Left turn Clyde part two
I generally try not to make the blog a personal journal entry but I thought this might have some interest to a couple of people.In short my right shoulder(playing arm) feels pretty bad.I think I might have torn a ligament.What is funny is what I am planning on doing to rest it(The only option besides injections).I am going to start practicing lefty.I figure if I am going to be a fanatic how could I do that at home.So I want everyone to say prayers for me that I do not destroy my left arm now .For now I definately have to hit smarter not harder.Jon
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 8/26/2008 3:32 PM
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Partners in Crime
This blog is not going to be all that much about the tournament this past weekend.It was a really fun round robin format that had Wayne "The Weapon"Storch and Steve "Down the Liner" Aguire narrowly losing to Kimon "The Serpent" and Joe "Lefty " Carrano in an exciting 11-8 tie breaker.
I actually started to think about the title partners in crime.Partners being the key word.Why do we choose the partners that we play with.For many finding a solid lefty player to play the left side is the ultimate situation for most.I do not think we would pick our spouses or friends on the south paw basis.There are also only so many of those lefty s to go around.I would say the following reasons are factors
Manuverability and retrievability
Aggressiveness at the front wall
Superior backhand or forehand
Ability to play through different court conditions(Glass,concrete,panels,humidity)
Endurance and speed
These are all very important factors that can relatively be gauged,but The most important is compatibility on the court.Some teams ,especially long term established teams,seem to know the right place to be.When mistakes are made they never beat up on their partner.The compatible team can adjust to strategic changes from the other team rapidly.Vic from Classic said it the best once.Watching a good doubles team is like watching a well executed dance.One partner goes in,and one comes out .One always covering the other fluidly. The greatest success of a good doubles team is being able to be a winner as well as the loser.A great team knows they will win together another day and not every day is a day in the winners circle(unless you are Aimee Ruiz) Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 8/26/2008 3:24 PM
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Old School vs New School
The topic for today class is a little bit of history.You are not going to have to learn anything new,do not worry.It is the history that is being made with the expansion of racquetball through big corporate entities.By now most of us have set foot in either an LA Fitness or 24/7 club in the metro area.Many more of us have had long term memberships with mom and pop clubs.Many people are seduced by the shiny new equiptment at these new clubs.Even more people are attracted to their reduced rates.These are valid points class,but I will try to show you the downside of these monsters.
When I select a club there are many reasons why I pick it.Price is not a factor for me because racquetball is a large part of my life.Going to join a club to me is like ordering Mozzerella.You can go to Shop Rite and buy the pre packaged version of it or you can have Gino from the local Italian deli pull it out of a vat.Gino will ask you if you want your "mutz" salted .I am trying to say that there is a history or "family " value in the Mom and Pop clubs.If you are uncomfortable with something you are not far away from the owner.I went to an LA Fitness and the employs do not have access to the AC.
My next issue is tournaments.Most larger clubs are interested in membership enrollment more than running tournaments.Most of the new facilities barely have five courts.How can you grow tournament play with only five courts even if you had the intent? Being on the board I take this issue very seriously.
Longevity, or as I like to call it the Home Depot phenomenon is the next issue. Remember Rickels? They were once the big dog for home improvement.Home depot came to town all over the US.They opened a store where ever they could find a Channel or Rickels and crushed them through service and unparreled pricing.They did do a better job and deserved the business.Go into a Home Depot today and you are lucky if you can find a sales associate and sometimes only one cashier.They have the market share now,where are you going to go? This cycle is normal. Now you have Lowes going after Home Depot.Our situation is unique,as we lose courts across the US it is faster than they are being replaced.Corporate is replacing the few and eventually will change the sport. So before you leave your club think about the future of our sport ,and every membership does count.If I can not be found after this blog it could be anyone of the corps I mentioned but I must be brave to save our sport.Class dismissed ! Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 8/02/2008 9:47 PM
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EXTRA EXTRA read all about it !!!!!!!!
