NIL ----- NIL

 The Two Meanings of NIL
   
  Although the word "NIL" has been around since the sixteenth century, it usually was only noticeable every four years-or-so, when the World Cup rolled around. In the last five, however, readers frequently see "NIL", but that is another "NIL". Here is the distinction. 

 1.  "NIL"  - Means Nothing
 The old "NIL" means, nada, no amount or zero and it is the one that shows up often every four years when nothing much happens during football matches. What is really needed is a new word to replace "DIVING" ,  to describe much of the action which is displayed.

 2. "NIL"  - Means A Lot
  The new "NIL" stands for Name - Image - Likeness, and for those things a U.S. college athlete can now earn a large sum of money. This is the real "NIL" that you now see in the news. 
  Actually, you don't even have to be an actual athlete to be given a large sum. The manager (i.e., towel and water guy) of the McNeese State Cowboys basketball team provides an example, in that he apparently received a sum that was at least six figures. Quarterbacks can get millions.

  If you are now intrigued, see the Wikipedia entry for, "Student Athlete Compensation" or "NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) Explained."

The Bonus:
  Those who know about Title IX will wonder if women have benefitted. The answer is "Yes" and the athlete pictured above is Olivia Dunne, now known as "Livvy'. She has her own Wikipedia entry. 
   "On July 2, 2021, the NCAA changed its rule to allow its athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Dunne was projected to earn more than any other collegiate athlete due to her large social-media platform, which was a combined five million followers across both Instagram and TikTok at the time of the rule change.  In August, Dunne announced that she signed with WME Sports, becoming their first NIL athlete. A month later, she announced her first exclusive brand partnership with activewear brand Vuori."

Squashing It

 

Western's Men's Squash Team Wins the OUA Championship AGAIN
   They have done so for forty-two years in a row. That is, since 1982 when the war being fought was farther away, in the Falkland Islands. I thought I would call this to your attention again this year since again it will go almost unnoticed. I suppose that even if we, like everyone else now, were not living in a local news desert, it might not have been reported on, since it is rather boring, having been repeated over and over for forty-two years.
   Here is some information about the performance of the men's team as reported by the OUA:
  "Western capped off another dominant season on Sunday, defeating the University of Toronto 7-0 in the gold medal final to claim the 2026 OUA Men’s Squash Championship.
   The Mustangs controlled the tournament from the opening matches, finishing atop the standings with a perfect 5-0 record while compiling a remarkable 34-1 individual match record.
   Head coach Chris Hanebury credited the team’s lineup strength as a major contributor to the championship run....
  The victory marks Western’s 42nd straight OUA title, continuing one of the most impressive dynasties in Canadian university athletics. Veteran Antonio Mendes spoke to the challenge that comes with maintaining such a streak.
  “It feels amazing. Every year we come out here, obviously we have a lot of pressure on our backs from having that streak, but I think the guys really live up to it every year,” Mendes said.

  The Western's Women's Squash Team also won - for the second year in a row. Here is some information about their victories, as reported on the Ontario University Athletics Website.
   "Western University completed a dominant weekend at the OUA Squash Championship, defeating Queen’s 6-1 in the gold medal match to secure the women’s banner and finish the tournament undefeated.
   The Mustangs closed the championship with a perfect 5-0 record while pacing the field with 28 individual match victories, an 87-19 games record, and an impressive 1113-590 points differential....
   Straight-game victories from Caitlin Ng, Katie Boulanger, and Sophie Pinfold helped swing momentum, while Sienna Grossi secured the championship point with a four-game win.  Queen’s lone victory came from Gabby Waite at the top of the ladder.
   Head coach Tom Panabaker praised his group following the championship result.“It feels awesome. The girls do all the hard work. They plan, work all year, and train hard. We’ve got a fantastic group of girls,” said Panabaker.
  For the players, the moment reflected years of preparation and commitment to the program.
“Back-to-back gold, this is something we’ve been working for a long time… winning with the boys too makes it so much better,” said Western’s Madison Draayer and Sophie Pinfold.
  The championship also highlighted several standout individual performances. Western rookie Caitlin Ng was named Rookie of the Year after a flawless 5-0 weekend without dropping a game...."
  
   If you happened to look at the Western University website, the victories of the two teams were reported. See, for example: "Mustangs Men's Squash dynasty continues for 42nd consecutive year," Mustang Sports Information, 2/9/2026 and, "Trio of Western Mustangs Teams Crowned Champions: Men's and women's squash teams win gold provincially, cheerleading squad earns national title," By Mustangs Communications, Special to Western News, February 11, 2026.
  Note that the Western Cheerleading Squad won the national title.

Things Are Tougher South of the Border
   The Western's Men's Squash Team also competes against the best U.S. Collegiate Teams and has done so for years. The College Squash Association National Team Championships are from March 5-8 in Philadelphia. I hope the Western guys are given some money for gas and can attend. 
   You may have noticed the dominance of the Western teams at the OUA event. It is often the case in squash that very good players and teams are squashed by even better players and teams. Here is a look at Western's results in the U.S. on the eve of the championship.

  Western is currently ranked 18th in the U.S. and I will report back about what happens in Philadelphia, if no one else does.  The teams Western played above are among the top ones in the U.S. Penn won the national title last year.

The Other Olympics (?)

     Whenever I have attempted to watch the Winter Olympics I have seen only commercials or curling. The commercials are boringly repetitive and the latter activity is not that exciting to me, although I did just learn that some excitement was introduced when my countrymen were caught cheating and cursing.

