran (literally) from West Hampstead to Baker Street Station, approximately 5km, as a “warm up” - only, I didn’t get to stretch afterwards.
We took a minivan from Marylebone to Sussex. On the way there I was listening to a radio station based in California, 100.3 The Sound. They were discussing how Wouldn’t It Be Nice by The Beach Boys was constructed, and I was hooked.
There was so much to unpack in that song. The gorgeous arrangement, how the vocals layered upon themselves in that baroque fashion. How it sounded so 1950s but also so fresh. It was magical.
I played that song on repeat for the roughly two hour trip past the Amex and to the University of Sussex.
I lost my singles match 6-1 6-1 that day. It was my first competitive match in five years, and I hated losing. What I remember more about that day, though, is the trip to Brighton Beach my tennis team and I took afterwards. It was a beautiful experience sharing dinner with them and running around Brighton Beach pier, as the waves crashed behind us.
Maybe that’s what The Beach Boys were all about. Gettin’ around, having a Surfin’ Safari, making sense of our disappointments and anxieties in a way that sounds beautiful and relatable.
Those people were my closest friends during postgrad. Many of us went our separate ways. Some of us, including me, went back to our home country. But I still return to see one of them, at whose wedding last year I served as witness.
It was a long trip back to Maylebone (and from there back to West Hampstead) that night. As we drove up the highway beneath the black sky, I again turned on The Beach Boys, slumped in my seat and stared out the window.
I’ll remember that day forever.
Fitzie’s track of the day: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times, by The Beach Boys
And now for your links:
Jay Harris ($$): “Micky van de Ven says Ange Postecoglou sacking was ‘strange’, expects Thomas Frank as successor”
Football London: “Son Heung-min debate, James Maddison question - Thomas Frank’s strongest Tottenham XI”
The Guardian: “Mauricio Pochettino said the US can win the World Cup. Now they can’t even win a game”
AP: “10 songs to celebrate the life and legacy of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson”