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Exiles
It's been since December 2006 when construction began on
our favorite area of Hollywood Beach. For anyone who was paying attention,
once construction got to a certain point, it seemed it snow-balled, didn't
it? It seemed to me that once the foundation and first floor of the garage
were down, everything else wet up so quickly. In the meantime all around
us, work went on- pavers were being laid down the Broadwalk, and walls,
lighting, signage and Charnow Park were quickly taking shape. We got a big
break when we were allowed to continue to play on the Courts. March 10th
that came to an end- construction began on the Courts and all of us
players were forced to find other courts to play our games. Frost Park,
Driftwood, Maxwell Park, Jefferson Park- We're all over the place and I'm
sure the locals there wonder who those racous paddleball guys are. It's
just us, having fun in our inimitable way! The Courts are rapidly coming
together- hang in there, Garfield Street "regulars!" We'll be
back on the Historic Courts in no time!
Paddleball Heaven
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love it here!
I've lived in South Florida since 2000 and though the small city I could
have settled in, Spring Hill does have very nice
handball/paddleball courts at their Deltona
Boulevard facility, no other locale can beat South Florida for
day-to-day paddleball fun! Where else can one go and watch a heated
contest of head-to-head wall-sports action over a beer and a slice of
pizza and feel the ocean breeze on one's face? Courts can be found all
over the Hollywood and surrounding cities but the place to play
where restaurants, a cold beer and the Atlantic Ocean's just steps away.
The Historic Garfield Street Paddleball Courts on Hollywood Beach.
Kudos, take 2!
Well, wouldn't you know it? At about this same time last
year some goober decided that the walls on the Historic Courts were just
too pristine for their liking and proceeded to leave us a parting New
Years gift: his "tag" all over our walls. One of our regulars
took it upon himself to paint over the tags (thanks yet again!) and for
almost a year we had no such troubles.
Our Christmas gift from some "scrub" this year was another such
incident of vandalism on the "C" courts and the west-facing wall
of the rest-room building. All of the Historic Courts regulars have a deep
respect and appreciate the place- so I know it was none of us. Some people
you just can't take anywhere- no class. All's well again- because some
unknown person or persons painted the tags over! Below you see before and
after shots. My thanks and kudos to you!
Ramblings
CPQ staying in touch- Below, I go off on the
CPQHPA for not staying in touch. It's a legitimate beef. Day of the CPQ
Cup Finals, I found out about personnel changes which I suspect were
partly the cause of the communications problems. Time will tell. So far
since, I'm staying in touch with one of their people and that's a good
thing. Let's keep it going!
About the CPQ Cup Finals tournament? If you ask me, it
rocked! Juan's idea of "Team Paddleball" was a welcome change
from the usual. Go Hollywood!! My congratulations to Lil' Mike & Tri,
for their third place win, Rob & Andy for second and first place
winners Keith & Todd.
Thanks! Thanks, CPQHPA
and Juan for your continued support of our modality of paddleball. I hope
to see more tournaments and CPQ events next year. My thanks also to The
Paddle Company for co-sponsoring the event by providing 6 great
paddles as prizes to the top 3 teams. Involvement like this by paddle
manufactures can help sell you products- and make our sport grow! By the
way, TPC also supplied me with paddle "edge protectors" and I've
been doin' up thin paddles for free. If you own a paddle similar in
thickness to an Iceman Graphite or so see me on the courts and I'll give
you a free edge protector, courtesy of The Paddle Company. Thanks again
Guys!!
MySpace? Bah!!- The coolest website for us wall-sports
players has to be the an off-shoot of HandballCity.com-
HandballCity.com.me! Similar in concept to MySpace pages, HandballCity.me
pages are geared to OUR sports. By and large, most members seem to be big
blue handball players- I think I'm the only Tennis Ball paddleball player
on there- but I hope that changes soon. So far, I've created a group for
"Big Yellow," posted lots of pictures, started yet another Blog and
played with the
page settings a bit just to experiment. I'm by no means done yet. This thing is cool! Stop
by to check
out my page and hey- Make one of your own- it's free and lots of fun!
Keep in Touch!
First off- I don't want to seem ungrateful to Juan and the
CPQ crew so I'll start this one by giving them thanks for all they've done
for "tennis ball" paddleball. Due to their holding and
sponsorship of the CPQ Cup tournaments our version of the paddleball
sport's been recognized and played by players who would not ever have
otherwise tried it. Wall & Ball players from all over the country know
that the guys at the Historic Courts tho they don't mix it up as much as
they could, are hard to beat at their game. The CPQ Cup tournaments have
provided countless exciting moments for us paddleball fans- and I've taken
literally thousands of pictures to document it.
My beefs? It's really only one- but a most important one! What's happened
to irk me about them has been one principal fact: they don't
communicate- even amongst themselves!
Email them or call them and wait
for the reply you'll never get. This kind of thing has been what started
the whole rigmarole of switching tournament directors. Ok, so Hollywood's
cats didn't want to be herded into joining the CPQ Handball &
Paddleball Association- but they'd have paid the extra fee that's
currently being assessed to non-members for the upcoming tournament. And
what happened that the "membership drive" monies were not
accepted and returned to those that had wanted to join the CPQHPA? Was
that out of spite? We never really knew why- because no one ever
communicated with us about the matter.
Having been commissioned as "publicity director" for the CPQ
events, I expected to be kept informed about anything having to do with
the CPQ Cup events- I've ended up getting my news second hand all along.
Yeah, we have a tournament coming November 11-12, 2006 and yeah, I've put
the flyer together- but none of the information I've gotten has been
first-hand. And due to the fact they've cancelled two scheduled
tournaments- out of state and local players just aren't believing that the
November 11-12 tourney will go on. Miscommunications or the lack thereof
also have led to tournament cancellations which have cost New York players
who'd made plans to come down to participate in the CPQ Tournaments real
dollars. Going to the CPQ web site won't help you much either- it's
just not kept up with in any manner that would be helpful to a
player looking for information on upcoming tournaments, membership, etc.
There's more information on becoming "Miss CPQ" than on upcoming
events! I know their site's a work in progress but they've had a year to
get it right!
CPQ handball & Paddleball Association? It all boils down to one
phrase: "keep in touch."
Heads Up!!
Ok- so this next may not affect the big hitters on the
"A" court- but it just may affect anyone else who practices or
play their games on the North Eastern most court at our favorite Hollywood
paddleball facility. I'm posting this here for all to see- including
Hollywood City officials.
Over the last few months I've watched the concrete in the corner between
this court and the next deteriorate to the point where it is now. As of
late, I've seen more and more pieces of that wall on the ground and worry
that one of these times when going to that corner to retrieve a ball, just
a bit more than a little piece of wall may fall down at that moment. I'm
not a "Chicken Little" kind of person by a long shot- but, If
you look at the picture you'll see what I mean. What kind of damage a big
chunk of that wall falling on a person would do, I'd not even want to
contemplate.
Of concern to many of us is the fact that an often used facility such as
the Historic Courts be allowed to fall to such a state. Hollywood Parks
and Recreation- are you willing to risk a piece of that wall coming down
on a player? We wait patiently for our Historic Courts to be resurfaced-
but some things should be taken care of A.S.A.P. and this is
one of them!
