2023
My introduction to squash was facilitated by a fellow sixth-former called Dave Knowland, who booked a court at Stretford Sports Centre one Saturday morning whilst we were both in the upper-sixth, if my memory serves me correctly...
Looking back, i now realise what a good sixth-form friend he turned out to be - he taught me to play chess and introduced me to pop/rock concerts on a fairly regular basis - we also attended an Erik von Daniken talk, a short time after the publication of Return To The Stars...
Looking back, i tend to think that Dave may have introduced us both to squash because it was a sport that was being offered at the University he was signed up for - and that he perhaps saw it as a way of making friends and socialising more readily - a forward thinker indeed...
So, for a fairly shortish period of time both of us would meet up every Saturday morning and play squash together uninterrupted...
Well, they were uninterrupted until a guy who worked there seemingly decided that we were both in need of his 'expert' tuition - twas a fairly unwelcomed interruption that resulted in us both playing a single game with such a seemingly self-anointed 'coach' - Dave got beat by him, and i got rid of him forever by beating him...
The next time i was invited to play was possibly three or more years later, whilst i was employed by a Flexible Packaging company in Levenshulme - such an invite being by a female called Kay who worked at another division of such a company that happened to be situated on the same site - unknowingly, Kay had been enquiring about me to a friend (Chris) who happened to work in the Wages Dept at such a Flexible Packaging company...
Both independently run businesses shared the same computer main-frame and Chris used to get the wages and bonuses processed through such a main-frame, and so interacted with Kay on a weekly basis...
So, orft i went to Stockport Squash Club after work one evening and played a few games with Kay, who was seemingly a fairly regular playing member there - a few games that got me playing again regularly, as i decided to join said squash club myself - and a fateful few games that resulted in Kay and myself starting a relationship with each other that would result in Kay later giving up her flat and moving in with me, for what turned out to be a few years, before we both went our separate ways...
Becoming a member of such a club and playing different people on a regular basis, in turn got me interested in the possibility of playing Thursday night team squash - however, it didn't quite turn out that way - yes, i went for the first team playing training/fitness session, but that proved itself to be my last training/fitness session also...
The problem was the official coach (Shakeel Kahn) was seemingly a bit of a tyrant who wished to bring us all to our knees by the end of such a first training session by hitting the squash ball just out of reach of each aspirant's grasp and ordering us to run faster, repeatedly - i had noticed, with a certain distain, the seeming joy that such 'bullying' gave him, and so when my turn came to go onto the glass-back court with him i completely ignored such 'faster faster' orders, which seemed to annoy him somewhat...
The next day i found that many muscles were stiff and i was feeling somewhat physically jaded - which was unfortunate really, as i had an after work squash match booked - a squash match that resulted in me being taken into hospital, part way through, for a week, with a rather painful back...
I think it was about a month or more before i was able to play again - and as i prefer to play sports for pleasure, the prospect of playing team squash seemed much less appealing to me - so, a social squash player i remained, whilst continuing to play there...
Stockport Squash Club was conveniently situated for playing squash after work, but not conveniently situated with respect to where i lived - so when i started working for an American owned company in Salford it seemed even further out of my way - but then i got hold of a brochure advertising for membership of a newly purpose-built squash club in the much more conveniently situated Chorlton-cum-Hardy...
As fate would have it, such a new squash club were in need of a coach, and i knew of a fairly dissatisfied one at Stockport Squash Club (Rowley) - the official coach didn't like Rowley's growing popularity and so tried to prevent him from coaching there - so, upon letting him know, orft he moved to the new one, called Valentines Squash Club...
I had known Rowley earlier in my life, when he was the assistant professional at Didsbury Golf Club - our reunion at Stockport Squash Club came as rather a surprise to both of us - i had arranged to meet Kay in the lounge after having a post-game shower, only to find Rowley chatting her up there...
It would seem that Rowley was good at many sports - he had moved on from golf to squash, and later coached tennis at a country club in Macclesfield, also - and he had an eye for the ladies too of course...
