ANOTHER TENNIS STORY ON THE TIGHTLINE CATFISHING ADVENTURE SITE!!!!

(To my loyal "catfish only" crowd, give me a minute while I sneak in a little TX tennis passion.)

We just wrapped four days of TAPPS State Tennis Championships, and I’m convinced Texas and TAPPS grows some of the highest‑character kids on the planet (all 650+ of them)!!!

ALL LEVELS:
From the kid who’s still learning that "love" doesn’t mean a hug…
to the one who walks on court like their Baylor scholarship is pending approval. We have some REALLY awesome players and ALL of them are INCREDIBLE PEOPLE!!!

   

Kudos to our outstanding Officials who fielded questions like:
“Wait… we play to 4 points but also 7 points but also 10 points?”
“Do I switch sides now? How about now? Now?”
“What is a match tiebreaker?”
and the classic…
“When will the courts be dry?” (asked approximately every 14 seconds while it was STILL raining).

  
THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HELPED PUSHED WATER (Parents, Players, Coaches, TAPPS Staff!

YES, we had multiple rain delays, restarts, wet courts, impromtu squeegee training sessions, and more problem‑solving than my brother Les Bessellieu covering 10 courts with a dying walkie‑talkie and many very confident coaches. And through it all, the officials stayed steady, calm, patient, and somehow still laughed at mine and Ed Price’s stories, most of which Audie has heard more times than he’ll admit.

Somewhere in the middle of all that motion, kids sprinting, parents pacing, nervous coaches, tennis officials sweating through their polos, a TightLine truth floated to the surface while I was sitting at the tournament desk talking with my little brother Bryan Bunselmeyer (Director/GURU of TAPPS).
The same truth I’ve learned a hundred times sitting in the boat waiting on a catfish that refuses to be rushed:

It’s not a race.
You are not ahead.
You are not behind.
You are here.
ENJOY what God has given you.

And that’s the part most people miss:

The kids who lost early but learned something important.
The officials who squeegeed so many times their smartwatches thought they were training for a marathon.
The parent who finally unclenched after a third‑set tiebreak that aged them a few years.
The freshman getting their first taste of TAPPS State Tennis, eyes as big as the huge TAPPS inflatable tennis ball.

And the seniors… And the seniors… the ones I’ve watched grow up… taking that last walk off a TAPPS court, trying to keep it together while the rest of us quietly feel the weight of it.

And of course - the coach who realized the moment mattered more than the medal (Delaney).

                                       

Nobody was ahead.
Nobody was behind.
We were all just here, in the middle of a great TAPPS Tennis Championship that was messy, meaningful, unpredictable, and absolutely worth it… the kind of moment you know God’s fingerprints are all over.

Just like TightLine Catfishing:
You can’t rush the bite.
You can’t force the moment.
You just show up, stay patient, and let the good stuff happen when it’s ready.

So wherever you are today, on a court, golf course, on a dock, walking the dog, or just catching your breath after a long week:

You’re here.
Enjoy it.
Make the most of it.

That’s TightLine.

     
 

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

From time to time, we love to mix in Tennis with our TightLine Catfishing stories...

here's an "OFFICIAL" one 

TightLine Tennis: The Tennis Lesson

Jane Hammond served for decades as one of the very best tennis officials in Texas, and she’s still going strong, watching tennis every single day. This quick story is about Jane and Rick, and the day Rick decided to settle an old tennis argument, the only civilized way two TightLine people can: on a tennis court, with Dazy and Lake Belton behind them.

I stood at the net as a Roving Umpire, while Dazy patrolled the sidelines like a real Wimbledon Official.

Knowing what Rick was thinking, I shared this thought with them before the match, I quoted something Leni's distant Greek cousin, Aristotle, might have said: “It is the mark of an educated man to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

Jane nodded.
“Good. Rick, entertain the thought you can beat me,” she said, bouncing the ball like Djokovic before the serve. “Don’t accept it!”

Rick grinned like a man who’d already accepted it anyhow.

Jane served her classic slices, low, deliberate, TightLine‑style, the kind of serve that doesn’t look dangerous until it lands exactly where she planned!

AND OF COURSE - Rick called it "Out!"

I overruled, giving a quick hand signal - calling it in.
Dazy gave Rick the sideways ears-up “you deserved that” stare.

Rick sighed.
“I entertained the thought I won that point,” he said. “Turns out enlightenment is painful.”

He looked at me, then at Jane, and made a good suggestion...
“So… catfishing anyone?”

Jane bounced her ball on the court.
“ONLY after class is dismissed, young man...”

Later that day... 

Co-Captain Rick discovered that a good TightLine catfish catch is better than a tennis beating any day! 

BONUS PICTURES

Here are some special pictures of our Texas award-winning official and the favorite of thousands of tennis players across Texas and the U.S., our friend and family member, Jane Hammond.

Jane is peeking in on me at the tournament desk, making sure I don’t stick Rick on Court 9 again - if you've been to the Charlie McCleary Tennis Center, it's the one held together by hope, duct tape, and prayer.

