By James Zug
If the British Open is the church of squash (hallowed but lately not as central to our lives) the United States Open is the economy of squash. In the 40 times the men’s event and 16 times the women’s event have been staged, the Open has seen...
By James Zug
1989
We had lost to Harvard in the regular season in 1989, 6-3 in Cambridge. A week later we beat them in the semis of the first nationals team tournament at Yale. We beat them 7-2. And then we beat Princeton in the finals. It was theoretically...
SMAG-Books 12
Summer Reading: Herewith is our second literary salon where we review the latest books about squash. Three of the four books were self-published; the fourth was privately published- all can be obtained with easy online sleuthing...
By James Zug
A Shot and a Ghost: A Year in the Brutal World of...
By James Zug
Drexel University’s symbol is the dragon. It is not the only college with a legendary serpentine reptile as a mascot (Minnesota State University Moorhead also fields dragons) but Drexel boasts an enormous, bronze, fire-breathing, claw-swiping dragon statue leaping on the southeast corner of 33rd and Market Streets....
By James Zug
The 2011 (Part Two) U.S. National Intercollegiate Doubles Championships came to Philadelphia as a part of the U.S. Open’s first weekend. After more than two decades of incubation and careful attention at the University Club of New York, including a tournament in March this year, the intercollegiate...
By James Zug
It is a sign of rude and robust health that the lingering feeling about the 2011 Women’s World Juniors Squash Championships was one of disappointment. On the surface, the tournament went off without a hitch, and the United States did beautifully. In the individual event, we had...
By James Zug
It is not what you accomplish. It is what you overcome.
Charles Mallet-Prevost Brinton died in June 2011 at the age of ninety one. The last remaining national singles champion from the 1940s, he was a brilliant player who overcame epilepsy to win four national singles and two...
By James Zug
It is almost ten in the morning and Amanda Sobhy is finally coming to school. It is her senior year and she’s already been accepted to college and from outward appearances, she could be another teenager with senioritis, an overstuffed backpack slung over her shoulders, her eyes...
Hours after Amanda Sobhy won the world juniors, the World Squash Federation sent out a press release, “Sobhy Soars to World Title Success,” declaring that she had become the first U.S. player to win a world singles title.
It wasn’t true. Alicia McConnell won the 1980 world juniors in Sweden....
By James Zug
Hashim Khan, who I think can fairly be described as the greatest squash-racquets player of all time, made his American debut in the winter of 1954.
Hashim Khan, may his tribe increase, completely changed the course of events in the game of squash racquets.
The more I think about...