BRC Club Championships 2009/2010!

The BRC would like to thank everyone that came out last week for the club championships. We had a great time and there was some great competition! Congrats to all of the winners.

2009/2010 Squash Championships:

5.5
Michel Bayard def. Ian MacGregor
8-11,7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10


4.5
Colin Sullivan def. Jose Ferrao
11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7


4.0
Steve Cross def. Dave Siegle
11-9, 11-2, 11-6


3.5
Prithvi Tanwar def. Brendan Mullen
5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3


2.5 Nick Carosa def. Jim Johnson
1-8, 11-8, 11-9


Staff Final
Eduardo Porciuncula def. Andy Cook
15-8, 15-9

BRC wins back to back titles in the 3.5 Finals!

3.5 Finals REPEAT CHAMPS! - Michael Belliveau

The opening match was Brendan against Bump Wilcox. Out of the gate is was clear that Brendan was going to win--Bump was the crafty veteran who could retrieve a lot, but his shots stayed up too long to be winners against Brendan. And nobody is going to out-retrieve Brendan. The first game remained close nonetheless, with Brendan prevailing 11-7.

To those watching, it seemed Bump would be vulnerable to the drop, so Brendan was encouraged to hit it short in the second game. Unfortunately, Bump seemed to prefer this style, and he won 11-8. Still, there weren't any concerns as to who was going to win the match. It was just going to take longer.

In games 3 and 4, Brendan went back to hitting deep rails, and actually hit them crisper than he did in the first game. When Bump was loose with a return, Brendan would make him pay with a drop or crush it past Bump. Games 3 and 4 to Brendan, 11-2, 11-4.

On court 5, Prithvi and Matt Herring got a late start. Matt showed himself to be a better player than I thought, and I already thought he was good. But Prithvi is no slouch himself, and jumped out to a one game lead after taking the first game 11-5. The second game was a back and forth affair, and Prithvi was just missing on some shots, falling 11-8.

Game 3 was going to be pivotal, especially with Prithvi's lungs not at full capacity because of pneumonia. Both players elevated their games, and another close game was in the making. At 9-9 and Matt serving, Prithvi played outstanding to win the point and gain the serve. He then won the next point to take an important 2-1 lead.

Game 4 went quickly in Prithvi's favor, as he ran off five straight points to lead 8-2. After relinquishing the serve for one point, Prithvi immediately won it back and took the next two points and the match.

[So we're feeling good at this point, up two matches to zero. But we were up the same score last year, and nearly lost.]

Back on court 3, Cel is playing Ian Walker. Early in the match, it was clear that "good Cel" has arrived--his shots are crisp and tight, and he's being aggressive. (this is all relative, mind you. Aggressive Cel still lets 80% of his opponent's shots come off the back wall.) The scouting report was that Ian was good off the back wall as well, but might struggle with tight rails, and this was borne out. Cel won the first game 11-5.

On court 1, Drew has started his match against Taylor Milner, and it hasn't gone well. Taylor won the first 6 points, and rolled to an 11-5 win.

Meanwhile, Ian picked up his play in the second game and things got tighter, but Cel was just too tough, and pulled out game 2, 11-9.

[For those who are keeping score, we are up 8 games to 3. So Marblehead would need to win all the remaining games to force the match to the second tiebreaker.]

During the break, Drew is told that he just needs to win one game. This, apparently, relaxes Drew and gets him to focus--don't worry about the match, just one game--and he returns to favor to Taylor, sprinting out to a 5-1 lead and never looking back.

Game to Drew. **Championship to BRC**

Seconds later, Cel pulls out another 11-9 win to take his match 3-0.

So now all the focus in on Drew's match, tied at 1-1. Drew had been wanting a rematch with Taylor since Taylor beat him 3-1 last month, and Drew was more determined than I have ever seen him in a league match. Taylor couldn't match the intensity, and Drew powered through the next two games, 11-7, 11-7.

Four BRC wins! A truly remarkable evening.

How About Those "Killer Bees"

WOW! What a MATCH! -Mike MacDonald

For the fourth year in a row the state 50+ league finals was played at the Boston Racquet Club and for the fourth year in a row the “Killer Bees” narrowly escaped defeat and won a dramatic victory over a very determined adversary from Concord/Acton. The match began our Jose “Springbok” Ferrao taking on Mike Downey’s countryman Dave Phillimore and what was a precursor of the evening, the tournament tough “Springbok” prevailed 15-13, 15-14, 15-13. Every game was extremely close but Jose was unflinching in all of the “big” points. At the same time on court four, our “Pride of Squirrel Island” Rip Hastings was playing Roger Jones and the “Ripster” came out flying in game one and crushed Jones 15-5. Jones then regrouped and drastically slowed the tempo of the game down by taking the maximum amount of time between points and squeezed out a pressure pack comeback winning the next three games 15-13, 15-14, 15-14.

