Squash Wrestles With the Past

The recent decision by the IOC to remove wrestling from the Olympic games could spell trouble for squash. 

The decision-making at the IOC is famously obtuse. (For a good peek behind the Olympic curtain, check out Brett Erasmus' blog on the subject, here.) We know they have made some very strange decisions through the years, like allowing into the games some very odd and made-up sports, such as synchronized diving, and like refusing entree for some sports that clearly deserve their ticket into the games, like squash.

Most recently we have been treated to the mystifying decision to remove wrestling from the games, which is perfectly ludicrous. Wrestling is a core sport of the Olympics, it is foundational, it is an original Olympic game, it is iconic and now, at least temporarily, it has been shunned. 

Why? Only God knows, but I smell the acrid stench of politics at work. Internal politics, the kind where one fat-cat weasel slaps the back of another during a closed meeting at some posh resort, and asks, Hey, can you do me a favor? 

Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

That wrestling was kicked out means that some other sport was left in. Look to the weaker sports in the Olympics to find your culprit, the sport that made the backroom deal. Some sports have been mentioned, but lacking any proof I will venture no public guesses.

But for squash lovers I see trouble. Wrestling, now relegated to the same uncomfortable spot where squash, karate, and a handful of other supplicant sports wait in exile, has begun to work a mighty, far-flung PR effort to get the sport readmitted. The sport has declared it is willing to make all necessary tweaks to their program to set aright some of the problems mentioned by the IOC. The sport is important in the US and very big in Russia, Iran, and several of the "Stan" countries, and is truly international (unlike synchro diving!), so the PR effort carries tremendous clout. If wrestling makes some quick changes it may well be very difficult to stop. 

Wouldn't it be horrible for squash to lose out for a third time because the IOC decided to readmit a sport it had just cast out!

We in squash feel like our chances should be good. Our own PR effort has been excellent, and we have professionals managing the campaign. I definitely still feel squash has a shot, but that shot would be much much better if the IOC hadn't decided to expel wrestling. The casting out of wrestling by the IOC may well have been a very dark day indeed for the sport of squash. I hope I'm wrong.
 

       

PST Short On Sizzle

I'm on record as saying that the sport of squash needs to do something about the arguing, cajoling, ranting, raving, bickering and jaw-boning that occurs when lets and strokes are called in pro action, and the PST's attempt to do away with, or at least severely limit, these calls was I felt a welcome change. (That being said, the problem could also be addressed by encouraging refs to make it a rule to always adamantly squelch any dialogue and get the combatants to play the game or suffer the loss of points.)

The PST has set up their own tour, but because of on-going disputes with the PSA the players in the latter organization are not allowed to play in the former's events. Animosity developed over PST's marketing approach, which could be cheeky, to say the least, such as their referring to the winner of the annual show-down of the PST's 'elite eight' as the sports 'World Champion.' I don't know much about the politics of this situation and so won't comment on it, but I do know that the two groups are not ready to coexist.

However, this situation has led to a sizzle shortage in the PST.

Because of the PSA lockout there is a tendency in PST tournaments to rely on good local talent to fill out the card, so that good college players show up at the tournaments to get beaten by more established pro players. These are interesting matches as far as they go, but I could see a good match with some 5.5 players at my local club pretty much any day of the week -- what makes these matches tournament-worthy?

There is also a question of desire. I actually tuned into the web-streamed third-place match during the World Champion tournament and watched Mohamed El Sherbini take on Stefano Galifi. The match was not of particularly high quality and included two games where each player opted to hand the other the game. The worst was game two when Galifi, for reasons unbeknownst to this reporter, apparently gave up midway through the game and let Sherbini rattle off 7 or 8 uncontested winners. The next game, that situation was reversed. Sherbini won the match in 5, but those two games were some of the worst 'pro' games I have ever witnessed. 

So there is a question of desire, and that may have something to do with the purse, I don't know. But there's also one more factor you have to remember. His name is David Palmer. Palmer is still playing at world-class level, he could easily go back to the PSA and be top 15 without a problem, and better still with time. The fact is if he joins the draw in a PST match, and cares at all about the outcome, he's going to win. 