How about it, Hollywood Parks and Rec?
Email
Hollywood City officials.
Newbies on Court!
Remember back in "da day" when you were
the one considered that "novice" player? Do you remember how
hard it was to just keep that ball in play? Hell, it was an accomplishment
to hit that ball back to yourself consistently or even to keep it from
sailing over the front wall! Were you the one that benefited from the
advice given to you by a more experienced player back then? Did you learn
from the hours of practice recommended to you by a new friend you made on
the courts? Do you remember your nerves jangling when you played your
first game of doubles?
As seasoned regulars, many of us go out to the Historic Courts and expect
to find at least one open court but at times, who we find on that court is
a "Newbie."
Ranging in age from just-barely-teen to 50'ish, these guys and gals have
been showing up more and more often. For some it's just the exercise
they're after but there are others practicing their strokes and developing
the same love for our sport that we have. I've volleyed with many of
them and have found that they've all got potential to hang. Let's not
discourage them! How about giving the "newbies" a break and hit
a few with them, even give them a pointer if you want! You may just make a
new friend!
Paddle Review: The
Paddle Company's Falcon Ti
It you're familiar with The
Paddle Company, you know they've been in the industry a long
time and that they've been making quality paddles suitable for use in our
"big yella" version of the game. Just recently I received their
newest paddle, the Falcon Ti- and I'm here to tell you, it's a winner!
I've previously given them a good review on another of their paddles
("El Toro") but this one I like even more.
About the paddle: In shape and size, it's similar to the Sting-
but according to Clark from the TPC, the shape is the only thing the
paddles share. Surrounding its rubber core, the one-piece body of the
Falcon Ti is of an entirely new composition which blends light weight with
unprecedented strength. The result- and the following is my opinion- is
one solid-hitting paddle for its size, weight and maneuverability. Once I
found the sweet-spot on this paddle I found myself able to get
surprisingly (for me, anyway!) powerful hits both off the backhand and
forehand and effective slices because of the fast head speed I was able to
achieve- and this is playing tennis ball! Now... my paddle won't feel like
a "bone-stock" one. It will feel lighter than an off-the-shelf
one due to the fact I removed over an ounce of lead tape from the handle
that was probably used to counter-balance the head of it. Though I do
appreciate a neutrally balanced paddle- for this light weight weapon, I
preferred a head-heavy balance for more power. I also shredded the stock
grip after just 4 games so I swapped it out for a Prince "DuraTac"
one- these babies are just that- durable and tacky- worth the $7 bucks I
pay for them. TPC also sent me a sample of their new edge protection tape
which I attached to my Falcon Ti over 2 layers of "Gamma" tape.
It looks cool and works great!! Go to the Coming
Soon page to see pics of this and other new TPC paddles!
I'm imagining that this paddle's more designed for lighter black balls and
big blue but ya's know? It's gonna work great for our game! Now, TPC-
a suggestion- how about adding "Grit" to it to really make it
"cut" that ball? And about the Edge protector- it's a great
product but please take into account that there's 36 and 38mm thick
paddles out there! They need love too! Bravo, TPC! 
We're now waiting
for a paddle specifically for our tennis ball game!
CPQ Cup
Tournament is off!
I'm sitting here in my living room on a sultry Sunday
Florida afternoon typing this. Today is July 30, 2006- the day that in the
below blurb I advised paddleball fans to mark on their calendar. If you
did and went down to the Courts to catch some tournament action, you were
probably disappointed and miffed. I apologize for not having updated the
"Coming Events" section of the
unofficial Historic Courts Web Site but not for the fact that tournament
was cancelled. I got an off-again-on-again-off again signal from the
CPQHPA that just totally threw me for a loop.
As per the CPQHPA standard operations procedure one has to either hound
them and pry for information, get it second hand or guess their
intentions.
Having a CPQ-type group around isn't necessarily a bad thing, in my
opinion- they've raised interest in our favorite version of paddleball and
got people playing our "big yella ball" where they normally
would not. But the other side of the coin is the fact that (and again, my
opinion 'cuz this is my soapbox) as a organization looking to promote our
sports, they're run in a very unprofessional manner. Tell me this: would
you see a USTA event go through the off-on-off process mentioned above?
And by the same token, as competitors that want to participate in CPQ
events- would it not behoove the players to join their organization and
register early for tournaments?
These are all moot points I'm bringing up by now. I guess it was too good
to be true having such a sponsor as Juan and the CPQ. In all, I'm thinking
they put up about $60,000 in purse money with all the tennis ball
tournaments they sponsored. In our own Hollywood way, we accepted they'd
be here for the duration. So the duration was just about one year. Such is
life. Despite the beefs I have, my thanks go out for your sponsorships,
CPQ. It was great while it lasted. The $40,000 final? Don't get your hopes
up, players...
By the way I'll no longer be the "Promotions Director" for any
CPQ events but I will cover the events.
CPQ Cup
Tournament is on!
Mark July 29-30, 2006 on your calendar, everyone! The CPQ
has agreed to bring back the CPQ Cup events to their home on the Historic
Garfield Street Paddleball Courts on Hollywood Beach and fans of the sport
are buzzin'! My thanks go out to AndyHere, Johnny D and G-Man for their
recruiting efforts and having gotten the CPQHPA to change their minds. My
only "beef?" I wish I had more time to promote this thing!
Peruvian Paddleball-
testing continues
Just what is it? In concept and equipment, it's
very similar to our favorite version of the sport- a wooden paddle, a ball
and a wall. One's got to volley the ball as in our sport but kills aren't
allowed. Volleys of 30 plus hits are not uncommon. I've been wanting to
get my hands on the official ball for their game and thru "wheeling
and dealing" managed to get my hands on 4- two which came loose and
two in cans- one to a can. Finally having these balls let me get a feel
for how it is their game is played and I gotta admit- it's a ton of fun! I
even managed to borrow a pair of official "El Vasquito" brand
fronton paddles to compare the hit -vs- The Paddle Company's graphite
"El Condor" paddles which I'm still testing and promoting. I may
be showing a bit of bias but to me, the graphites felt much more
controllable and packed a better punch than the "El Vasquito"
woods. I've got 2 Condors- an original and a 2nd edition which is much
lighter than the 1st. The heavier one packs more of a hit but the lighter
one was much more maneuverable and easy to wrist snap. I'm guessing that
as Historic Courts players prefer different weights paddles, Fronton
players also will. Soon, I'll be sending the lighter 2nd edition Condor to
a singles and doubles champion in Peru. I'm gonna hate parting with it but
who knows? This may be the one paddle that catches on out there.
CPQHPA Membership Drive?
After the last CPQ Cup Qualifier event on the Historic
Courts, I was itchin' to get the flyer/entry form out earlier about the
next tournament so maybe we could get better and more varied attendance
and media coverage.
I asked the CPQHPA reps various times for missing info (prize amounts,
etc) to no avail as no one seemed to know (or cared to give me) the
answers. After conferring with tournament director Johnny D, I
finally produced and emailed a flyer which announced the purse as
"Big Cash Prizes."
