Squash: The Sport, Not the Food

On Saturday night I went on espn3.com to look for something to watch. While scrolling down the list of events being replayed, something caught my eye. It was the championship match of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Squash 2013. I had never watched squash before and only knew that it was something akin to racquetball (not that I really know anything about racquetball either). I was intrigued though. So I decided to watch. I wasn't sure if it would be that exciting since I knew Frasier and Niles played squash on the show Frasier (although I don't recall them actually showing them playing) and they certainly are not athletic specimens. After just a few points though, I was fully engaged and could see that squash players are indeed great athletes.

The championship match was between Ramy Ashour of Egypt and Gregory Gaultier of France. (Just a little information about squash. It is a best three out of five match, each game is played to eleven, and games need to be won by two.) Ashour was the favorite coming in. However, Gaultier played a strong first two games and took a two to love lead. Then, in the third game, it was tied ten all and it looked like the match could be over quickly. This is when Ashour put together two solid points to take the game and get back into the match. In the fourth game Ashour showed off some magical play. One point in particular stands out. It was a long rally and twice Ashour's quick reflexes came up big. He was close to the front wall both times. The first time he kept the point alive. The second time he put the point away. After that magnificent rally Ashour strummed his racquet like a guitar. In the end, Ashour proved to be too much as he won the last two games 11-3 and 11-1 to take the match and the championship in front of a great crowd in New York City.

After watching this match I am somewhat of a squash fan and certainly a Ramy Ashour fan, who I feel is one of the best athletes in the world. Hopefully I will be able to find some squash on espn3.com again soon and hopefully squash can make it into the Olympic Games, as people in the squash community are earnestly working to get squash in. I would not mind playing some squash myself either. Unfortunately, I don't see myself being on a squash court anytime soon.

Tubby Smith has Rejuvenated Minnesota Basketball (This Time the Rejuvenation is Real)

Three years ago I wrote an article titled "Tubby Smith has Rejuvenated Minnesota Basketball." Back then that statement was true to a certain extent. However, with only minimal success that statement was probably premature, especially for Gophers fans like myself who expected Tubby to bring Minnesota to national prominence. The educated fan should remember that it was not really Tubby's fault though. He had solid players on his roster like Devoe Joseph and Royce White. Unfortunately, Joseph's decision and White's mistakes led those two elsewhere. After dominating a nationally ranked Illinois team at Assembly Hall, which is a place that the Gophers have struggled at for years, on Wednesday, I think it is safe to say that Tubby Smith has now truly rejuvenated Minnesota basketball and brought them to national prominence. It doesn't hurt that the Gophers opened the conference slate with a solid win over Michigan State and are ranked 8th in the AP poll either. With Trevor Mbakwe starting to play like the beast that Gophers fans remember from two years ago, Rodney Williams Junior (by the way, where did this Junior come from? I remember him just being Rodney Williams the past three years) starting to become a basketball player instead of just an athlete, and Andre Hollins turning into one of the elite point guards in college basketball, it appears that the ceiling is very high for this Gophers team. (Joe Coleman and Austin Hollins have played some solid ball as well.) I see no reason why they can't win the Big Ten title and strongly contend for a national championship (ok, probably bold statements, but I would be disappointed if they didn't finish third or better in the Big Ten and at least make it to the Sweet Sixteen). We will find out soon if this Gophers team really does have what it takes to win a national championship as their next two games are against Indiana and Michigan. As long as Tubby Smith does not get an "uncommon feeling" anytime soon, I think that the Gophers will indeed have a great season. The good news for Minnesota fans is: coaching great teams and going far in the NCAA Tournament was a very "common feeling" for Orlando "Tubby" Smith while at Kentucky. Hopefully that "common feeling" hasn't worn off while at Minnesota. I strongly suspect that it hasn't.

Alabama Again

After a convincing 42-14 victory over Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship game, there is no doubt in my mind about who the best team in college football is. That is why I would like to name Alabama the 2012-2013 jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Champion. The Crimson Tide have brought home the jasathletics title thrice in the last four years. Not only that, Alabama also won the BCS National Championship in the same three years. No other team has brought home the jasathletics-BCS double even once. Alabama is certainly on the verge of dynasty status (I definitely would not call them a dynasty yet though). The SEC has officially taken over college football with 7 BCS titles in a row (the SEC only has 3 jasathletics titles during that same span though). As a man from the deep North it is tough to watch teams from the deep South dominate college football. I do not think wishfully when it comes to college football in the North though. I predicted a 20 point spread in the BCS National Championship game (however, maybe I was thinking wishfully since that ended up being an underestimate). Even as I hope that college football in the North will get better, I would like to congratulate Alabama on another great season and on another jasathletics College Football National Championship. I do have one stern warning for the South, the lower three divisions are ours. North Dakota State, Minnesota-Duluth, and Wisconsin-Whitewater have all won multiple titles in their respective divisions in the last few years.