I laid a challenge out a few months back to N J players,get better or get packing.I am good at dishing out the orders so I find it to be my duty to also give praise when aplicable.First is Jonathon Clay,he made it to the finals in Houston in men's A's.Congratulations Mr. President.Our most recent news is awesome news.Aimee Ruiz just accomplished what many of us knew was possible,and I know it is not proper to use capital letters when writing but I am shouting.AIMEE RUIZ BEAT THE NUMBER ONE FEMALE PLAYER IN THE WORLD.Conratulations to you Mrs Vice President.How did she accomplish such a feat ? Rhonda is #1 with 1,607.30 points in the wpro. THe next two players are 300 and 900 points behind her.To use even numbers Aimee is 1,585.83 points behind Rhonda at 21.47 accumulated points.obviously numbers do not tell the tale.Dedication,desire,and drilling are three factors for sure.The fact that she has been playing since she is young is a factor.Parisi speed school is a factor but even with all her hard work she has a secret weapon on her side that no one else has.It is ......her booby(no not that kind you sicko )It is Felix,her husband.Unknown to Felix when I first met him I could not understand how he could accept that his wife could destroy him on the court.I can not lie that it would destroy my ego.As I began to know the Ruiz's I understood that he was by far her number one fan.Looking back I actually feel like a bit of a jerk(I am used to that and over it though )He actually helped her drill and coaches her when she is playing.I also found out that he is an excellent student of the game and a library of almost every player out there.I actually received the phone call from Felix when she won.I have to tell you Aimee did not win that day they both did and that is the secret to her sucess.So I have a new mission for NJ players go outand fall in love,if not rekindle the flame if you are spoken for.It might help not only your game.Jon "HIt Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 7/24/2008 1:32 AM
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A little promo
I was reading Mens Health Magazine today and an article caught my eye.It was named "WHEN IT RAINS PLAY BALL"Sometimes I do not think we realize how fortunate we are to play an indoor sport.I being an outdoor player appreciate many aspects of playing indoors.The first pleasure is the lack of Sputnick balls.That is balls hit so far into space,due to lack of a ceiling, that they orbit the earth never to be found again.Weather control is another factor.nothing wortse than waking up and realizing you can not play due to a rainy day.A limited season in this area because the ball does not move at all in the cold.Temperature control-Have played on many days 100 + degrees and humidity through the roof.[We actually had a guy have a heart attack on one day of play].Diving hurts a lot more on concrete and is usually avoided.No back wall-paas shots are chased after and needs to be "cleaned"before being put into play.Many other sports succumb to mother nature also especially tennis,football,and baseball.
The article(Page 50 July/August Issue)starts off" Don't let the goofy goggles stop you.Th article goes on to show that suprisingly R ball was in par with jogging and bicycling for health gains.Racquetball also builds explosiveness due to quick stops starts and lunges and to go to usra.org to get info.The funny part of the whole article though is that the captioned picture below the article is a man and a woman playing squash.Pretty Funny Eh.I thank Mens Health magazine for the plug still the same .If the New York Times,People or any other publications want to spread the word that racquetball isthe best sport in the world,they can contact me at racquetfanatic@hotmail.com Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 7/19/2008 6:39 PM
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"Left turn Clyde"..Clint Eastwood Anywhich way but lose
Most of us getting on the court with a lefty think "Hey I have to do everything opposite now"We never really think about the life of a lefty.A little history lesson for the "Right" minded people.Lets start with the myths.A right handed person after becoming injured and starts using his left will convert even after the long term injury has healed.The Southpaws(from boxing)are from 7 to 10 % of the population,there numbers inceased in most recent times because of acceptability.The word sinister means lefty or unlucky.and lefties are more common in males.Lefties in school years ago were "converted" because when they wrote it smeared the ink(unless you write arabic).Left handers in ancient times were considered a punishment from the gods.In many foreign countries the right hand is for eating and the left is used for when the food comes out ,if you know what I mean.To top the insults right means correct and a person with two left feet can't cut the rug.
