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Biofile with Handball Champ John “Rookie” Wright
6 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Status: Former #1 handball champion.
Ht: 6-2 Wt: 215
DOB: March 19, 1973 In: New York City
Early Handball Memory: “Was playing in Thompson Square Park with kids at junior high school. I remember just hitting the ball around and having fun playing with the girls (age 14).”
Handball Heroes/Inspirations: “Mostly all the top players when I watched them play – they inspired me to want to be a top player – Angel Marquez, Buddy Gant, Joe Durso, legends in the game, Albert Apuzzi, Al Torres.”
Nicknames: “I have two – Rookie – which is ironic because I was Rookie of the Year. And my second is The Machine. Because I’m very consistent, I don’t miss and I’m great under pressure. It’s almost like playing against a machine, someone was saying when they were playing against me.”
Last Book Read: “Was Donald Trump, Rich Man Poor Man.”
Favorite Movies: “Terminator, sci-fi movies, anything to do with sci-fi, I love it.”
First Job: “On the books legitimately, was Off Track Betting. I worked for the city for ten years.”
First Car: “Was a Grand Am.”
Current Car: “I’m not currently driving.”
Favorite Meal: “Spaghetti and meatballs.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Would be chocolate.”
Pre-Match Feeling: “It’s like a nervousness, an edge on you. I’m thinking and focusing on beating my competition.”
Greatest Career Moment: “Becoming the #1 player in the game. That happened in Queens, Peak Pyramid when I won the singles against the top eight players. It was going back 20 years.”
Most Painful Moment: “Would be injury, a loss due to injury. Torn meniscus in the beginning of the year in Arizona. Arizona singles tournament $4,000 WPHA. But you get over those when you have so much years in the game, when you’ve done so much. So it’s all relative.”
Favorite Tournament: “Is King of the Courts, it’s a singles tournament where all the top players get together and finally have to play against each other. So there’s no running or hiding. It’s all in, all out. One man standing. That’s held in Liberty Park in Queens.”
Toughest Competitors Encountered: “I can’t narrow it down to the toughest competitor. Because any given day, any competitor can be the toughest competitor. You never know when one is gonna come out with the animality and just destroy you [laughs].”
Funniest Player Encountered: “Joe Durso. He’s pretty much a character. He’s the Howard Stern of the game.”
Funny Handball Memory: “Oh I have many funny memories. These guys were arguing about losing against me. And they were like, ‘It’s your fault, it’s my fault.’ And I calmed them down by saying, ‘It’s not your fault, it’s my fault. I caused this by punishing you guys [smiles].'”
Strangest Match: “I played a guy one hand with a chair in my hand. My weak hand, off hand, with a chair in my hand. And I beat him. It was a wagering match but it was more about the hype of the game. It was a great game. I barely pulled it out. It turned out that the chair was much heavier after the fifth point. It felt like a 50-pound dumbbell. We were trying to handicap to make the game as even as possible. And it actually was an even game which made it a great game. Because it could have went either way.”
Which Match(es) Were You At Your Best: “There were so many times where I played tight ship. I was winning King of the Courts where I was zipping players, meaning I was taking top players – supposedly on my level – and leaving them on zero.”
Favorite Sport Outside Handball: “Would be probably tennis.”
Favorite Tennis Players To Watch: “I like John McEnroe. I liked Venus Williams. All the top players in the game. They’re very intense, very aggressive, they’re complete professionals. I like the whole professionalism of tennis.”
Ever Been To U.S. Open: “I was there a couple of times. I was actually training in tennis. But my coach couldn’t continue to teach me. I was actually coming along pretty well. I’m pretty decent. If I would have started tennis as opposed to handball, you’d be interviewing me in the Tennis Open as the #1 player [smiles].”
Why Do You Love Playing Handball: “Well, handball is great exercise. It’s fun. And I’ve excelled at it. And it’s just you and the wall and hand-eye coordination. When you have complete control of your body and obstacles – when you can achieve that in any fashion, it’s a great feeling.”
Childhood Dream: “I actually didn’t have any aspirations to be a star or anything. I basically just wanted to be set. Like, well off. I’m kind of a roamer. Free-willed person.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “Basically I want to see high integrity and high morals. It just brings out the best in people. Positive brings greatness.”
Residence: “Harlem now. I grew up in the Lower East Side, Alphabet City.”
Current Occupation: “I’m a car salesman and handyman. I sell used cars at High Line Motors in Queens 134th and Liberty.”
Career Accomplishments: Winner of 2008 USHA National Big Ball Championship; Two-time USHA Big Blue National Champion; Two-time Sky Bounce Champion; Four-time King of the Court Champion; 2001 Semifinalist and Doubles Champion at USHA Nationals; Winner of 2001 ICHA Mayor’s Cup in singles.