Jane and Mrs. Vera Lee, one made the calls, the other made the Tennis Center run. 

Together, they kept that tennis center tighter than a TightLine knot.

 

Leni and Jane, incredible ladies, steady hands, wise voices, and two blessings on this Easter I don’t take lightly.

Andre Agassi met greatness that day... and so did Jane!

Special times with the people I love.

2009 USTA/Texas Official of the Year.

Seems like yesterday. No one has touched more players, parents, and officials with more grace and devotion. She’s far more than an umpire; she’s a Texas tennis ambassador through and through. And yes… she’s even got bragging rights over Rick. 

That's "Officially" TightLine certified

“Twin Bridges, One Leaky Legend, and Catch of the Day” 

This ballad was cooked up under Lake Waco’s twin bridges,
live from the leaky deck of the USS Sassy.
Credit goes to Owen, Wilder, Dazy, and Rick.
Names, lakes, timestamps, and the “super‑secret bait”
have been altered to protect the not‑so‑innocent… here goes.

Fog on the water, we cast again,

From the USS Sassy, 1984 14‑ft center‑console beauty.

She leaks like a WikiLeaks dump in the dead of night,

rides low in the stern,

But she’s too dang stubborn to ever overturn.

                                

DazyDoodle sniffin’ high, doin’ the spin,

Golden doodle FBI… still can’t find her own tail again.

Super‑secret TightLine bait, don’t tell a soul!

(It’s just cheap chicken Walmart weiners in a Tupperware bowl).

Dug “THE” catfish lurkin’ down below,

Older than Rick’s truck and twice as slow.

He smirks at our lines, rolls his whiskers and grins,

“Y’all still here? Bless your hearts... nice try my, TightLine friends.”

AI GENERATED (cause i figured it out!)

Owen and Wilder, wild as loose kites,

One casts for the moon; one tangles with night.

Future of TightLine, already legends in play,

When you fish for what’s good, life serves a “catch of the day.”

I told the captive group, my distant‑distant cousin Kurt Cobain once almost claimed,

“They laugh at me because I’m different.

I laugh at them ’cause they’re all the same.”

Owen and Wilder paused, heads tilted like baby philosophers,

trying to decide if Kurt meant the catfish… or them.

ALSO - AI GENERATED (again, cause i figured it out!)

Out of nowhere, Rick broke the silence with his latest conviction:

the Adult Drink of TightLine Catfishing

is headed toward Ensure ... strawberry and chocolate edition,

a blend he claims jump‑starts early mornings

and excuses questionable decisions.

Lake Waco whispers, “Stay one more hour.”

Lake Belton answers, “Bring strong bug spray power.”

Mosquitoes buzzing like jets on trim,

We fight ’em off with a cooler of Slim Jims.

It ain’t glitter boats, it ain’t fancy bling,

It’s the USS Sassy, leakin’ like a screen door in a hurricane.

Rick, me, two grandsons, one doodle with the zoomies,
a running prayer drifting over the water:
“Lord, don’t let us be the news at six, please.”
And Coach Lou Holtz whispers from above... 
do right, do your best, show folks you care.
So we try… in our own TightLine way,
with chicken weiners, a leaky boat,
and enough bug spray to fog the whole bay.

MY DAD and a CATFISH ROCK-GREATNESS (somewhat true) story

My dad was telling me about the time his distant cousin Jimi H. and distant cousin (from the other side of the fam) Janis J. went fishing together. According to him, it was one of those excellent mornings where Lake Waco was calm and there was no way they shouldn’t catch catfish...

For some weird reason, a few hours into NOTHING, Jimi was staring at the water just mesmerized when he finally said, “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”

Dad said he wasn’t being deep; he was actually talking about catfishing.

“Knowledge” was Jimi explaining for the tenth time why his super-secret dough bait should work.

“Wisdom” was the catfish ignoring him completely.

Janis didn’t even look up. She just flicked her tightline and said, “The more you live, the less you die.”

Dad said she meant keep your tightline in the water long enough and eventually something happens. Or it doesn’t. Either way, you’re still alive and the catfish are still laughing.

After a long stretch of nothing, Jimi asked, “Janis, you think there’s catfishing in heaven?”

Janis shrugged. “No idea. But whichever one of us goes first must come back and let the other know.”

A few weeks later, Jimi died (Sep 1970).

Dad said one quiet morning, a few weeks later, he and Janis were back on Lake Waco alone, because that’s how these stories work, and she heard a whisper drift across the water:

“Janis… it’s me. Jimi. I got some good news and not so good news”

She didn’t even flinch. “So? They got catfishing up there?”

“Oh yeah, tournaments every morning!” Jimi said. “Perfect weather. Clear water. Catfish practically volunteering to jump in your boat.”

Janis nodded. “What’s the bad news?”

Jimi sighed.

