Wanted for Murder

Ever think about all the terms we throw around on the court ? We shall start with the obvious one which is kill. We want to kill a ball,first of all what did that poor ball do to us (unless of course it is one of those egg shaped Penn balls ;) ) Secondly how can we kill something that is inanimate, there are some issues here. Pinch shot, ouch, not quite murder but who wants to be pinched. It is so annoying. Splat shot, well thank God we are not mosquitoes. Around the world, sounds like something that Julia Roberts would offer Richard Gere and blue balls not even going to go there in this family friendly blog, and the last one I ripped down the line sent people scattering for a gas mask. So when the general population is walking by the court, and is staring at you it may not be that great shot, it just may be your lingo. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

My Blue Heaven

Most normal people have those special things in life that make them happy. My family ,racquetball and yoga are the three things in my life that give me happiness. Family is a selfless love that at times is challenging, but the reward is immeasurable. Yoga depending upon why you are doing it can be both physically and spiritually uplifting. But lets face it you know where I am going next,RACQUETBALL ! To this day when I am working or running around, I get a rush thinking about going to play that night. A typical day is me going over to my club and walking down the long hallway. I hear can hear the ball hitting the front wall. I listen closely, is it a heavy hitter tonight, or is the older set hitting the ball around. I break at the end of the hallway,down the three steps hang a right and in my view is such a beautiful site. Four glass courts, I have seen them a million times but I stare at each one,walking down to the last one just to make sure everything is intact. Funny thing is I was probably here just four hours ago. I say my hellos to the crew and try to decide what to play for the night. Whether it is hard core singles, or playing with the older, I mean uh experienced guys, I know it is going to be fun. Like a freshman at a keg party,I don't want to leave until I get my fill of play. Watching players drop off from fatigue, like frat boys dropping from the beer and yager. I love my family more than anything in the world but this is MY blue heaven,and everyone is entitled to this. Now comes my dilemma, Losing is not as fun as winning. As much as I am a goof, I take the sport very serious, more serious than most would suspect. I can lose, but not when I don't want to, if that even makes any sense. My solution was to take off most of the summer, take lessons,and in other words elevate my game. Dilemma number two: Losing hurts more when you are trying than when you are not trying. The proper solution is to at least play well even if you lose. What happens when you give all you got and then tank. The answer is for 300 Alex "What is my personal hell". I found it at the NJO. I played terrible in the second game of my finals match. There was no doubt to the onlookers whose fault this was. It took me about three days to get it behind me. That is the problem in making the court your panacea,you better be ready for a fall. I put things in perspective and no, not I have good health and life is honky dory, no. I listen to many songs on my ipod about overcoming defeat. Everyone has bad losses, but those songs and inspirational sayings can't be words, they have to be life. I have been doing my yoga, and playing a little racquetball with my daughter. Welcome back to my blue heaven Jon. "Hit Smarter not Harder"

If cleansliness is next to Godliness than what is racquetball ?

I woke up early this morning, being the insomniac that I am. My second passion besides r ball is yoga. It does not seem like the two have anything in common. Yoga started strictly as a spiritual experience for me, but has developed to become a tool for the sport that I love so much. I laid down the yoga mat and blanket about 6:30 this morning. I was surrounded by geese, and the frost was on the leaves and steam was rising off the lake. Not too many normal people are in the park at this hour so it was peaceful except for the geese. I watched the park slowly come to life with the joggers and walkers. So Panno, how does this help you smack a ball around at one hundred and something miles per hour ? Well for starters being flexible definitely helps with the injuries, and I feel keeps the muscles subtle, helping you to explode better. The deep breathing while exercising helps open up the bronchi , and increases air capacity, thus helping blood carry more oxygen. The end result is less fatigue. The most challenging part for me is the aspect of focus. In our daily lives we have so much going on with family,work,traffic,and many other things to generally piss us off. I think many people have a good idea what to do on the court, but just can not bridge that mental barrier. I believe that sometimes that is why people play better when they play longer, because they become more relaxed in what they are doing. Yoga is definitely relaxing, if not euphoric at times. But I feel that racquetball also has that same effect on many people, even when they are cussin and screaming at themselves. So yoga and racquetball do have many similarities at heart. Both yoga and racquetball in the end help calm you, but which one is gonna get you to heaven probably depends on your religion. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Being human in Memphis

