If you were watching some of the matches at the recent US Open, then you may have heard Joe Lee's enthusiastic support during some of them. Lee was a strong supporter of Cliff Swain during his match with Shai Manzuri, and also of Jimmy Lowe during the CPRT final against Woody Clouse.
Lowe and Lee are friends, and after winning the CPRT final, Lowe thanked Lee for his support. Lee, who's a three time US Open champion in 55+ (2006-2008), was sometimes over the top in his vocal support (he and Clouse actually got into a bit of a shouting match at one point in the CPRT final), but really he stands out because he cheers and others don't. Period.
Racquetball is played in a box, so the players are separated from the crowd. Thus, the crowd can be detatched from the play. It's easy for crowd members to have conversations during rallies, especially at the US Open when players on the show court are several feet (at least) away from any spectators. That doesn't happen at tennis matches.
And that kind of behavior diminishes the importance of the matches. If people aren't paying full attention to a match, it suggests they don't care about it much. You can say what you will about Lee's cheering, but you can't say he doesn't care about the matches he's watching.
Now, maybe you're saying to yourself, but I'm not as vocal as Joe Lee. I just don't have that in me. But I do want to show my support for the players. Does The Racquetball Blog have an answer for me? Yes, we do.
We suggest clapping after the match. Every match. Regardless of whether it's Women's D, Men's B doubles, juniors or the pros. Applaud. Show your support for those playing.
It's not easy to put yourself on display in a tournament, and it can be especially difficult for those who come out on the losing end. But they all deserve your support. These are your fellow racquetball enthusiasts, so you should support them. Don't you want to be hear the applause after your match? Of course you do.
So show them the way.
We'd like nothing better than to hear clapping after every match at the next tournament we attend, or to hear about tournaments where this happens. We can do this.
Yes, we can.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Happy 30th Birthday Chris Crowther!
You are the 10th ranked player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT). In a game that often favors players of moderate stature, you stand out as the tallest IRT player at 6' 5".
You're one of those players lurking outside the top echelon, having never made the semis at a IRT Tier 1 event. You've been in the quarters of the US Open once (2003).
But you were part of one of most curious US Open stories. In 2004, you were playing on the far back court at The Racquet Club of Memphis against Javier Moreno. The referee called a hinder. You'd opened the door to hear the referee's explanation of the call, and then closed it "with a little more force than usual." Not unlike many players have.
However, this time the door must have caught something and twisted slightly, because the next sound was that of glass fragmenting and then crumbling down in heap of little pieces. Oops.
The curious thing about the door was it was a different shape from those on the other back courts, so it wasn't going be replaced easily. However, Randy Stafford's Court Company is resident in Memphis, and they recalled that just such a door - the style of which had gone out of production 12 years earlier - had been saved by an employee to use as a table for his mother.
A phone call revealed that the table had never been made, so after 14 years of it sitting in the mother's garage, it was delivered the Racquet Club, installed and play resumed.
That all took some time. But you and Moreno were shuffled to another court in the meanwhile. After you were bandaged up from some cuts suffered as a result of the incident, you got back in and won that game, the second of the match, which evened the match at one game a piece. Unfortunately, Moreno won the next two games to take the match 3-1.
Your racquetball career has taken you many places, including Korea, Canada, Mexico and Santiago, Chile, where you were a member of Team USA at the 2007 Pan American Championships taking home a bronze medal in singles.
Yes, racquetball has been good to you over your three decades. And may your good fortune continue.
*source The Daily Racquet #4, On-site publication of Racquetball Magazine.
Follow the bouncing ball....
You're one of those players lurking outside the top echelon, having never made the semis at a IRT Tier 1 event. You've been in the quarters of the US Open once (2003).
But you were part of one of most curious US Open stories. In 2004, you were playing on the far back court at The Racquet Club of Memphis against Javier Moreno. The referee called a hinder. You'd opened the door to hear the referee's explanation of the call, and then closed it "with a little more force than usual." Not unlike many players have.
However, this time the door must have caught something and twisted slightly, because the next sound was that of glass fragmenting and then crumbling down in heap of little pieces. Oops.