On the flip side here is the new info.Left handers have historically higher brain development.They usually excel in math,sports or art.Left handed men who graduate college are 26% richer than their righty counterparts.25% of all pitchers are lefty.Lefties have an advantage in tennis,fencing,baseball and of course racquetball.Though polo and field hockey can not be legally played lefty.
Now in the fashion of Salem and the inquisition I will name names.Next time you get on the court know your opponent.I expect all people in the racquetball community to help me in my lefty list .Contact me a racquetfanatic@hotmail.com
Cliff Swain,Mitch Williams,Aimee Ruiz,Wayne Storch,Joe Carrano,Bruce Bender,Joe Delgado,Dave Austin,Michael Fonseca,Bob Caiman and after half these people come to break my playing arm maybe me Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 7/13/2008 10:04 PM
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We are all competing with Mr. T
To all the Rocky Balboa fans! Do you remember Clubber Langs prediction for his bout with Balboa.PAIN!!!! To the non player who could imagine pain involved in a "simple"sport like racquetball.I am sure that most people reding this blog will appreciate thge following injury list.Lets start the the all time favorite.Getting smashed in the head or a boney part of your body.This injury usually results in profanity followed by bruising and possible blood flow or slight fractures.We all know that if we get hit with a racquet it is usually our own fault but we still want to rip of the persons head that hit us.Then there is the unique injury of hitting ourselves.I was able to accomplish ramming my nose up into my brain playing Joe Carrano last week and quite often hit my other artm.Thank God for thick skin.Then there is the juggernaut move.The Juggernaut is a Marvel character that is unstoppable once he starts and can easily take down walls with his bare shoulders.In the real world it is a very painful if not dislocated shoulder.A tip to all players ...the wall wins every time.I actually roll when I hit the wall now.Then for us of low intelligence who are still diving after every instuctor and pro has told us not to.The result,bent back fingers,contusions on the forearms and close calls to kissing the wall with our face.Then my favorite injury(probably because I do not bruise)is getting smashed with the ball in the following places,small onf the back,love handles,playing elbow,and the back of the knees.ouch,ouch,ouch and double ouch.It is great seeing the different bruises of the rainbow following.Those four places hit hard enough can make a monk curse like a drunk Irishman.Lets start with ongoing injuries.Torn rotator cuffs from too many overhead serves,real popular with ex paddleball players.Whiplash believe it or not.Tennis elbow is probably one of the most common with some interesting braces.well we all know that vibration dampner will save your arm.Not.Lets move down to the lower back.Getting back to Clubber picture going a few rounds with him working at your kidneys,you got the picture.Knees are twisted to shreds left,right,back,front,reverse,forward,start again dummy.My favorite injury is the ankle roll.That is nothing like an onion roll,it is when the ball of your ankle touches the ground.Like Hannibal"s paciderms getting cut down by the Romans there goes down the biggest,strongest fastest player in the club in a flash.Racquetball is kind of like a real bad hangover.WE go home licking our wounds like little girls ,but no matter how bad we get hurt we always want more .we are always looking for the next flash.The ultimate dive,DTL pass.kill shot or splat.We paly to be a part of a unique almost cult like community.For many of us it is obsessionthat will last as long as our bodies permit.Myself I will let them cut out bones and replace them with titanium if needed,Phsical therapy,aleve,and energy drinks to push me on the "off" days.I might be a fanatic but you nuts reding this are not far behind me! Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 7/01/2008 10:28 PM
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Happy Day
It vhas been a while since we had an NJAR meeting.I find it great that the topics now discussed are relatively trivial.The board has really been a success and is the reason for the turn around in NJ.We played after our 2+ hour meeting Afew hardcore players stayed around for some fun matches.The one really strange thing that happened is that I was playing on court 3 and heard a pop,crash type of noise,it came from court 4 which was empty.When I came out of the court one of the panels on court 4 was completely shattered but still intact.TH eowner came in and had to actually break it down with a shovel !After they cleaned that up it was time to go shower and go out to dinner as a group.We had a nice dinner at my friend Fran s place in Bayonne called Amicis.Since it was open bar we all tried to get our monies worth.Everybody cut out a little early about 11 30 but for those of the human species it was a long day.Where is Steve Aquire when you need him .Not many days could be better than a productive meeting with bagels,^ hours of playing racquetball with pizza,And Dinner and drinks with your racquetball family and our spouses.It almost made the work throughout the past year and a half worth it.I would on a personal note thank Jon for snapping his fingers to help me keep focus.Too many AM Monster drinks makes you a little wacky and I was glad I did not get slapped
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 6/15/2008 11:40 PM
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Role Call
- In no particular oder,here we go.
