Longboat Key Tennis Legend Jerry Schneider Dies

Andy Roddick's Predecessor, Jerry Schneider,

the Pioneer of Indoor Tennis,

Goes to Heaven

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ ' s Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, welcomed Jerry Schneider at the Pearly Gates recently. Tennis greats Arthur Ashe and Big Bill Tilden also awaited Mr. Schneider's arrival. They congratulated Jerry for creating the nation's very first Indoor Tennis facility in Illinois and for his exemplary work as the first president of the Indoor Tennis Association. Many other saints the dearly departed attended a big party carrying signs that said "Jerry Schneider Is and Was Ahead of His Time," "Age is Just a Number" and "Jerry Schneider, Two Time Senior Olympics Champion at age 80 - Something."

Saint Matthew, the tax collecting, banking Saint publicly apologized to Jerry for the way banks treated him "back-in-the-day" in the 1950's when he was first thinking up Indoor Tennis. Matt said "The bankers should have listened to Jerry earlier than they did but thankfully his Dad stepped in and embraced his indoor tennis idea." Saint Lucy the visionary praised Jerry and noted that the former editor of Tennis Magazine called Jerry "the father of modern Indoor Tennis." Saint George, the patron of soldiers, recalled Jerry Schneider's heroic efforts in World War II. The evangelist Saints, also known as "fishers of men," also commended Jerry for his success competing in tarpon fishing tournaments while in his 80's.

Jerry spoke briefly and said he will always love tennis, and he asked the Saints to help a great Indoor Tennis player, Andy Roddick, win the 2007 United States Open. His request was met with thunderous applause and his suggestion approved by acclamation. Look for Andy Roddick to play a saintsational U.S. Open this year!

The "Faith Based MySpace"

Robbie Davidson's "Faith Based MySpace" at http://www.xianz.com/

Katie Zezima, a journalist, has written about a new website, http://www.xianz.com/, which describes itself as a "Faith Based MySpace." The site does not welcome content that is deemed inappropriate, such as explicit sexual content, posts filled with obscenities, or derogatory language in general. Though Xianz does not have nearly as many members as MySpace, it manages to maintain a fairly closed group who are simply not interested in interacting with folks whose ideals or lives are antithetically different than their own. A young member of Xianz, Caitlin, age 16, says " I use Xianz because it is a place that I can come to and have fellowship with friends ... [and enjoy ] helping others." It seems Mr. Davidson has followed the age old maxim for success, "it's quality, not quantity" and we congratulate him for his vision to create a web site with high ethical standards.