The Odd Stat of the Week

Issue: College basketball or the NBA - which direction are you going to go?

Short Answer: Neither.  Let's make this a truly "odd" stat.

Reasoning: I generally attempt to make my "Odd Stat of the Week" correspond with the sports that are being played right now.  Football is over and baseball is yet to begin (Major League baseball, that is - my little brother's Indiana University baseball team has about 10 games under their belts already.  Big leaguers are soft.).  As my faithful readers know, I hate the NBA, so I try not to ever write about it (mostly because I don't know, and don't care to know, much about it).  So, when my brother Casey (doesn't that guy ever work?) sent me a video link, I decided to run with it.

Squash is a sport I know nothing about.  I mean, it looks just like racquetball, but it's not called racquetball, right?  So, I decided to do a little research.  Problem is, when you type "squash" into google, you get mostly recipes.  That left me with Wikipedia, which I feel like using once is one too many times.  So, to eHow.com we go!  I went to eHow.com because they actually had an article on the differences between squash and racquetball, which is exactly what I wanted.  I'm not sure if eHow is correct or not, but I am going to ride it out (at least I tell you I'm not sure, rather than pawning off the information like I know it, right?).  Some of the differences:

1. The rackets - Racquetball rackets are shorter and wider in comparison to squash rackets. Racquetball rackets have a maximum allowable length of 22 inches and look like a small tennis racket, while squash rackets are up to 27 inches long and are similar in looks to a badminton racket.  Huge difference.  I think.
2. The ball - Squash balls are much smaller at 4 cm in diameter versus the 5.7 cm ball used in racquetball. The racquetball is made of rubber and carries momentum as it bounces around the walls, while the squash ball is denser and does not bounce as much.  Does that say "much smaller?"  Really?  4 cm vs. 5.7 cm is not "much" of anything.
3. The court - Allow me to paraphrase here: a racquetball court is bigger than a squash court.  In racquetball you can hit the ball anywhere you'd like, in squash there are areas you cannot hit the ball.  Basically, on the front wall in squash, there are lines designating where the ball must hit, and if it doesn't, the ball is not playable.  Basically, the court is the only REAL difference in the two sports.
4. The scoring - Squash is played to either 9 or 11.  Racquetball is played to 15.  Wow.  These sports are so crazy different.  Since I'm out of shape, it looks like I prefer squash.

The question now is, why the hell does anyone care?  Fair question.  The odd stat this week takes us into the bowels (no offense) of college athletics.  Yes, that's right, college squash.  I will give you a moment to stop laughing.  Done?  Turns out the Trinity College (it's in Hartford, Connecticut) squash team is pretty good.  They are good enough to have now won 244 matches in a row, including 13 straight national championships (they beat Yale last week for their 13th straight title).  Their last loss?  February 22, 1998.  This all coming from a college who plays in the NESCAC, which stands for New England Small College Association Conference.  Awesome.  The video posted below highlights the coach and the players of the longest streak in any sport, anywhere.  However, they may have a bloated view of themselves.  The video opens with one of the players stating "as everyone knows, Trinity is the best school in squash."  Uh, not so much.  Most people know nothing about squash.  Another player: "we get looked at like football players, in a sense, at other schools."  Well, when you go to a college that has less than 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students, and, is division III in all other sports, a squash team that brings home 13 straight national championships may get a little attention.  I do not want to discount this streak though.  It is as impressive, if not more impressive, than any streak I have ever seen.  But, it is squash.  Dang, I did it again.