It got a kick out of seeing The Trib’s Lifestyle feature on squash. Notice the paper did not place it in the Sports section. That area’s reserved for men of the gridiron, and such.
“Squash, the racquet sport, not the rustic vegetable, has built an impressive resume since graduating in the mid-1800s from Harrow boarding school in Britain, whose alumni include Winston Churchill. Advancing across the British Empire, it also secured positions in the Ivy League, Wall Street, the Pentagon and enclaves beyond.
Some prep schools and elite universities have been known to prize varsity squash the way others do football. As a high school student at Francis W. Parker in Chicago, Beau River, 27, who now plays on the pro squash tour worldwide, was probably “85 to 90 percent of the academic package that Ivy League schools are looking for,” he said. “But suddenly, when they found out I played squash, I was a lot more desirable.” River, who is competing in the Windy City Open, chose to attend Dartmouth.”
Action from the Windy City Open
As it happens, I went to school at a squash powerhouse. I recall a particularly satisfying win over the Princeton Tigers, on the road in ’84. F&M is currently ranked 16th in the nation. Since this will most likely be the one and only chance to ever make mention of it, I’m taking the opportunity to do so.