Holiday Tournament
December 4
Hardly
a silent night of squash playing, the atmosphere of the 22 participants was
boisterous, animated, and enthusiastic. It was a good showing for the 12th
annual Holiday Tournament, and especially pleasing was the number of new faces
to the event. Meeting and competing against new people is what keeps the squash
program active, appealing and growing.
The
nature of the format creates match-ups that would normally never occur during
league or box ladders. Random drawings can pit beginners against the more
experienced but it gives the underdog a great opportunity to see what is needed
to reach the higher levels.
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| Dave Devine and Dewey "Boo-Yah" Steffen |
Dewey “Boo-Yah” Steffen recently
picked up squash and seems to be relishing the competitive qualities of the
sport. His tall, long frame which worked well for him on the basketball court
can be an advantage on the squash court as well, but he is painfully
discovering that much of the game is played well below knee level. His
never ending desperation has him sprawling all over the floor on a regular
basis, and while it is entertaining for us observers, his red-raw knees would
be screaming at him to learn how to lunge rather than dive! He did get one win
on the day though - and lost two others 2-1. Commendable, band-aid filled,
effort!
Quote
of the evening came from Ian Edwards
after his 4th and final match against Greg
Allare. I can’t sit here and tell
you that their game was a rhythmic, enchanting dance of squash in its purest
and prettiest form, because, well... it wasn’t. It was, however, and back and
forth of scrambling, delightful misdirectional squash, at times comical in
its unorthodox manner. Greg took it 2 games to 1 and all Ian had to mumble
afterwards: “We should play sober some
time..!” That didn’t stop him or Greg from grabbing another beer
immediately thereafter.
I
also cannot pass up the opportunity to mention Colin Bayer. It was encouraged to dress in Christmas themed gear
for the evening and many of the crew did don their red and green. I am not
quite sure, then, how Colin decided that wearing a t-shirt 5 sizes too small
kept to that topic. He could have tucked the shirt in - if his shorts were
up to his chest. A 4th place finish on the day, his only loss came at the hands
of the eventual winner.
 |
| Zac and Ryan MacVoy |
Having
matches best of 3 games to 7 points does make every rally all the more
important. There were plenty of 2-1 results - 19 of them. Brothers Ryan and Zac MacVoy have a typical sibling rivalry going and unfortunately
the two were not drawn to play each other, but each match they did play ended
up with a 2-1 score line. In this case, Zac won 1 more game than Ryan and can
brag with the higher finish until at least their next encounter.
 |
| Paul Ward and Sante |
By
the time of the fourth and final round was upon us, it was down to two players
for the title: Paul Ward and Sante Fratarcangeli. Neither of them
had dropped a game up to this stage, but they had dropped (or downed) plenty of
pints. We couldn’t have asked for a more exciting last match either. After
splitting the first 2 games with the crowd cheering them on but not really
following all that closely, the intensity suddenly picked up in the third. Now
the audience was involved with raucous beer-inspired encouragement! Paul and
Sante were going hard at it, albeit not the tightest squash ever seen, a few
unforced errors, and the spectators got what they were pleading for: a sudden
death rally, 6-6 in the 3rd game, for the title! And what would such an occasion be without a smidgen of controversy? A debate erupted after the
first sudden-death rally over whether the ball had hit Sante or not - which
would of course be a stroke to Paul. It was difficult to see exactly what had
happened, and Sante professed his innocence. A let was eventually played and Sante’s
ensuing serve bounced awkwardly in the back corner and ended up being a winner!
It was all in good spirits, though, and in the end both Paul and Sante took
away a deserved prize from the gift
table... as did all the other
competitors. The final standings: 1st was Sante - 11 points; 2nd place was Paul
- 10 points; and 3rd was Dane Fossee with 9.
Finally,
I would like to extend my gratitude to the group for the fine gift I received
from them - you should really know that it does mean a awful lot to me. Merry
Christmas!