He was an interesting and pretty easy-going guy - a guy who took great pleasure in purposely losing the first game of his first match, playing at the number one position onth first team, nine nil, before saying to the crowd of onlookers, 'are you impressed or what???' - before going on to win such a match with comparative ease...
...Yep, he was a bit different, that's for sure - a bit like me perhaps, but in a different way - but never-the-less we were both, unknowingly at the time, in the same 'odd-ball'/eccentric category...
Anyway, sometime after joining Valentines, i found myself playing number five in the 6th division of the North West Counties league - which resulted in me playing regular competitive squash every Thursday evening - on alternating weeks it was a home match, with the other Thursdays being an away match at a number of different squash clubs...
Twas fun and interesting - well, until we got a new team captain who seemed to be of the opinion that winning was the be-all and end-all of such Thursday team matches - not an opinion that i shared, as it took the fun out of it and made such matches far more serious than they ever needed to be...
Anyway a couple of us decided simply not play any more - social squash was far more pleasant - but then i was asked to play team squash again, under the leadership of a much less demanding/serious individual, which i found to be much more acceptable...
Valentines turned out to be a fun place to play squash and interact with similar aged people - they had a monthly social league ladder whereby the top two (most points accumulated) in each league were promoted to the league above, the bottom two were demoted to the league below, and the person finishing third remaining in the same league for at least another month - and they also organised the occasional fun social event...
Having split up with Kay shortly after i started working at such a Salford based company, i found myself going to Valentines most workday evenings, straight from work - either just for a run and a shower, or, more often than not, for both a run and squash - with my proficiency gradually/steadily improving with time...
And then, of course, came the fateful afternoon phone-call, whilst at work - twas from a then unknown female Valentines squash player who's squash opponent had apparently not been able to play, so i was asked to take his/her place...
Upon being introduced to Terina i realised that our eyes had met in passing fairly recently whilst we were both at Valentines - she was very attractive and obviously very interested in improving her squash - with the bonus being that she had a very nice/agreeable personality, and thus turned out to be very easy to coach...
She had already been coached in racket technique by the then number two Welsh player - so her swing was good and effective, as was her eye-to-ball coordination and general positioning around the court - however, she had seemingly not been taught to hit the ball to a length, so she wasn't winning matches that she would otherwise have won...
At first i realised that the fairly small-framed Terina simply didn't have the physical power to hit a ball to the back of the court with the ball staying low, so i simply got her to hit the ball higher down the walls in order that it would more naturally travel to the full-length of the court, which it did - and voila darlings, she started winning more matches - simple physics...
...And as she played more squash and began running, her strength and stamina improved - thus enabling her to hit the ball lower down the walls with more power, and hence, still to a length...
I really enjoyed playing squash with Terina - she was both enthusiastic and eager to improve - and she never ever complained of tiredness nor had any tantrums of any kind...
And all i did to help improve her squash further was to gradually make the game more challenging for her by gradually hitting the ball with greater force, gradually hitting the ball closer to the side walls, and making the rallies longer - twas as simple as that really - and i really enjoyed seeing her improve...
As timing would have it, by the time Terina was playing in the monthly club leagues ladder and beating some of the men, a taxi driver called Joe was running a Sunday evening social squash team, for which there was an inter-club league, and he asked me if i would play number one for them - so i agreed, but only if Terina could play number five also, as i thought it would be the ideal opportunity for her to improve further by playing more men competitively...
...She lost her first match, but won every other one, if my memory serves me correctly - which was quite a feat really because she was the only female squash player to play in such a multi-club social league, and some competitive-minded men simply didn't like the prospect of being beaten by a woman - her first opponent definitely didn't, that's for sure...
I enjoyed playing the Sunday night matches more than playing the Thursday night ones - the team members were great to get on with - i used to play regularly on the Monday night social squash evenings so already knew them, and winning matches, in a more relaxed way, was easier also, resulting in me, like Terina, only losing one match throughout the season...