The focus then switches to our #1, Zip “Mr. Lehigh Lacrosse 1979” Boucher versus the undefeated, diminutive Will “The Thrill” Bigelow. Zip recently defeated “The Thrill” at the Maugus Club’s Mature Event tournament a few weeks ago (Bigelow defaulted due to back spasms) which did not sit well with Bigelow! A very focused Bigelow, with getting even and settling a score from what happened in Wellesley and ran down everyone of Zip’s best shots and took it to our “Bronzed Adonis” 15-12, 15-13, 15-12. So, it does not look good for the “Killer Bees”, who are down two matches to one and in total games six to four but in total points we are only behind by two points.

Let me outline the scenario. In front of the largest (beer swigging, pizza eating) crowd to ever watch a 50+ “State” Final. It comes down to our #4, Ken “Sachem” Weber versus their Phil Brewer for all the marbles! 1) If Ken wins three games to two, Concord wins on total games. 2) If Ken wins three games to one we are tied in games and then add up total points (this happened last Fall and the “Bees” barely won on total points). 3) If Ken wins three to zero the BRC wins the whole shebang! It seems that Ken is destined to be in these situations and Phil Brewer did not have a clue that he was playing a true “Killer Bee” who always comes through in the clutch! Ken comes out flying all over the court and wins game one 15-8. Game two is very close but at eleven all Brewer hits two consecutive tins and serves two high serves out of the court (pressure?) Ken wins 15-12. Now the BRC fans are going absolutely “nuts” and cheering loudly on every point Ken wins. A plucky Brewer tries to turn it on in game three but our “Sachem” runs every shot down and comes through again 15-11. Game, Match, Title – BRC!

Congrats to the entire BRC squad for a wonderful season and playoff run, it was a lot of fun and let’s do it again next year! Digger, get the boat ready for another trip to Wellfleet! Very “humbly” submitted.

- El Capitano

Too busy to work out?! See how one of our members juggles his schedule and staying healthy!

Fitness has played a significant role in my life for as long as I can remember. Staying in shape was much easier as a kid as opposed to a professional athlete. As I furthered my baseball career, I was required to be in top fitness condition to compete against other athletes at that level.

As an adult, I still have the same drive to compete and stay in shape as when I was younger. However, like anyone with a busy work schedule, it can be tough to keep workouts consistent. Time constraints and motivation are the two major obstacles that I have had to overcome. Everyone has days when they are tired, stressed out, and have so much on their plate where they do not get to the gym.

I have been successful in overcoming these roadblocks by implementing a daily workout strategy that is so dynamic that I actually look forward to working out every day. This program, P90X, takes mostly traditional exercises and structures them in a way where the workouts are time-efficient, challenging, intense, and fun. It allows me to avoid the set-backs and slumps that used to plague other workout routines I have done in the past. Every day P90X challenges different muscle groups, and every 3 weeks the exercises change completely so my body never gets used to the same routine. Best of all, a strategy that motivates you to exercise every day produces great results!

I workout because I find it to be a tremendous stress-relief (we all need that), as well a big source of self-confidence that translates into other areas of my life. I have seen my squash game improve quite a bit, and I feel a big part of that had to do with improvements in strength and fitness.

In the end, maintaining a healthy lifestyle has enabled me to make great strides in all aspects of my life. Being a part of the Boston Racquet Club has given me the outlet to do many of the activities that I love and helps me maintain an even keel through obstacles thrown my way. Ultimately, even though you might seem too busy to workout, are you really too busy to put your wellbeing on the back burner?

By: Ben Beck

Thank you to all of you!

Tai would like to thank all the BRC members who contributed financially to his squash camp which he held in August in Lagos, Nigeria. A total of 27 kids all under 14 participated. Many of the kids had never played squash before. Apart from developing their squash skills a class was held on drug abuse in sport. The camp concluded with a tournament. Thanks to the generosity of club members prizes and awards were given to all the kids. Many of the photographs from the camp have been posted on the notice board by the squash courts.