   When I look at Olympic-related headlines, however, I see that apparently not all events in Cortina are being televised -- the ones involving condoms, for example. Here are just a few samples, offered in alphabetical order:

"Adam Rippon Explained What’s Really Happening To All Those Condoms At The Olympic Village"
"Condom Crisis Hits Milano Games on Valentine’s Day"
‘Higher-than-anticipated Demand’ Led to Condom Supply Shortage in Athletes’ Villages, Organizers Say"
"Love in a Cold Climate: Winter Olympic Village Runs Out of Condoms After Three Days"
"Olympic Athletes Promised Fresh Stocks of Condoms on Valentine’s Day After Villages Run Short'
"Olympic Villages Run Out of Condoms at 2026 Games Due to 'Higher-Than-Anticipated Demand'"
"Winter Olympics in Crisis as Athletes Deplete Entire Stock of 10,000 Free Condoms"

   Glory Be! (or perhaps Gloria Patri, since we are talking about the Olympics)

  The athleticism and bravery of the Olympians, which is daily displayed, is diminished a bit when one considers the nighttime endeavours only hinted at. That such a small number of elite athletes, with so much to do over a short period of time, could plow through so many condoms is, well "Olympian."
  Unfortunately, however, it is the case that the explanation for the seemingly rather excessive use of condoms can be explained, in part, simply because of the desire for souvenirs. This is found in the first source noted above:
  "The Olympic Village ran out of condoms earlier this week, which has inspired another round of public fascination about how busy the athletes are getting when they’re not competing for medals. The 2,800 Olympians have apparently already gone through 10,000 this year. That would mean they’re each, on average, having a good time at least three times, which is quite impressive given they’ve barely been there a week. At least that’s what it would mean if all of the condoms were being used for their intended purposes, but not so fast. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, who won a bronze medal in 2018 and broke out as a fun pop culture figure and later won Dancing With The Stars, said he found a bowl of condoms in the medical tent and dumped them into his bag. 
   He’s not the only one with the same story too. Mailitiana Clerc, a skier who has represented Madagascar at three Olympics, spoke about the disappearing condoms at a recent press conference. She said some are being used for their intended purpose, but a lot of them are being taken by athletes to give as gifts."
  The Cortino condom story turns out to be about as titillating as the curling.

The Bonus: 
  This one is unusual in that it is a question, which is: "Were There Any Trojans At The First Olympics?"  
   It is the case (an unusual one, I admit) that I have a friend who is a "Classics Scholar" and another who is an "Olympics Scholar." If one or the other reads this post, I will let you know the answer. 

Sources: 
   Although I did not provide the full citation for the headlines, I will assure you that they are real and can be confirmed by a minimal amount of searching by you.
  That I was judicious in my own searching I will prove by offering this dubious headline, which allows me to introduce some CANCON: 
"Doubles Luge Canceled as Olympics Runs Out of Condoms". 
That rather clever condom headline is offered by Leo Morgenstern and is found in a publication which perhaps we should all have a look at: The Beaverton. 

Post Script: 
  Although I do not provide much material related to sports, I did recall that I posted about the Summer Olympics ten years ago. Oddly enough, that post also had more to do with sex than sports. See: Rainbow Flags and Olympic Ones.    

The World Cup

 If you are planning to attend the World Cup, these figures may be useful and I will get them to you quickly without any comment.

Ticket Prices

Hotel Prices 

From FIFA

Sports and Money

     Having just written about BOOZE, I will now turn to two subjects which are even more important. Sports are infrequently mentioned in MM and I have generally lost interest in watching most of them, but I am sure you remain interested and will read on because of the mention of money. Although they are often related, they are treated separately here since I have already covered gambling and betting. Short bits are offered while we await the return of the muse who will produce lengthier and very thoughtful posts. (Note: If you actually make it to somewhere near the end of this post, there should be some mention of a guy who owns 7,000 cars.)

Event Planning:
  You are reminded here to start putting games in your calendar since many fans already have. These were noticed a while back in a Facebook post:

Those are college football games, but don't forget about the NFL. As Jason Gay noted in the Wall Street Journal: “Everywhere I look, the page has turned, and turned long ago — to football, football, football. Forget what the calendar says. The N.F.L. media is now the pharmacy that puts out its Christmas stuff during the first week of June.”

And before you do your Christmas shopping, do buy tickets for Dec. 25 for basketball games.

"NBA Christmas Day, Opening Night games feature Lakers, Warriors, Thunder,"
"The first NBA game on NBC in 23 years will feature the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder against perhaps their chief competition in the West, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are back on Christmas Day for the first time since the LeBron James era, league and network sources confirmed to The Athletic on Friday....
This coming season is the first of an 11-year, $75 billion national TV contract for the NBA, which features a new partnership with Amazon and a reuniting of the league with NBC. ESPN and ABC remain partners — and will carry Christmas Day games per usual...
ESPN was the first to report NBC’s opening night slate as well as the five Christmas Day games, which are:
Cleveland at the New York Knicks
San Antonio at Oklahoma City
Houston at the Lakers
Dallas at Golden State
Minnesota at Denver.

 Fighting:
   UFC stands for "Ultimate Fighting Championship" and it involves men fighting in cages. Such brutality is reluctantly allowed up here as long as the affair is conducted in English and French. But, the political importance of the UFC has been noticed even in the Globe & Mail:

"All the Rage: How the UFC Became America’s Most Important (and Misunderstood) Political Powerhouse," Sam Egan, Aug. 8, 2025: 
   "The UFC played an unexpected role in the second election of Donald Trump to the White House. But politicians of all stripes in the U.S. should take heed of its followers if they hope to retain, or gain, voters."

  Wait, there's more:

"White House Cage Fight Is 'Going to Happen' --- Dana White's Octagon Behemoth Gets a $7.7 billion Deal with Paramount. Now the Promoter is Planning a South Lawn Event," Jason Gay, WSJ, August 13, 2025.
     
Fishing:
   I told you about the White Marlin Open in "Fishing For Money" and lots of money was won again this year as you can see from the chart below. "Catch 23" is the clever name for the boat owned by Michael Jordan, who flew in on his private plane to participate. His boat is an 82-foot Bayliss that costs about $15 million. The $389,377.11 should cover some of the fuel costs.

