ShortLine, April 2004

Get Involved, Stay Involved
Handball Is Our Game. Pass It On
by Bob Hiance

At the most recent Board meeting, two members of the Miami University Handball Club attended. Jason Headings and Amanda Smith brought along the trophy the team won at the National Collegiate last month. They stopped by to formally thank you. the members of the G.C.H.A., for your support over the last two years.

In February, G.C.H.A. members Bo Bauer, Glen Gartland, Paul Baker and the coaches from Miami University organized a Sunday afternoon “Tournament” at the Athletic Club @ Waycross for the students they are coaching. Students from the University of Cincinnati, Miami and Dayton (both high school and college) participated in the event.

Exhibitions were staged with Casey Mayo, Carl Heuther, Paul Baker, Richard Gregg, John Allen and a number of other G.C.H.A. members prior and during the early Round Robin phase of the tournament. The young men and women saw our game played at its highest level. Everyone who participated had a great time and the organizers all stated they would like to hold more of these types of events throughout the year. Jason and Amanda both commented on the event with a “but…”

The “but” was they enjoyed playing each other, and watching the exhibitions, but they wanted to play the better players and learn, one on one, from playing them.

When you look back on your handball experiences, I’m sure your remember the first time you played on the same court with, “Red” Coleman, John Love, Vern Roberts Sr. or Jr., Bruce McCormick, Gary Reece, Bob Lohmueller, Bill Rooney, “Doc.” Accetta, or whoever the “Top Dog” was at the club or “Y” where you started playing our game. The great history of our game is that we “Pass it On” to the next generation of players, encouraging, teaching, explaining our game to them. The young people playing today need us to help them grow in this great handball tradition. They and the Board would ask that you get involved.

We are not asking for a lot of your time, we are not asking you for any of your money. What we are asking is for you to take a little time and play a game or two with a new player. Explain the game, the strategy, your strengths and weaknesses. If you find yourself in Lexington, call Ryan Klein or A. J. Arem and set up a game; call Glen or Bruce and offer to play an evening at the Shoemaker Center with the University of Cincinnati players; Miami University plays from 7 to 9 PM on Wed. evening take a road trip and have some fun. Bo Bauer has his young people at the Dayton “Y” on Tuesday evening, call him I am sure he would welcome your participation.

3-Wall season is fast approaching. Invite a young player into a game. I sincerely thank everyone who has played with my sons Trey and Stephen (when he shows). One of their greatest handball experiences to date was at the 2002 Columbus 3-Wall tournament. The doubles format was a Dropdown 2-loss format where the #1 seed played the last seed in the first round. Trey and Stephen just happened to be the last seed and played Casey and Ray Mayo in the first round. They still talk about it. Trey has “partnered” with Casey on a few occasions over the last few summers, a great experience for him and I think Casey gets a kick out of it too.

The next tournament for the young people to participate in will be the Mather at the Central Y at the end of March. The tournament format offers a unique experience where the tournament handicapper, (Bob Lohmueller) sets the teams and handicaps them into the draw. Young are paired with old, good with bad, a great way to show off our game.

Please check the G.C.H.A. website for the next “Young Players” tournament, and come and participate.

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Upcoming Tournaments
compiled by Jim Krailler

There are a number of tournaments coming up this Spring. First on the schedule is the 10th Annual Cleveland Invitational, to be held in Mentor, Ohio over the weekend of Friday, April 30th through Sunday, May 2nd.

Looking for better weather and a bigger out-of-town turnout, this year's Bob Caples Memorial 3-Wall Tournament moves to early June. The tournament will be held at Veterans Park on Saturday, June 12th and Sunday, June 13th. Complete tournament information and an on-line entry are now available. You can save $10 on your entry by signing up before June 1st.

This year's USHA 4-Wall Nationals will be held in Portland, Oregon. Dates are Monday, June 21st through Sunday, June 27th, and a separate website has been set up with all the details, including an entry form, information about the tournament, host clubs, hotels and Portland tourist attractions.

Member News
by various GCHA members

The Smith Brothers, Pete and Paul

GCHA members Paul and Pete Smith (twin brothers) and “Fast Eddie” Skerrett have reached a milestone – 70 years young. These Handballers are members of the YMCA and they keep active.
The Smith boys are fixtures at the Central Y and play handball at least 3 times a week. They live in Mt. Adams and spend a lot of time in the summer at their camp on the Ohio River in Melbourne, KY.
Skerrett joined the Y in 1959 and lived on the 7th floor for 6 months. He played handball twenty years before “retiring" from the game, but he still works out 3 plus days a week. Ed has been married 44 years and has 3 grandchildren.