By the end of the season Terina's squash had become very solid indeed - the men she played on that succession of Sunday nights simply succumbed to her greater accuracy and consistency - they simply couldn't deal with the ball travelling so closely down the length of the walls, and so made mistakes more often than Terina did, on an ongoing basis...
I am now trying hard to remember exactly why Terina and i decided to move clubs - all i can remember is that it was very serendipitous, as Valentines closed down and became a snooker hall a short time afterwards, and some other former Valentines players came to join us at Brooklands Sports Club...
Terina, of course, won the Ladies annual squash event - with comparative ease actually - which both pleased and disappointed her actually, as i think she was hoping that they would have a stronger ladies section...
The advantage of playing at Brooklands Sports Club was that if you became a squash playing member you were also able to play tennis (and vice versa) - something that Terina quite liked playing during the summer - but something that we only played occasionally as it happened...
On one of those occasions i annoyed Terina by not being competitive enough, and, in consequence, losing the match of mixed doubles for us both - it was the only occasion that i can remember whereby Terina showed open annoyance with me - such was her lovely nature...
It was a very strange match indeed - for me, at least - i can only assume that Rod Laver must have possibly popped into my serving shoes...
For i found that i suddenly started to serve a series of aces - but not only that, but i became perfectly aware of the whole of my serving action - swinging back, reaching the apex, and hitting the ball with top-spin in order for it to more readily fall within the serving box...
Whereas, with all the other shots i played, i was clumsy and concentrating simply on returning the ball - i simply hadn't played very much tennis in my life before - the handle of the racket seemed very thick, and the ball very heavy...
Our opponents were tennis players who also played squash, whereas we were squash players who occasionally played tennis - although Terina had played more than me i think - and on that particular sunny Sunday afternoon, for me at least, it simply didn't seem fair to beat them...
...And it wasn't, as i was obviously getting some Help - although i didn't know so at the time - i simply couldn't understand how on Earth i could be serving so well...
When i was serving to my female opponent i purposely didn't try to serve any aces - it didn't feel like the gentlemanly thing to do - and after a while i stopped serving aces at my male opponent also...
...And this was apparently the thing that really niggled Terina - she wanted to prove herself by winning - whereas, for me, it was simply a lazy sunny afternoon, trying my hand at tennis for a change, but not wishing to embarrass our predominantly tennis playing opponents...
..And still trying to get my head around how the heck i could have possibly been able to serve the way i had - and the enjoyment of experiencing the serving of those aces - and being able to witness the whole of the swinging action, with great clarity of feeling...
...Very strange indeed...
I don't think Terina and i stayed at Brooklands for much more than a year before we almost literally moved across the road to become squash playing members of Sale Rugby Club...
Twas a club that had a much stronger ladies squash team, and so was better for Terina's prospects of improving her squash further - the ladies first team played in the top division - a team that Terina later played on, if my memory serves me correctly...
The male squash playing section was also of a higher and more in-depth standard also - which included two fourth division Thursday night teams - so i generally found myself either playing number five for the first fourth division team, or number one for the second fourth division team, depending on player availability...
Eventually Terina had trials to play for Cheshire Ladies, and was apparently voted best newcomer of the year...
I say apparently, as my squash playing days had come to an end by then - as had our relationship - i had simply hit upon increasingly hard times and was unable to afford to carry on playing...
...Which was a bit of a silver lining really, as my knees had begun to show the signs of wear by becoming hot and slightly painful after running and squash exertions - had i still been able to afford to play, i probably would have done so - much to the further detriment to my knees no doubt...
I very much enjoyed my time spent with Terina, and very much look forward to Meeting Her in the Afterlife in order to find out about her further life experiences - i found her to be a very lovely person indeed...
So, what were my most memorable team squash matches, the reader of these words may perhaps wonder...
Well, the first occasion that comes most readily to mind was a match played at Sale Rugby Club, whereby both myself and my opponent for the evening were getting changed in preparation for such a team match...
