April 22, 2006

A CALL ANSWERED -- by Steve Nadis

To those who have been wondering, I did not win a Pullitzer Prize last week. Part of the problem, I now realize, is that for all these years I have been spelling it wrong. (There's just one "l" in "Pulitzer," and maybe that's why the award-givers looked elsewhere. NOTE TO MYSELF: Practice spelling!) So although I did not capture journalism's most illustrious prize, I did get the second best thing: a letter published in my local newspaper, the Cambridge Chronicle. The subject of said missive was handball (another digression from our main topic of volleyball), namely that handball is dying and if we--and by that I mean WE ALL--don't do something fast, there'll be no more handball here. Period.

The letter came out two days ago, and I was already starting to worry about the fact that I had not yet been approached by any new handball players, when something strange and wonderful happened. After taking an afternoon swim today at the Y, I chatted briefly with the lifeguard in the locker room. He suggested I should take up competitive swimming. I said that I could never swim that far or hard without seriously damaging my shoulders. "There's one game...," he started to say but then caught himself. "Nah, I guess with bad shoulders you'd never play..."

"What game is that?" I asked.

"Handball," he said tentatively.

"Well, you're talking to the right person. If I didn't exactly write the book on handball around here, I did at least write the letter," I said, pulling out a copy of my celebrated Chronicle dispatch.

He read it in amazement, and things progressed from there. We've already set up a game. Next, he and his partner--both a generation younger than our usual crowd--will get to meet the gang. And the future of handball in Cambridge, for those of you who've passed sleepless nights worrying about it, is suddenly looking a lot brighter.

Posted by Snake at 16:55:24 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |
Comments
1 - I'm confused. That's not news. I'm old. I confuse easily. Do you play volleyball or just pretend to write about it in your blog? And whatever happened to the bumper sticker contest? Did I miss something? (Comment this)

Written by: Oldroses at 2006/04/23 - 21:15:13
2 - Hi Roses -- sorry for the confusion. I do play volleyball. And, if you can wrap your head around it, handball too. You did not miss anything with regard to the bumper sticker contest. I haven't announced any winners yet. Still hoping for Gatemouth to send in his entries. But after all this time, it looks like he'll need some prodding. I'd better get on his case... (Comment this)

Written by: Snake at 2006/04/23 - 21:19:04
3 - I was going to call the following into the Cambridge Chronicle SpeakOut line, but then I decided it wasn't up to their usual lofty standards. So, I thought, where to go with material not fit for loft standards? The Blogosphere! Interestingly, I also mention your lack of Pulllitzer.

I have to hand it to Steve Nadis. His heartfelt hand-wringing about the imminent demise of the sport of handball in the April 20th Chronicle brought this too-long ignored issue to the attention of the people of Cambridge. If there were a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of dying sports, Mr. Nadis would win handily. The fact that there are only a handful of players left at the Cambridge Y -- you can count them on one hand -- is a tragedy that words fail to describe.

Having tried the sport myself once, I can add my voice to the chorus of complaints that Mr. Nadis reports. My hands not only hurt, they swelled to about 3 times their normal size, and turned a yellowish-grey color. My hands were so injured that I was unable to dial the Chronicle SpeakOut line for several weeks.

Despite my complaints, I hope that the residents of Cambridge will lend Mr. Nadis a helping hand and give the sport a try. Failing that, they could at least call him Snake. (Comment this)

Written by: Turd Blossom at 2006/04/24 - 19:17:14
4 - Thank you, TB, and congratulations. You've just earned yourself a Celebrity Guest Comment slot. (You can't buy those. Well, at least no one has tried to. On second thought, maybe I should consider it...) (Comment this)

Written by: Snake at 2006/04/24 - 20:26:16
Write a comment