A couple of days after my having sent out the flyer/entry form l got the
news that the event had been cancelled. We were told it was due to the low
percentage of Hollywood Paddleball players that had joined the CPQHPA.
Andy and I went straight to Juan and he verified it for us and I guess I
gotta give it to Juan- he's got a point. I'm no Hollywood paddleball
historian but I believe I can safely say that no one's put up the kind of
purses for our sport the CPQHPA has- over $45,000 so far. There's WOR and
NPTA associations tournament events played for a fraction of the prize
money we've seen recently and they consider that a big deal.
We asked Juan if we got the players to join the CPQHPA, would they bring
the tournaments back and were told yes- and so the "Membership
Drive" is on. We're looking to get all the players that have
participated in the CPQ tournaments to join. Only then will Juan and the
CPQHPA bring their CPQ Cup tournaments back to where they belong anyways:
the Historic Courts on Garfield Street on Hollywood Beach. By the way- I
joined too- and I don't even play the tournaments!
Handball!
Just ask the players and spectators that attended the CPQ
Handball & Paddleball Association's Qualifier. Winners and runner-ups
would qualify for the big money finals in November, 2006. Watching those
players brought it all back: long afternoons at the Central Islip, Long
Island Recreation Center- the "Rec"- bangin' on the Spaldine all
day. I had a big ol' Nature Boy 'fro (if you all can picture that)
and as paddleball is to me now, handball was to me then. I'd live the day
just to get out of work and play all the rest of the afternoon and
weekends. Guys would play until their hands bled, tape 'em up, and play
some more. The Rec's courts didn't have lights- we'd play by car
headlights into the night if we weren't done with the afternoon's games.
The courts were always the place to be afternoons and weekends!
Watching these kids play big blue handball, then, brought all these
memories back. Most of the field had to be under 25 and it seemed
to me that like many of us back in the day and now, these guys live
and breathe their game. Knock it if you want and call it paddleball's poor
cousin or whatever- but as a fan of all wall-sports, this is yet another
I'll keep watching and cover.
On the Road to
the CPQ Cup Finals- Qualifier 1
How time flies! Already it's almost tax time and the 2nd
CPQ Handball and Paddleball Association event of the year has just been
played. Hundreds of fans watched as players battled it out in
single-elimination format all the way to a 2-of-3 game final match that
went to all three games! It could not have gotten better than that! Or
could it? One seasoned veteran observed that it was the "same old
people" and though not fully- I agree with him. From what I heard
prior to the event, there were 31 teams coming and the prize money had
jumped to an astonishing almost $30,000. I fully expected more than a 32
team field- so when I saw there were many less, I was surprised! But I was
not surprised the sponsors decided to leave the purse at the officially
advertised $20k due to that shortage of players. I mentioned about the
"same old people?" Not completely but close to it! There were
those same teams from previous events but we saw a few players and teams
not seen on our Courts before or recently. How 'bout the N.Y. boys? Though
not "tennis ball" players, these guys served our paddleball
players notice that they too can "hang and bang!" (Would our
guys do so well playing a "strange" ball? I expect so, but we'll
never really know!) And how about "local" teams? We've seen
these guys teamed up for every-day play but never in a tournament setting-
and they did well! Welcome back, Jamie with the graphite! And how
about the awesome team of Johnny Wai and "Nike" Joe? Those guys
had the crowd on their feet again and again with their shots and gets! And
those finals- Lil' Mike and Tri gave the team of Iceman Sostre and Andy
here all they could handle but Rob and Andy pulled the
"three-peat" and went home with the bigger piece of the prize
money. There was no shortage of excitement even with the 20 or so teams we
had playing- but c'mon- can you imagine a full field or what a stir guys
like Hogan, Sudsy Monchik, or some 4 Wall or WOR stars would cause amongst
the regulars or our game? I'm kind of faulting myself a bit as I feel that
though I didn't get the word out enough. For some reason, I had the
final details and enough to officially go public just about 30 days before
the event. Was that month notice enough for the world? I'm not thinking so
and the meager turnout. I'm hereby resolving to be a pain in the CPQHPA's
side for information well in advance of the next event (tentatively
scheduled for June 10-11). Let's see if I can get a mini media blitz
going!
Paleta Fronton players visit the Historic Courts
Yeah, it's news to me I wanna write about! In my endeavors
to learn more about the history of our games (look for a page coming
soon!) I joined a Paleta Fronton group. A little background about their
game for those of you not in the know; Paleta Fronton is almost the
national sport of Peru. Similar in concept to paddleball in that the
object of the game is to get the other guy to miss returning one's volley,
the big difference in their game, versus ours is that
"kills" as we know them don't exist. On their courts, there
exists the "lata:" a strip of metal that runs along the bottom
of the wall to a height of .20 meters. Its purpose is to delineate the
"no hit" zone. Hit that zone and the lata makes a characteristic
sound- you lose the point= no kills! Some more differences are that the
serves are cross-court and scoring's similar to table-tennis. The official
ball is a huge .65 mm's across, thin-skinned and very bouncy. The Paleta
Fronton paddle... well... look at the picture below or stop by Wally's Pro
shop and ask him to see one- it's a bit different from our traditional
"woodies." Long -n- skinny!
Anywho, back to my story. I'd joined the Yahoo Group and
wrote to the Group introducing myself and our favorite game and got
various replies. One thing I learned about many in the Group- it's that
they're as passionate about their game as we are! Thru email conversations
then, I found out one of these guys, Raul, would be up here in South
Florida visiting and we made arrangements to meet at the Historic Courts
Thursday March 2nd. We hit a few and agreed to meet Friday evening too.
This time, Raul brought a friend, Luis and after watching some
"A" court action, we made our way back to the "F"
court. We squared off for a friendly game: Raul and Luis -vs- Jeff Wiener
and myself. Yeah, we won but really- it was an unfair advantage we had as
they weren't used to the rules, the ball or the paddles. I guess in their
game, they hang back and volley the ball relying on spins and angles to
get the points. Jeff definitely gave them pause to think about
"kills" as he did his power backhand and forehand kills. Their
hits? Raul had awesome spins and is gonna make one hell of a playa, homie,
as will Luis! These guys know their game- they just have to adapt to the
shorter paddles and modify their stroke a bit to do well in ours! Raul
promised to return next week for some more "tennis ball" action
and the word about our game will spread. In the Guest Book, some anonymous
person accused me of my pushing other sports to readers... Go ahead and
see it that way if you'd like. I'll try any other such sport as ours 'cuz
I love all of it. But my ultimate goal is to see our sport played around
the world on all the walls that exist for other sports. What have you
done lately to promote our sport? Zip, I'd bet.
As a fan of wall-and-ball sports, I know somewhere down
the line I'll play a few Paleta Fronton games. That huge ball's gotta take
a ton of spin when one slices it and that's going to make for some
interesting matches! But I got a feeling that Raul got bit by the
"Tennis Ball" Paddleball bug Friday evening at the Historic
Courts and that he just may take the game home with him!