'What a really nice guy he seems to be', thought i, thinking what a pleasant evening it was going to be...
Until we got on court and started playing of course - where i found that he was continually barging into me, in a rather ungentlemanly fashion - a change in attitude that rather annoyed me...
'Right', thought i with growing anger, 'i've been conned, and he's obviously not a nice person at all' - twas obvious that he simply wanted to win at all costs - 'right', thought i once again, 'that's the last chance he's going to get to do that again, i'm going to get him off court as quickly as possible'...
So i just whacked the ball all around the court, low and with great speed, and simply didn't give him the opportunity to barge into me again...
I remember the team captain, John Bohay (the very large and genial then chief buyer at Kellogg's actually), who happened to be marking such a match, saying to me at the end of the first game as i followed my opponent momentarily off court before the start of the second game, 'Terry, use your anger in a positive way' - with me simply looking sternly back at him in passing, and saying with clenched teeth and seething anger, 'what do you think i'm doing?!?' - it was probably the shortest team match that i ever played, as i, within such anger, simply destroyed him mercilessly, just to get it over and done with...
It was actually customary for each home team player to buy their opponent an after match pint - however, such was my distain for such an obvious con merchant, that there was no way in hell that i was going to do so - twas the first and only time that i resolutely refused to carry out such a customary pleasantry...
I remember all the team players sitting down for the customary after-match meal that the home team always provided - i was sat around one of the small round tables with my opponent and his larger pal, in silence, when such a pal asked, somewhat menacingly actually, if i played for the rugby team - 'no' replied i, and that was the end of such verbal interactions with them...
There was one other occasion, within a social team away match whilst playing at Valentines actually, whereby the seemingly very genial home captain of the opposing team did a similar thing to me - barging into me and unfairly asking for 'lets' repeatedly (a 'let' is when you play the point again btw) - he had been marking the games unfairly throughout each match (cheating basically), and one of their other home team players was trying to do likewise during my match with such an opposing team captain...
So on this occasion i did similarly, but with simple resolution / distain for him, rather than seething anger - and in so doing simply got him off court as quickly as possible - without him being able to repeatedly barge into me in search of unfair 'lets'...
And on yet another occasion (but not whilst at band camp, obviously) i was on court warming up the ball against my opponent who seemingly wished to impress me with his squash 'prowess' by repeatedly hitting the ball back to himself, and throwing me the occasional scrap to return back to him - on this occasion i simply purposely 'tinned' each 'scrap' thrown at me - the result being that, at the end of such a warm-up period, i knew quite a lot about his playing abilities, and he knew absolutely nothing about mine, other than perhaps thinking that i was a bit of a duck-egg and that it was going to be an easy night for him...
Twas quite a well contested match actually - but one that i perhaps inevitably won - twas a quite satisfying feeling to have done so actually...
Once again, a similar thing happened on one of the occasions when i was asked to play for the Civil Service team based in Timperley - they were short of a player, and so i simply obliged them - on this occasion such an opponent tried to impress me by asking if i would like to go for a pre-match run with him...
...A request that i politely refused, whilst thinking to myself, 'by all means run some energy off before playing if that's want to do'...
And, yes, he similarly tried to impress me with his squash-playing skills during the warm-up - and, yes, twas another that i won - rather comfortably, if my memory serves me correctly...
It was all very amusing actually - especially for his accompanying, and seemingly much more savvy girlfriend - an accompanying girlfriend who seemingly (and rather embarrassingly actually) became increasingly flirtatious with me during the after-match meal, whilst sitting next to such a boyfriend at the three-person table we were sat around...
She obviously knew that i had 'played' him, in the metaphorical sense, and that he had rather naively readily facilitated such a state of affairs - and both realised that i was a heck of a lot fitter than he had seemingly presumed - and i think she found my 'well if you want to try and impress me with your presumed superior squash skills during the warm-up, then fine, be my guest' attitude to be rather amusing afterwards, also...
