Decatur will be remembered as one of the best doubles players ever. His record of eight four-wall titles, six three-wall crowns and four one-wall championships speak to that. “I would rate him as the best player in the world when the other team was hitting the ball,” said long-time partner and all-time great Jim Jacobs.
Throughout his career, Marty never took the credit, “I simply played a role with a better player,” Decatur remarked at his induction. Decatur proved to be an exceptional singles player as he won five three-wall singles crowns.
It was an accurate ceiling shot that won Haber his national championships. He could drop the ball into the left rear corner from any place on the court, with any stroke: overhand, underhand, or sidearm. Paul was the first player to use the ceiling as an offensive weapon; his patience and determination with it were legendary.
For almost five years, Haber played up to 100 exhibitions a year, not counting tournaments. He was playing so much in practice – sometimes six hours a day – that he often complained that a weekend tournament got his arm out of shape. So much play made Haber a court philosopher; there was little he didn’t know about handball.
In his early career, Paul was a professional golfer. After his handball success, Paul returned to golf as a club pro in the Chicago area.
Paul’s father Sam is also a member of the Handball Hall of Fame.
In more than two decades of scrutinizing handball’s very best tournament performers there has been no player that personifies the true meaning of the word “pro” than Johnny Sloan.
Sloan, just turned a Masters 40, was ushered into the citizens Savings Foundation Handball Hall of Fame at Las Vegas during the national big week … an award justly earned if one were only to look at the record books.
Unfortunately, the native Chicagoan came along a decade too soon for the pro handball tour; had professional handball presented itself during Sloan’s palmy days, I’m sure he would have retained the zest of conquest and maintained both the physical and mental edge needed for championship play.
Total achievement in handball came to Johnny at an early age … he was 18 when he won the national Y doubles with Jack Gordon, and 22 when he pulled the game’s “Hat Trick” in winning both singles and doubles (with Phil Collins) in 1958 … over the short but brilliant career he won three USHA “singles/doubles grand slams”; overall a 7-time doubles winner; two-time three-wall doubles titlist. A couple of years in the Army and the abating of the “hungry” feeling eased Sloan from the top of the hill. Then he moved to Honolulu, content to enjoy the tropical breezes and show the 50th Staters flashes of his former brilliance.
Sloan has made sporadic showings in our nationals in recent years, was respectable in the open doubles last year at Vegas with Jack Hulick. Now a Master, I doubt whether Johnny will seriously train for either singles or doubles in that category … he will continue to participate for the fun of it and let it go at that.
Well, can we remember the lightning-fast reflexes and court coverage of Johnny in his early 20s? Jack Gordon taught him the importance of the fly shot in his apprenticeship at the Irving Park YMCA in Chicago; Gus Lewis’ pinpointed right corner fly kill was copied to the T … when Sloan had in addition was amazing control of his offhand fist shots, keeping the foe(s) away from the offensive in either singles or doubles. His partnership with Phil Collins demonstrated real teamwork, and they must go down as one of the game’s all-time great doubles teams.
There was only one player in the Sloan glitter era that had the edge and that was an oft-injured Jim Jacobs. Jim with all the tools that included power didn’t play Sloan in a USHA national singles final … had to default in ’58 because of a back injury suffered in the doubles final the day before.
In handball circles when anyone talks about the four or five best-of-all-time, the Sloan name is 100% included. Bob Kendler tabbed him the “Little Court General” and that’s just what he was.
Elected to the Hall of Fame with Jacobs was another “shoo-in,” Oscar Obert. Oscar won more open USHA national championships than any other player in the history of the game, accumulating 20 crowns. – Four wall: singles, 1962 and 1963; three-wall: singles, 1962; doubles, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965, and 1967; one-wall: singles, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1965; doubles, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, and 1963. All his one-wall and three-wall doubles titles were achieved with his brother, Ruby. Oscar developed into a champion four-waller comparatively late in his career mainly because he had concentrated on one-wall. He brought a real crowd appeal to handball as a tremendous competitor, exciting all-out shooter, with championship “killer instinct” demeanor on the court.
