A Squash Memory by Hall of Famer David Tepper

A Squash Memory

by David Tepper

I competed in NorCal & Pacific Coast squash for close to 20 years. My guess is I played in 150 or so tournaments over those years. I won a fair number of matches and even managed to win the odd tournament or two. But the most memorable match I played was a match I lost.

In 1976 we organized a NorCal team to play in the National 5-Man Team tournament held each in in conjunction each year with the USSRA National Championships. While there had been teams representing the Pacific Coast in that tournament in the past (and winning it in 1974), this was the first NorCal team to play in the event. Given that 1976 was the Bi-Centennial Year, the National Championships were held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Ringe Squash Courts in Philadelphia.

The team was Ted Gross, Tom Dashiell, L.A.'s David Body, and myself.  Due to some confusion, we had to draft Kim Proctor from Seattle to round out the team at the last minute. I played #5 on the team.

We beat the #2 team from Philadelphia in the first round, which set us up for a match against Harvard in the 2nd round. At that time, Harvard, coached by the legendary Jack Barnaby, was far and away the dominant team in collegiate squash.

My match was the last of the 5 matches to start. We were assigned one of the back courts and started the match in relative anonymity. My Harvard opponent and I were evenly matched and played a lot of long points.

Mid-way thru the 4th game, I noticed that the small viewing area above the court was starting to fill up with players from both teams, as their matches, which started before mine, had finished.

I managed to win the 4th game to tie the match a 2-games all.  At that point, the viewing gallery was full. Leaving the court after the game I noticed my opponent was being actively coached by Mr. Barnaby and encouraged by a few of his teammates. I asked one of my teammates how the team match stood and was told we were tied 2-all with Harvard. So the 5th game of the 5th match would decide which team advanced to the next round. Needless to say the gallery remained full for the balance of the match. I don’t think I have ever played another match where so many people cared who won or lost. 

I fell behind 1-3 to start the 5th game and never could quite catch up. It seemed like I was down a point or two the whole time and lost the game (& the match) 15-13. 

What also made the match memorable was that my Harvard student opponent was Cass Sunstein, who has gone on to become a noted legal scholar and professor at both Chicago and Harvard Law Schools. He also served in President Obama’s administration for several years.  

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