It is ironic that the blog I was going to write about is the aggressive personality of past male racquetball champions,sorry I do not know that much about the history of women players except a few. Lets go down the list of of past champions. Marty Hogan-Mr Humble personality, Cliff Swain-ego maniac with a temper personality, Jason Mannino-abusive to opponents and fans alike at times personality, Jack Huczek(sp)-the anti-fan personality, and Kane the thug personality. These are definitely the best players discluding Sudsy,always a fan favorite,who played the best ball ever seen. From pure power players, to great court sense , these players dominated for the past thirty plus years. Is it just coincidence that these players all share major character flaws ? This racquet fanatic does not think so. That same aggressive tendency off the court is carried onto the court. A win at all costs attitude. I will not mention names but there are many very good players I know who become way to timid on the court especially on tournament day. This costs them a mark in the win column. This brings me to Kane's game tonight against up and comer Jose Rojas. I never saw someone enter the "arena" more relaxed than Kane tonight. Of course he won, but he was helping Jose up after his dives and joking with him on the court about how to clean up wet spots on the court. He came out with Sudsy's bagel shirt to warm up and was chatting with Jason and Sudsy(they were commentating)between games. To put the icing on the cake he gave kudos to Jose after the game and told him he remembers what it is like to be an up and coming junior.HMMMMM what is this all about ? A) Kane becoming a father has turned him into a human being B)Jim Winterton has been telling him to straighten up his post game speech. C)He is getting bored of his Ali like speeches after his victories D)Big rumored Nike contract has a conduct clause. E) Someone slipped him some Prozac. You decide . Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

The right time and the right place,I guess

It is funny how some days I still find myself thinking about Latell. I still find it strange that I per say did not know him that well and this still occurs. Before I went to his memorial I wrote something that I wanted to say. My intentions were good but once I saw how well the people speaking knew Latell ,it started to seem like I would be out of place speaking that day. I did find a quote from Shakespere that I felt was so appropriate ,and I would like to write it here. Above all Latell was a good man with a good heart,and on this sad day I would like to recall Shakespere's words. A good leg will fall.A straight back will stoop. A black beard will turn white. A curled head will grow bald. A fair face will wither and our eyes will fail us. But a good heart is like the sun, for it shines bright and keeps it's course truly. He taught us how to hope and how to live. He taught us how to win and how to lose,he taught us how to live and finally he taught us how to die. Pretty appropriate I thought. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Apology to the fans

I really wish I knew what I was writing the other night about Juan Valdez ,when I was punch drunk tired,please forgive the stupidity. Thank, Jon

Juan Valdez

What the heck does a Colombian coffee bean picker with his donkey have to do with the greatest sport in the world ? For those of you who don't know about Juan and his ass,he supposedly picked every bean by hand to make the perfect cup of coffee. That is why the Colombian coffee is supposed to be superior,perfect beans making perfect coffee every pot. This is know as consistency. If we could have the perfect game wouldn't we do the same? Play the same way every day ,and always have the same results,wouldn't that be nice. Another correlation would be Dungeons and Dragons,yes I was and still am, a little geeky at times. Same character is used every adventure ,but you have to roll dice for everything that happens except for farting. The flip side to our human imperfections is what makes sports so darn interesting. Could you imagine infallible robots playing sports,where would the excitement of perfection and 0-0 scores? The difference between the club player and the pro is consistency. Sometimes watching a good A or B match is more fun .I like to watch the unnecessary diving and banter between the players. So if you feel like you are not playing well and are getting upset you are probably entertaining someone . So remember Juan Valdez is a fictional character,and if he was real he was probably smuggling cocaine anyway. Be true to yourself and always play hard and always try to get better because in the real world there is not perfection just the desire to be so. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"