And that sucks the life out of the match, because it is like watching a story whose ending you know all too well. Great for Palmer; not so good for PST.

New York Squash All Abuzz

Here's a development that has gotten the New York City squash community to take notice: A proposed 16-court squash complex in downtown Manhattan, which has recently graduated from 'pipe dream' to 'quite possible.' And the idea is founded on a different model than similar concepts from the past. This club would be a non-profit, in essence a 'Squash YMCA." 

Check out their website for more info.

This could be something big.  16 courts big...., with 14 singles and 2 hardball doubles courts, plus an all-glass show court. Sweet.

 

Squash Differentiators

I've noticed a few things about squash players that I wonder about. 

One is what players do with the squash racket in between games. A lot of players will leave their racket on the court as they go outside for a quick drink in between games. But quite a few will take the racket with them when they go get the drink or sit briefly down to regain their composure. In fact, the difference, as far as I can estimate, between these two camps is pretty much 50-50, although I think the percentage who leave the racket on the court is a bit higher. Personally, I leave the racket on the court, often dropping it unceremoniously at the moment the game has concluded and heading straight for the door. I don't know what this means: Are those who take their racket out with them more focused? Are those who leave the racket on court more driven? Not sure... I do know that if you watch matches on PSA TV you will discover many instances where one player leaves the racket, the other player doesn't, as if leaving two rackets on the court may initiate an unseemly squabble between the two rackets. Don't leave them alone, it might get ugly!

Another thing I've noticed is the headband-bandanna divide. Older players tend towards the headband, which explains why I wear one. Younger guys have gravitated towards the bandanna. There is definitely an age quotient in the calculus of whether or not to wear a bandanna. I have graciously accepted my elder status and am at peace with my headband. What I definitely am not at peace with is those occasional players who walk on the court with NEITHER a headband nor a bandanna. These people are one of two things: stupid, in that they apparently haven't thought ahead enough to realize it can get sweaty while playing squash, or extremely good, in that they are confident they will so quickly kick my ass that sweating will not be a part of their squash experience. 

I worry about those guys.... 

Private Huddling to Dodge Public Scrutiny

As the cardinals of the Catholic church huddle in secret at the Vatican, prayerfully choosing who among them will be elevated to be the next pope, I can't help but note the parallels with the International Olympic Committee, who will soon huddle in private as well, away from the scrutiny that public decisions invite, to choose the next Olympic sport. 

May god have mercy on their souls! 

Oh yeah, and good luck to the cardinals too....

Chris Gordon Rocks the NA Open

Chris "Flash" Gordon played a monumental match tonight at the North American Open, succumbing in 5 games to Tarek Momen, PSA world #11, a talented front-court player who seems destined for top-10 status. The key game was the 4th, which went well into overtime, with Gordon forcing a 5th decider with a final score of 21-19. But Gordon, who had battled through tough qualifying matches to get into the main draw, finally ran out of steam in the 5th.

Gordon happens to play at Cityview, where I play, and which might well be the best squash club in New York City. As I've noted before, I often play very early. One day earlier this month, there I was, ready to go at 6:30 AM, hopping on court to play Bill Buckingham, the dashing bon vivant who has become the sine qua non over at US Squash. 

Bill, ever observant, despite the hour, noticed that the other court was active, and discovered that on the court was Chris Gordon, already a half hour into an intense solo drill routine. 

That's right, he'd been there since 6 am, working his ass off, alternating between court drills and stepping outside to stretch and do workout routines. 

Kids, that's what it takes to take the world #11 to the very edge. There is a lot of dedication in that guy, no mistake.

I was so energized by Gordon's example of athleticism that I smoked old Bill Buckingham, not giving him a game. It was very unkind of me. Sorry Bill.

Chris Gordon played a great match tonight. He proved he does indeed deserve to play on the all-glass court. 

The IOC Is Like Your Crazy Uncle

I don't think too many people would have predicted that wrestling would be yanked from the Olympics program, but there it was, an announcement that the esteemed International Olympics Committee had met and, bucking all educated guesses on the subject, kicked out wrestling from the family. 

