Davidson at the Orange Bowl

Davidson at the Orange Bowl

Yesterday I was over at the Biltmore watching the first rounds of the Junior Orange Bowl tennis tournament (14 and under). I couldn’t hit at the wall there because of the tournament. These kids are amazing—I couldn’t get a point off them. I sat contentedly on the bleachers with the sun setting over the courts; the atmosphere was peaceful but highly charged. It felt good to be a tennis player. One of the young players approached me and I quickly realized who it was: the boy I had hit with a couple of months ago and written about here under “Our Generations”. He was with a friend. I shook his hand (it felt small in my own not-large hand). He told me he was playing in this year’s event (still only 13). I had the presence of mind to say, “I never found out your name”. He replied “Davidson”. I said “But that’s your last name; what’s your first name?” He said “Davidson”. “Interesting”, I replied. I added “There is a famous philosopher called Davidson, Donald Davidson”. Davidson smiled. I asked him when he would be playing and he said Friday. What time? He didn’t yet know. I told him I’d like to see him play. He then moved off with his silent friend saying “Nice to see you again” and gave me a warm but reserved smile. For some reason, this made me feel incredibly good. I thought: if only all human interactions could be like that. Then a darker thought: I hope you never have to go through what I have been through.

When I got home, I googled the event’s website in case I could find out his time of play on Friday. This quickly led me to some facts about the lad: he is in the top 5 of players his age in Florida, and the top 100 in the entire country. He is noted as a young player to watch. His full name is Davidson Jackson (so shares two names with highly ranked philosophers). He is clearly an ace tennis player. It made me think how much I’d like to hit with him properly one day. I will be there again today and obviously on Friday.