- John "Rubberband Man" Patric
- Joe "Sinatra" Camiola
- Felix "Bear Hug" Ruiz
- Dave "The Pincher" Berman
- Roger "The Hammer" Fudhim
- George "Tuff" Tuch
- Carolyn "Bones" Becker
- Rick "The Teacher" Folger
- Raul "Tennis" Mendez
- Michael "Pole Position" Gafney
- Mitch "Charisma Red" Posner
- Dave "Six Million Dollar Shots" Austin
- Greg "Spandex" Galbornetti
- Eric "Stellar" Muller
- Neil "Crazy Eyes" Cerreto
- Willy " The Possum" Heidmann
- Nick "Tall Guy On The Rise" Blanchard
- Fred "The Master" Letters
- Wayne "The Weapon" Storch
- Kimon " The Serpent" Ougouloglou
- Bruce "The Shooter" Bender
- Frank " Gumba" Luchetta
- Tony " Big Guns" Hernandez
- Steve "Down The Liner" Aquire
- Mario "The Splat" Curotolo
- Joe "Lefty" Carrano
- John " Mr. Clean" Karkovice
- Lazaro " The Cuban Smasher" Cabrera
- Keith "Ladies Man" Tauman
- Tina "Gotcha" Visingardi
- Joe "The Wizard" Delgado
- George "GQ" Grob
- Pete "The Sweater" Perez
- Jonaton " Showboat " Clay
- Aimee "Roller" Ruiz
- Edurdo "Rapid Bounce" Mancheno
- Peter " Silver Fox" Holden
- Bob "Rock Concert Tee" De Barge
- Rocco "Rock Em' " Mazzo
- Terry " The Hammer" Kolb
- Damon " Intensity" Chandler
- Robert "The Shocker" Winters
- Clarence "The Traveller" Braithwaite
- Lee " The Tank" Brooks
- Scott "Puddy" Barsa
- Francois " The Acrobat" Belizaire
- Tomas "Early Sign up" Lora
- Eddie " Big Smile" Ortiz
- Veerappan " The Rabbit" Sadayappan
- Jeff "The Surgeon" Gal
- Bobby " Three Wall" Ayre
- Chris " The Killer" Thompson
- Marc "The Ripper" Cotugno
- Sanjay "Front Man" La Forest
- Jason " Smooth Moves" Sylvester
- Anthony " The Driller" De Fusto
- Shai " Shang High Flyin' "Manzuri
- Nick "Young Man " Montalbano
- Tom " The Director" Keogh
- Cliff " The Gentleman" Chambers
- Mark " The Deceiver" Daigle
- Wil "Lotta Heart" Mercado
- Les "Fear Less" Barbanell
- Robert "The Attender" Mc Guiness
- Jon "The Virus" Panno
- (Poor Spelling,judgement,context, and syntax needs not to be addressed with the author)
- Jon...."Hit Smarter Not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 5/22/2008 5:16 PM
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Alias
Living in this part of the country we have lived for a long time with something unique to our area of the east coast.Unlike Spanish people who are born with so many names you can not fit them on a standard license,many people in certain ,shall we say, industries have accumulated aliases.Before the days of Guiliani these names were much more prevelent in the 80's.I would like to enter that era here again today my fellow players.A time when your "other name " meant what you did or represented.I kind of miss guys walking around in bathrobes and having a name like "the chin". Here is my humble attempt to go back to the eighties without the cavariccis or t michael out fits. read onto my next blog for it is a little legnthy.See ya at the next blog........