Fast Eddie

The memory of Bruce Beimesch is being honored with a memorial golf outing. Proceeds will go to Bruce's favorite cause, the St. Vincent dePaul Community Pharmacy. Details and entry form are available on a separate page.
	In January, a group of GCHA members helped throw a surprise one-year anniversary party, celebrating Paul and Beth Bakers ownership of the Athletic Club @ Waycross. The Bakers were very appreciative of the plaque presented by the racquetball group and the USHA's "Club Owners of the Year" plaque; both are displayed prominently at the club.

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Reds Outing
by George Lehocky

“Hot Dogs! Cold Beer here!!” Get your tickets!!

The annual GCHA/Reds Game outing has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 27, 2004 at Great American Ball Park. The Reds will take on the St. Louis Cardinals at 7:10 P.M. Thirty-five outfield terrace seats (right field) are on sale to GCHA members and friends. Individual tickets sell for $15.00 each; purchase two or more tickets for $14.00 each.

To purchase tickets, please contact George Lehocky at 1-513-231-0847, or LGDit@aol.com. Continue the GCHA / Reds tradition.

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Ohio Handball Hall of Fame Revitalized
by George Lehocky

Using the theory that "it takes one to know one" new efforts are being organized to elect deserving Handballers into the Hall! Ohio Hall of Famers Bruce McCormick, John Love, Bob Lohmueller and Gary Reece will be working to elect deserving handballers into the prestigious Hall. Bruce will coordinate efforts state-wide and John Love will serve as Chairman of a Cincinnati/Dayton Steering Committee made up of Bob Lohmueller and Gary Reece to select new inductees.

The categories that qualify someone to be considered for induction into the Hall are:

Outstanding Competitive Handball Tournament Record of Achievement.
Extraordinary Service to Handball.
Significant Financial Contribution to Handball.

How It Works

Nominations should be made to any member of the Steering Committee in writing to include rationale/credentials to be selected for inclusion into the Hall. No self-nominations, please.
The Steering Committee reviews credentials and selects those to be inducted into Ohio Handball Hall of Fame.
At the annual Fall GCHA meeting, the Steering Committee will meet with all available/present Cincinnati/Dayton members of the Ohio Hall of Fame and vote on the recommended person or persons to be inducted.
Name and information of the person or persons selected will be given to Bruce McCormick for official announcement.
Selected individuals are officially inducted into the Hall at the annual Ohio State Championship Tournament currently being held in the Winter season.

Contact information for Bruce McCormick and the Steering Committee
Bruce McCormick 2127 Rolling Hills Fairfield, OH 45014 513-829-5049	John Love 2335 Bretton Drive Cincinnati, OH 45244 513-232-5370	Bob Lohmueller 9828 Zig Zag Road Cincinnati, OH 45242 513-891-1632	Gary Reece 6526 Prestwick Court Mason, OH 45040 513-754-2273

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Three-Wall Summer Doubles League
by Jim Krailler

The GCHA Summer 3-Wall doubles league will again be held on Wednesday nights this year at Veterans' Park, beginning on May 12th. The absolute deadline to sign up for the league is Sunday, May 2nd as we'll be arranging teams and schedules at the May Board Meeting. The cost of $ 10.00 per person covers awards, postage and an end-of-league party.

There are two divisions, A-level and B-level. Players should sign-up for only one division of their choice, and can request to play with a specific partner. League organizers will try to respect these requests; however, we do reserve the right to assign players, as needed. Teams play every other team in their division once, with matches starting on May 12th and ending in June. Standings are determined by won/lost percentages. At the end of scheduled games, there will be a one-week "make-up" period for all missed games; at that point, any unplayed match will be considered a forfeit-loss for both teams. The top four teams in each division will then earn a play-off berth in a single-elimination tournament for the league championship.

Matches are scheduled on Wednesday evenings in two time slots, 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm. The schedule for the entire summer will be posted before play begins, and players are responsible for resolving any and all schedule conflicts with their opponents. If either player cannot make a scheduled game, GHCA will provide a list of substitutes willing to fill in. At least one team member should play each match. No-show teams will forfeit.

