January - February 2002
Vol. 13, No. 1 | Contents
| RB: People |
Maness Artwork "Olympian" Kim Russell Poet Gene Pare Racquet for the Cure Court-ing Action Far East Fan West Michigan Open (online exclusive) |
On Tuesday December 11, racquetball finally made it into the Olympic games … well sort of. U.S. National Team member and reigning U.S. National Doubles champ Kim Russell was chosen as an Olympic Torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and that is when she ran her leg of the relay. “There were people lined all up and down the streets,” Russell said. “It was totally awesome.”
A total of 11,500 Torchbearers from across the country were chosen to carry the Olympic Flame by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) and the presenting sponsors – Chevrolet and Coca-Cola. Russell was nominated by her University of Texas Racquetball Team members, whom she helped lead to the women’s intercollegiate title in 2001. The reason she was nominated wasn’t because her team won the championships or even that she is a member of the U.S. National Team.
This year’s relay theme is “inspiration” and Torchbearers were to be chosen as individuals who have inspired, who serve their community in an exemplary manner, who embody the Olympic spirit, and who have overcome adversity. The University of Texas team decided to nominate Russell because she inspired them to work harder at their game without ever making them feel down on themselves. She made them want to work hard for her.
Russell first learned that she was chosen in July. “At first I thought it was a joke,” she laughed. “I called the number I was given to confirm that I was really chosen then I knew it was true.” However, the SLOC wouldn’t give Russell the name of the person or group that nominated her. “They said they (SLOC) couldn’t give out that information so I started telling people that I was going to do it. When I told my team they started laughing and giving each other high-fives. That’s when I knew it was them.” ... [excerpt]
by Brenda J. Lee & Vaughn Johnson
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That was several years ago, during which Gene not only followed his creative muse but racked up numerous titles playing awesome racquetball. In addition to over a dozen State and Regional titles in both singles and doubles, Gene has won five 45+ US National Doubles Gold Medals, most recently in Las Vegas with partner Troy Stallings
(pictured at right: Pare/Stallings). Sponsored by ProKennex for the past five years, Gene has marketing credits as well. You might remember him as “the Hack” from the Courtesy Sports commercial where featured pros Jason Mannino and Sudsy Monchik trade cracks about his attire. Gene’s also the originator of the once popular Courtesy Sports “Competition Is Fierce” and “Think Racquetball” T-shirts.
Adding to his achievements, Gene has just published his first volume of poetry,
Falling into Blue. The title borrows from the last line of his poem, “Falling from the Backyard,” but otherwise indulges the reader’s own associations with the color blue and the idea of falling. While the book is certainly a departure from racquetball, several pieces indirectly relate to our sport, so I’m told. “Hyatt Regency, Houston,” for example, came to Gene the afternoon of his National Singles 45+ finals match with Mitt Layton. (Mitt, by the way, whipped him in two.) And “Baptists in a Storm” was inspired by an incident that occurred on his way to a Sacramento tournament, driving through the rain.But to set the record straight, Gene doesn’t write poetry merely to pass the time between racquetball matches, nor is his interest in wordplay a diversionary tactic to help his “mental game.” According to Gene, it started in high school “as a kid listening to music on the radio…I liked the rhyming and storytelling in songs, and the challenge of conveying a feeling or situation with few words.” He graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in English and worked in the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley, eventually moving into technical writing and editing. In 1995 Gene decided to pursue his Masters degree. He received the Marjorie M. Follendorf, Anne Lillis, and Phelan Awards for poetry and fiction, and later he won the Mara Steffey Award for his play, Waiting for Godiva.
While racquetball players often let their serves and kill shots do the talking, picture this: a top-ranked Nationals champion standing before a room full of strangers baring his soul for all to hear! In fact, Gene has stood out from the crowd in a number of beat coffee houses and clubs in the Bay Area — Matisse, the Ajax Lounge, the Phoenix, the Not-Yet-Dead Poets’ Society — and on radio station KKUP. “There’s a certain rush, then panic,” he says, “when you’re called up on stage to spill your guts and risk embarrassment. Live audiences give you an immediate response; there’s applause or scary silence.” To promote his book, Gene plans to give some readings locally as well as tape a television segment of “Who’s Cooking?” in early January.