When they meet are they all drinking heavily, smoking pot, high on acid?!

It's decisions like these that make guessing whether squash has a good chance to be voted in come September pretty much an exercise in futility. 

No one knows what those crazy cats are going to do. And any decision that they might make will come as no big surprise to me. 

Unfortunately.

They're crazy. My advice: Don't look them in the eye, or they'll get really crazy. 

The International Sophisticate Known as the Squashist

My last, incomprehensible-to-all-but-a-few blog reminded me of a funny event that actually happened last November. 

As part of my job I was attending a rheumatology conference, and about half the attendees at this particular meeting tend to be international. We had a booth set up and were handing out free copies of our rheumatology publication, and at the time I was manning the booth, engaging in small talk as people came by to grab a copy. In the booth with me was one of the owners of the company where I work. 

A crowd of rheumatologists makes its way to our booth. First up were three animated French physicians, which I knew right away because the nametags showed both names and hometowns. We exchanged a few pleasantries in French. At one point I had lived in France for about 4 months, though I was told more than once at the time that I sounded like I was from Quebec, which I took as mild criticism. But it made the visiting rheumatologists happy to hear their own language, however inelegantly expressed.

A few Americans wandered by, and then, lo and behold, visitors from Lund, Sweden approach. I couldn't let an opportunity like this go by, so spoke to them in their native tongue, trying my best to get the 'sju' sound correct, which is very hard to do for English speakers. But they were happy at my attempt, and walked away all smiles. 

The owner, watching in the booth, said, "Wow, that's impressive. Who knew you had all these hidden talents!", and then got back to what he was doing, which was going over financial numbers.

Then, lo and behold, two Egyptian physicians come by, both women. Well, I can't speak their language, but I thought we could certainly talk squash! "Hello, doctors, I see you are from Cairo, home of the greatest squash players on the planet!"

"Ah yes, squash," one of the women said. There was something about her face that looked upset, like she had just tasted something that was surprisingly bitter. "You know, squash was played and supported by Mubarak, and it would be difficult indeed to find anyone in Cairo who loves that man." Her friend nodded enthusiastically. "And so we hate squash!" She kind of half-smiled, grabbed a copy of our publication, and moved off. 

"Oh great, nice going," said the owner in the booth. "Now you went and pissed them off!"

Finalen i Sverige

Jag tittade idag finalen av tävlingen Case Asset Management Swedish Open, mellan engelsman Nick Matthew and fransman Gregory Gaultier. Jag tittade 'live' på Squash TV.


I det första spelet började Gaultier snabbt och Matthew verkade nervös. Men de nästa två spelen var fantastisk. Båda spelarna är kända för att vara i fin form, och båda sprang runt squashbana mycket snabbt. Det fanns två bra spelen, men Gaultier lyckades vinna båda.... 

Mycket bra squash.  Bättre än min svenska....

 

Sadly, the TOC is over...

Another year, and another great tournament. Many memorable points, and to my mind the semifinals night had two of the best matches I've ever seen, one after the other. I wasn't there live, so, lacking tickets, hurried home to watch the games on Squash TV, which I must say again is a marvelous accomplishment by the PSA.For about $100 you get very clear visuals in a broadcast of the highest standard for a full year. It is worth the money, by far. 

The final was also terrific, with Ramy demonstrating once again his tendency for slow starts, and Gaultier displaying the reverse. Ramy came within a hair's breadth of losing the match ignominiously in a shutout, but then the Egyptian superstar emerged, and Gaultier, who had some tough matches earlier in the TOC, suddenly found his tank empty, and Ramy pretty much cruised to a win. The best point, which you've no doubt seen before, is here at the 5:10 mark. But the best moment is Ramy's stare at the wildly appreciative crowd, and his air guitar, which is at the 5:25 mark. 

The great thing about this is the fact that Ramy is clearly having a little fun, but Gaultier is too -- watch his reaction as he lightly pushes Ramy away. I for one think it is great that these top athletes can occasionally pull out of competition mode and have some fun. By so doing, they're also celebrating the sport.