Boating:

   Some wealthy people just like to float around and a couple of large boats were spotted off Victoria: "Two Super Yachts Spotted in Oak Bay," Oak Bay News, July 28, 2025. 
"The vessels are owned by Las Vegas billionaire Lorenzo Fertitta....

The larger of the two vessels – the 87-metre Lonian – can accommodate dozens of passengers and crew, and even a helicopter."
    And, guess what: The UFC Again
"Two super yachts owned by 56-year-old Las Vegas entrepreneur Lorenzo Fertitta, who Forbes says sold his stake in the Ultimate Fighting Championship for billions in 2016 and 2017, were seen anchored in Oak Bay."

  

   If you are really into boating, why not just buy the shipyard:
"Superyacht-obsessed Gaming Billionaire Just Bought the Entire Shipyard Behind Some Very Iconic Vessels," Henry Kelsall, Superblondie.com. 

   "Gabe Newell has made billions from video games and also has a love for luxury superyachts. However, he has now decided to take that love to another level.

   Instead of just buying another yacht, he has bought the whole Oceanco group, one of the world’s largest superyacht builders, and now owns the company....

   He used to own the Dapple yacht, and recently acquired his $400 million, 367-ft Oceanco yacht, Project Y722.
   With so much money on hand, it’s no wonder that Newell has a net worth estimated to be $9.5 billion."

Flying:
   Avoid Air Canada and buy your own plane so you won't have to worry about your dog. Two examples involve a goldendoodle and a cavapoo, which are apparently some kind of new canine.

1.   "When Maxx Chewning sold his sour-candy business to Hershey for $75.5 million, the first thing he did -- before buying a Rolex or dream home -- was jet his wife and six friends to Vail on a Dassault Falcon 900.

   They skipped security lines, zipped straight to the runway and seated themselves in leather recliners with gold accents in the wood-paneled cabin. The price tag for this adventure: $100,000.

   Chewning's goldendoodle, Dood, sprawled at their feet. "The joke is, I had to get a private plane so I could bring my dog," the 35-year-old said. "I didn't really care what the price was."

 2.  "Tennille Holt, 44, retired in 2023 and now spends much of her time traveling the world with her husband and 8-year-old cavapoo, Hudson. Hudson has his own Instagram account documenting his life, including his private-jet flights, where he is often served his favorite: grilled chicken.

   She and her husband spent about $200,000 to fly Hudson from Australia to Los Angeles in a Bombardier Global 6000 and avoid the commercial flight. She recalls dreaming about this flexibility while working long days and nights as an entrepreneur.

  "The goal was to create the freedom to live life on our own terms, which now includes plenty of travel and the ability to fly privately whenever we want," Holt said. "It's the best and most comfortable option for Hudson."

From: "Private-Jet Money Is New Wealth Yardstick," Gunjan Banerji, WSJ, August 54, 2025.

Golf:

  Rory McIlroy has had a pretty good year and decided to buy a house back in the UK, for which he paid $9 million. The neighbourhood competition is tough, however, and it is difficult  to keep up with the Joneses, when one of them is the Sultan of Brunei. "Meet Rory McIlroy's Billionaire Neighbor with 7,000 Cars, 39 Tigers and $15K Haircut Habit," Jackie Longo, The Sporting News, July 21, 2025. He probably won't be around much: "He primarily resides in the Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei, a residence considered the world's largest palace, boasting a staggering 1,788 rooms."

"A Tradition Unlike Any Other"

    Since that was more related to the Sultan than golf, here is a bit about The Masters. At some point soon, those who attend will need to be more like Members of Augusta than mere fans of the sport. This is from Dan Wetzel, ESPN, Aug 14, 2025:
"Let Them Eat Wings Somewhere Else: The Masters and Masses Part Ways."

  "Sporting events, including the venues that house them, were once designed mostly for the masses. Now they are increasingly being repackaged to deliver more and more luxury and exclusivity -- an understandable attempt to maximize profit, but with an associated cost nonetheless....

  Last week, Sports Business Journal detailed the 2026 "Official Masters Hospitality" program. It included offers of housing, transportation, catering and so on to the corporate and/or well-heeled. Consider the "Full Scale, Private Home Program," which will run you a mere $219,600 for the week.

  That bit of news came days after the announcement that a local Hooters restaurant, just a short stroll from Augusta National Golf Club, is closing.

   Nationally, the chain is known for its wings among, uh, other things. The Augusta Hooters, however, was very much a Masters week institution, a spot for the everyman to relax after a day at the tournament.
  It spoke to the dichotomy of Augusta, the club, and Augusta, the city. The former is the nation's most exclusive country club, located on formal and pristine grounds. The latter, especially on Washington Road leading from Interstate 20 to Magnolia Lane, is a snapshot of strip-mall, middle-American consumerism. Traffic lights and turn lanes, Taco Bells and tire shops.
  Maybe nothing comically defined that contrast as much as the Hooters, which capitalized on its location by setting up a huge tent to handle overflow crowds. It hosted a "Miss Green Jacket" contest and clung to the chain's slogan -- "Delightfully Tacky, Yet Unrefined" -- which is antithetical to the prim and proper country club.... [wasn't it worth reading the entire post, just for that slogan?]

   The Hooters was most famous for, in recent years, having John Daly park his RV outside, allowing fans to drink, smoke cigarettes and buy merch from golf's ultimate folk hero. The party, unsurprisingly, often raged loud and late. Daly once told me his presence was even written into the restaurant's lease -- "As long as they don't get mad at me for signing girls' asses, I'm OK," he joked....
   The club is famously secretive, but it wouldn't surprise anyone if the ultimate goal was an exclusive ramp from the highway to the club, lined with club-controlled housing and hospitality, bypassing Washington Road altogether.

