|
|
SHORTLINE |
|
|
|
SHORTLINE |
|
The Official Newsletter of the Greater Cincinnati Handball Association
Winter, February 2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Norwood Courts Torn Down |
|
| Dupps Visits Florida | |
|
Paul Baker, the Road Runner |
|
| Cincinnati in Handball Magazine | Vinnie Caruso Succumbs to Cancer |
Mid-Western Regional Tourney; Akron, OH. March 17, 18, 19, 2000
Pittsburgh Tourney; Pittsburg, PA. TBA
"The City" Championships; Cincinnati, OH. March 31, April 1, 2000
National 4-Wall Championships; Minneapolis, MN. June 3 - 10, 2000
Bob Caples 3-Wall Tourney; Cincinnati, OH. July 29, 30, 2000
This story was originally published on the GCHA web site and is reprinted in the Winter issue of the Shortline.
Article by Jim Krailler; photos by Bob Burkitt
The ringing in of the New Year has come and gone and nothing outrageous has happened, imagine that. Everything that we are used to such as having to buy a new can of handballs for every match, being short on referees during tournaments, and people claiming that they have sent their dues check to Larry Gray have not changed.
Some items that we the “Board” plan to work on this year are being more timely with the Shortline, increasing participation in tournaments, getting hold of the “new” handball, and diagramming the swing of Paul Baker. On a serious note, we do encourage anyone to come and participate at the GCHA meetings which are held about once a month.
Happy New Year and Good Luck in 2000!
Sincerely,
Carl Huether
BEEP! BEEP! VROOOOOMMM! A blur goes by you, a lock of hair standing up flashes past. Who is it? It’s Paul Baker, the Road Runner of handball. Anyone who has strapped on the gloves to play him knows - they are in for a grueling, torturous endurance test. Paul may not get tired- but you will!
|
Paul Baker is blessed with speed, strength and unbelievable stamina. An unorthodox style only serves to deceive you. Paul has worked on his shots to develop a full arsenal to defeat his opponents. With pillow-soft hands he drops his patented “lame duck” shot in the corner while you eat splinters futilely diving for a “get.” If your game is on, he’ll trade blasts with you. The only problem is he digs up everything - and I do mean everything. Blast after blast, get after get your sneakers start to smoke, and you collapse in a heap. The thought enters your mind that a stake through his heart won’t work. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, many, many years ago Paul got hooked after a handball course at Lawrence Hall at the University of Cincinnati. Finding it difficult to get handball players Paul took up racquetball and was soon playing at Pat Matson’s. There he played Buzz Brown, Dick Peake, Kent Williams and Cary Clark, among others. Vern Roberts converted all these players into fresh handball meat. |
Paul credits two players as being instrumental in forming his playing style: Mike McMahon taught him that a pass is as good as a kill (also - never give a sucker an even break). Sam Peters taught Paul the “dump shots,” that they all don’t have to be hard kills. He gave up on trying to teach him to shoot the ball.
A local and national champion, one of Paul’s most memorable matches was his first National tournament in Baltimore. Paul had a 7-0 lead in the tiebreaker and lost 11-8 to James O’Rourke of Ireland in the semifinals of the “C” Division. In 1991 Paul dominated the Ohio “B” division, winning singles and the doubles with Dan South. Paul won the National “B” Masters in 1997 in Lansing, Michigan.
He owns the Masters at the Queen City Shoot-Out. The supremely conditioned Ray Mayo has a severe case of the “goo-goo” after losing to Paul 5 years in a row (1994,‘95, ‘96, ‘97 and 1998. Ray calls Paul “Pillow-hands”, and screams of anguished frustration (Ray’s) can be heard when they’re playing.
Always the gentleman, Paul is a pure joy to be around. His tireless work on the annual GCHA golf outing deserves a tip of the fedora from all of us.
Paul lives in Symmes Township with his wife Beth, and two children, Stacy (recently engaged) and Justin, who is a senior at Moeller. A devoted family man, Paul gives great credit and thanks to his wife Beth. Her understanding has allowed him to excel at this most perfect of games.
Article by Jim Brooker
|
In the hype that preceded the end of the Millennium, a number of “Best of the Century” categories were reported in the media. Not the least were the “Best Athletes of the Century.” For all of the good intentions the criteria were weak and racial overtones were prevalent. Picking the best of a decade is hard enough with all of the changes that occur, but what was most surprising was that nowhere were any handball players mentioned while at least two horses were. I’ve been watching sports for the better part of this century and have seen a number of top athletes from the media-dominated sports attempt to play handball. Most of the time it was comical. Hopefully during this Millennium, the sport of handball will emerge from the shadows. |
 |
Article by George Morano
Recent issues of HANDBALL Magazine have featured Cincinnati topics and players. An article about the Green Township 3-wall court project featured John Allen, Grant Kirby and Mike Reilly.
|
Another issue featured the very successful play of Mike Reilly and Steve Kiser at the 3-Wall Nationals at Toledo on Labor Day Weekend. Steve Kiser was even pictured on the cover. Way to go, guys! After all this we fully expected to see Mike Reilly’s picture on the cover of Time Magazine as Man of the Year. |
 |
Ralph Weil has accepted the challenge of organizing and directing the consolation bracket at this year’s World Handball Tournament to be held at the Des Plaines YMCA near Chicago. Players from many countries will meet to decide the world titles.