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 5/22/2008 3:39 PM
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Houston Bound
If you read the website you realize we have quite a few players in NJ this year down in Houston.I can not lie that as happy as I am for our representation,I do wish I was a part of it.That is the price of being a fruit guy I guess.Maybe next year for my 30 th birthday.I guess because of my old age 29 I just cant get used to the coolness(is that still acceptable to say)of being able to watch live matches from Houston.It does make me want to throw a box of avocados off the platform when I am in the South Bronx picking up friggin fruit when I should be in Houston losing.Besides they say there are only two things in Texas steers and queers.Boy my anger is really coming out today.For those of you not familiar with raqcquetballonline.tv ,it is a free internet service that shows many of the national tournaments across the country and beyond. When there are not any tourneys running there are past matches that you can watch.Hopefully none of them are yourself because there is nothing worse than watching yourself be a poster child for not what to do when you get on a court.Mainly IRT and WPRO matches being shown thank God.Well I have been writing way to long about the end of the season but this will actually be it. I hope That some of our fellow New Jersians will bring home a medal, ribbon,trophy or someting to brag about.Good Luck ladies and gentlemen ,make your state proud.If not,You will be removed from all future tournaments on the east coast until you get a little better. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 5/22/2008 3:27 PM
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Finals on 46
Do you know why this blog is out of order because I am suffering from a disease known as stupidity.I erased the first one by mistake.I hope I can remember something of what I wrote.I gave out my end of year awards already but I think it was a bit premature.The turnout was a dog in the beginning but turned around to be 67 players.Heavy hitters came in from NY Sylvester , De Fusto,Keogh,and Flores.Mario Curotolo won a match against NJ number two Dave Berman.Joe Carrano beat George(Tuff)Tuch in two straight.The match ,and almost upset,was Storch/Aquire verses Keogh/Flores.The NJ underdogs took K/F to a tie breaker and actually being ahead 10 to 7 but they could not close the deal.Defusto and Sylvester were in the mens open final(wow that is surprising)with Jason winning it .Lets me get this straight 1 2 3 4 5 That is five New Yorkers going home with NJ trophies.Are they that much better or is the water,pizza,80;s music in those big cities.Are The Bumkins from NJ destined to be manhandled by these city slickers or will we fight back and rise above this oppression.My mission to all NJ people within reach of this blog.Get in that court and drill,take lessons,lose weight,take a speed class because if we do not our trophy mantles will be empty again next season my brother and sisters.Take my challenge and lets rise to the occasion. together(election time really hits me hard)congratsNY,aguys deserve it(Boo Hoo) Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 5/11/2008 9:21 PM
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NJAR party at Woodbridge
Whew,who the heck expected 60 + people to show up at our new mixer night.We had full challenge courts until 11:00 pm. Five hours of non stop challenges on nine courts.It was really great to see so many people and so many different levels of play.I especially like to see new faces and people in the B/C brackets having so much fun.That is what NJAR is really all about,growing the sport at all levels.I would also like to personnaly thank The Club at Woodbridge for helping us host this event.I would also like to thank everyone who threw money in our"fishbowl" to help pay for the event especially Mr Aquire( It hurts like you do not know to pay him a compliment,ouch) A special thanks also goes out to John Patric for bringing a wide assortment of wines for the event.I also understand that there were some cosmopolitans floating around.NJAR brought the beer and pizza.I would also like to give a personal thank you To Jon Panno for always coming through with the fruit at these events(?).(must have been all that Stoli and Modelo negros at Jose Tejas).For those of you who do not know, Felix had emergency liposuction surgery the week of finals on 46.Only kidding,they actually took out his gall bladder ,though he has mysteriously dropped a lot of weight fast.You know you are really trying to lose weight when you start getting organs taken out though.All I am adding is that he got out of another tournament(This guy is good)Actually he is doing very well.And for everyone who busted my chops at the tournament desk I forgive you but I will not forget.Besides the midsummer tournament I guess I will have nothing to write about(If you believe that you are an idiot)but I am hoping to see some of my racquetball family over the summer.Hoping everyone has a great summer and I would like to give some advice if you are a little on the chubby side you better start losing weight now,summer is right around the corner. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 5/11/2008 8:47 PM
