NYC Big Blue Championship

NYC Big Blue Singles Champ Rookie Wright covering the court The Streetplay Scoop • Big Blue Championship • Singles • Doubles • Trophies • Sidelines • Go to Handball section Discussion • Handball discussion • Streetplay discussion home Singles finalists Rookie Wright and Humberto Baez NYC Parks Great Summer Events Special - Don't Miss Fast Eddie's Coverage of the Big Blue Championship

Click for bigger picture Women's Single's Finalists Tee Tee Simmons and Karen McConney Rookie and Tee Tee Take NYC Big Blue Singles Championship There are a number of great Big Blue handball players on the scene and each can take a tournament on any given day. However, even among these fierce competitors, there is an acknowledgement that when Rookie Wright is on his game, he is as good as anyone, maybe better. Rookie was in a zone this weekend, and he was unstoppable. Where does it start? Probably with the attitude. Rookie was relaxed and joking (as usual), but a bit less boastful than he can be. He was in high spirits having already won a major weekend prize, the Chino Sports Doubles tournament in Philadelphia on Saturday (Rookie and tournament partner Kenny Manbahal were the event's champs). However, at first it looked like Rookie would be watching most of the day's action from the sidelines. Ray Lopez, still up from his doubles victory in the SAHA men's opens on Saturday took a commanding 11-1 lead in his match against Rookie, the first match of the day. Ray has beaten Rookie before and it looked like he would again, but Rookie made the right adjustments and came back on to win 20 straight points to take the victory. Rookie went on to handily defeat Emmitt Fitzpatrick a long-time foe and then took down Humerto Baez to claim sole possession of NYC's Parks Departments first Big Blue Championship Tournament. Women's Singles Tee Tee Simmons overpowered all opponents in route to her victory in the Women's Singles Open. In the finals Tee Tee took a commanding lead over Karen McConney and stayed tough, going on to win 21-10. Tee Tee's demonstrated her power, smashing several killers and constantly putting the pressure on her opponents. Given the heat, Tee Tee's stamina was just as important in allowing her to maintain her game throughout the competition. In addition to the game, there were interesting dynamics at work. Karen had just defeated Gladys Miranda 21-1 (that's right 1) and had played a nearly flawless game, yet against Tee Tee she was not sharp. Dwight Worley one of the event coordinators and a respected authority on the game's top women players stated "Karen had been too focused on the game with Gladys. After the lopsided victory, she didn't get herself properly psyched for Tee Tee. Before she knew it, the game got away from her." As the President of SAHA, the sponsoring organization for the Queen of the Courts championship on July 15, Worley reminded us that Gladys had won the competition for the past two years and Karen won back in '97. "Karen underestimated Tee Tee. This match should heighten the rivalry among the top women players." Men's B Singles John Neckov defeated James Manning 21-17 in a tough fought match. Women's B Singles Tina Johnson defeated La Donna Cunningham 21-12 Handball Main Page Inner City Handball Association (ICHA) Our Own Handball Association (OOHA) St. Albans Handball Association (SAHA)

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