Extreme Makeover- Historic Courts edition? Well,
ok: we've seen our favorite place to play weather hurricanes, vandals and
miscreants with nary a problem. Historic Courts regulars have been known
to take care of the place by painting over graffiti, picking up thrash and
generally keeping up with the place. But there's only so much we
can do.
As one of Hollywood's most used sports facilities, one would expect it to
be in great condition- but anyone who's played there knows better. One has
but to look at the walls to see where they're starting to deteriorate. And
the floor surfaces? Get back, Jack- Look at "A", "D"
and "E" courts! These suckers have major fissures, huh? I
haven't made a go-round of Hollywood's City's tennis facilities- but I'm
willing to bet that no tennis court surfaces are half as bad as our
Historic Courts'. Now I've put my foot in my mouth with this- and I'm
gonna make it a point to find as many City courts as I can, photograph the
worst of them then compare their worst to ours. Stay tuned.
I can't say that they've not been doing something about our courts-
"D" court's crevasses have just been patched over- but that's
only a "stop-gap" (no pun intended) measure. Balls hitting these
patched areas take weird bounces you've got to experience to
believe! You can call them what you want but I call these
patched areas "skid-marks" and if you've played the back courts,
you'll know why!
What's in our dream makeover? The walls squared away, those cracks fixed
and the last coat over the graffiti. And for the floors? Hmmm... Smooth
all that roughage over, get rid of the shoulders then put down some floor
finish similar to David Park's courts, akin to "hard court."
THAT would fit the bill! No more kicks off the lines, imagine that! Will
we get our Extreme Makeover? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
USPA SE Nationals Doubles Tournament
&"stuff." Oh,
yeah! If you've been reading this "quasi-blog" of mine that's
this here page, you know I'm into it all- by all, I mean,
"wall-sports." Back in da day, I was known to spend hours and
hours on the Central Islip, Long Island, N.Y. courts at the "Rec
Center" playing that black-ball game. Back then, it was the Seamco
ball that was king. But in Miami now? The ball is the ProPaddles black
ball- a much livelier, slightly larger ball than our old Seamco's- which
leads to even more exciting contest for spectators to watch. And
so it was with that new ball and with dem dar new-fangled graphite paddles
that players competed for the USPA SE National Championships in both the
"A" and "B" brackets. The previous USPA SE Nationals
tourney was a "smoker-" this year's edition was the
burner as players from both "A" and "B" brackets
battled it out for top honors. There were the familiar faces of the
regulars as well as players from Orlando, NYC and Miami. I saw players
that I know play at least 4 versions of wall-sports- and they were
playing well and "hangin'!" Competition was fierce- most every
point was a small battle and officiating was strict and right down the
middle. I couldn't stay for the finals but I've no doubt that it was a
fight for both teams all the way and all kinds of exciting! I've been
chided for my support of this version of the sport by some but y'know? I'm
a fan of all such sports and I'll try to see all I can of them, attempt to
play them and report about them here in the "Other Events"
section of the unofficial Historic Courts website. Now, about that Paleta
Fronton tournament in Costa Rica...
WOOOW!! 3, on its way! Think about
it: just like tax-time gets here before you know it, the weekend of March
25 & 26 is right around the corner. The second qualifier for
the $40,000 WOOOW!! Finals in December are about to take place. WOOOW!! 2
brought frontenis & blackball players from Miami, Orlando and New
York. As word about the remaining WOOOW!! events gets out, I'm expecting
other ball/wall sports players and even tennis players to be enticed to
try our sport! We'll see what the WOOOW 3 brings us! Click for WOOOW!!
3 flyer.
We got lights! Woo
hoo!! All the lights on the Historic Garfield Street Paddleball
Courts are now functioning! I've noticed attendance picking up and it's
not just "regulars" on the courts but tourist-types back there
with their paddles, racquets and what-have-you'se, hitting balls. Having
those courts available for use can only be a plus for the City of
Hollywood and tourism here. The longer people stay the more they spend-
and hell, they may even try our version of the sport and come back
and become regulars! I and all the Historic Courts regulars applaud the
City of Hollywood Parks & Rec Dept. for takin' care of business and
getting the last of the lights up and shining! Officials- please let's not
forget what a big part of Hollywood the Historic Courts are. We'll be here
to remind you. Say
Whaaat? $40,000 for the WOOOW!! Finals, Dec 2006!!? All
who were at the WOOOW!! 2 Saturday, January 24th were no doubt impatient
for the show to start. Start time 10AM came and went but CPQHPA director
Juan Guerra had been caught up and delayed in an air traffic snafu and
insisted the show not start without him. Players and spectators alike were
somewhat miffed at that but when he showed up, he made a startling
announcement to make up for it: the WOOOW!! Finals purse would be
upped to an absolutely staggering sum of $40 grand! If you ask me,
this kind of money will really attract national attention once word
gets out- and I'm in charge of spreading the word! To get in on the Finals
one has to qualify by being one of the top 8 teams at the qualifying
WOOOW!! events or by doing well enough to get noticed and be
invited.
NPA 4-Wall-bangers, Paddle-Tennis, Platform Tennis, Tennis, Frontenis,
Padel, 4 Wall NRA & WOR 1 wall racquetball players, Paleta Fronton
players: you're all invited to c'mon down (or up) to the Historic
Garfield Street Paddleball Courts in beautiful Hollywood Beach, Florida to
try to get in to the $40,000.00 Finals! If you're any kind of good in your
sport, you can learn ours! Get yourself a can of Wilson Regular Duty
tennis balls, look up and download the rules here
on the unofficial Historic Courts and get to your local one-wall courts
and and get playing and practicing!! You've got 2 more chances to qualify
or do well enough to be invited to the finals! If anything, you'll find
our sport's easy to learn and an absolute blast to play!
WOOOW!! 2 n stuff Well,
it's all over and done with: the WOOOW!! 2, the event that almost wasn't.
As somewhat of an insider, I've got perspective that "regulars"
and others don't have. I've previously expressed my reservations about
what the CPQHPA and its big money tournaments might do for our favorite
sport. One's gotta be reminded about the Golden Rule- "He who has the
gold, makes the rules."
Recently, Wally removed himself as Executive Director (XD) of the WOOOW!!
2 event so as not be seen as the one who cancelled the event then changed
his mind to rescind said cancellation- and I can really understand his
point. Over at the CPQHPA, at times it seems to me like the right hand
doesn't talk to the left hand: Juan unknowingly showed up without all the
info that was need for decisions to be made and so the committee decision
to cancel was made without all the parties having the proper information.
Consequently, the CPQHPA proceeded to remove Wally as XD of the remainder
of the WOOOW!! events and our own John Dewitt stepped up to take control
so we'd not take a chance on someone taking over that didn't know or love
our game. I confess that I'm gonna miss Wally as XD. I consider it a
true pleasure having worked with him these last few months in my capacity
as "Promotions Director" for the WOOOW!! events. He's thoughtful
and dedicated to our sport. I may not work with Wally on the
WOOOW!!'s but I'm looking forward to working with him to continue to
promote our sport! About John, he's "old school" also but with
that understanding that our game needs a bit of a tweak to go
"national." I firmly believe John will do what's right for our
sport! He won't let the "Golden Rule" take effect on our Courts
or the "tennis ball" game. Remember the ugly rumor going around
that "switch hands" would be allowed for the WOOOW!! 2? He
squashed that one real quick!