I also had the opportunity to talk to Peter Nicol and Jethro Binns at the SquashSkills.com booth. They asked me how I liked it and I spent a couple of minutes telling them how transformative I thought the site has been. Its appearance on the scene has shown everyone what a well-executed squash site can accomplish, and personally I love it. Indeed, I told Jethro that the site may in fact have too much information on it. I told him that more than once I have gotten on the court, trying to put in practice some of the advice I had seen on the site, only to have so much information going through my head that brain freeze developed and I became more or less paralyzed. I told him that they might want to start a special thread for idiots like myself who can't handle all the information.

Jethro very politely said he would take that suggestion under advisement.

The Greatest Terminal in the World

Grand Central Terminal is the epicenter of the squash world right now, and so far the 'TOC' has been predictably fantastic. John Nimick and his Event Engine crew always do a great job, and this year is no different. 

But it might be worth pulling back a second and thinking a bit about the venue in which this tournament is taking place. 

Every morning I have the pleasure of commuting into this wonderful terminal, whose main hall includes a ceiling upon which is depicted the stars fully 13 stories above the Terminal's floor. (The stars, by the way, were placed in reverse, by accident. Few notice this, and no one seems to care.) 

Grand Central Terminal is the world's busiest and biggest terminal, but it is also a work of art in a city that more often than not doesn't necessarily slow down long enough to appreciate such things. On any given day you can go into the Terminal and see hardened New Yorkers, staring up at that magnificent ceiling, high enough to almost be part of the heavens itself. 

Here's a great piece on Grand Central, whose centennial birthday approaches.

Hey Olympics! Squash Cycling!

In an interesting development, Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee and former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was quoted by Reuters as saying it is possible that the sport of cycling might get the boot from the Olympics program.

If Lance Armstrong, now in full confessor mode, implicates the International Cycling Union in any improprieties, Pound warns, then the sport might be squashed from the program, at least long enough to get cycling back onto the straight and narrow. Cycling, as everybody ought to know by now, is one of the most corrupt sports around, and that corruption is not limited to Lance and a few of his buddies.

That would leave an opening in the program, which got me thinking.... Perhaps a sport that has never demonstrated any problem with doping; that is truly international, in a way that very few are; that at the highest level is played by some of the fittest athletes on the planet; that is relatively inexpensive to add to the program; whose court construction is a moveable feast, allowing set-up in virtually whatever locale the planners would like; and whose fans are some of the most ardent around.... perhaps a sport like that would make a great replacement? 

Naaaaaaaahhh....., what on earth am I thinking?

 

Resolved!

This year I’m determined to better my squash game by focusing on the following:

1. Be much more aggressive cutting off loose lobs and going for the front-court drop-shot. I’m 6’ 4”, for Christ sake, what the hell am I doing letting so many lazy shots float by me to take off the back wall? Can someone please answer me that?
2. I resolve to hit many more rail shots, and when I do hit a cross court, make sure it is wide and long, thereby reducing the opportunity for my opponent to hit a lazy shot out from the wall, as in #1, above. 
3. I resolve to hold as many of my shots as I can. Sometimes the rail shot -- which I will be hitting more of, as per #2 above -- can be surprising if you hold and show the more typical cross-court. Try to make the opponent think, and double-think. 
4. I resolve to think about every shot, as in #3, and not just hit an automatic response. I vividly remember a match I played at the University Club in NY several years ago. It was a quarter-final in the Bs, which, since there were about 90 contestants, was a victory in itself. My opponent and I were very closely matched, with the match see-sawing back and forth. I remember thinking really well that day, and one thing I did was I always hit a certain shot when put in a particular position. Every time I was stuck way in the backhand side with only a little room to hit the ball off the back wall, I would loft it up and hit it back deep on the backhand side. Every time that scenario came up, I had the same response. In the fifth game, I noticed my opponent was anticipating this shot and edging over just as I was hitting it. Next time the scenario played out, I waited and waited as the ball dropped off the back wall, and then hit a drop to the right front wall that had the guy flat-footed. I won by a whisker (that was as far as I got in that tournament), but remember in the shower afterward thinking that I had done so much cogitating out on the court that my head hurt! It was, in truth, a wonderful feeling. 

