Nile’s Karl Sanders Says Pickleball Restored His Faith in Humanity
Yes, you read that correctly. I did a double-take when I first read it, too. Nile‘s founding frontman Karl Sanders revealed a little secret of his recently. This fool loves pickleball, a little deeper than probably anyone else on Earth does.
He went on Side Jams with Bryan Reesman to talk about his adoration for the sport, saying that for some reason it’s “restored his faith in humanity.” I’ve never encountered anything that’s made me feel that way, but maybe I should try pickleball. Watch his full interview with Reesman below.
Sanders, who admitted he plays with a Cannibal Corpse paddle which is fuckin awesome, switched to playing the game after his usual tennis partner, former Nile drummer Pete Hammoura, was unable to play anymore. Longing for a similar sort of connection, pickleball seemingly solved that problem.
“There’s a social aspect to the game, and it somehow is a game that encourages sportsmanship and politeness with your opponents. You’re pretty close to each other, especially if you’re playing doubles and your partner’s right next to you. So it encourages, in the most incredible way, very nice socialism between people. You’ll see the best human behavior you could possibly imagine on the pickleball court. It’s unbelievable. [If] you ran into that person in the parking lot at Walmart it would probably be a normal Walmart parking lot experience, you know, not necessarily the most humane thing imaginable. But put those same people on a pickleball court together, and they act like civilized human beings who care about one another. It’s just the damnedest thing.
“After the pandemic, I was very disappointed in how I saw people treating each other. I was like human beings are better than this. It is possible to be a good person and treat other human beings like human beings. Pickleball has restored my faith in humanity.”
I have never played pickleball because I have literally no interest in that or tennis. But, since humanity is the shittiest thing that’s ever existed, maybe it’s time to give this a go. If you try it and have a miraculous revelation, please let me know.