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Shootout at Classic at Lyndhurst
Great Time today!It was kind of nice to go to a tournament and not have any work set up for you.I got to play a lot of high level A players and a couple of open players that I dont get a shot at in regular tournaments.I beat one of the open players ,though I refuse to name names(thats the Sicilian in me).NJ gets pretty good players for shootouts and I think that every division was full(C's,B's'and Open/A's)Pete Perez won B's(finallyLOL)and Tomas Lora came in second though he told me in confidence(oops) that he alredy beat Pete straight up in regular play so they should switch trophies.Damon(last name unknown to me) took first place in the open A's with Jonathon Clay following up a real close second.Classic looks beautiful since the renovations.I have not been there in a few months and I was shocked when I walked in. Big kudos to Jonathon and Aimee for getting all the players out on such a beautiful day.On a personal note I would like to mention that Jonathon has a new line of clothing coming out called ROLLOUT.you will probably see Aimee,Carolyn,and Jonathon wearing them at the tourneys.I will be the first customer even though he beat me so bad today I am probably bleeding internally.And for our VP look for something different on her.It can't be removed and its not all that visible(hint it involves three letters) Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 4/19/2008 10:58 PM
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This weekends pro am
For those of you who couldn't make it you missed a great pro stop!Maybe next year?Jon Clay,Carolyn Becker,Clarenece Brathwaite,George Tuch and myself represented N J.Clay made it to the semi finals in mens open and the final in mens open doubles.Congrats Jon.I got hurt so it was a little hard to win that way. The matches between the pros were worth the trip alone.Mitch was so funny accusing Carson of using steroids between points and Jack kept opening the door during the match so Rocky could "complain,complain,complain"Though it was a big Rocky crowd Jack got a few converts by the end.As always Rocky was taking questions at the end,and as always being approachable.Mannino's dives were absolutely stelllar.He has not lost a step in his ability to get to the ball.He was also much more muscular than his last tournament I saw him at. The highlight of the tournament was Dennis Rosenbeg.He paid all the winners in CASH.He paid Rocky like he was on the Price is Right.The tournament was not huge (95)but it was not lacking in quality players and had a sense of intimacy.On another note,check out the USAR rankings when you get time.They updated the rankings and there was a lot of upheavel in NJ.You can now click on a players name and find out their tournament history,which is pretty cool.Until my next brain fart.Jon P "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 4/16/2008 3:40 PM
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Juniors
Last night was a rainy night.Why does anyone care?That help set in motion my ability to help out at today's junior tournament.I found out my daughters t-ball game was cancelled so I was able to help out.It was by far our largest Junior turnout to date.I have to personally thank Joe Camiola for manning the desk today.Usually Gloria is part two of the desk team but she could not make it today.We had about 35 particpants and I have to tell you that the kids ability is really improving.NJAR made a nice donation of t shirts for all the junior players and Ektelon donated the new red fireball for the day.It is great to see the great attitude of these kids win or lose.They are better sportmen than we are .Another thing that makes it so enjoyable is the appreciation of the parents,and they are all eager to help out.A few of the parents have even taken the parent /children classes with Rick Folger.On a personal note I would really like to thank Rick for how well he has developed the Junior program.When we started the NJAR no one really had the time to grow the juniors.We are always talking about how we have increased racquetball membership and forget that Rick has succeded beyond our wildest expectations!Anyone who in the future would like to help ref or help out for the day at the Junior tournaments we always appreciate it.On a personal note I really am going to start working with Madison(my 8 year old girl) on playing,I think she is a natural.Besides a Panno has to beat that Ruiz girl some day..... "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 4/05/2008 10:13 PM