I'm thinking that with the exposure big money's bringing to "tennis
ball" paddleball, the right amount of publicity and the changes John
may effect to our game, it just may be the next Big Thing that will
draw players from all versions of paddle and racquet sports to our
Historic Garfield Street Paddleball Courts to play our game!
Let
there be lights! (and no saggy fencing!)
And yeah, verily... after waiting over two months many of us had had
it with no lights in the back courts. Us "regulars" that come
night after night would play on the front courts but only at
times after 2 or 3 game waits. We watched as attendance to the Courts
dwindled, we watched kids play in the dark in the back and we watched
miscreants go in the back courts and relieve themselves in the dark
corners. Many of us were tired of waiting and I was one of them. So
I decided on using this soap-box of mine. I took pictures of the
damaged lighting and the "Saggy
Fence Action," expressed our discontent in writing and created
the "U've Been Served Page" with Email
links for paddleballers to use to send Email to various City officials
then Emailed Mayor Mara and others the link to the Served page. I wasn't
rude, crude or disrespectful- but I was to the point. A
few days later? Electrician Bob was on the case, getting lights back on
the back courts! Coincidence? A few more days later the fencing was fixed!
We even got fresh paint and lines painted on the front walls! (after
"Unknown Guy" covered up the graffiti
that was applied to our walls New Year's evening- Thanks!) I'm not going to
take credit for the work having been done- but I do take credit for
letting the City know that the Historic Courts players will not stand idly
by anymore and let the Courts be abandoned as they were.
To all those who took a few minutes to send officials emails- Thanks! Go
one step further now! Let's help keep the Courts in as good a shape as
possible! Pick up after yourself! Take that empty can of balls and
Gatorade and throw it in the trash. Leave the Courts (and any place
you play) better than you found them! See ya's at the Beach- I got next on
the "E" Court!
"Fitty Bucks"
Juan Guerra and the CPQ Handball & Paddleball Association (CPQHPA) have
brought big-money tournaments to the Historic Courts and are about to make
it go "ballistic!" In case you've not been paying
attention, Juan and CPQ have committed to sponsoring four
tournaments at the Historic Garfield Street Paddleball Courts in 2006- the
first one to take place January 14 & 15, 2006. As of yet, I don't have
all the information regarding this event, but if history teaches us
anything about the CPQHPA's tournaments, it's that they always do these
things in a big way- there just may be another big pay-day for winners and
runners up.
What will the Historic Courts' players reactions
be when they find out that they need to be members of the CPQHPA to
compete in their tournaments- at $50 a year? Wally predicts that this
membership fee will serve to dissuade "B" players from
joining the tournament action about to take place- and I tend to agree
with him. But I'm thinking that over all, Juan and the CPQHPA are gonna be
good for our "Outdoors One Wall Paddleball" because
of the exposure our sport will get. Players from all over will go buy a
can of Wilson Regular Duty tennis balls, break them out and play our
version of the sport for the first time and find out how much fun
it really is.
Outside interest in "Outdoors One Wall
Paddleball" is picking up and as the word about the WOOOW!! events
spread (and I'm one guy doing the spreading) I predict more talented
players from all over the U.S. will be practicing up, joining the CPQHPA and
playing for the bucks! Will Historic Courts players be left behind in the
WOOOW!! tournaments? Somehow, even though there'll be grumbling about
those "fitty bucks," I think they'll pay up, play and almost
always take the big money. For more info click the following link CPQHPA
Website .
WOOOOOOOW!!!!! & Stuff C'mon...
Say you weren't thrilled at some of the WOOOW!! Doubles Tournament
Action and I won't believe you for a minute! And how 'bout those Finals,
huh? As always, I was wishing for more paddleball and I got it when the
thing went to 3 games! In all, everyone played an awesome with Andy
getting the clutch gets and kills. My congratulations to you on a well
deserved victory, Andy & Robert!
With teams from NYC, Orlando,
Miami and even Locals and our own Killer B's, there was action from start to finish both
days! Kudos to G-man and John for having the everything run smooth as silk
and to the players for being very much on their best behaviors. Wally-
my congrats to you on a great show! I
hear our sponsor, Juan Guerra and the officials of the CPQ Handball and
Paddleball Associations liked how the WOOOW!! turned out and may just
sponsor an additional series of WOOOW!! events all culminating in December
2006 for $25k- but I've not as yet heard this officially. The first of the
qualifier WOOOW!! tournaments is to take place in January if things go as
per preliminary plans were laid. We'll see. Everyone- be working on your
game! About big money
sponsorships for Paddleball and "Big Blue" handball Per
an Email conversation I have going with Albert Apuzzi- a nationally
ranked NY Small-Ball handball player who's wondering the same things about
Juan and the CPQ Handball & Paddleball Association (CPQHPA) as I am, I
wrote-
What
influence will this kind of money have on our sports? Per Paulina Aly, VP
of the CPQHPA, they're seeking additional sponsors and they just may get
them. Will we have 'cross-over" players- say tennis pro's- trying our
paddleball, just for the bucks? Will "International" really come into
play when Peruvian Fronton, Mexican Frontennis or Argentine and Spanish
Padel stars take notice and start showing up to the WOOOW!! Paddleball
tournaments? Will Irish ‘ballers cross the pond to try their hand at
'big blue?" My job is "promotions director" for the WOOOW!!
Series… I'm gonna do all I can to get the word out world-wide and I've
already promised to help promote the handball events.
In
a sense, I'm excited about it all- the attention these big money
tournaments will bring to our games. And in another, I worry that the
average day-to-day player will get turned off by all the attention being
relished on the 'big guns."
I
do want to see our sport grow by getting more and more players
trying it- it's addicting- this, Historic Courts players know! Will the
CPQHPA try to flex their mu$cle and try to alter the rules as they see
fit? I'm hoping not. I'm sure the rules could use some clarification on
certain points, yeah- but THAT should be done by committee- not by any
single entity. Wally likes to say "you can't herd cats," but I'm
thinking if you have a big enough dog they can be herded. For now,
I'll keep an open mind and help promote the WOOOW!! events however I can-
but as a lover of our game, I'm gonna keep my eyes open for that cat-herdin'
dog...
What do YOU think on the above? Email
us and let us know!
Killer B's Tournament? I'm
still hearing clamoring for a Killer B's tournament- and I agree! I, for
one know what kind of game I have- I get the shots but I'm not an
"A" player nor do I pretend to be. I guess if we want our own
tournament, guys, we'll have to do it ourselves. Face it: We don't watch B
& C level tennis tournaments on TV 'cuz they're not the draw that the
Pro's are, right? They just don't get the interest and neither do we- but
we are the ones here day in and day out and we'd like our own show,
so let's go! Doubles and out of the hat, double eliminations? I'm
game!