The other thing that was rather amusing about it all was that such a well-preened opponent was decked-out in a new flashy tracksuit, and looked like he had perhaps just stepped out of one of the pages of a sports catalogue - whereas i, in complete contrast, was simply wearing my favourite old, 'dog-eared' pre-match sweatshirt over my squash shirt - they were actually both very nice people (although i think that it's fair to say that she was the one with the 'smarts' within such a presumed relationship), so it turned out to be a pleasant evening...
I also remember another occasion whereby the captain of such a squash club once again asked if i could fill in for the night...
I was playing at number 5, so was first on court, playing against a fairly rotund and older opponent - an opponent who had obviously played at a much higher level during his earlier years, as he simply used his much superior squash skills to run me ragged around the court for the first 4 games - i remember feeling absolutely knackered by the end of that 4th game...
I was struggling for breath, breathing in copious amounts of air, and sweating profusely - resigned to the seeming inevitability of all my efforts going to waste by losing the 5th and final game of the match - but such an opponent went off-court for a moral-building chat with his team captain, and i heard such an opponent simply say in reply 'i can't give any more'...
What an unexpected effect such a statement had on me - for i realised that he was seemingly as knackered as i was - and it simply infused me with the energy needed to win such a match...
We had been on court for over 2 hours, and the other team players were becoming increasingly despondent, realising that it was going to be a rather long night for us all - it was during the winter, and the court was very cold, and the ball wasn't bouncing as readily/energetically as it would normally do - and my rather genial but comparatively unfit opponent was very tricky/skilful indeed...
I remember having a works ladder squash match with a guy who worked in the Systems Dept after work the next day - it was the first occasion that i felt my knees getting rather hot, and i was, rather understandably perhaps, feeling rather jaded - as luck would have it my opponent wasn't very good at all, so i won such a match with ease...
There was another occasion (but, once again, not at band camp, obviously) when myself and a good squash-playing friend of mine were pitted against each other whilst both members of Brooklands Sports Club - he was a very nice, self-made, Porsche driving, business owning 'average Joe' like myself, and as i had finished working at such a Salford based company by that time, trying to become self-employed by writing computer games programs, we regularly played day-time social squash with one-another...
What neither of us realised was that during such social day-time squash matches we were both taking it easy on one-another - so when we played competitively with each other for the first time, both of us realised that the other could play a lot better than previously disclosed - with the very competitive Brian very determined to win indeed...
I, of course, was of the opinion that he was trying too hard, so decided that, if possible, i simply wasn't going to allow him to win - which turned out to be the case - it astounded him really, with him saying to me in the bar afterward, in a rather exasperated way, 'why didn't you tell me you could play like that???'...
The result being that Brian then wished me to play for Lymm Squash Club, where he was the number 1 playing captain...
This, in turn, resulted in Brian arranging me to play his team's number 5, who was presumably losing too many matches for Brian's liking - however, before such a match started i had learned that he was a family man with a young child, and i sensed that Thursday night team squash was an enjoyable night out for him - he seemed determined to win, and as i was already playing team squash i simply didn't have the heart to possibly deny him such a regular night out, so didn't try as hard to win as i may otherwise have done...
The number 1 playing Brian, of course, simply couldn't understand it, and understandably looked at me with great suspicion and confusion - but hey, i did the right thing, in my mind at least - the rather overly competitive Brian simply took a shine to me i think, and in so doing acted, in my eyes at least, unkindly towards his team's number 5...
Brian was in actual fact a very nice guy - he insisted that i had a go at driving his, 0 to 60 in 5.1 seconds, bright red Porsche one day - when you put your foot down (as Brian insisted i did) it not only pinned you to the back of the seat, but it kept you there during the whole of the acceleration process...