“You’re scheduled to fish in the tournament tomorrow morning…” (Oct 1970)

BONUS: Here's my grandson hitting a homerun! - (20+) Facebook

 

TightLine Catfishing Thanks - Jimmy and Janet

After 1,736 Sundays — more than 33 years — of faithful service at Church Under the Bridge in Waco, Jimmy and Janet have announced their retirement as leaders, effective the week after Easter. What began in 1993 as a breakfast meal and Bible study with six homeless men and women under the I-35 bridge became a congregation of more than 225 friends: Black, white, and brown; rich and poor; educated in the streets and in the university — all serving the same God who created us all.

Through funerals, weddings, letters to prisoners, meals, softball games, songs, baptisms, and more hugs than we can count, Jimmy and Janet have walked alongside the poor and marginalized, and those whose wealth and privilege needed reorienting toward the kingdom of God. Their leadership has been a living sermon of grace, grit, and gospel.

A Personal Note from TightLine

Jimmy is a great friend and tennis buddy from way back, I was blessed to work with his family on the tennis courts for many years, and I got my start with TightLine Catfish donations through him and CUB - Church Under the Bridge. His encouragement and example helped shape our ministry’s heart for feeding and fellowship. 

The Tightline Crew: Rick, Dazy and I honor their legacy and celebrate their next chapter: more global trips to serve the poor and unreached in Haiti, Mexico City, and South Asia; continued teaching at Baylor, Truett Seminary, and local churches; and loving on their 12 grandchildren!

Here are few pictures from this past Sunday at Church Under the Bridge

The size of the congregation varies each weekend, 

but usually there are about 100 to 150 people.

 

Baylor students helped with a Health Fair, which brought out a few extra attendees.

Our line stretched far under the bridge—TightLine Catfish served about 150 plates.

Roughly 560 pieces of TightLine catfish hit the fryers under Interstate 35, 

Kyle, Liz, and Bill were slinging plates so fast the bridge shook more than the traffic!

What a GREAT crew of servers: Leni, Alex, Wil, Harper, and Wilder, backed by 

GREAT FRIENDS…Eddie, Bill, Kyle, and Liz, 

who somehow made serving under Interstate 35 feel like home.

Rick getting some TightLine hugs from Alex

WE ARE SO BLESSED!

HERE's What You Pick Up Between Casts and Catfish Fry's - a TightLine Thing!

Two Really Cool TightLine Catfisherman... Owen and Wilder

The older I get, the more I realize my Dad is right - the lake doesn’t rush its LIFE LESSON'S.

It teaches slow and deliberate, like when Dazy takes the co-captain seat and gives me that sideways “you deserved that” stare or when Rick eases in and takes the steering with zero discussion, and suddenly I’m just a passenger in my own story...

 

Here are a few TightLine Catfishing "Life Lesson" Thoughts...

a TightLine Thing!: Tweakin’ Your Own Rod-n-Reel

Life shifts. People shift. Sometimes the drag starts screaming when it shouldn’t.

You don’t chunk the whole Shimano Bullwhip custome TightLine rod-n-reel in Lake Waco, you adjust it, clean it, 

and keep catfishing.

Growth isn’t always dramatic; it’s just turning the star drag one click at a time. 

                             

a TightLine Thing!: Lettin’ the Catfish Speak for Itself

You don’t have to argue every point or prove you’re right.

Fry it golden, set it on the table, love the folks eating it.

Good work and good love speak louder than any debate.

                                                         Co-Captain - Rick            First Mates - Owen and Wilder

a TightLine Thing!: Pickin’ Your Tightline Crew Like It Matters

You can’t fish with everybody.

Some folks steady the boat when the wind kicks up.

Some folks rock it just to watch the catfish cooler slide.

Choose the steady ones -life’s too short for drama on the water.

      

a TightLine Thing!: Stayin’ Calm When the Line Tangles

It’s gonna tangle. Guaranteed.

Plans tangle, feelings tangle, tennis players tangle, families tangle.

The TightLine move is to breathe deep, work the knot out slowly, and keep the line in the water.

Calm spreads faster than panic.

a TightLine Thing!: Lovin’ the Quiet Dock

Sometimes the best part of the day is when the boat’s tied up, the lake’s glass, 

and it’s just you, Dazy, and the crickets.

Alone isn’t lonely when you’re right where you’re supposed to be.

a TightLine Thing!: Standin’ in the Heat of the Fryer

Growth isn’t always comfortable.

It can be hot, loud, and sometimes it burns a little.

But that’s where the magic happens -plain catfish goes in, golden beauty comes out.

Granddaughter - Addelyn - AKA - Addy-cakes!

a TightLine Thing!: Steerin’ Your Own Boat

Trust your gut, trust your heart, trust the One who made the water, and steer your life in a way that honors Him.

A TightLine Thing! 

It shows up in the way you speak to people,

the way you shoulder what life brings,

and the quiet peace you feel at night

when your head and heart both rest in sync.

That’s the TightLine way.

And around here, that’s more than enough.