Matches consist of 2 21-point games and an 11-point tie-breaker, if needed. All USHA rules apply. Eyeguards should be properly worn at all times. Referees are not provided, but there's usually someone around willing to share their opinions. Rainouts should be made up the following night, Thursday, according to the same time schedule; however, teams are encouraged to contact one another to verify match. Missed matches can be made up at any time, providing both teams agree to reschedule. There will be one extra week at the end of the season for all final make-up games.

League standings are posted weekly, and final standings will be computed and posted one week after the last scheduled match. Playoff brackets and schedules will also be posted at that time. Awards will be presented at the Annual Fall Party to the first and second-place teams in each division.

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Doubles Anyone
by George Morano,
The Missing Link

There are a lot of interesting stories if you sit around and listen to handball players. Some great relationships have been established over the years.

A number of players never really excel as single players, and those who play regularly know how hard it is to find compatible doubles partners. In fact, it’s so hard to find a good doubles partner that often times the relationshiplasts longer than many marriages.

A case in point is the doubles team of Denny Dupps and Doug Blankemeyer. They met at Pat Matson’s health club in June, 1983 when a number of us were playing handball there.

Doug had just been transferred by General Electric from Chicago. He was from this general area having graduated from Dayton Chaminade and UC. He was introduced to handball by his regional manager in Pittsburgh, Dick Kahlson who was an avid handball player and whose father was an Olympic swimmer from Sweden. Prior to a thirty year career in sales with G E, Doug taught school for two years, which is something else he’s had in common with Denny.

Denny was born in Cincinnati, graduated from Colerain High School and Morehead State University. He has taught and coached at Indian Hill High School for thiry five years. Doug was an exceptional baseball player as a catcher while Denny is a wrestler. They were respectable singles handball players, but you wouldn’t consider them serious open competition. In 1989, they decided to play as a team and have competed successfully against great open players and “hall of famers” ever since, and yes, have won their shareof tournaments, 27 first place finishes. While there may be a few inaccuracies or omissions in the accompanying list of tournaments due to a lack of documents, it’s the most thorough I have seen in handball annals. This no brag, just fact -- the list of accomplishments is a proud reminder that “real men play handball” and is one of the reasons we have so much pride in Cincinnati handball. Denny has been recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the left hip. Replacement surgery is not immediate, but this condition limits his play. However, the doubles team of Dupps and Blankemeyer will compete at the national tournament in Portland, Oregon, in the Veterans Golden Division, 55+ doubles, June 21-27. The Ohio and Cincinnati contingent will be rooting for them.

Mark Ashley and Roscoe	Friends A Handball Human Interest Story by George Morano, The Missing Link In case some of you are not aware, Don Parker has another business beside The Courthouse which he is passionate about – “Snow Removal”. When it’s cold and snowing, Don is out and about cleaning driveways and parking lots. Anyway, on January 15, 2003, Don was on his way down Stewart Road in Madiera to service one of his accounts. It was cold and blustery and he noticed a small dog barely making it down the street. It was distraught and in pain in the freezing temperature. Don stopped his truck to check on the puppy. It was desperate and jumped into the seat with Don. It was obvious that it was starving and in bad shape.
It only weighed about thirty pounds, was shaking profusely and had nothing to eat for some time. Don took the puppy home out of the cold, and gave it some food and water. Meanwhile, he got a call from his old friend, Mark Ashley. Mark was a softball teammate of Parker’s and also is an 18 year member of the Court House. He , Mike McMahon, Dick Peake, and other Courthouse regulars had played handball frequently and even drank a few beers at the Court House bar. He was a great athlete in his prime. Went to Princeton High School, Class of ’73 where he played football, basketball and baseball. His senior year, Princeton was state runner-up in football, so he qualifies as a handball player, especially since he was on a city championship softball team and was all state in the tavern league. He also qualifies as a certified character. Recently, he competed in the fall handball league even though being hampered by inherited diabetes. He was a big influence on the new players. Parker explained the situation about the puppy to Ashley. His dilemma was that Parkers’ neighbors were unhappy with his previous dog experiences. They left the conversation at that. Parker was surprised by a 5:30 am call from Ashley asking if he could have the puppy. Of course, Parker obliged. Ashley has had some health problems of his own in recent years, and he wanted to help. He hurried over to pick him up, and named the puppy, an American Bull Dog, “Roscoe”. They immediately hit it off, and Mark invested $1,800 in medical expenses to get Roscoe healthy. He also paid to have him neutered. Sometime later he found out that American Bull dogs are a rare breed and are worth at least $3,500 as a breeding dog. Mark and Roscoe are now inseparable and best friends,and are great for each other. Mark frequently brings Roscoe to the Courthouse for his handball games and workouts, and he’s all smiles. Mark recently purchased a new American Bull puppy to be a companion to Roscoe. The picture tells the whole story on this anniversary.