   This is a trend where stadiums increasingly have built not just luxury boxes but numerous exclusive clubs -- from courtside to behind home plate.

    Sports is a business, so this isn't to condemn anyone from meeting a demand. Organizations are just cashing in on the "next door" phenomenon of people wanting something more special than what's already special."

  We visited The Masters a couple of years ago and the pimento cheese sandwich and beer were still affordable and one barely notices Berckmans Place along one fairway where the entry fee is around $10,000.

The Bonus:

  Even if you are a loyal reader of MM you likely missed all of The Masters information I have already provided. That is because it is cleverly hidden in this post - The Canadian Masters. Read it to find out what "The Canadian Masters" is, and what the sports commentator Gary McCord said to be banned from Augusta. And, if you look at "The Bonus" you will learn who committed suicide near Ike's Pond on the Augusta course.

The Most Glamorous Sport?

 You Be the Judge
   Sports are not well covered in MM, so I will offer something short since you may be tired of reading about the Stanley Cup. The following headline was encountered the other day and I wonder what you might think the sport would be that is referred to:  "The Straight-Laced Control Freak Who Conquered the World’s Most Glamorous Sport".  A hint: it is not the one being played for the Stanley Cup. This particular headline was in the Wall Street Journal and it refers to FI - Formula One. Another headline raises the question about the "most glamorous sport" and suggests it is E1 which is electric boat racing: "The F1 of the Seas Returns! Prince Albert of Monaco Presents the Trophy to the Winners of the E1 World Championship (so is this the most glamorous sport in Europe?)" Although the latter headline appears in the Tattler, not the WSJ, I think the photo it presents favours E1 as the winner.

  If you would rather google on about this subject, than watch hockey, other suggestions for most glamorous sports are horse racing, figure skating, polo and even snow polo - "Where else would you see horses galloping on ice at altitude, while wealthy spectators glug Krug champagne?" Personally, based on the photo above, I will vote for Tom and the Prince who do look rather glamorous, don't you think?

The Bonus:

   F1 may be glamorous, but it is also popular:  "The average television audience for a Formula I race is around seventy million people – four times that of the typical N.F.L. game." That quotation is from, Sports News From Elsewhere in MM, where you will also find this one: “American Money Has Discovered Indian Cricket: Billion-dollar investment funds and N.F.L. ownership groups are among those angling for a foothold in the Indian Premier League." 

UWO SQUASH AND THE U.S. COLLEGIATE SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS

  This post is about the University of Western Ontario (now known as "Western University") and squash, the sport not the gourd. It is also a tribute to the coach of the squash teams at that University, Jack Fairs, who passed away in August, 2021. 

   Over the years, the men’s squash teams at UWO/Western were very good and still are. They have won every Ontario University Athletics Men’s Championship over the last forty years. In the recent one in February, they won again without dropping a match. They also play in the “Big Leagues” which is what this post is about. It is a rare thing for any Canadian university to compete against U.S. universities and to do so regularly and at the highest level. That Western has done so and won, is unique. Just how unique the accomplishment is, was noted in a Globe & Mail article back in 1994, where this is found (the source is provided at the end of this post):

“ IMAGINE the hoopla that would surround a Canadian university basketball team if it reached the Final Four of the NCAA championships. Or if a football team crushed all its Canadian opponents consistently for more than a decade and then headed south each year for a bowl game.
Preposterous?
   Perhaps, but the University of Western Ontario's men's squash team has been doing the equivalent of just that and more for the past 20 years. And doing it more quietly and with less recognition than you'd expect from such an accomplishment.”

U.S. Intercollegiate Squash

   The “Ivy League” universities are generally found high in the academic rankings, but typically do not do so well in the athletic ones. That is not the case with squash. Until around the turn of this century, when Trinity College began recruiting aggressively and globally, the Ivies dominated in the collegiate squash rankings. Over many years you will find variations of a statement indicating the supremacy of the Ivies in collegiate squash competitions. In an article in 2011 about the arrival of Trinity, Paul Wachter notes in, “Squashing the Ivies” that, “no school outside the Ivy League had won the Potter Cup, given to the men’s national champion in college squash, since the U.S. Naval Academy’s surprise victory in 1967.” Another Ivy (Penn) just won that national championship in 2024 and this statement was made: “For the first time in program history, the University of Pennsylvania are crowned National Champions (Potter Cup)! There have only been five Potter Cup champions in the CSA, Harvard University, Princeton University, Trinity College, United States Naval Academy and Yale University.”  A similar statement is found on the website of the College Squash Association and it is provided below. Apparently everyone agrees that prior to the arrival of Trinity, the Naval Academy was the only non-Ivy to win the collegiate national title in squash. I disagree. UWO won the title twice. 

Where’s Western/UWO?

  I recall reading the 2011 article by Wachter which appeared in the New York Times Magazine and remember thinking that an egregious error had been made. Two, in fact. Apart from the Naval Academy, the very non-Ivy league University of Western Ontario has won the U.S. national squash title twice - in 1977 and 1980. When I quickly went searching for proof I found that the author, Paul Wachter, likely supported his claim by using the CSA data, where, in fact, UWO is not listed among the national champions. I then went looking for a list which I remembered and which may have been provided by  the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (NISRA) the precursor of the CSA and could not find it and have not found it on the Internet Archive or elsewhere. But, I did finally find UWO somewhere. UWO is listed under "Six-Man Trophy", under "Past Champions" on the website of the College Squash Association. 

   My memory is not good and I will declare an interest in that I knew Jack Fairs and sometimes sold squash rackets out of my office, to help him raise gas money to go play with the Ivies (and Trinity) in New England and elsewhere. I am not incorrect, however, in writing that UWO won two U.S. national titles in squash.

