This "The Daily Show" Spoof Further Proves Pickleball Has Made the Mainstream

How can we tell when pickleball has officially made it? We get spoofed on "The Daily Show."

And it's a good one.

In the clip, Michael Kosta, "The Daily Show" correspondent, recounts his former professional tennis glory days when he was ranked No. 864 in the world.

McEnroe enters the scene

He goes on to sit down with McEnroe – not John, but his brother Patrick – who is also a former professional tennis player and current tennis commentator for ESPN.

The two of them riff on the obnoxiousness of pickleball versus the elegance of tennis. At one point, McEnroe mimics the gracefulness of a tennis swing before showcasing the choppiness of a pickleball swing.

"It's like a car crash," Kosta says.

After this exchange (and after each of the former tennis pros smell a fresh pack of balls), Kosta interviews Albert, known as "The Pickleball Doctor."

The interaction breaks down the silly terminology that pickleball players use in their sport – kitchen, dink, dill, falafel before pointing out the totally not "stupid, made up words" that tennis has, such as deuce, love, and scoring by 40s and 15s.

"Just try it"

The clip continues with a game of doubles pickleball. After "The Pickleball Doctor" reveals he has a twin brother, Kosta brings in Ronny (Ronny Chieng, another "The Daily Show" correspondent) to play alongside him.

The segment is great and all in jest. It's clear that everyone involved had a lot of fun and it proves that pickleball is truly coming into its own.

Maybe segments like this one will lighten the feud between tennis and pickleball.

As long as Big Tennis can play nice, our arms are as open as their courts.