The curious thing about the door was it was a different shape from those on the other back courts, so it wasn't going be replaced easily. However, Randy Stafford's Court Company is resident in Memphis, and they recalled that just such a door - the style of which had gone out of production 12 years earlier - had been saved by an employee to use as a table for his mother.
A phone call revealed that the table had never been made, so after 14 years of it sitting in the mother's garage, it was delivered the Racquet Club, installed and play resumed.
That all took some time. But you and Moreno were shuffled to another court in the meanwhile. After you were bandaged up from some cuts suffered as a result of the incident, you got back in and won that game, the second of the match, which evened the match at one game a piece. Unfortunately, Moreno won the next two games to take the match 3-1.
Your racquetball career has taken you many places, including Korea, Canada, Mexico and Santiago, Chile, where you were a member of Team USA at the 2007 Pan American Championships taking home a bronze medal in singles.
Yes, racquetball has been good to you over your three decades. And may your good fortune continue.
*source The Daily Racquet #4, On-site publication of Racquetball Magazine.
Follow the bouncing ball....
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Where we'd like to be
Grant Park might have been the place to be last night, but this weekend, we're thinking the place we'd most want to be is on Long Island, New York for the Long Island Open.
They don't have the highest ranked International Racquetball Tour (IRT) players, but Jason Thoerner, Andy Hawthorne and Ruben Gonzalez will also be playing doubles, which would be cool to see. Moreover, there are 31 players in the Pro draw, with some players who have been in qualifiers this year, such as Jason Sylvester, Bradley Kirch, Danny Lavely, and Kadim Carrasco.
So, there should be plenty of good matches and the possibility for upsets.
Moreover, Rhonda Rajsich and Cheryl Gudinas Holmes, the top two players on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) tour, will be playing on Long Island. It's a WPRO satellite event, so there's a small field, but it also includes two time World Champion Aimee Ruiz. And these players will be playing mixed doubles too, which again should be something to see, as should the potential Rajsich-Ruiz semi-final.
Foreign Results
The IRT has reported that Shane Vanderson defeated Tony Carson to win the Japan International Event in Tokyo last weekend. That was a Tier 4 event.
Also last weekend, Gilberto Meija won the Chihuahua Open (a Tier 2 IRT event) in Chihuahua, Mexico defeating Chris Crowther, 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8.
Finally this past weekend, Martin Klippel won the Hamburg Open, defeating Oliver Bertels, 9-15, 15-14, 11-4. Yvonne Kortes won the women's Open division defeating Lara Ludwig, 15-8, 15-9, in the final. It was the second event on the European Racquetball Federation calendar. Next up is the Belgian Open in Brussels, November 21-23.
Follow the bouncing ball....
They don't have the highest ranked International Racquetball Tour (IRT) players, but Jason Thoerner, Andy Hawthorne and Ruben Gonzalez will also be playing doubles, which would be cool to see. Moreover, there are 31 players in the Pro draw, with some players who have been in qualifiers this year, such as Jason Sylvester, Bradley Kirch, Danny Lavely, and Kadim Carrasco.
So, there should be plenty of good matches and the possibility for upsets.
Moreover, Rhonda Rajsich and Cheryl Gudinas Holmes, the top two players on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) tour, will be playing on Long Island. It's a WPRO satellite event, so there's a small field, but it also includes two time World Champion Aimee Ruiz. And these players will be playing mixed doubles too, which again should be something to see, as should the potential Rajsich-Ruiz semi-final.
Foreign Results
The IRT has reported that Shane Vanderson defeated Tony Carson to win the Japan International Event in Tokyo last weekend. That was a Tier 4 event.
Also last weekend, Gilberto Meija won the Chihuahua Open (a Tier 2 IRT event) in Chihuahua, Mexico defeating Chris Crowther, 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8.
Finally this past weekend, Martin Klippel won the Hamburg Open, defeating Oliver Bertels, 9-15, 15-14, 11-4. Yvonne Kortes won the women's Open division defeating Lara Ludwig, 15-8, 15-9, in the final. It was the second event on the European Racquetball Federation calendar. Next up is the Belgian Open in Brussels, November 21-23.
Follow the bouncing ball....
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