Bizarre Finish to 'Friendly' Squash Event
by Andy Garr

May 25, 2017 - An innocent and otherwise event hosted by New York Squash on March 18 at New York’s Princeton Club ended in controversy. It was billed as a Battle of the Boros with a team from the Bronx playing a team from Manhattan. Great care was taken by the organizers from New York Squash to balance the eleven matches to provide close competition.

At the conclusion of the sixth match the team score stood at 3-3 and the organizers were beaming with their accomplishment in matchmaking and thanking the Bronx captain, Bryan Patterson, for evaluating his players so fairly. Of course, there was the usual banter involving the several wagers riding on the eventual outcome. Patterson was overheard, it was disclosed later, to wildly grin and exclaim that those “Manhattan lawyers who set this up will soon get their comeuppance.”

After a close match won by the Bronx, four young players in City Squash uniforms came up to play for the Bronx.  The large crowd was mesmerized as they dismembered their opponents with displays of incredible talent and poise.  The only comparable measurement of their ability was the width of the grin on Patterson’s face. The Manhattan player’s well-known sportsmanship and reserve muted their protests to a whisper.

One knowledgeable member of the New York Squash board indicated that some of the juniors from the Bronx closely resembled pictures of players she had seen of the Egyptian Junior National team.  The results of the individual matches will be published at a later date –after a careful eligibility review. Patterson was rumored to be a candidate for an open coaching position somewhere in another state.