Author Archives: Tracy J Gates

Breaking the rules of the Maah Daah Hey: how Not to mountain bike the Badlands

There are rules to mountain biking the Maah Daah Hey trail in the Badlands of North Dakota. Here are four of the most important ones. • If it’s raining, do not ride the trail. • If it rained anytime in … Continue reading

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When a road beckons… A summer of biking and books

On a recent Saturday morning bike ride in the Catskills, I got to a fork in the road and paused. To the right was the paved country road I had planned to take. It wound up through some very picturesque … Continue reading

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A Place Where Everything is Possible

Just about a week ago, I listened to a young woman give one of the most inspiring speeches I’d heard in a long time. It wasn’t full of big words or even particularly big ideas, but it came from the … Continue reading

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Last Women Standing: A Sobhy & El Sherbini Shoot Out

This article was started in a subway train and will end in a bar. Because ToC has taken its toll on more than just the players. Maybe twenty-two year old players – er, writers can burn the candle til two … Continue reading

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Rooting for Sobhy & Wishing Age Didn’t Matter Much

“I’m not out of it yet.” That isn’t a quote from any of the excellent players I watched Wednesday evening at the Tournament of Champions semi-finals. Rather, it’s from a rather poignant article in this week’s New Yorker about the … Continue reading

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Another ToC Stunner: Gohar Downs Massaro

  They bumped hips, grabbed each other’s waists, and slid by thigh to thigh. In another space in New York City, these women’s movements would be just right for late-night in a club downtown. But this was two in the … Continue reading

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Downton Abbey Blues: How to miss the best squash at ToC

Sometimes you make a bad decision. This one is a doozy. The day had started iffy to begin with. A storm had moved in to NYC in the early hours of Sunday morning and rain was pounding the skylight above … Continue reading

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¡Vamos! Squash en ToC!

“Mamosam!” At least that’s what I thought I heard from my place on the bench outside of court #2 at the Yale Club in NYC. Then, “Vamosam!” Was I watching the right women’s Tournament of Champions qualifying match?? I turned … Continue reading

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Big City, Bright Squash Lights – ToC 2016 Begins

Ascending from the subway station at 42nd Street and the Avenue of the Americas still stirs the senses, even if you’ve lived in New York City for decades. Turn one way and it’s the glittery LEDs of Times Square. Turn … Continue reading

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Penguins Know How to Party: An Ode to Howe Cup in Boston

It was the year of the penguins. They looked left. They looked right. They looked cool in their black zoot suits, even as over two hundred women from fifty squash teams danced and sang and celebrated all around them. It … Continue reading

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