   At first I thought that UWO might have been erased because having another non-Ivy name spoiled the symmetry of the squash rankings. Plus, in a “national” championship, perhaps such an exclusion can be justified because the school is from another nation. Apparently, however, a new distinction developed based on the number of players on the team and one will find UWO listed twice as the winner of the “Six-Man Team Trophy” on the CSA website. I remain confused about the relationship between the size of the teams and the national title, but will provide the information you need to sort it all out. I don't think there were two national champions in 1977 or 1980, based on team size. UWO won the title in both years. 
   After typing all of that I realized that there is a simpler solution which explains why UWO does not appear as the national champion. According to the CSA, prior to 1989, the national champion was the team with the best record, not the winner of the National Team Championship. Simply put, UWO won the National Team Championships in 1977 and 1980, but the national champions were Princeton and Harvard, both of whom were beaten by UWO. 

Sources:

   You were likely not reassured by the last few sentences and are also confused. For those reasons I will follow the usual format of this blog and provide information from those less confused and more knowledgeable. I will begin with the College Squash Association description and their list and a simulated one provided by me, which I think is not totally inaccurate. I then offer original sources in support of the assertion that the University of Western Ontario won two US intercollegiate squash championships, in 1977 and 1980. Additional information about UWO squash and Coach Fairs follows.

                             Potter Cup (A Division/National Championship)

 "The top eight teams in the nation compete in the “A” division of the men’s National Team Championships for the national title and the Potter Cup. The Potter Cup is named for Art Potter, the United States Naval Academy’s longtime coach. Potter, who started coaching at Navy in 1950, coached the midshipmen to national team titles in 1957, 1959, and 1967. Until Trinity won its first title in 1998, Navy was the only non-Ivy League school to win a national nine-player team championship. Potter was inducted into the College Squash Hall of Fame in 1990.
   The records below list the national nine-player team champions. From 1942 to 1988, the title was based on dual-match records, with the team with the best record becoming the national champion. Since 1989, the title has been based on performance in the National Team Championships, with the team winning the “A” division becoming the national champion." [ the information above is from the CSA and a link provided. The table on the right below is my fabrication.]

      NATIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONS/POTTER CUP WINNERS (COACH): 1967-1997

College Squash Association (CSA) List              Revised List From a Canadian Perspective

1967: United States Naval Academy (Art Potter)  1967: United States Naval Academy (Art Potter)
1968: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby).            1968: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)
1969: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby).            1969: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)
1970: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)             1970: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)
1971: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby).            1971: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)
1972: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby).            1972: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)
1973: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby).            1973: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)
1974: Princeton University (Bill Summers).         1974: Princeton University (Bill Summers)
1975: Princeton University (David Benjamin).     1975: Princeton University (David Benjamin)
1976: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby).            1976: Harvard University (Jack Barnaby)
1977: Princeton University (David Benjamin).     1977: University of Western Ontario (J. Fairs)
1978: Princeton University (David Benjamin).     1978: Princeton University (David Benjamin)
1979: Princeton University (Norm Peck).             1979: Princeton University (Norm Peck)
1980: Harvard University (Dave Fish).                 1980: University of Western Ontario (J. Fairs)
1981: Princeton University (Norm Peck).             1981: Princeton University (Norm Peck)
1982: Princeton University (Bob Callahan).         1982: Princeton University (Bob Callahan)
1983: Harvard University (Dave Fish).                 1983: Harvard University (Dave Fish)
1984: Harvard University (Dave Fish).                 1984: Harvard University (Dave Fish)
1985: Harvard University (Dave Fish).                 1985: Harvard University (Dave Fish)
1986: Harvard University (Dave Fish).                 1986: Harvard University (Dave Fish)
1987: Harvard University (Dave Fish).                 1987: Harvard University (Dave Fish)
1988: Harvard University (Dave Fish).                 1988: Harvard University (Dave Fish)
1989: Yale University (David Talbott).                 1989: Yale University (David Talbott)
1990: Yale University (David Talbott).                 1990: Yale University (David Talbott)  
1991: Harvard University (Steve Piltch).              1991: Harvard University (Steve Piltch) 
1992: Harvard University (Steve Piltch).              1992: Harvard University (Steve Piltch)
1993: Princeton University (Bob Callahan).         1993: Princeton University (Bob Callahan)
1994: Harvard University (Bill Doyle).                1994: Harvard University (Bill Doyle)  
1995: Harvard University (Bill Doyle).                1995: Harvard University (Bill Doyle)
1996: Harvard University (Bill Doyle).                1996: Harvard University (Bill Doyle)
1997: Harvard University (Bill Doyle).                1997: Harvard University (Bill Doyle

                                        1977

1977 - UWO Wins U.S. Intercollegiate Squash Championship

"Squash Team Captures U.S. College Title"

   A screen shot of the article in Western News about UWO's capture of the U.S. Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Championship in 1977 is provided below. Western News has been digitized and the article can be read by clicking on this link: Western News, March 10, 1977, p.2.

"U.S. Collegiate Squash Champs!"

   That is the headline in The Gazette on March 11,1977 (p.16.) A screen shot of the issue is provided below. Unfortunately, The Gazette has not been digitized. The poor picture is from my printed copy of The Gazette. 

    The article is a long one with considerable detail about all of the matches. I will provide here the first three paragraphs and the concluding two:

   "The United States Naval Academy located in historic Annapolis, Maryland was the site of the 1976-77 United States Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Championship. 

   It was the twenty-eighth holding of this peerless display of intercollegiate squash, with the quality of play consistent with the team rosters, which was headed by top United States ranked, Princeton, perennially tough Harvard, powerful University of Pennsylvania, Pacific Coach [sic] champion University of California (Berkley) [sic] and the No. 1 Canadian team -- the University of Western Ontario Mustangs.