The Machine was "zipping" opponents
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Passing through W 4th St yesterday from a Don King press conference to an art exhibit by South African artist Bermano at Pop Gallery on West Broadway, I was lucky to see two doubles handball matches of high quality competition. John Wright was one of the players and another observer Janice Thomas, a former pro basketball player for the WBL told me about Wright who I then interviewed after he won both matches with his partner against two tough players. These were incredible matches, you would not believe the shots they were hitting, at high speed, some balls they hit were just inches off the ground, in traffic, and between the opponents legs even sometimes. What a sport, I was spellbound. I’d rather watch this handball than the NFL or World Series, seriously. It was tennis without the racquets, in a sense. Huge forehands with full body force, then offhanded shots too which were not much less violently struck. And some interesting psychological warfare too, arguing about calls and interference, then settling the differences. Then Wright proved himself to be a champion as a person also, in the interview, handling my out of the blue questions easily with quick wit and sharp memory. I thought this was an incredible Biofile. And could easily imagine Wright as a tennis champion after watching him play and talking with him. Turns out Wright is actually a tennis fan and was briefly a tennis player. The tennis academies are looking to develop young talent – perhaps they should begin to recruit future tennis players at the handball courts in NYC where there is an abundance of athletic talent which would transfer to the tennis realm.
Harold · October 26, 2011 at 4:09 pm
I’ve seen Rookie play for years in Coney Island, by the West 5th and Surf courts..Been watching handball there for over 40 years,its an amazing game,very similar to tennis in that you can win with power or finesse.Used to play alot when I was younger, but once you start playing a lot of tennis, the wear on your arm, makes you choose which game you’d rather play. Rookie might be a top ten all timer in “big ball”.Those courts have had some amazing players, and charachters pass through there over the years, and Rookie is definitely one. Talks a lot of trash on court.Funny stuff.
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2011 at 12:27 am
It was unbelievable some of the shots they were hitting, down low, full stretch, between the legs of the opponent, striking perfect winners. Harold, next summer I’m actually going to go to Coney Island and watch that big tournament. It’s hard to imagine a player being much better than Rookie, if there is I gotta see him. Is there any books or documentary films about top players? There was a fantastic article about two years ago in NY Magazine, about a big match between the top two players. This is really a sport to watch, I swear I’d rather watch top handball than NFL or MLB right now. Tennis Channel should show some of this sport in the Am hours.
Harold · October 27, 2011 at 12:49 am
There was a big story, I think in the Daily News about Joe Durso(who does not shut up for a minute,probably very bright, but downright crude and arrogant)being the #1 player in a sport where you couldnt make a dollar.He was a great player, was #1 for years.
Handball wouldnt work on TV, hard to shoot the action…
No hanball films or docs that I know of..
Heres a boxing tie in for you Scoop,Jimmy Jacobs, Tysons first manager was a great legendary handball player.Never saw him play though, he was done a few years before I started watching the tournament in Coney.The next great player after Jacobs was this guy Steve Sandler, would play two guys at once only using his backhands.He was the best player from the mid 60’s to 70’s, knees and back are shot now. There were lots of money games where listening to them figure out who could use which hand, serving, how many points you started with before the game
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2011 at 2:02 am
Durso is like a Babe Ruth type name for handball, that is THE NAME that just about everybody has heard of. I’d really like to read a long feature in SI about this sport or a huge match or the career of Joe Durso. Would even watch a documentary, which could be very well done. I’m actually going to suggest it half-jokingly half serious to my friend Eric Drath who did the Rene Richards story for ESPN, and the Luis Collazo/Panama Lewis/Billy Collins doc for HBO. One thing I noticed yesterday Harold is that the best players are all very smart, witty, Rookie made a joke too about one of the fat guys on the side, who went over to McDs to get a double bacon cheeseburger that he had to buy to use the bathroom. Funny and harmless at the same time. Yes, I did know about Jim Jacobs, he was actually a national champion at one time, a great handball player. Even in his older years you could see he was a physical specimen and was still in great fitness. I was looking at one of the handball sites via google and some of those guys look like professional champion boxers, Buddy Gant for one. They say Gant was one of the best maybe the best singles player of all time. One thing for sure, I will never try this sport, afraid to blow out the shoulder or hurt my hand. Definitely going to watch a tournament at W 4th st or Coney Island next year. Speaking of betting, they bet on the games yesterday. Lots of money action on these games! Would have liked to see the game Rookie played with a chair in his hand for the whole game.
Lenny Henry · January 12, 2012 at 1:56 am
The best handball player I ever saw gets no recognition even though he was the United States Handball Association Singles Champion from 1964-1966 in Pinkball .That is Myron Kaufman who at age 70 still plays every day .