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End of Season Awards
It is that time of year,time to give out the first annual PV awards.No fancy trophies only bragging rights in the following categories.Lets set our priorities straight.Best beer drinker-Jason Thoerner professional racquetball player and beer drinker.He set a new standard for racquetball at our prostop.Tallest player-A close second for beer consumption after elite losses and also the tallest guy in our tourneys.Best sleeper-Mitch Posner,nuff said.Best celebrity look-alike-Mike Gaffney-tell me you have not said "wow that guy looks like Adam Sandler".Best Possum play-Mark Daigle,sneaky is all I am saying I think he even dyes his beard grey to throw off his opponents.Best Butterfly Stitch-Cliff Chambers saved the day,gentleman,scholar,and lifesaver.Who knew? Most Photographed -Ruben Gonzalez-There are more photos of him on our website than Paris and Britney combined in People magazine.Most Injured-Nick Pelosi-I think he was hit by a car of one of the parents of the game he was reffing and is embarrassed to tell us.Best Hair 50 +-Peter Holden-The chrome domes secretly hate this guy.Best TTH(Teeth,Tan and Hair )-Marty Hammond ,nuff said.Best Diver-Jonathon Clay-Always fun to watch but I would like to see him at our age,hopefully he can walk. Best Chopper-Sanjay La Forest-Chops up front better than a Canadian logger.Best acrobatics-Francois Belaizaire-kind of like watching Clay,you do not care who wins because it will always be a show.Best Trash match-Perez vs Mercado-Funny! Thinnest Players-Male -Wayne Storch...Female-Carolyn Becker..This was actually the hardest category to determine .Best group picture (and the largest) Garden State Open Mens B's.There is alotta man in that picture .Best Name- Kimon Ousoljoglou-Is this name possible?I think it rymes with I am just a gigilo.Help me out Kimon.And finally Best Hugger -Felix Ruiz-Who has not recieved one of those famous bear hugs at our tournaments.I understand it is the number two reason to coming to our tournaments right after food.Thats it for this years awards.Thanks for reading.Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 4/02/2008 9:18 AM
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In the beginning.......
No,that"the beginning".Actually it is a more recent beginning.Something near and dear to anyone reading this blog,the formation of the NJAR.We started off as group of people barely knowing each other.We all came to the table with different talents to improve on NJ racquetball.Well at least most of us did.A young ambitious kid named Jonathon Clay was pretty quickly elected leader of our group(though some tournament days I think he wishes he missed that meeting).Aimee Ruiz-Everyon knows how she can kick butt on the court but who would have thought she had a shy side.I think she only took the Vice President position out of pressure.Gloria immediately was writing things down,so she was born to be the secretary.And the last executive board member was to be the hardest to fill,the money person.Nancy filled the Treasurers position and I never heard the letters and numbers 501(c)3 so many times .It sounds like a character in Star Wars.Now what to do with the rest of us?Many had connections at clubs or had ambition without direction(we will get to me in a little while).Rick and John Patric(whew thats a future blog)tok junior racquetball to the next level.Joe Delgado-computer wizard/website guy(I never know what the heck he is saying at meetings.I think he has been doing computers so long he is speaking binary, not English)JoeC-great touney desk guy.Felix or Fee as know to the VP helps with signage,gatorade.translating,an sometimes part time Cuban muscle.Vic (the owner of the Classic athletic clubs) gave us his club like it was ours for the first tourney,literally.Melanie got so many sponsors to donate stuff I think she threatened the merchants.Then there is Jon,not the important president and not the guy helping out with juniors.The board had to be saying "What are we doing with this guy .He sells fruit,at least he will donate some fruit."Before I knew it I was ordering food,picking up kegs,and taking care of everything that had to do with food and beverage.Than Clay gave out some very special titles like" Hospitality Director"I figured at least now I sound important.I get the last laugh though.I GOT THE BLOG!.Next:Panno's year end awards."Hit Smarter Not Harder"
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 3/31/2008 4:15 PM
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Warning
*Warning_content contained within does not represent the views of NJAR,its board members,affiliates or sponsors.
POSTED BY New Jersey Amateur Racquetball (NJAR) AT 3/31/2008 3:27 PM
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