   The Intercollegiate team tournament format can be confusing. Essentially there are "A", "B", and "C" classifications, producing, of course, six finalists. Each team is permitted two entries in each of the classifications and scores a point for each victory attained by one of its team members. In addition, all first round losers play in a consolation tournament with each match worth a half-point to victory. The institution winning the most points is declared the Tournament Team Champion and receives the Potter Trophy.

   When the dust was settled, Western was in first place with 25 points. Princeton second with 22, Penn third with 20 and Harvard fourth with 18 1/2. It was the first time that a Canadian university won the Potter Trophy since the 1950 inception of the event....

   [ the conclusion]

   When the hostilities subsided on Sunday, Western had 25 points and the National Intercollegiate Squash Championship. Coach Fairs described the victory as "a total team effort. No one can be singled out for special distinction -- to win everyone had to turn in a creditable performance. It is a victory that all of us will savour forever."

   Although highly regarded, Western was only generally regarded as an outsider to win behind Princeton, Penn and Harvard." (The Gazette, March 11, 1977, p.16.)

"Western Ontario Wins Squash Title" 

  (Special to The Washington Post)

   ANNAPOLIS, March 6 - "Western Ontario University of London, Ontario, won the team championship today at the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets tournament at the U.S. Naval Academy. Mike DeSaulnier [sic] of Harvard won the individual title, defeating defending champion Phil Mohtadi of Western Ontario, 3-0." (The Washington Post, March 7, 1977.)

   Desaulniers, from Montreal, was an exceptional player. As the article above indicates, however, Mohtadi was the top player in the U.S. in 1976. Here is a portion of an article about Mohtadi's win. UWO finished in third place in 1976.

 "Western Player Wins U.S. College Crown," 

"Phil Mohtadi, 19-year-old University of Western Ontario freshman, won his first U.S. intercollegiate squash-racquets singles title at the Williams College courts yesterday.

  Seeded second, Mohtadi defeated third-ranked Tom Page, a 19-year-old Princeton University freshman from Philadelphia, 15-8, 15-6, 15-8....

   The six-member-team title went to Princeton with 29 points followed by Penn, 27 and Western 25." (The Globe and Mail, March 9, 1976, p. 34.

                                         1980

1980 - UWO Wins U.S. Intercollegiate Squash Championship

“Western Ontario Wins Six-Man Team Title"

Squash News, April, 1980, p.18. The entire article is reproduced below.

     Western Ontario's coach Jack Fairs carried the six-man team trophy for the Intercollegiate Squash Championship north of the border. They ended the host Penn team 30-28. The favored teams, Princeton and Harvard, finished third and fourth with 24 and 22 points respectively. Yale and Navy tied for fifth with 18 ½ points.

Western Ontario also won in 1977. Other than that, the trophy which was started in 1956, has been kept between Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Penn and Williams.

Team totals are compiled by scoring one point for each entrant, one point for each match won, and half a point for each consolation win. If a player draws a bye and wins the next match he gains two points. If he draws a bye and then loses, he gets no points. 

Western Ontario’s strength was that all the entrants reached at least the quarterfinals. Number one, John Lennard, lost in the quarterfinals to Jim Huebner; 

Number two Gajenera Singh, lost in the quarterfinals to Michael Desaulniers; number three, Murray Shaw, won the B tournament; number four, Fred Reid, lost in the B semifinal; number five Dennis Hisey and number six David Cox, both reached the C semifinal.

The runner-up Penn team had number five, Pat Murray, and number six, Eben Hardie, both in the C final, as well as number one, Ned Edwards in the A final.

A record 32 teams participated, which attests to the growth of squash in colleges.

     The intercollegiate association in their annual meeting exclusively endorsed Manta racquets and Manta in return is funding an effort by the intercollegiate association to promote squash in colleges which do not have a team.

Six-Man Team Totals

1. Western Ontario        30
2. Penn                          28
3. Princeton                   24
4. Harvard                      22
5. Yale                           18 1/2
     Navy
7. Stony Brook               17 1/2
8. Washington                16
9. Trinity                         15 1/2
10. Tufts                         15
       California
       Army
13. Dartmouth                13 1/2
14. Williams                    13
15. Fordham                   12 1/2
16 Columbia                    11
17. Franklin & Marshall.  11
18. Wesleyan                  10 1/2
19. Amherst                     10 1/2
20. Toronto                       9 1/2
21. M.I.T.                          9
22. Bowdoin                     8 1/2
      Vassar
       Lehigh
25. Rochester                   8
26. Cornell                        7 1/2
27. Hobart                         7
28. Colgate                       6
      Stevens
30. George Washington.   3
31. Stanford                       2 1/2
32. Michigan                      1 1/2

   The caption of the poor photograph above reads: " The Victorious Six Man Team from the University of Western Ontario: #6 Dave Cox, #5 Dennis Hisey, #4 Fred Reid, #3 Murray Shawl, #2 Gajenera Singh, #1 John Lennard" (left to right.)
   The same issue of Squash News contains, on the cover page, a picture of John Lennard, the winner of the "Skillman Sportsmanship Trophy," Coach Fairs of the winning team and Murray Shaw, the B winner. The title of the article: "Desaulniers Defeats Edward To Take Intercollegiate Crown," (Vol.3, No.1, April, 1980.)

   "Western Squash Team Wins U.S. Crown"

   As you will see from the picture below, that is the title of an article found in The Gazette on March 11,1980. The piece, a long and thorough one, is unsigned. The first two paragraphs and the last one are provided below.