NPA Outdoors 1
Wall Page
Finally! The
NPA Outdoors 1 Wall Paddleball Page is up! Here, NPA players can
finally read all about our favorite version of paddleball, download rules,
get Coming Events info and see pics of the previous NPA sanctioned tournaments and
more.
On
the Guest Book
Ok, remember when the Guest Book got
spammed? My reaction was to set up a new one hosted on another server- one
of the advantages of that was that it was spam-bot resistant so that
worked out well. As of late, the Guest Book's gotten really busy- with
sometimes multiple entries a day. (yeah, I'm a hick in the city! Hey- from
no entries in a month to multiple dailys" C'mon!!) I don't have to
capabilities to know just who's posting- so anyone can say anything. As
the Web-Geek, I will take the liberty to edit or even delete any posting I
deem offensive. So far, I've not had to- as a matter of fact, I've
literally laughed over some of these. (BTW, I tried the "cure"
offered for my hurtin' elbow and felt slight relief.) Keep those postings
coming! The other
Hollywood Beach I'm typing these from 35,000 feet,
on the way home, finally. So far, this is the longest trip out for me.
Missing my "crew's" a given- but add to that, Hollywood, the
famed Florida humidity, the Beach and last but not the least- the Historic
Courts! My flights out took me to Oxnard, California and on the way to the
rental car, I spotted a local area map. Yeah, I had to go see- and on it,
I found... the other Hollywood Beach!
Perhaps a "bizarro" counterpart? Unfortunately, my work brought
me away from the shore so I didn't get a chance to go and explore- but if
ever I'm in that area again, I'm gonna take a drive out to that place just
to say I did so... I'm certain it's just wonderful there; I'm
certain that Stars have dropped big bucks on houses overlooking the
Pacific; I'm certain that beautiful people abound- but I'm also certain
that those people there just aren't as cool or as real as they are at our
Hollywood Beach and I positively know we got the best part of the
deal- because we have the Historic Courts on Garfield Street to
hang out and play at. Nuff sed!
WOOOW !! On
the upcoming WOOOW !! (World Outdoors Open One Wall) doubles tournament-
I've been biting my tongue so as to not get the word out cuz I'm really
excited over what's to take place November 5 & 6, 2005. A
very generous player and lover of our sports has come forth and put his
money where his mouth is to sponsor various area tournaments. If you don't
know, Juan (our sponsor's name) has also sponsored a series of big cash
pay-off tournaments for "big-blue" handball that have drawn
contestants from all up and down the east coast. (Go to www.handballcity.com
to read more about them.) I've never spoken to Juan regarding why he's
doing these sponsorships. You can be cynical and say he's doing it for the
tax breaks he may get but I just don't believe it. As a former handball
player, I love to watch a game- and I guess because the rules are so
similar, I love spectatin' (and even playing) any such off-the-wall sport. What's this leading me to? I suspect the reason for these
sponsorships is that the guy loves to watch a good game too. Putting up
cash prizes such as he's done has helped draw the very best handball
players to South Florida and now Juan's doing it again but this time for
our Paddleball. You can bet the Hollywood's "Usual Suspects" are
starting to pair up and practice to show the paddleball world who rules
our sport. And if the "outside" competition's thinking, they'd
download the rules, go get a can of Mr. Wilson's
Regular Duties, buy or break out
their paddles and start practicing to get the timing and shots down. See
ya's all on the Historic Courts November 5th & 6th!
In no particular order Well, ok:
I've often heard certain things said of our version of paddleball- that
it's not "real" paddleball and that it's only played in
Hollywood, that it's a dying sport and why do we call it paddleball if we
use a tennis ball to play it anyway? Well, I'll try to comment on each of
those things said in no particular order... What do they call food in
China? You don't know? Well, you can be certain they don't call it
"Chinese Food," so we normally don't call our version of the
sport "tennis paddleball" or "paddle tennis" or
whatever you've called it. It's paddleball: get used to it! Is it only
played in Hollywood? I've learned different- to be more specific, It's
mostly played in South Eastern Florida. But as more and more people read
about the game world-wide through this site, through word of mouth from
day-to-day "regulars" and from tournament players who take the
game home with them, they'll try our game and find out just how easy it is
to pick up and how much fun it is to play. I'm not breaking my arm patting
myself on the back and exaggerating- I know this site's accessed from near
and far from reading the hit logs- so I know literally people the world
over have read these pages. And finally- that ours is a dying sport. If
one comes out to the Historic Courts almost any week-day getting a court
to oneself is impossible. Players of all ages are on the courts-
from 11 year old "Leftie" who's been playing for less than 2
months to high-schoolers who play regularly to seniors who've been playing
almost all of their lives. From the sounds I hear and the games I watch
the younger players run, this doesn't sound like a dying sport to me!
Arroyo Courts Just
recently, I took a trip to a little town called Arroyo
in PR and there found a pair of under-used
courts. The last time I walked that area was over ten years ago and
before that, even more. Back in da day, when I was coming up, there were
no handball courts there. What was there was a yarn factory (which dumped
it's waste directly into the ocean), warehouses and auto-body shops.
I guess as small towns go, Arroyo's lucky; back in the late 80's that
former light industrial area was developed into a pedestrian area called
"El Malecon,"
similar to a downtown Hollywood. Pavers and landscaping, a stage and
spectator area, nightclubs, bars and restaurants- and just 2 blocks away,
those courts. From what I've been told, only handball gets played there
and even that seldom happens as of late. I "review"
the courts on their own page- but I'll say here that these courts ain't half
bad! I say that if the town only realized the potential attraction they
have there or if some local businessman gets to thinking, they could make
something of those courts.
Let me give you guys the formula: For starters, power-wash those bad boys,
paint the walls and put down some lines. You've got a start, guys! You've
got the room there- add 2 more walls and some fencing. Now break down and
get some adequate lighting and set up a pro-shop or so that the local
stores sell paddles and balls and the thing will take off on its own.
Boricuas are a competitive and sports-loving bunch and will soon start
playing. I have no doubt that after a few months, paddleball would boom in
the area and another paddleball haven would be born. Tennis-ball
paddleball would be the ideal sport there- easy enough to learn and always
challenging as one advances. So there. I guess as always it's wishful
thinking on my part but who even knows? I'll put this up here, email links
to these pages and comments to friends in PR with the hopes someone with
the right stuff reads and acts on these ideas of mine. One can only hope.
Ready or not- here
they come!
If you're a regular visitor to the Historic Courts or
Hollywood Beach, you may have noticed there's been construction delays on
A1A. As far as Hollywood Beach, A1A and the Broadwalk is concerned,
millions of dollars will be spent on improvements and they're soon to
come. Multi-colored pavers, a crushed shell jogging path, old-fashioned
lighting fixtures, new benches, a decorative and lighted wall separating the Broadwalk from the
sand. Do you wonder if there's more? Water, sewer, over-head power-line
removal, the renovation of Charnow Park, a parking garage where the
Historic Courts' parking is and finally- improvements to our favorite
courts! We'll lose the old rest-room/pro-shop building but we'll gain an
observation deck, new facilities, new pro-shop digs, courts resurfacing
and other improvements! First and of most importance to us are the
courts' improvements. As a historic site, they can't change much but what
can be, will be and it'll be for the better. Where will we all park
and where will we all hang out when all these changes are happening? I
guess we'll have to wing it during those changes- So ready or not- here they come! Wanna
see more info and an artist's conception of the proposed changes? Click
the link to go to the Beach 2005
page.