When he realised that my cash was running short he wanted me to teach both his daughters how to program in BASIC at his home, and offered me a job with another company at a very flattering salary indeed - however, by that time i had realised that he was bi-sexual, and i simply felt uncomfortable about taking such a valued friendship beyond a predominantly social squash-playing one, so simply silently declined both such offers - and i simply don't like being beholden to people, and, rightly or wrongly, i didn't think that it was a potentially healthy situation to put myself in (and also, btw, i didn't think i could justify the job that Brian had offered me, and simply didn't wish to cause him any professional embarrassment within such a respect)...
I can sort of understand why Brian may have mistakenly thought i was either gay or bisexual - we first met as i was coming off a glass-back court and Brian and his opponent were waiting their turn to play - our eyes met and we held each others gaze for what seemed like quite some time, however, from my perspective it was as if i was looking at someone that i already new, but someone that i had obviously never seen before (a previous life recognition perhaps), whereas for Brian, such prolonged and sustained eye contact was, i think, wrongly interpreted as me being, perhaps sexually, attracted to him...
He was in fact a very wealthy man indeed - he had outbid all others for the immediate services of the specialist who had operated on Margaret Thatcher's fingers, after he had badly damaged his cruciate ligaments whilst playing, no doubt overly competitively, in a Thursday night team match at the local YMCA - it was against a perhaps equally over-competitive and rather fiery Irishman called Eamon, who i had a bit of a difference of opinion with, on a couple of occasions actually, whilst we both played at Valentines Squash Club...
The last time i ever saw Brian was sometime after i had finished playing squash, as i was cycling towards the Samatha Meditation Centre in Chorlton, whereby we exchanged some pleasantries before i continued on my journey - he seemed rather downbeat and was gently running with what i presumed to be his female rehabilitation specialist - club-running was another of his weekly passions, and he had seemingly paid a heavy price for such over-competitiveness...
(https://www.ourquantumparticulates.org/videos/a-squash-journey)
Added Addendum at 5 September 2024...
Some extra 'squash-journey' remembrances have most recently come to mind, so i have decided to share them before my mind moves on and they are left unremembered once again...
1) During the time when i was recovering from my hospitalisation due to suffering back problems during the time i was a squash-playing member of Stockport Squash Club i used to visit such a squash club within a social capacity, in order to watch some squash being played, as well as it being an opportunity to socialise with certain other squash-playing members, of course...
...Anyway, upon one such occasion i happened to be watching a squash match being played whilst standing alongside a blood bank manager whom i used to play regular (weekly perchance???) games of squash with...
...Within conversation he informed me that (in his personal opinion presumably) once such an injury has occurred i would suffer recurrences of back problems throughout my life - with me thinking, 'well thanks for telling me that, Cliff, that really helps to lift my spirits' (or words to such effect) lolz - in a way such a statement possibly turned out to be true, but only later in life perhaps - for, sure enough, i have indeed suffered from somewhat debilitating and painful temporary occasional back problem recurrences, within later life at least...
2) I was playing a Thursday night squash match at Sale Rugby Club one evening (a home match), whereby i was playing number one for the second 4th division team (rather at number five within the first 4th division team) ...
...Anyway, my opponent had the ability to hit absolutely devastating forehand shots, resulting in me going 2 - 0 down rather quickly - so, not wishing to be 'blown off court' within such short order, i decided to do my best to deprive him of the opportunity to hit any further forehand shots, as much as i was able, ever again - so i simply kept the ball going as tightly as i could down the left-hand-wall from then onwards...
...The result being i completely nullified his most obvious strong-point within such a regard - this resulted in me, rather skilfully actually, bringing the match back to 2 - 2, which both relieved and pleased me - however, such was my relief at saving face (pride eh lolz) that i completely relaxed such efforts within the 5th and final game within a mindset of a certain self-satisfaction, and somewhat more promptly lost such a match 3 - 2 without being particularly bothered at all, as i simply thought that i had least proved that i wasn't a complete, comparative 'duck-egg' within such a respect, and tis only in later life that i realised that i should really have continued, in a determined way, within such a 5th game, as it would have been something that i would have perhaps been able to look back upon with a sense of accomplishment within my later years, if i had managed to have taken such an impressive (for me anyway) 'scalp', and thus 'proved myself', within my own eyes at least :-) :-) :-) ...