Jim Wohl will assist Ralph in this undertaking.
 |
League chairman Bruce McCormick is proceeding with plans for the new season of the 3-wall league. Despite the amazing success of the 1999 season, he is entertaining suggestions to improve the format for the new season. Under consideration are splitting the league into two nights to relieve the crowding on Wednesdays; possibly having the second night be on Fridays; standing substitute lists and other possibilities. This is the time to get your two cents worth in if you have any ideas for the league. Bruce can be reached at 513-829-5049 and would like to hear from you. |
After this issue of the Shortline went to the printer, Bruce sent out the following letter.
|
Dear Handballer, I want to thank each and every one of you players for the fine support that each and every one of you gave to our outdoor league last year. I feel that outdoor handball will help your indoor game, particularly when it comes to the power game. It is time to start organizing our Year 2000 Summer League. Any of you that are interested in playing this summer, please send me back the form at the bottom of this letter. (Form on separate page.) The league is going to start on Wednesday, May 31 and on Thursday, June 1. I feel that we should break up the two different classes into two different nights. This is going to help with the scheduling so that we can start our league games later and end earlier in the evening. The league will end up on August 24th and 25th. I hope that this summer season can be a great one for all of you that are going to play, and if any of you have questions, please call me at 829-5049 after 6:00 pm in the evening.
|
|
While on vacation during Christmas Break, Denny Dupps took a day trip to Jupiter, Florida to visit with the Donnelly's. It was a very nice day. Jim and Pat are doing quite well in a luxurious new home and of course a little cut throat was in order at the local Jewish Community Center. If you wish to communicate with Jim, he's at 6162 Windinglake Dr., Jupiter, FL. 33458. Or you can email him at: Jedonnel@aol.com |
 |
Bill Spring reports that the treasury is in good shape and that we are current with our bills. Dues for the year 2000 are due and payable to the GCHA.
Following is a list of those GCHA members who have paid their annual dues for the year 2000. If you have not yet paid you will receive an invoice and return envelope by mail, so please return it promptly with your check. If you do not receive an invoice please mail your $25 dues to GCHA c/o Bill Spring; 1109 Mohawk Drive; Lebanon, OH 45036
| Banta, Bob Burkitt, Bob Church, Chandler Cianciolo, Tony Clasen, Bill Coleman, George |
Davis, M. Edward Dixon, Skip Dupps, Denny Gartland, Glen Groom, Jim Huether, Carl |
Keener, Bill Kent, David Krailler, Jim Lazarouski, Chris Lohmueller, Bob McCormick, Bruce |
Morano, George Rosselot, Ron South, Dan Taylor, Nancy Weil Ralph |
Bill is also interested in auditing the circulation of the Shortline. Please call his answering machine at (513) 932-2546 and leave a message when you receive this issue. There have been some casualties in the mailing process and we want to find and fix them without delay.
 George Morano, "Captain" Andy Anderson & Ron Rosselot |
At the recent GCHA Fall Party at the Cincinnati Athletic Club, an old friend was in attendance. Captain Andy Anderson made the long trek from Loveland to mingle with his old cronies. What’s strange about that, you might wonder? Well, Captain Andy recently had a quadruple bypass, with a bout with leukemia thrown in and many may have written him off. However, typical to handball tradition, Andy declared himself the winner and free of those demons.
|
|
His only concern was that with the chemotherapy treatments he was now bald. At that point Ralph Weil stepped in and took this photo of Andy with two other chromeheads who had to reconcile that at least Andy’s hair will come back, while Ron Rosselot and George Morano will continue to have a bald profile. Welcome back to the game and the game of life, Andy!!! Note! Everyone at the meeting tried to schedule him for a game. |
|
|
Here are two reprinted documents that appeared in the program, "In Loving Memory of Vincent J. Caruso" during his funeral on Saturday morning, January 15th at the St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Kenwood. Vinnie passed away on Wednesday, January 12th after a long battle with cancer. The stories that follow express the love and spirit of this very good friend of our handball community. Our sincere condolences to the Caruso family. |
 Photo by Silvia Cioffi taken in Italy, 1996 |
Memorial contributions may be made in care of The Wellness Community, Please mail checks to: |
|
Vinnie was born on May 8, 1958 in Cincinnati. He attended Indian Hill schools for 13 years, kindergarten through high school graduation. Vinnie graduated from the University of Kentucky in the spring of 1980 with a Business Degree. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Later in life, Vinnie left Cincinnati and moved to Los Angeles where he worked and studied acting. He came back to Cincinnati in 1995. Vinnie had a strong yet quiet way of approaching just about everything in life. He was always true to himself, and true to his family and friends. He loved nature and mountains, water and water skiing, and handball and other sports. He enjoyed movie trivia and loved to write and journal. And who can forget his mentors, Popeye, Rocky Balboa and of course, Spiderman! Popeye and Rocky were of his younger years, but Spiderman comic books and his web shooter were prominent in Vinnie’s hospital room these past weeks as his long journey with cancer ended. Any of us who had the privilege of knowing him, especially sharing these past few weeks with him in the hospital, are forever changed. The sense of love and support and extended family was extraordinary. He taught us how to live well and die well. None of us will ever forget those lessons. Thank you for sharing this celebration of Vinnie’s Life. |
From Vinnie to his father.... Dad, “It is not the critic who counts. Not the one who points out how the strong stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the
one who is actually in the arena-. Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those tin-dd souls who neither victory nor defeat!”
I love you, Vin |
This story was originally published on the GCHA web site and is reprinted in the Winter issue of the Shortline.
Article by Jim Krailler; photos by Bob Burkitt
End of this issue!!
Back
to GCHA homepage