Handball Lives! Well,
Again I've gotta thank Andy Here for cluing me in about the First Annual
Flamingo Park Doubles Handball Tournament. Held on a sometimes drizzly
Saturday, June 4th, 2005, sponsors put up the 5 grand top prize and more.
I was there bright and early but eventually, people started showing up,
and as players greeted each other, practice and warm-up games started
happening. One could feel the excitement and "nerves" in the
air- no, that wasn't the humidity! ;-)
In all, Historic Courts regulars hung in there and made it know that they
can play too! I was rootin' for you, guys! Well done!
As a final word? The sponsor's doing a great thing by putting on this
series of tournaments- yeah, there's more to come- so stay tuned! Handball
is alive and well and some of it lives on the Historic Courts on
Garfield Street! For more handball info, go to www.handballcity.com. See ya's
all on the Courts!
Spam- the
scourge of the Internet Just recently, Andy Here
called to my attention that something strange was going on with the Guest
Book. I had no idea what he was talking about until the next morning when
I looked in on the web site. Sure enough, there in the guest log, were
links to web-sites unknown (to me), posted time and time and time again. I
logged in and cleaned it up and commented about it and again it was
hit, first a few times, then many. This was a work of
"spam-bots-" programs written specifically to search the Web and
dump in Guest Logs and forums whatever text their creators program them to. In our case, links to
web sites I'd not dare venture to. As I said- if these people resort to
such measures to publicize those sites, one's hard drive is probably at
risk if one follows any one of those links. Word. The contents of the old
Guest Book? I cleaned the spam posts out of it and posted all in the old
Guest
Book page for readers' future reference. Click the link to jump to it! New
Guest Book now online
So if you read the above rant, you know the reason for the
new Guest Book. To try to stay out of the spam-bots "radar," I
opted to find a site that would host our 'Book for nothing and I found
one. What the catch is I may find out eventually but for now, I've found
none and I'm liking that new Guest Book. You'll be able to format your
text with bold, italics, underlining and more than a
few smileys. I had the fun of setting up the 'Book (in the official
Historic Courts colors of green and buff and of posting the
first message. Go see a screen shot
of it or click the New Guest Book link
to hop to it and drop us a few
lines! We'd love to hear from you!
On the
differences in the Game I barely know how to
start this comment but I feel I gotta say something- I don't have any
statistics on the hits this section of the site gets and I don't know that
anyone bothers even reading these. As I've said previously; "Opinions
are like belly-buttons" and this is my soap-box so here's my
opinion on the topic.
If you've never visited the ProPaddles.com web site, I'll give you a brief
introduction to it- read it before you proceed to follow the link.
ProPaddles is dedicated to pushing the "black-ball"
version of the sport. They don't recognize our version of the sport as
being legitimate due to the fact "tennis ball" is played almost
exclusively in Hollywood, Florida. "Black-ball," on the other
hand and as I know it, is played in New York, Jersey, parts of Florida and
Puerto Rico. My off-the-cuff impression about their opinion? I
myself have played that game in other parts of the country and as a former
New Yorker and regular player of the game, I expected it to be the only
way to play paddleball. So then it came as a complete surprise to me when
I stumbled on to the Historic Courts and these guys were playing with a
tennis ball. I was aghast! I put aside my prejudices and tried the game
and discovered just how much fun and challenging it is. I won't knock the
black-ball game and I won't knock Peruvian paddleball or any other version
of the sport. It would be a disservice to all of us who are striving to
get our games some respect- but on the other hand, I chide those who knock our
game as not being the "real deal." I've never played paddleball
as they play it in Peru- but I won't knock them for playing it either- and
I'd jump at the chance to play a few matches. I know various players who mix it up and play all three locally played
versions of paddleball- "big-blue," blackball and tennis ball
and are excellent at them all. I admire, commend and have rooted for them
at tournaments. Apples and oranges mix when you juice 'em up and these
guys do just that and have fun doing so- just ask them! I encourage Historic Courts players to try the
blackball game and vice versa- Their rules can be found on the ProPaddles
web site and you can get the balls from Sports Authority or right on the
courts if you go to Flamingo Park in Miami Beach. Just ask around. Serve
up and volley- you'll find it takes less effort to get that little back
ball moving fast 'cuz you're used to the weight of the tennis ball.
You'll hit many "outs" but you may also surprise yourself at the
shots you can make with your "tennis ball skills." Give it
a chance- it's a great game! Blackball players? Get the rules to
"tennis
ball", grab a can of Wilson Regular Duty tennis balls and go
to the tennis ball courts- you know, the ones around the corner of the
"A" courts with the 36" Low
line on the front wall? Pop the top, pull out one of those big yella
balls and serve up- You'll have to hit it harder than you hit that
blackball and the serve above the low line is hard getting used to. Expect
a few double-faults until you get used to it but eventually, you'll be
scoring with good serves and you'll be able to slice the hell out of
that ball- this is part of what makes "tennis ball" a great game
to play. Stick to it an you just may have some fun and find out why
Hollywood area players are on the courts almost every single day instead
of just on weekends! The Historic Courts' 75th
Anniversary Celebration's Pics- Then and Now Bright
and early Saturday morning, the doo-be's were out helping Wally set up.
Collages were brought out and hung, bunting put up, balloons inflated and
tied off as people began to arrive. The morning felt like it flew by and
all through it I was floating around taking pics. I gotta say I was
inspired to do so because of looking at the pics on the collages- back in
the day, someone had thought to take the pics all of us looked at. Styles
have changed since then- no more "Daisy Duke" shorts and tube
socks and we wear our hair shorter (if at all!  ).
Bikini's are just a bit skimpier, the equipment to play our favorite sport
has changed but some constants remain- that tennis ball and the passion we
have for our games. Many of those pictures are probably irreplaceable. The
negatives are long gone and the prints are now faded and yellowed- a bit
less of them to see every day that goes by. Click here to see a pic before
and after my having retouched it. I knew probably the only
chance I'd get to save some of these was to take digital pictures of the
pictures at the highest resolution I could. This was my way to save them.
Click the "Old School" link to see some of these at lower resolutions- the original
pics of the pics I took are fairly large- some 3 or 4 megs each- but I
wanted to post some of what I had here for the world to see. I also wanted
to be one of the ones to leave pics for the next 75th anniversary
and someday, maybe someone will be looking at the 800-plus pics I've
taken. I'm not worried about copyright infringement with my pics- feel
free to copy them and pass them on- just give me a bit of credit for
taking them! I also wanted to give my thanks to all the players and the
doo-bee's by giving
them copies of the 2 CD's with all the pictures and video clips on them.