3) And there was the away Thursday team night match, whilst playing at Sale Rugby Club, whereby i was playing on a rather welcoming glass-back court with ascending 'seating' to the rear of it whereby both sets of team members were watching...
...My opponent was a less robust similarly aged slimly-built guy who suffered the misfortune of bumping/barging into me with too much force, causing such a match to be delayed whilst he received some on-court assistance from one of his fellow team-playing members - anyway, such a delay turned out to be a rather protracted one - during which i felt the non-verbal thoughts of the nature of 'why isn't he (meaning me) suffering any physical consequential effects also???'...
...This, rather uncharacteristically, resulted in me suddenly doing a bit of a rather delayed 'ouch-ooh' routine on court in response, as such received 'vibes' simply caused me to feel somewhat 'guilt-tripped' - anyway, whilst sitting next to our genealogically inclined (twas his hobby) team captain, watching the next match, i explained to him that i had simply uncharacteristically feigned such a delayed response (twas a one-off) - to which he told me that it was all rather obvious lolz, and thus causing me to feel rather embarrassed about responding in such an uncharacteristic way lolz...
4) Whilst a member at Stockport Squash Club my brother-in-law wished to play me - anyway, sometime during such a series of games i noticed that such a brother-in-law was simply taking such social games waaay waaay too seriously, as he chased down every single ball in his, completely unrealistic, attempts to beat me - and within such attempts simply went increasingly red in the face as such games progressed...
...This, in turn, resulted in my sister pleading with me to, well, change tactics basically, (during an inbetween games time whereby he presumably went to douse water over himself and take a bit of a break i guess), telling me that he would simply never give up (i think she was becoming increasingly concerned regarding his ongoing health basically) - unlike me he simply didn't perspire - something that i deemed to be a rather unhealthy personal biological predisposition basically (perspiration helps to remove built-up toxins after all, does it not???) ...
...Anyway, i wasn't going to simply let him win, as i was simply continually returning the ball for him to attempt to return in order that he would feel that he was not simply being outclassed/embarrassed by a, let's face it, regular private club social squash player - it was simply unbridled pride after all, and i simply wasn't prepared to accommodate it further - so anyway, within concern, i guess i must have simply played much shorter rallies before feeling obliged to play winning shots against him...
5) And finally, possibly talking about pride lolz, i was playing a somewhat overly-competitive social squash match with a fellow squash-playing member at Sale Rugby Club once, whereby i found myself to be repeatedly positioning myself too close to such an opponent (whether by perceived necessity or otherwise i guess) - resulting in me getting hit in the eye with the wooden frame of his squash racquet and falling to the floor and clutching/covering my eye as a bodily shock response i guess - with said opponent then inspecting such an eye and being somewhat concerned about seeing a slight amount of blood, as well as my split (possibly sight-saving) water-based contact lens hanging within close proximity to said eye (something that i think he may have thought was an integral part of said eye, initially) ...
...Anyway, to cut a longer story short, such an impact seemingly must have caused my iris to remain fully extended, resulting in me having to turn both the brightness and contrast settings on my then television to the minimum - as well as necessitating me to wrap a black sock around the right lens of my spectacles, permanently for around a week actually, whilst allowing such an injury time to hopefully heal, before possibly having to seek professional medical attention - for if any light passed through to such an extended iris it instantly became very painful indeed...
...Anyway, the good news was that such iris muscles did thankfully eventually come back into operation once again - and, thankfully, such a decision to allow my body time to possibly heal itself, proved itself to have been the correct course of action, upon this particular occasion, at least - a philosophy that i have always generally preferred to adhere to, whenever i have, deemed it to have been the correct course of action to follow actually...
...Life experiences - as well as possible single-mindedness eh - :-) :-) :-) ...