A Weekend Recap

The tournament for me started on Friday even though there were not any start times. Though Aimee had me busy, like Peter Parker trying to get a deadline in ,for my picks for the weekend before Wednesday. I will not bore you, as in days past, of the work to get ready. It was a great tournament with some unbelievable competition playing. Put up the money and the players will show was never truer than this weekend. Over 3,000 dollars in total prize money for the open division. I hit the nail on the head picking Ruben/Muller for the winners ,though it was not easy. They came back to win it from a 15-1 loss in their first game. Andy Hawtornes retrieval ability is truly second to none. When you watch him play,you almost can not understand how he is not ranked higher. I will see how my other picks pan out when I check the results. I was a substitute for Curatolo this weekend,and realized why I don't play open YET. It was a very smooth tournament except for a traffic tie up on rote 3, but just about all the matches got off on time. The food went well , and all were satisfied with the quantity and quality of food. I would like to thank my friend Tony from Buon Appetito for always taking good care of us on our food cost. I would like to thank Tina for her help also. I would like to thank The team ektelon members for assisting me with the table this weekend esp Johnny K . And on a final note,you did a great job girlfriend,ok I said it ,don't let it go to your head . Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Busy Beaver

I had a very busy summer as far as racquetball is concerned. I took many lessons and drilled hours on end. I drilled to the point that I hurt my shoulder,calf and finally my butt. Not the smartest thing in the world but my body has never been as strong as my will. I will not be playing in state dubs, but I do feel like I am finally getting back the ability to push off on my left side. My summer was very fufilling working with the junior's at the Club@ Woodbridge. I have been teaching three classes on Saturday mornings . It has been so much fun because my daughter has taken a huge interest in it, and I feel like she has more natural ability than her dad. The next order of the water buffalo is the upcoming tournament,food stuff of course,nuf said. Then this year assuming a new role as state coordinator for Ektelon has kept me very busy with running demos at many events. I enjoy the demos because you get to meet a lot of new people who also have a passion for the sport ,and you get to pretend you know what you are talking about. I feel bad for some of the team members who have not received their equiptment yet, but sadly sometimes things ,especially in the corporate world ,do not work out as planned. I try to look at the big picture and see how much good Ektelon does for our sport. They listen to feedback from the team members,support many tournaments,develop outdoor play and junior programs. I have played for other companies and never have issues been taken care of so quickly, such as equiptment breakage, and Scott and bryan are in the ditches playing ball. Anyway enough of these matters . I just want to wish everyone a healthy season. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Latell update

If anyone needs to attend Latells Memorial it will be held at The Church of Latter Day Saints in East Brunswick tommorrow at 7 pm.

Taking One for the Team

In racquetball their are many swings,some of them proper and mechanically sound and some wild and unorthodox. Many people before they play racquetball have played other sports besides RB. The easiest to pick is the tennis swing ,it is a long swing. Squash players have tighter strokes usually not following all the way through. Well I am generally aware of where most people are on the court in relation to me. I can relatively cheat up or shadow a player and not get hit. I can vouch for this because I have only been hit once by Manny the Mexican Jumping bean when I first started playing seven years ago. So I have learned to even side step and spin when I see these bull of men running at me like a waving red cape. The player that I have not adjusted to is the helicopter swinger. I did not realize that this person starts his backhand facing the front wall which makes his racquet end up in the "shadowing" opponents face. Needless to say I took a full back swing to my face,as I was falling I was saying "will this ruin my chances at the cover of GQ this month". After I iced my lip and jaw for about two minute I realized I felt like two face from Dick Tracy. I had two faces the right that I could feel fine and my left which felt actually numb. It actually took me about three minutes to get back in and finish winning that game and I ruined one of my new sweatbands ,unless blood is the new style for the flame logo. Besides the cut under my nose I realized when I went to go brush my teeth that night I had a pea size hole in the back of my lip that almost came through the other side. It was from my incisor trying to jut through my lip. Strangely the next day I felt fine. What is the lesson from all this..... Jaime Hopkins is the answer. The racquetball gods cashed in my bad karma chip for hitting him at the NY BBQ shootout. It all makes sense now. I would like to take a moment to thank Aimee and Scott for signing up for my blog. I won't forget the people who got me here when I become famous or as I said after I got hit framous. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"