I resolve to have more squash-induced headaches, of the good kind, in 2013.

Gladiatorial?

Everything I've heard about the recent presentation before the Olympic bid committee, on December 19 in Lausanne, Switzerland, has been positive, and the production qualities of the two videos that were played at the bid meeting were great. They featured Ramy Ashour and the stellar Nicol David, who is not only the greatest female squash player that ever bounded across a court but also its greatest proponent. She will receive my vote for President of the World, should that vote ever come up... US Squash should take a bow as it has had quite a lot to do with the increased professionalism evident in this latest bid to the Olympics committee, but most of this work has occurred behind the scenes and, due to the politics of the bid, will remain that way.

James Willstrop was at the meeting and he said two things that I've been hearing a lot lately: "Squash represents the essence of Olympic sport. It’s gladiatorial given that we are the only racket sport where players share the same space, and to excel requires a mix of mental strategy, skill, athleticism and fitness..." 

Two things: First, I would think that racquetball players, whose numbers are still in the millions, might object to squash depicting itself as the only sport played in a box. This description of squash as being the sole boxed racket sport is being repeated all the time now, by various proponents of the game, and it is flat-out wrong. Being wrong bugs me; people should stop saying this.

Another thing that people keep saying lately is that the sport is "gladiatorial." Willstrop is not the first to say this; he is echoing someone in the squash establishment who, months ago, when trying to market the sport, had the word 'gladiatorial' pop into his or her head and the darn word got stuck there! 

When I read that word for the first time in the context of squash I thought, Wow, what a stretch, and how silly! Now, I keep seeing that word and I think, Jeez, enough with the gladiators! 

My point: There are lots of words that correctly describe squash that marketers, whose job it is to puff things up, could use to accomplish the task. When you use a word like 'gladiatorial,' the message gets lost in the medium. People stop and ponder the word, rather than the intent of the word. 

It's a fantastic sport; you'll find no stronger proponent than I. But its not the sole this or the gladiatorial that. 

Which is More Important, The Grip or the Racket?

I know many squash players who, while having their own favorite racket brand and model, nonetheless aver that rackets are so marginal to play that it almost doesn't matter which racket one uses.

I think there is a lot of truth to this. Unless a racket is strangely heavy or very light a player with good experience can fairly quickly make accommodations and play at or near the level he or she usually plays. 

I would argue, however, that the grip is not as forgiving. 

For almost a year now I have been playing with an unusually fat grip. My grip is made up of the factory-placed grip, plus a spongy Karakal grip, plus another Karakal grip. I started doing this when I realized I was getting a bit of wrist tendonitis; a fatter grip is easier on the wrist. For those of you out there that occasionally have this problem, i recommend the fat grip for easing wrist discomfort -- it has worked for me.

However, today I played a certain podiatrist friend of mine, whose name will remain unmentioned, and much to my dismay the racket I had in my squash kit did not have this extra karakal grip on it. The grip is, after all, the part of the racket that serves as the intermediary between the human hand and the business end of the racket. We squash players make subtle changes to the grip as we play; either opening or closing the head of the racket as we are striking the ball, or perhaps choking up on the racket when we get into the back corners. In reality, there is quite a bit of movement along the grip, and I found the difference in grip size disconcerting. I could not quickly get used to it, as I might with a strange racket. As my podiatric opponent took the sixth game in a row (some were close, one went into overtime, but there were also a few blowouts as my issue with the grip caused a growing malaise that eventually sank into psychologic cataplexy), he voiced the opinion that the racket and grip were both ultimately not important, and that I just was playing like an idiot. While being fully cognizant that idiocy does strike the Squashist from time to time, I beg to differ; I think the grip is more important than the racket. What do you think?

PS: I was going to write a blog on the importance that this week's Hong Kong Open will play in our sport's Olympic application, but Alan Thatcher, always a step ahead, already has done that, HERE. I hope that the players in Hong Kong do not engage in endless discussion and complaints about Let/No Let/Stroke calls. That type of behavior will not do the sport any credit when it comes to the Observers sent to the match by the Olympic committee. Play, players... Don't talk, play.....