Hello, folks! Welcome to PickleWho, both the #1 pickleball blog on the internet and provider of controversial food takes. Today I say this: Coke Zero makes no sense. Sugar-free Coke is still unhealthy Coke and it even tastes worse.

Or maybe I’m just grumpy after a month without sugar. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

And here’s the news!

• This is US Pickleball’s first member

• Data loves pickleball too

• Another day, another pickleball vs tennis fight

Meet USA Pickleball member 001

I considered myself a pickleball pioneer only because I started playing during 2020. I bragged about it and told everyone I was years (two) ahead of our times, but I was never the OG. That title belongs to Jo Hancock, who joined USA Pickleball in 2005.

For nearly two decades, Hancock has done everything: singles, doubles, mixed doubles, professional and amateur tournaments, over 150 medals and over 150 hours of gossip. Though I can’t officially confirm the last one, we know, we know. Gossip is the only thing that unites people more than sports and Tom Hanks.

Today Hancock is battling bone cancer and we hope for a quick recovery so pickleball’s dearest grandma can come back to the game.

Pickleball is unstoppable.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “pickleball is the fastest-growth sport in America”. Heck, you’ve probably heard it while you sleep and chances are it won’t stop, at least according to FiscalNote’s recent report.

The software company tracked community plan meetings and budgets across the country, and found that pickleball was mentioned over 16,000 times in over 1,400 communities. At this pace, by the end of 2023, over 5,500 communities will consider pickleball’s place.

Pickleball, like my lower back pain and John Mulaney’s bad boy era, is here to stay.

Pickleball net vandalized in Needham

Needham is a small town in Massachusetts with a hilarious name that reminds me that I need to buy raw material for my sandwich. It’s also the newest place with a feud between pickleball and tennis players, whose rivalry started earlier this year when pickleball lines were added to the park’s tennis courts. Then, the conflict escalated so much that pickleball nets were vandalized.

Who did it? The coaches of the girl's tennis team did it!

Allegedly. And now people are demanding them to pay for the nets, but we suggest a different solution: force the young tennis players to try pickleball. They will fall in love with it and leave tennis alone.

Completely alone.

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