PHILADELPHIA -- A battalion of 185 aspirants from 32 North American universities hustled into Philadelphia, The City of Brotherly Love, to do battle for the six-man team championship of the United States and for the coveted Commander E.M. Potter Trophy that is awarded to the winner of the prestigious event. Playing their best squash of the year the underdog Western Mustangs stunned the packed galleries that thronged the expansive Ringe Squash Complex at the University of Pennsylvania by wrestling from the squash powers of Princeton, Harvard, and Yale, the most aspired-after title in the intercollegiate squash competition. Western's win kept their unbeaten 1979-80 tournament record intact having previously won the Ontario Open Team Championship, the Ontario Open Singles, the OUAA Championship and the Canadian Open Singles. 
   The record of the Mustangs in the U.S. Intercollegiates is an enviable one. In addition to this year's title victory, the Mustangs were second in 1976, champions in 1977 and third in 1978 and 1979. The 1980 Mustang Championship Team was comprised of John Lennard, Gajendra Singh, Murray Shaw, Fred Reid, Dennis Hisey and Dave Cox....

   In an interview with The Gazette, Coach Fairs saw the victory this way: The win was one of the most gratifying of my coaching career. It was an uphill struggle all the way. Our personnel entered the tournament with a high resoluteness which resulted in a very energetic brand of attacking play. This helped to lower the stress that is so prominent in such a national championship. Particularly high demands were made on the two freshman members of the team, Fred Reid and Murray Shaw -- and they more than rose to the occasion. In addition, it was particularly rewarding that John Lennard was the first recipient of the John Skillman Sportsmanship Award. The victory is a major landmark in Western squash history. Traditions live on. The outstanding victory will undoubtedly influence the further course of Western squash in a positive way. 

Post Script:

  Unfortunately things did not develop in a positive way. The squash team did not have courts on campus on which to play and the financial support was limited. In 2002, this letter is found in the London Free Press, June 1, 2002.

“Squash at Western Deserves Better Fate.”

   "In reading the stories on Western’s restructuring of its men’s

And women’s athletic teams, I was shocked to see one item.

  Men’s squash –Category 3, (self-funded, limited services.)

  Category 3 – not even second-class citizens!

   Certainly coach Jack Fairs and the young men who have represented

Western so well, both in Canada and the U.S., deserve a much

better fate. A look at the records would explain why.

   Of the last 32 OUA squash championships, the Mustangs have won

28 of them, including the last 19 in a row.

   The Mustangs have twice won the U.S. intercollegiate squash

championships (1977,1980).

   Two of the Mustangs, Phil Mohtadi in 1976 and Scott Dulmage in 1989, 

were crowned singles champion at the U.S. intercollegiate championships.

   A four-time All-American, Mohtadi was inducted into the U.S. intercollegiate

squash hall of fame in 1999.

   Retired from Western’s faculty of kinesiology in 1989, Fairs has continued as 

the Mustang’s highly successful squash coach. It’s an impressive record, one 

that will be difficult to match and one that should not be ignored." 

Bob Gage  London

(Bob "Scoop" Gage was a London journalist who died in 2009. For a profile, see this Western essay.)

  Even with limited resources, the team plays on and after winning the OUA championship, travelled to the U.S. one in Philadelphia last week. The current coach, Chris Hanebury, was named OUA "Coach of the Year." Congratulations to the coach and the team. 

The 1994 Globe and Mail article is this one: “Western Thrives Without Fanfare: SQUASH DYNASTY / One Canadian University Consistently Succeeds Against the Best U.S. Schools,” Mark Kearney, The Globe and Mail, Dec. 29, 1994, P.C7

Jack Fairs - much has been written about him.

For obituaries see: "Remembering Beloved Coach Jack Fairs," Western Communications, August 20, 2021 and "John Fairs", London Free Press, Sept. 4, 2021.  

"In Memoriam - Jack Fairs," Squash Canada, Sept. 1, 2021.
In it you will find links to the Canadian Squash Hall of Fame and the Ontario Squash Hall of Fame and a few others.

"Legendary Coach Jack Fairs Passes Away at 98," College Squash Association, Aug. 31, 2021.

Wilfrid Laurier University Press

 

The 50th Anniversary of WLU Press - 1974-2024

   University presses are often overlooked by book lovers. They shouldn't be as I have illustrated in this series of posts about "University Presses." My tenth one will be about WLU Press which has been around since 1974.

   WLU Press publishes a few dozen titles annually and there about 700 in print. A variety of subjects are covered, ranging from environmental humanities to international politics and the books are available in print, electronic or audio versions. Some of the audible ones are pictured above. If you go to the Wilfrid Laurier University Press website you can search by subject, read their blog or listen to some podcasts. 

   This Cohen cover can serve as a sample indicating the wide variety of titles available. Here, however, I will focus on the ones about the "Waterloo Region." In the nine other university presses I have written about (all American), you can see that, among a number of academic and arcane titles, there usually will be some about the area in which the university is located. Broader in scope than local histories, regional ones often cover large areas and a variety of subjects within them. For example, Penn State's "Keystone Books" and Wayne State's "Great Lakes Book Series" will be of interest to many living in Ontario. The same is true for WLU.

   There are some about cities, The Battle for Berlin, Ontario: An Historical Drama; Kitchener: An Illustrated History and A History of Kitchener, Ontario and there is even one for Elora, The Early History of Elora and Vicinity. There are also a few about higher education in the area: I Remember Laurier, Recollections of Waterloo College, and Recollections of Waterloo Lutheran University, 1960 - 1973.

    This book about Mennonite cooking is probably one of the best selling books published by a Canadian university press:

   "An updated edition of a bestselling book in the food writing genre from award-winning author and journalist Edna Staebler. In the 1960s, Edna Staebler moved in with an Old Order Mennonite family to absorb their oral history and learn about Mennonite culture and cooking. From this fieldwork came the cookbook Food That Really Schmecks.