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Contents	back to GCHA homepage
* indicates web-version-only story
GCHA Calendar	Upcoming Tournaments
President's Message	10th Annual Cleveland Invitational
* GCHA Membership Drive	Caples Memorial 3-Wall Tournament
3-Wall Work Day	USHA 4-Wall Nationals
New ShortLine Policy, January 2005	Member News
Tournament Results	* Reds Outing
Kentucky Handball Championship	*Ohio Handball Hall of Fame Revitalized
2004 Youngstown Open	3-Wall Summer Doubles League
State of Ohio Four-Wall Championships	* The Missing Link, George Morano
USHA National Collegiate Tournament	* Doubles Anyone?
Get Involved, Stay Involved, Bob Hiance	* Friends

Event	Location	Dates	Days
Pete Mather Memorial Handicap Tournament	Central Parkway YMCA	March 27th	Saturday
GCHA Board Meeting	To Be Determined	April 12th	Monday
USHA Master Doubles	Chattenooga, TN	April 22nd - 25th	Thursday - Sunday
10th Annual Cleveland Invitational	Mentor, OH	April 30th - May 2nd	Friday - Sunday
3-Wall Doubles League sign-up deadline	N/A	May 2nd	Sunday
GCHA Board Meeting	To Be Determined	May 5th	Wednesday
3-Wall Doubles League begins	Veterans Park	May 12th	Wednesday
GCHA Board Meeting	To Be Determined	June 2nd	Wednesday
Caples Memorial 3-Wall Tournament	Veterans Park, Cincinnati, OH	June 12th -13th	Saturday - Sunday
Deadline, Summer ShortLine	N/A	June 15th	Tuesday
GCHA Board Meeting	To Be Determined	July 7th	Wednesday
USHA 4-Wall Nationals	Portland, OR	June 21st - 27th	Monday - Sunday
Columbus 3-Wall Tournament	Columbus, OH	August 14th - 15th	Saturday - Sunday
USHA 3-Wall Nationals	Maumee, OH	September 2nd - 6th	Thursday - Monday

The Enquirer article also mentions some of the local highlights which occured at this year's USHA National Collegiate Championships, held this year at Southwest Missouri State University in late February.
The Miami University Handball Club, in only its second year as a club sport, won the Division II national championship at the tournament. Miami scored 938 points to top last year’s Division II champ Hardin-Simmons which scored 664 and third place finisher University of Minnesota which had 606 points. Amanda Smith became Miami’s first individual national champion winning the women’s C division title. Smith defeated Molly Tilleson from the University of Minnesota in a back and forth three game match. After losing the first game 21-6, Smith turned to her lob serve in the second to win 21-5 and took the tiebreaker 11-5. Two other Miami students brought home individual awards. In the men’s Contenders division, Liam Donoghue won a medal as a semifinalist. Donoghue narrowly missed making it to the finals, losing in the semis to Matt Azark from the University of Texas 21-20, 21-20. In the women’s Challenger’s division, Zoe Kind brought home the individual runner-up trophy. Kind was defeated in the finals by Lisset Martinez from the University of Texas 21-16, 21-4.	Miami University Handball Team with their Division II trophy
At the same tournament, the University of Kentucky men's team finished 9th out of 34 teams, a good showing for only their 3rd time in the competition. On an individual basis, A.J. Arem and Ryan Klein were finalists in the B doubles, but unfortunately fell short to one of the Irish teams in the finals. Josh Middleton took home the gold in the Novice division.
Finally, in late-breaking news, Doug Blankemeyer and Denny Dupps added yet another doubles championship (see feature story below) at the 28th Annual Akron Open Handball Tournament, held over the weekend of March 19-21.
Congratulations to all of the Cincinnati area champions!!!