I got to the women's gold medal game just as it was wrapping up, and amazingly, they were still running, though during a change of sides there was a joking request to stop using drop shots, and I was asked to prolong my interview to give everyone a breather. I handed my tiny battery operated fan to people as I spoke with them. The team from Tennessee, Gay Eisen and Teresa Kirby, both from Nashville, eventually lost to the Hawaiian team 8 - 2, but seemed unimportant, as the players wanted to talk more about their transplants and their lives. Gay is thriving after receiving a liver 11 years ago, and Teresa has received 4 kidneys, the most recent in 2000. Though they did not win the gold, they had survived the heat -- and much more. It takes grit.

On the winning team from Hawaii, Sandy Webster had received 2 kidneys -- one from her father in 1977 and the other from her husband, Chris, in 1995. Her partner, Abby Lorica, had defeated her in a singles match the day before. Abby was accompanied by her husband, Eric, and her one-year-old son, Jonah, who was in her arms shortly after the final point of the match. Abby received her kidney from her brother, Gerry, 6 years ago. "I didn't expect to have this child," she said. "God has given him to me, and nothing will take him away."

Having Jonah is not the only lifelong dream that her transplant has allowed her to achieve. She has returned to school and is working on her nursing degree. She said of her life, "After my transplant my life has changed dramatically, and I'm able to play tennis again and live life to the fullest. My family has gotten closer than ever."

I felt like a wimp for complaining about the heat, though I was reassured by Eric and Abby that it's not this uncomfortable with Hawaii's breezes.

I walked slowly to the adjoining court as the Bronze Medal Match was ending, won by the Georgia team 8 - 3 over Kentucky. The only available shade was under my hat.

As usual, the athletes had stories to tell that made both the heat and the tennis match seem relatively unimportant -- though these athletes in the heat of competition are as focused as any athletes.

Jill Ausmus received her liver in November of 1994. She knew the donor's family -- in fact, the donor had been part of her wedding. He died suddenly at age 49 from falling down the stairs, and so Jill lives on, playing singles one day and doubles the next and, back in Kentucky, working as an insurance administrator.

Her partner, Tina Kauffmann, is a kidney recipient from Louisville. She had experienced trouble with her kidneys since she was 3, but she said she was OK until she was 24, when her health started to deteriorate. She went on dialysis at age 29. "I prayed to receive a kidney before my 30th birthday," she said, and her prayers were answered with just 4 hours to spare. Tina now works as a fundraiser for Bellarmine University.

The winning team from Georgia had equally moving stories -- as does everyone I bump into at these games. Carolyn Riticher received a kidney from her brother on May 9, 1999, so that "my mom had 2 of her 3 kids on the table on Mother's Day." Quite a gift. Carolyn's husband kibitzed over her shoulder that she is a partner in a CPA firm and president-elect of the Georgia Society of CPA's.

Her partner, Donna Renbarger, also had a tale to tell. She received her liver in 1998 from a young man killed in a car accident. She actually received it on her husband's birthday, September 16. She apologized to him for not having a gift for him, and though I don't know the exact words of his response, we can all imagine them. If that's not enough drama: While sick and awaiting the transplant, her home was destroyed by a tornado, and she and her husband were forced to live in an apartment for 9 months. Transplant recipients often talk about how their lives have changed, and the tornado certainly underscored that change in this case.

I was able to forget the heat completely when sitting with Andrea Fuller and watching her cheer on Team Tennessee: her husband, Travis, and his partner and cousin, Billy Jarvis. Their struggles as a family have been immense because their kidney disease, known as Alport's Syndrome, is genetically inherited. To date there have been 12 kidney transplants in the family, and more may loom in the future because Billy has two little boys, and the family is waiting to see if the disease emerges. Travis was in the hospital visiting his brother who was sick from a rejection episode when he got the call that his transplant was available -- 2 1/2 years ago on Thanksgiving Day. Every illness is in a sense a family illness, and this is certainly no exception.

Billy, 33, has a power tennis game. His first serve is hard, and he lets up a bit by slicing his second. He showed tremendous energy in the heat, running down the lobs, drop shots, and careful placements of their older and highly skilled opponents. He has a killer two-handed topspin backhand, and he absolutely crushed in an overhead slam the rare short lob sent his way.

Billy's energy on the court was evidence of the energy he has brought to these games and, I suspect, to the life he has been given. Andrea told me that yesterday he played singles for the Bronze Medal, and 30 minutes later he played in a 3x3 basketball game. After today's doubles match he will play basketball for the Gold Medal. And Saturday he'll swim in a relay with his cousin. He also wanted to play golf, but he could not fit it into his schedule.

Travis also plays a power game, using his lanky frame to advantage. Slighter of build than his cousin, he did not show the hard-charging energy of Billy, but they both ran every ball down. It was youth (Billy is 33, Travis 29) vs. experience in the heat.