   Originally published in 1968, Food That Really Schmecks instantly became a classic, selling tens of thousands of copies. Interspersed with practical and memorable recipes are Staebler’s stories and anecdotes about cooking, life with the Mennonites, family, and the Waterloo Region. Described by Edith Fowke as folklore literature, Staebler’s cookbooks have earned her national acclaim. Back in print as part of Wilfrid Laurier University Press’s Life Writing series, a series devoted celebrating life writing as both genre and critical practice, the updated edition of this groundbreaking book includes a foreword by award-winning author Wayson Choy and a new introduction by well-known food writer Rose Murray."

   Readers of MM  will remember that Guelph University close by, has a great culinary collection - see "Food History" for examples of regional cuisine and other food-related collections.

   Sports lovers will even find reading material. This book demonstrates that university presses often produce interesting books for people beyond the shadows of the ivory towers: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars and Black Baseball in Southwestern Ontario, 1915–1958. 

"Although many know about Jackie Robinson’s experiences breaking major league baseball’s colour barrier in 1947, few are familiar with the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, a Black Canadian team from 1930s Ontario who broke racial barriers in baseball even earlier. In 1933, the All-Stars began playing in the primarily white world of organized amateur baseball. The following year, the All-Stars became the first Black team to win a provincial championship.

While exploring the history of Black baseball in one southwestern Ontario community, this book also provides insights into larger themes in Canadian Black history and sport history including gender, class, social justice, and memory and remembrance.

University Presses:
  For your convenience, I will gather here all the posts in MM about this subject in chronological order:

1. Environmental Books - University of Washington - May 13, 2018

2. University Presses - Penn State - Sept. 1, 2018

3. Wayne State -  Sept 21, 2019

4. University of Minnesota Press March 28, 2020

5. Northwestern University Press - Oct. 16, 2021

6. Wolverines, Spartans and Books, (Michigan State) June 10, 2022

7. MIT PRESS - Aug. 10, 2022

8. Princeton University Press - see "Ancient Wisdom..." Dec. 18, 2022.

9. Ohio State University Press - Feb. 20, 2023

10. Wilfrid Laurier Press - Jan. 10, 2024

ON Betting

 

Wanna Bet?
   Even if you don't gamble, you have certainly seen signs that others are, and probably agree that it is highly likely that there is a great deal of wagering going on even as I write. I can't understand the discussions between the convenience store clerk and the buyers of lottery tickets, nor can I grasp the math and symbols appearing in the betting lines. I am willing to bet, however, that the growth in legalized gambling is not going to end up being a good thing. Given that I don't have the ability to analyze the numbers, I can at least call your attention to some of the more spectacular ones.

  Let's begin with Aubrey Graham, who is better known as "Drake". Apparently he is a well-known Canadian rapper. He also gambles a bit and is probably preparing for the Super Bowl which, last year, he placed a number of bets on, such as:
$700,000 on the Chiefs to win and $50,000 on Mahones scoring the first touchdown and another $30,000 on Travis Kelce being the Super Bowl MVP. There were more bets - during just this one game.
   He also bets on other events. For example:

$275,000 on Jorge Masvidal to Beat Colby Covington at UFC 272 (Lost)
$159,000 on Golden State to Win NBA Western Conference in 2022 (Lost)
$80,000 on Duke to Beat UNC in 2022 Final Four (Lost)
$309,000 on Dallas Mavericks, New York Rangers & Calgary Flames 2022 parlay (Won)
$427,000 on Justin Gaethje to Beat Charles Oliveria at UFC 274 (Lost)
$136,000 on Israel Adesanya to Beat Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 (Won)

   The golfer, Phil Mickelson, appears to have gambled more than $ 1 BILLION. Among the over 7,000 bets placed are these:

"Betting $110,000 to win $100,000 on 1,115 occasions, and betting $220,000 to win $200,000 on 858 occasions. That alone comes out to just over $311 million.
Mickelson in 2011 made 3,154 bets for the year and on one day (June 22) he placed 43 bets on Major League Baseball games that resulted in $143,500 in losses.
He placed 7,065 bets on football, basketball and baseball.
He did have some limits; $400,000 on college and NFL games."   
"Based on our relationship and what I've since learned from others, Phil's gambling losses approached not $40 million as has been previously reported, but much closer to $100 million. In all, he wagered a total of more than $1 billion during the past three decades," Walters wrote. [ Walters contends that Mickelson lost nearly $100 million - Billy Waters, Gambler: Secrets From a Life at Risk.]

   I admit that one cannot extrapolate or explain anything from these two examples, but at least the small sample is diverse; one guy is white, the other Black. Without any additional evidence at all, I am willing to place another bet -- that there are large numbers of gamblers out there with a lot less money to lose, who are losing a lot of it. The small print disclaimers at the bottom of big gambling ads hint at the problems, but will likely not help much. I would suggest that those in MADD, form a MAGA branch (Mothers Against Gambling Addiction), but I gather that acronym is taken. 

Sources:
   "Biggest Super Bowl LVII Bets: Drake Wagers Nearly $1 Million," Brian Pempus, Forbes, Feb. 13, 2023.
   "Phil Mickelson Wagered More Than $1B US, Wanted to Bet on Ryder Cup," Doug Ferguson, AP, Aug. 10, 2023.

Post Script:
   My analysis is less than rigorous, so I will admit I did find some good news:
"1st Year of Ontario Sports Betting Generated Over $1.48B, IGo Report Shows: Report Says the Regulated Market Currently Shows More Than 12,000 Jobs," Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press, June 15, 2023.
  I don't know if the report indicates whether any of the 12,000 employees gambled away their pay cheques. 

The Bonus:
  One wonders if the advertisements for gambling will disappear, as did those for cigarettes. One British newspaper announced on June 19 that it was banning gambling ads:
"All bets are off. The Guardian has banned ads for gambling firms across its platforms, recognising that the rise in betting apps and websites has left millions in financial ruin. By refusing to take their marketing money, we are in a stronger position to scrutinise the industry’s practices."