Did I mention that I also love Racquetball? Okay, I know, I get it. I have a LOT of hobbies, sure. But I've been playing racquetball now for, oh shit, what is it? Well I suppose the first games I played were with Marc Wolfe, back at Fairleigh Ridiculous University in, I'd guess, my sophomore year, and Marc's senior year. Despite the fabulously poor education provided by our university (our whatsa-matta if you will) we were endowed by a tremendously fantastic athletic center which just about no one on earth used.
The racquetball courts were located at the back of the facility, and Marc would take me there for regular abuse. To say that I was not in good shape through most of college was an understatement. I was at the peak of my weight then (probably around 220 or higher, but you couldn't have paid me to be on a scale) and March had a pretty easy time of kicking my ass around the court. I have some very fond and vivid memories of playing for about an hour and then going to get spare-rib tips at the chinese place in Hackensack to make up for it. Good times.
There was a hiatus while Racquetball fell away to the back seat in my life, first to weight lifting and then to cycling, as I changed my lifestyle. But in 1997-1998 I ran a dotcom in Nyack, and the gym that I went to had racquetball courts. I'm not sure whose idea it was to actually use said courts, but it was a good one, and Wil Matt and I spent many, many a lunch time (and extended office hours, explaining partially why I no longer own a dotcom) playing sweat-filled games involving much cursing and much laughing.
Matt's got his own fun style, where he'll try to get to any ball, no matter how physically impossible it seems for him to get to it. Wil, meanwhile, will occupy a position on the court that's dominating, and thanks to his massive frame and unwillingness to yield said position, ended up being slammed into full-speed while I tried to cross the court to get a ball. One time, in particular, I was spinning around from a rear-wall return shot and moving forwards when I ran smack into his backside, and collapsed on myself. Wil did not budge, bent over in his "ready" position as my 180 pounds of high-speed spasmodicism slammed into him and then fell in a heap to the floor.
I also have a pretty vivid memory of one match where I was sitting out (we often rotated through playing singles rather than play cutthroat) and watching the game through the glass wall, when Matt, in an attempt to return a rear-wall kill shot took a running dive from about half-way down the court and slid directly into the window in front of me.
I'm not really a summertime racquetball player, I have a violent reaction to being inside when it gets nice out, so my season is often November through March or so. This year I'm going to try to take advantage of the fact that one of the places we play is open 24 hours during the week (we're pretty sure it's a money laundering facility).
This year has been great, although Matt's working a lot, and I recently broke Wil during a match. (I also broke Glenn, but that was more his own fault, as he hit himself in the knee with a racquet and then claimed he didn't.) I'm a bit more athletic in the court than usual, I actually ran up the wall to return a shot today, matrix style.
Today's game involved breaking in (or not breaking in as the case might be) new glasses from Evolution Optique in town. They work very well, though I don't have enough anti-fog coating on them yet and so as I sweat they fog up but just for a second and then clear again. It's like playing racquetball outside in the San Fran bay area.
I'm hankering for more games, so come on and let me know if you want to play. Loser buys the spare rib tips.
Always fun to play with you David! You are a great competitor.
Look forward to our next game!
Posted by: Matthew Ciuccio | March 21, 2006 at 12:16 AM