Want your own set of CD's? Email me or see me on the courts with your
request for your very own, for a nominal fee- who knows? If you were
there, you may just see yourself in the pictures! The
Garfield Street All-Stars Tournament The
centerpiece of Sunday's 75th Anniversary festivities was the Garfield
Street All-Stars tournament- no doubt about it.
Bleachers awaited the spectators and the vibe around the Courts was
electric as players arrived and warmed up. Names were pulled, the brackets
drawn up and it was on! Things started with a bang and I won't go much
into it here but I'll say this: there were surprises in store for players
and knowledgeable spectators. As I said previously, it was not just
another day at the beach. The guys were banging, putting it all on the
line for each game. People came from afar to watch- as well as to
play. We had "the usual suspects- " plus one- Robert Sostre who
came down from New York. It was an action filled day of paddleball with
many thrills all leading to an epic final. As usual, for that final, I
wanted the guys to split the first two games- and so it was... I'm a
glutton when it comes to watching a good match- I wanted the max number of
games! I won't say who won here- You'll have to go to the Garfield
Street All-Stars page for that info- but these guys had the crowd literally on
the edge of their seats all the way to the end! There were amazing shots
and gets from both Tri and Robert, I'm tellin' ya's!! My congrats to both
you guys, but more to the
eventual winner. Normally and anywhere else, I'd root for the other guy-
but on the Historic Courts that day, (and I've been chided for this but
opinions are like belly buttons,) I was rootin' for you! Thanks!! To
all the Tournament players, Thanks!! You played your asterisks off
and provided us spectators with matches we won't soon forget. To all who
helped plan, who donated, who provided pics and memorabilia and helped in
any way, Thanks!! And finally, to Wally- for all his hard work,
scheming and planning; THANKS!! On the
"Iceman," Robert Sostre Ok, if you've been
reading my comments on this page or in the Guest Book, you know I'm a fan
of all paddle and racquet sports. This page continues to be the "unofficial"
Historic Courts web site because of that fact. I've been told that then
this should be "Eddie's Paddleball Webpage" instead of
GSHistoricCourts.org but I still insist on keeping it as it is. No one's
as of yet stepped up to do an "official" site for our Historic
Courts and I don't think anyone else ever will, so here it is! I'll
probably take some heat for my comments here, but I love our version of
the paddleball sport and have adopted it as my own and out of that love
for the game, I've created this website to let the world see what our
game's all about.
I've read the hit logs- there's people from all over the world viewing
these pages and this is in part what I wanted to accomplish. People in Spain
or Argentina may
decide to not play padel some evening and try that "tennis
ball" game they read about here instead. I'll
watch the NASDAQ 100, (Go Federer!!), Indoor and outdoor racquetball,
handball, "Big Blue," Blackball (yeah!!!) and any other paddle
or racquet sport, what the hey? (Why isn't padel bigger in the U.S. yet?)
And among a few of these sports, I've seen one guy who's played
outstandingly in 3 of these as I've seen him: Blackball, Tennis Ball and
Outdoor Racquetball: Robert Sostre.
Here's a guy who's a newcomer to Racquetball and our version of paddleball
and he (along with Freddie Ramirez) takes a national 1 wall doubles
outdoors racquetball championship and gets to the finals during the
Garfield Street All Stars tournament? C'mon, guys, fellow paddleball fans-
think on this...
Robert barely picks up a tennis ball the rest of the year until he comes
to our Historic Courts, you gotta give it to him! No beef, Robert: I won't
root for you to win here in Hollywood (Unless you move here!!) but I've
seen you play more than almost any of the Historic Courts regulars. You
have heart, and you show great sportsmanship and class every time and
anywhere you play- anywhere else you play besides Hollywood, Florida
and I'm present, you got a fan in me, amigo. Nuff sed... Diamond
Edition Paddle- My evaluation Just recently, I
purchased a Sidespin Electra from Dave- I gotta say it's a great paddle-
but for my wimpy arms, just a tad too hefty- swinging it day to day caused
me slight but bothersome triceps pain that caused me to stop playing for
more days that I'd have liked. If I had a beefy arm like Trogdor, I'd have
no triceps problem. I had already swung and liked
the Diamond Edition (DE) paddle- so I bought one. As of this entry, I've
played about 10 games with this paddle and I'm liking it the more I get to
know it! It's rimless, it's got plenty of "pop," a big sweet
spot, it's light and has the center balance that I like. I can pretty much
snap off a back or forehand with it and easily "pull" the ball
cross-court in both directions but spins aren't as easy with the DE as
with the Electra. I kind of wish the DE had the
Electra's "love
nubs" or at least a rougher face coating. Maybe it's just a matter of
my getting used to the thing- the holes on the face do seem to grip
the ball pretty well! One other beef is the grip diameter- about 4½
inches- kind of big. Though I can play ok, I may rasp the grip down
some then build it up to where I like it if needed. Paddle manufacturers-
are you reading me? Build the damn things with a thin grip and let us do
the rest. Also, the grip it comes with is kind of slippery. Prior to using
the paddle for the first time I put on 3 layers of Gamma edge tape and
swapped out the slick grip with a "Whattagrip" overgrip.
Overall? I love the paddle and think it'll do my game good! On a
scale of 4? A big ol' 3½! Yeah, you can try my DE but don't you mar
or scratch it. Wally's ordered more DE's- You can get your very
own! Or maybe not!!? Nahhh... Fuggedaboudit!
Big Web.org Allllllrighty then- Anyone who
visited this site when I first put it up about a year ago found coverage
of a few HGSPC events, my take on these, a few links and not much more.
Visit now and you'll see it's gotten huge! There's coverage of all
Historic Courts events, events outside of the Historic Courts, a
"places to play" section with pictures, and much more. I've
never taken any classes in web design and I'm sure it shows- but I'm also
sure there there's worse pages out there. I put a lot of work into this
web site and and I've learned as I've gone along. I don't get paid for
this- I do it 'cuz I love the Historic Courts and what they represent and
I love my paddleball- and I say that here "generically," be it
"tennis ball," "black-ball" or
"blue-ball." I'll be soon trimming most of
last year's articles and event coverage from this web to make room for a
new year's worth of events and to cut down on the "bloat." I'll
continue to cover all events on the Courts and beyond and I'll continue to
support the Historic Courts, paddleball in general and that
"new" outdoor racquetball game. I'll keep an archive of the
"old" website off-line. In case anyone needs or wants old events
pictures, read below...
CD's now available I just thought of this one- If
you'd like a CD with pics from any of the events that have taken or will
take place on the Historic Courts please Email me! For a meager and
nominal shipping and handling fee, I'll send you all the pics of whichever
event you choose with whatever profits going to Wally for the Historic
Courts' 75th thang! Email me at gspaddles@gmail.c
o m or see me on the courts- if you're a local. And set me up a few, will ya?
Previous
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course, your comments are always welcome and I may even reply! Please feel
free to email us by clicking the spinning envelope icon below. See you all
on the courts! The
Qualifier 2005 World Outdoor Racquetball Doubles Championships Put
your money where your mouth is, Part 3 Die
Hards, etc Paddleball
Jones Healing
thru paddleball?
What's
"Fun?"
Viagra
Open
The
Challenge 
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