Pickleball’s Outspoken Commentator
July 22, 2024
The legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell was once simultaneously voted the most popular and the most disliked sportscaster in America.
Professional pickleball analyst Jim Kloss is sparking similarly strong reactions from viewers and followers. Kloss has been called “an arrogant p- - - k” by a podcaster, “condescending”, and other derivations of a “know it all” who believes only his opinion is the right one.
However, plenty of pro pickleball fans enjoy Kloss’ outspoken nature, that he’s not a milquetoast, isn’t afraid to criticize players, engages with fans online and respect his opinions.
Like Cosell, before becoming a commentator Kloss was an attorney. “I was an excellent and successful lawyer, and bring that background to pickleball analysis,” Kloss told me.
No one’s comparing Cosell’s impact on sports broadcasting to Kloss’ on pickleball, but as pro pickleball’s viewership grows, more fans will be hearing from and about Jim Kloss.
Kloss has been the analyst on approximately 100 Professional Pickleball Association matches streamed on YouTube since January. Kloss says the PPA’s Tour CEO Connor Pardoe offered him the job. “I presume he recognized my expertise, as have many pros who have asked me for advice,” Kloss said.
Kloss spent 32 years as an attorney at a national law firm in his hometown of Cleveland. He specialized in civil defense of insurance companies and corporations. He was an equity partner and did well. He’s 64 and retired when he was in his 50’s. He has five daughters and lives with his wife Annie in Paradise Valley, Arizona, a town the Wall Street Journal once called “The Beverly Hills of Arizona.”
He discovered pickleball accidentally in 2012 while driving home from a friend’s house. “I got to an intersection where I normally turned one direction and for reasons unknown, I turned the other way, to take a different route,” he said. “That led me past a club where people were out playing pickleball. I had some time so I stopped to ask what they were doing. They laughed and said ‘Playing pickleball.’ I said, ‘What the heck is pickleball?’, as I had never heard of it. They showed me how to play and I was hooked.”
He developed into a 5.0 player and won over 100 competitive events, including a gold medal at Nationals. He also performs statistical analysis of the game, consults on court construction, and is a frequent online writer on pickleball topics.
Unlike other public figures who ignore critical social media posts, Kloss often responds, as long as the dissenter makes what Kloss believes is an intelligent argument without the juvenile name-calling so common online. He loves a good, well-constructed argument. His venue has changed from courtrooms to chat rooms.
“I’m not interested in just posting on Facebook about how we played today in Phoenix and [that] it was hot [outside]. I’m interested in exploring and debating the issues I find interesting in pickleball. I enjoy a good debate. But 20 percent or so of people can’t handle the idea of a free and open discussion, so those are the trolls I have to deal with,” Kloss said.
He’s blocked some trolls while responding to comments he deems deserving of further discussion. In The Pickleball Forum Facebook group, a poster called Kloss, “The biggest keyboard warrior in pickleball.” The same guy wrote that Kloss posts, “Novel after novel admiring his own thoughts day in and day out begging for attention,” and, “if he doesn’t like your comment, you are blocked and [deemed] a waste of space and oxygen.”
Kloss says, “People who disagree with my opinions and have a good take are my favorite people to talk to. They make me think and they make me improve my analysis. I know a lot, but I’m always learning more. I appreciate people who make me think.”
Kloss recently wrote that Ben Johns should dump his brother Collin as his doubles partner and team with a better player. After a Facebook respondent commented, incorrectly, that Ben has been “losing with everyone,” Kloss replied, “Watch much mixed doubles?”
Kloss wrote in another Facebook post, “95+ percent of people who follow pro pickleball know very little about the game.”
He says he doesn’t accept pay from paddle companies, not only because he doesn’t need the money. “Nothing anyone would offer me would influence my opinions, but many people think it does, so I don’t take money,” he said. “I can say that and satisfy people [that] I’m unbiased.”
Kloss says being an analyst for pro matches “is a fun task done occasionally. I don’t care to travel all over the country for it though.”
Engaging with fans online requires no travel, and as pickleball grows, Jim Kloss’ stature figures to grow with it.
