10 Mar 1971 /First Squash Game

I was exposed to squash for the first time during the MIT-Yale match (No, I don't know the results. There is another paper on campus that uses its space for that kind of frivolity. If it's numbers you want, read them.), and found myself most favorably impressed by the sport. The MIT team plays a good game of squash, and the action and movement of the sport make it exciting for me to watch.

If you have never seen the sport before, let me try to describe it for you. Imagine yourself and your opponent entirely enclosed in a room painted kind of blinding white. The only other occupant of the room is a little black ball which the two of you try to hit with your racquets after it has bounced off one of the walls.

But only on the first bounce. Except at the very, uppermost championship levels, the game has no officials or referees; it was explained to me that squash is a "gentlemen's game."

 One can assume from this that either the two players are perfectly honest with one another or that the game is so simple that it is nigh onto impossible to cheat a guy who is standing right next to you and has as good a view of the shot as you do.

In addition, the people who thought up the court included an ingenious

device on the front wall if the shot goes too low, it makes a loud clank when it hits a loosely supported piece of metal flush with the front wall.

You might watch an MIT squash match sometime if you get the chance: ask the athletic department when the next one is, and where. That should cover the ERGO sports department for this issue.

Speaking of sports, I know one very good one, whose name is Tim Phegley. On two prior occasions this year, Tim has sung at the Potluck Coffeehouse (the MIT folk singing-free cider and doughnuts affair now carried live on WTBS Friday nights, starting at 9:30). On the first occasion, I misspelled his name as I explained that I had not stayed to hear him. On the second occasion, I stated that I would review his act, and then didn't.

So now here it is, the non-awaited event of this or any other week: my Tim Phegley review. Phenomenal, in a word. Tim has a good voice, knows how to play guitar, and writes most of his own material. What he sings is blues that are honest and seem to come from the heart. How he managed to become a senior at the institute and maintain a creative soul is beyond me (Ed: your chance is coming Paul.), but clearly he has: more power to him. His repertoire is consistent, so if you like his music, you'll like him. His musical quality is consistent: high. If you get a chance to listen to him, do.