Yin and Yang Pair Heads to Nationals

By Jen Mulson - Red Line Editorial

This doubles team has a safe word: muskrat.

Whenever Sam Johnson gets a little too intense on the court, his doubles partner, Dan Falliaux, mutters the word.

“He stops me from being a total nightmare on the court to other people,” Johnson said.

“When he starts going to the dark side, I tell him ‘muskrat,’” Falliaux said. “He’s really competitive.”

Johnson’s mixed doubles partner also uses the same word with Johnson. But what does he do when he plays singles?

“Then I have to lock it down,” Johnson said.

The tactic must be working. Johnson and Falliaux took home the gold in the men’s doubles 3.5, 30+ division at USA Pickleball’s Golden Ticket tournament held July 9-13 in Colorado Springs.

Johnson also won gold in 4.0, 30+ singles, which earned him the two medals he proudly wore around his neck on July 12.

The wins qualify the two men from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, for the upcoming USA Pickleball National Championships on Nov. 15-23 in San Diego.

It will be their first time at Nationals, though they’ve played together for months in tournaments around the western half of the country, including California, Arizona and Utah.

While Johnson is an equal-opportunity pickleball competitor — he loves singles and doubles — Falliaux is devoted to doubles. It’s like a chess match, he says.

“You’re moving players around,” he said. “The game’s more interesting to me. I have a female doubles partner and we love playing together. I just love having a teammate out on the court with me.”

The two men are like yin and yang when it comes to their style of play. Johnson is intense on the court, while Falliaux is more of a socialite, Johnson says.

“He just wants to go and make best friends with everyone on the court all the time,” he said. “I play every single event just to taste blood, honestly.”

Falliaux points out Johnson does come from a hockey background, after all.

“I did come from hockey, but that’s not it,” Johnson said. “I’m here to compete because I want to win. Sometimes when Dan is exchanging numbers with the other team mid-point, I struggle with that.”

Playing indoors during the Golden Ticket tournament required some adjustment on the duo’s part. Normally, they play on outdoor courts, so adjusting to an indoor facility took a little more effort.

“The lighting, the air, the colors of the courts all factor in,” Johnson said.

“When you’re going to dink and you’re looking down at a color you’re not used to, like the teal courts, the color kind of disappears on you,” Falliaux said. “But conversely, if you’re outdoors you’ve got the sun to deal with and the wind. The elements can be variables, versus here where it’s a controlled environment.”

The two first met on a pickleball court. Falliaux picked up the sport about three years ago when an older neighbor in his apartment building suggested they play. The tennis courts, which had always been dead, were suddenly animated by dozens of pickleball players, which intrigued Falliaux.

“I said what’s going on over there?” Falliaux said. “I went out once and got totally addicted and that increased. I’m normally an introvert; I don’t put myself out to anybody. I’d mountain bike, ski and be a loner, and now I’ve met all these people, and my network has expanded with lifelong friends.”

Meanwhile, Johnson started playing only a couple of years ago with his fiancée, his brother and his brother’s fiancée. They’d take a bunch of beers with them onto the courts.

“We were like this is a stupid sport and then here we are, two years later,” he said. “It’s changed my lifestyle. All the people at high levels trying to play this game at high levels have healthy lifestyles and improve. It’s very much a healthy, chic thing.”

That health aspect is a big reason both men love the sport. They see older people competing in the 80+ divisions and want to drink from that same pickleball fountain of youth.

“It gives me a positive long-term outlook on life,” Johnson said. “You can see these people and say I could be doing this for the next 45 years.”

Pickleball has changed their lives in numerous positive ways. They each focus more on nutrition and exercise now, and both go to a personal trainer who creates specific pickleball workouts for them.

“It’s not about the level we’re playing at, it’s about you’re playing against the person you were yesterday,” Johnson said. “You get into midlife where you’re not competing like when you were young and an athlete. It’s an opportunity to compete and bring out the best parts of what childhood was — being around your friends all the time and playing games.”