January - February 1999 | Vol. 10, No. 1

FROM THE EDITOR: Bring in the New!
by Linda Mojer

Well, Happy New Year to you, too! If you’re reading the (hard copy) January/February issue and it’s not just a dozen or so black and white copied pages stapled together at the top left corner, it will be a very good sign. You see, for Christmas, we decided to give you a brand new magazine.

Oh sure, it looks the same (I swear I’m getting a new picture taken!) but it really is all new. Since the holidays are traditionally so stress-free for me (like most people, right?), we first decided to acquire Killshot and incorporate former content from the publication into RACQUETBALL. That negotiation, successfully finalized and announced at the U.S. OPEN, opened the door to a whole new world of cross-platform file transfer issues, frantic emails and computer-babble that continues to make my head spin. You’ll see a re-design of the PROfile pages in this issue that reflect some of that “new world order” as we begin to selectively adopt some of the neat-o graphics and artwork that jazzed up Killshot’s pages in the past. As part of the deal, former Killshot editor Marvin Quertermous will be authoring pro tour coverage in the coming year as a regular contributor, and RACQUETBALL will take over newstand space in selected markets served by major booksellers like Barnes & Noble. Oh! And RACQUETBALL has now become the official publication of the pro tours, too! Just a few little extras to make life more interesting in 1999.

Secondly, I guess I was getting a little too cozy with the folks who help us produce the magazine in the pre-press stages (helping with design, scanning photos, generating film, that sort of thing), and the crew who actually put the ink on paper every eight weeks, so ... we changed all our production/support services heading into the holidays. All new people to convince that if I’m at work on Christmas Eve, everyone else should be too! Tell me again about that nine-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs? I think I finally got that move down ...

So, we’re hoping that all this frantic change will result in more of the type of improvement that you’ve come to expect in the pages of RACQUETBALL. We’re heading into our tenth year, counting down the millenium, and making big plans. But be forewarned. The first person to ask (even jokingly) when RACQUETBALL is going to start coming out monthly had better be able to duck, and fast!