I also met Leigh Marshall at the tournament. Leigh was psyched about attending his first tournament even a week before it started. So I helped answer his questions and make sure Bill Serafin saved a spot for him in C’s and D’s. I never beat Leigh, so having him in the same division as me really had me worried. I thought he would breeze right through, but it turned out to be a good division for him.

My first match was in the C’s against Juan Martinez; it was his first tournament also and wanted to play against different people. What sucks about this match is that I gave up after the first game. He beat me 15-12 and it really bothered me that I couldn’t keep the pressure up and take the win. So I lost the second game 15-0. Juan played Winters (C Division Champ) after me and was knocked out.

Then it was Leigh’s turn and he faced off against Joey Butacovoli in the C’s. I met Joey at Fran Davis’ camp and he says he saw me at State Singles back in March. He’s fifteen and can look forward to a great future in racquetball. I don’t remember a lot of the details, but Leigh was playing too far forward on his return of serve. Can actually see his feet in the picture at left. Joey, who had the camp manual with him, just hit hard and played smart. At camp, we learned about having a game plan, I’ll bet Joey had a game plan numbered and itemized for Leigh’s tendencies. Mine was pretty basic and I lost it a couple of times, but at least I had a plan for once.

After taking out Leigh, Joey took out Hartery who had a bye to reach the semi-finals against Winters. Joey lost to Winters. I heard from Joey’s parents that Winters doesn’t belong in the C’s that he’s sand bagging that everything he hit was killed. It even reached Bill Serafin, the Tournament Director. I looked at the State Singles draw sheet and Winters was in the C’s, but didn’t finish first. I refereed the semi-finals in C’s and it was the worst experience I’ve had with racquetball to date.

It’s pretty easy to label a person as a sand bagger when you lose to them. I found that out by experience at State Singles. What one person calls a D or C player can be different from another person and so on. We’re at the tournament to win and have fun, what sucks winning and having fun are often one and the same.

Luckily the D’s was a round robin, so I got to play a lot more than at State Singles. I played Leigh and Joey on Saturday. It’s all a blur from Leigh, it was two games to 11, but I’m pretty sure it wasn't close. Something happened with my second game with Joey that was pretty unique, I actually got pissed off, but I wasn’t pissed at Joey or anything more like “Come on Joe! Fight!” Fight I did, I didn’t win, but I came up 6-11 or so. Often I think of Racquetball as a social thing, but I need to stop when it’s a competition plenty of time to be social after the match. I forgot my game plan and I started playing every point as game point far too late in the match.

Leigh and Rudy's match in the D's was a pretty heated one. Since it was Leigh's first tournament and we didn't go over the rules, when Rudy raised his racquet before the serve and Leigh served. An argument ensued. I had to actually bang on the wall to stop the shouting match between the guys. I sided with Rudy since it is a legal rule, but I've never seen Leigh so animated over racquetball. Normally he's ice man on the courts. I believe Leigh lost, after the argument I left to do something else for a bit.

Bob another person in the D’s asked if I wanted to play my match with him on Saturday. Let’s see I played a match and four games, I declined. I didn’t want to make it too easy on him.

From Jason Mannino at camp, I learned to leave the tournament and do something else instead of just sitting on a mat or just waiting around doing nothing. So Leigh and I left for Willowbrook mall for lunch and we hit the arcade. We even shared a game of Street Fighter and took on some people there. I used to play Street Fighter II in the arcade all the time, so it was a good break.

So on Sunday, I refereed the finals for C’s. Basically Bill asked me to ref the match and I agreed since he was in a jam and I thought it would be cool to get it out of the way. In case, I actually win a match and have to ref in the future. It was Baldinger against Winters and I made one mistake that I’ll never forget. I turned the damn score sheet to mark a time out for Winters! When he came back he said he was serving, Baldinger said he was serving, and the Ref had no idea because he turned the damn sheet and didn’t remember. What a stupid mistake.

The points kept mounting up against Baldinger. I called his lob serve to the back wall good since I saw it hit the crack of the floor and back wall. They disagreed with me. Eventually I wasn’t in control of the match. Winters asked me not to call score until he was ready, big deal you have ten seconds after the score is called to get ready, but I waited for both sides to be ready. As I said, it was the worse experience to watch something unfair go on and feel responsible. Rattled and angry Baldinger gave away lot of the remaining points in the second game and Winters was champ.

I know personally if I was in a trophy winning match and I won questionably or my opponent wasn’t giving me his best that the win would be cheapened. I would still keep the trophy, but it wouldn’t mean the same. I believe the trophy represents a personal victory a struggle to be the best. Somehow from the pictures I took of Winters, I don’t think he felt great about the win. With everyone calling him a sandbagger and a cheater or having opponents get angry with him. It wasn’t a great situation to be in either, but still congrats to Winters. I can't make a judgment as to him cheating or sandbagging, but he didn't listen to the ref.

I had played Bob before hand and he was pretty tough and lost. Don’t recall too many details. After the Baldinger/Winters match I played my last match against Rudy Sanchez. Of course, I couldn’t get the previous match out of my head and lost my focus. I even tried to get focused like last time, but it wasn’t working. I didn’t give Rudy my best and he got enough points to take first in the D’s.

At least, Leigh got second. I didn’t expect him to get a trophy since it was only five of us, but he did and I got a picture for him and the web. I over heard a couple of people, who must be pretty used to winning, say they throw away trophies they get. Never earning one I looked at them like you’ve got to kidding. When I get one, it’s going to get a special shelf with a light on it. I’ll probably dust it everyday and sleep with it.

Of course, I had to be there with my camera taking pictures. I took pictures of all the trophy winners at Bill Serafin’s request. I also took a picture of Rudy and our D division. Also got some shots of Bill’s Open Doubles match.

(D Division From Left to Right: Joey Butacovoli, Rudy Sanchez, Leigh Marshall, Bob Jarrach, and Joe Delgado)

As for Rudy, we met at Fran Davis' Racquetball Camp in Woodbridge and this was his first tournament since then. Glad it paid off for you Rudy and congrats on your win.

From my last Tournament I had a laundry list of things I wanted to improve. I played the night before the tournament, which had good and bad aspects. I used the green ball religiously for about two weeks. I’ve added about a hundred reps to my drills. Still need more cardio and speed drills. Still get nervous, but I actually slept well on Saturday night. I got there pretty early and warmed up better than last time. I also got orthotics for my feet, which has been a great help. Lastly, I got a big E-Force bag that can hold three racquets, clothes, shoes, and a bunch of accessories.

My Laundry List from this tournament:

• Need to drill and take more offensive shots of the game from Fran’s nine positions.
  
• Need a game plan tailored to my opponents this time. (I’ll see these guys again.)
  
• Need to work on my footwork.
  
• Relax. I’m getting better at this, no more heart pounding in my chest or breathing heavy.
  
• Need to really push hard to win my first game of the match. I believe the momentum will keep me winning.
  
• Need to stop giving away points or serves on questionable calls.
  
• Need to play my shots lower and more be patient with the ball. Especially on returning serve. Most times the ball is going to come out of the corner.
  

Bring on the next tournament which is in December.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you on the courts.
--Joe Delgado