My Thoughts of the Week, not all pickleball
- RIP Bob Newhart. One of the funniest comedians ever, who died Thursday at 94, had two hit sitcoms over his long career. Newhart was one of those rare overnight success stories. He was working as an accountant just months before his first comedy album was recorded. “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” won the Grammy Award in 1961 as album of the year, beating out records by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Harry Belafonte.
- Two weeks ago I wrote about a disputed call that occurred during a rec play pickleball doubles match. In case you missed it, here’s what happened:
I was serving with the score at 10-10-2. I thought my serve hit the center line before it rolled straight down the middle and off the court. The receiving opponent calls it out. Her partner says, “I think it was in.” The woman who called it out then says, “I thought it was out and I don’t call balls out unless I’m 100 percent sure.” I smile and say, “If you disagree, then it’s in.” The woman repeats her claim that she doesn’t call balls out unless she’s “100 percent sure.” She’s adamant, so I say nothing more, she gets serve and her team goes on to beat mine, 12-10.
I know it’s only rec play but if I was on the other side and my partner and I disagreed on a call I’d abide by the rules and the serve would be in. Also, earlier in that match the woman stopped an errant serve of mine with her hand while standing in the up position by the kitchen (I need to stop with the bad serves, I’m aware). Technically that should’ve been my team’s point, but my partner and I said nothing. That was in the back of my mind when the disputed serve call arose.
I enjoy getting your opinions on pickleball issues, so I requested that you email me your reactions. Here are a few of your responses:
Steve Newcomer
Lancaster, PA
“My theory at rec play is it’s not worth the argument if you can’t get consensus. However, I would point out the rule and remember who is notorious for making bad calls.”
Ray Lutha
Riverside, IL
“Since it was only rec play I would have let it go this time. But if playing her again and a similar disputed call develops, I would be reluctant to yield, reminding her of the two previous incidents you mentioned which she didn't follow the rules and benefited from.”
Quentin Walls
Pickerington, OH
“I'd probably just let it go and make a mental note not to play with her in the future if at all possible. (And if I had to play with her, totally nitpick the rules when she messed up.”)
Chris Reynolds
Isle of Man (Chris is the local representative for Pickleball North West UK)
“In rec play any doubts we play a let.”
Mary Hilton
Weaverville, NC
“I'll just say that when it comes to calling balls in or out, a generous spirit inspires the other team. A mean and adamant call makes the other team return the favor! Something to keep in mind. That and remembering it is just a game.”
Warren Anderson
Southern California
“She is definitely wrong per the rules. Do you want to call her out/make a scene? Is it worth it? But definitely you don’t want to play with her again.”
Barney Agate
Tamarac, FL
“My judgment/reaction is that if I mention my disagreement, and they still want to argue, I dismiss them immediately and just say something like, ‘Times a’wasting’, or ‘This is rec, not worth arguing, let’s get back to playing.’ My love of playing pickleball means to get our rears in gear and play, not argue.”
-I’ve never played better than I have over the past two weeks since using Hudef’s new Mage Pro Gen2 16mm paddle (it also comes in 14mm). Friends have noticed, asked me about the paddle and several ordered it. The Mage Pro Gen2 has a great mix of control, spin, power and pop for me. It retails for $169.99 but if you use my discount code of MS30 at checkout the price drops to $119. The same discount and code apply to the Viva Pro Gen3, which is more of a power paddle.
-I’m excited to announce that I’ve been named a columnist and contributing writer for Pickleball Magazine. My first piece is in the July/August issue that’s out now. It’s about the only two players in pickleball history with shots named after them. They hadn’t given interviews in years and besides being fantastic players, they’re fascinating people.
This weekly column for Hudef will continue. When I retired in 2020 after 40 years on TV news, I didn’t think I’d want to work again. Now I’m working two part-time jobs.
But it doesn’t feel like work because pickleball and writing are two of my passions.
Matthew with his wife, Susan
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-On another personal note, my wife and I met 10 years ago this week and got married two and a half years ago. When I look at her I sometimes think of the line I first heard from the Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells. I was a television reporter in New York and in the Giants locker room after a practice during the 1986 playoffs (the Giants would win their first Super Bowl a month later). Upon meeting the attractive wife of a sportswriter, Parcells, who was equal parts gruff and funny, told the writer, “You over-married.”
I did, too.