When asked why he chose to publish the book himself, Gene smiles. “I’ve always thought about publishing a book of poetry or fiction. This year, when I had finished collecting, organizing, and formatting my poems and prose, I was anxious to publish and didn’t want to wait months to hear from possible publishers—so I did it myself through iuniverse.com.” For poetry and racquetball enthusiasts alike, you can purchase Falling into Blue on the Internet at any of the major book suppliers, like Amazon.com. It could very well be Gene’s crowning achievement—that is, until next year’s Nationals.
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Wayne Ivey and Rose McCallum met for the first time at the 2000 Hilton U.S. OPEN — Wayne was on his way to warm-up for a match and Rose was working in the spa at the Racquet Club. “I was walking by and I saw her through the window,” explains Wayne. “I thought to myself ‘she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.’” He went into the spa, introduced himself, and made small talk. Later he returned to invite her to dinner. Rose declined Wayne’s initial invitation but he didn’t give up. Eventually he got her to agree to lunch and they became inseparable.
Since then the couple has been maintaining a long-distance relationship consisting of long phone calls (“I think we could do a cellular commercial,” says Wayne) and trips twice a month to see each other. Knowing that they were meant for each other, they became engaged in May.
The couple decided to tie the knot where it all started — at the Racquet Club of Memphis during the Hilton U.S. OPEN. They were married on the portable court between the pro semi-final matches, with a reception during the “Party with the Pros” that evening. Afterwards, Rose plans to relocate to Orlando where Wayne currently lives and is employed as a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
by Yuni Cobb
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Sung Won Lee is a South Korean citizen with an uncommon love for the sport of racquetball. After earning a Master’s degree in physical education, Lee became a racquetball instructor at the Seoul YMCA. In 1999 he represented South Korea in the Asian racquetball tournament where he placed second in the men’s open division. That was the first time in his life he realized that he needed a higher level of instruction to reach his full potential in the sport.Through Jong Il Chun, a member of the Korean Racquetball Federation, Lee met Jim Hiser who in turn introduced him to Jim Winterton, the U.S. National team coach at that time. With interpretation help from his cousin with whom he was staying with in Los Angeles, Lee was able to exchange several e-mails with Winterton. Together they decided, because of Lee’s limited English, that it would be best if Lee stayed in Los Angeles rather than move to New York to train with Winterton. On the west coast, Lee would have the support of his cousin and would be able to train with Tim Doyle.
Through Doyle, Lee learned the proper stroke mechanics, how to speed and weight train, mental aspects, and how to prepare your body before and after tournaments. Lee feels that the time he has spent training under Doyle has been very successful. He plans to take his new knowledge back to Korea and help teach the Korean National team and Korean Racquetball Association members what he has learned in the U.S. ... [excerpt]
by Twayne M. Howard
The West Michigan Open is held as a fund-raiser for the West Michigan Juniors Program and they were the biggest winners once again this year. A raffle of Ektelon equipment, lessons, stringing and other donated items raised $300 to support the program. Thirteen Juniors participated only $15 each. Until then, the funds will provide court time, and help Juniors travel to tournaments.
The tournament staff would like to thank our sponsors: The Michigan Athletic Club, Ektelon, AD Design, Perrigo Printing, Mike Anderson at Anderson Screen Printing, Andre Roy, Jim Hamilton, Chris Cole, Dale Brown AND Twayne Howard for the generous contributions. Most of all we'd like to thank all the players who made the trek from Eastern and Central Michigan, throughout the Great Lakes region, and as far away as Missouri. We could not do it without you, and we look forward to seeing each of you next time.
A highlight of the tournament was getting to see the beneficiaries of our efforts as the Juniors took to the courts on Saturday. Several of these players traveled to Junior Regionals last spring with financial support from the West Michigan Open proceeds.
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