Word: squashes
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Princeton's record still stands. The Tigers have been national champs for three years in a row now, and that's an abnormally long drought for the Crimson. It wasn't so long ago that Hemenway was the Valhalla of squash, but it has recently become its Mudville. So why is it that for the third year in a row the Mighty Crimson has struck...
Desaulniers' succession to the Hemenway Gym throne merits a word or two on his predecessor, John Havens. The power-hitting, loose-playing Arnie Palmer of squash gave the Harvard team a character of its own and left his mark on the Ivy League. During his sometimes-brilliant, often-frustrating four-year Crimson career, Havens tasted both glory and defeat. After an outstanding freshman year on the '75-'76 national title team, Havens met with some bad luck when the high priests of collegiate racqueteering decided to change the composition of the official squash ball. The new softer spheroid left...
...major cause of the racqueteers' decline from dominance seems to be the sport's increasing popularity. Back when Jack Barnaby was the Crimson's coach and squash was in its infancy, Harvard monopolized the game. But, as Desaulniers said recently, "times have changed." In particular, more than "times" have changed at Princeton, where the Tigers, tired of finishing behind the Crimson year after year, have discarded the "Harvard method" of coaching in favor of an aggressive recruiting program...
...traditional "Harvard method" involves building squash players from scratch. The classic example of the built-from-the-ground player is Vic Neiderhoffer, whom Barnaby coached in the early '60s. A non-player before entering Harvard, Neiderhoffer graduated in 1964 as the top-ranked amateur in the nation. However, now that players are getting four years of competitive squash in high school, the Neiderhoffer days are gone and the "Harvard method" is, as Panarese might say, "a dinosaur...
Fish's second option is to do as the Princetonians do and start recruiting. Unfortunately, the word "recruit," like the word "politics," carries the stench of corruption and illegality no matter what the context. But, in its most benign form, all it really involves is telling the squash-playing applicant "We really want you to come here, because you'll fit right into the program..." That kind of prodding doesn't mean Hemenway will be populated by intellectual zombies majoring in animal husbandry, but only that the top high school players might decide to play for the Crimson rather than...