Jim Jacobs’ admission into the hall of Fame was just a matter of when he would become eligible. The original requirement has set up eligibility for players who no longer competed in open events but was recently amended to permit nomination when a player reached the age of 40. Jacobs is considered the “complete player” … power, stamina, two-handed skills, speed, anticipation, and control. He developed a control volley game, using the percentage offensive shots, wearing down his opponents, and letting them make mistakes. In 1955 he defeated Vic Hershkowitz in the finals at his home Los Angeles Athletic Club, to take the first of six USHA singles crowns. Jacobs also has six doubles crowns to his credit, once with Dick Weisman in 1960, and five times with Marty Decatur, along with three 3-wall singles titles. In 1970 in a tribute to his achievements, the U.S. Handball Association made a special award to Jacobs as “Greatest Handball Player of the Generation.”
George Brotemarkle became the 20th member of the Hall and has the distinction of being the only inductee admitted as both a player and contributor. An outstanding basketball player at UCLA and a consistent singles and doubles champion in Southern California. George participated in every national tournament since 1939 through 1972 with the exception of the World War II years, when he served as an officer in the Army. In 20 years of Masters doubles competition, he has four championships to his credit and never finished lower than third. In 1973 he won the first USHA national invitational Super Masters singles for men over 60! As our national treasurer, George is one of two original founders of the USHA still active in the organization, President Bob Kendler being the other. He is directly responsible for establishing the handball Perpetuation Trust and negotiating the tax-free corporation status of the USHA.
Schneider’s tournament career spanned more than 30 years. He won the national singles in 1950, and three straight national doubles with Sam Haber (1954-56). In Masters play, Ken captured 15 titles, a feat earning him Grand Master distinction.
Originally a product of the Castle Hill Beach Club, Schneider later joined the 92nd Street YMCA. He displayed amazing speed and court coverage, a deadly back wall shot, a keen sense of anticipation and the art of rekilling.
Schneider moved to Chicago to become a part of Bob Kendler’s Community Builders’ stable of champions. As an attorney, Ken also served as the USHA’s National Commissioner.
Bob Brady learned handball in Montana, and gained national attention playing out of San Francisco’s Olympic Club. “Bullet Bob” won the 1953 national singles title against Walter Plekan and scored a thrilling come-from-behind AAU title win over Jim Jacobs in 1957.
Brady’s technique was not perfect so far as the stroke was concerned, but his headwork and control of the ball were marvelous. He used the Irish whip with his right hand, and stiff-armed punch shots with his left. Brady, a policeman, was known for his deadly back-wall kill shot ferocious desire to win.
Dave Dohman was inducted into the USHA Hall of Fame on September 6, 2009 for his outstanding handball career. He has won nine national three-wall open doubles titles and more than 30 national age-group titles in singles and doubles.
Dohman’s remarkable skills at the outdoor game sometimes overshadow his extraordinary four-wall success. He was a top-eight pro in four-wall during his early years.
He was a always a student of three-wall, eventually becoming a champion, mentor and guru for many three-wall contestants.
Dohman’s career as a winner and as an ambassador for the sport is truly brilliant. Handball players recognize him as an all-time great three-waller, to be compared with the best in the game.
*Albert Apuzzi was inducted into the Handball Hall of Fame in 2002. Not a fan of fanfare and still trying to compete at the Open level, Apuzzi asked to hold off on any formal induction. Though Albert’s still trying to compete, the time has come for him to receive his honor and the Annual ICHA Dinner late in 2011.
“In addition to displaying complete sportsmanship on the court at all times, he is a national handball champion many times over. He is alone in the record book as the player who has the greatest number of USHA one-wall national doubles titles with nine.” Eric Klarman penned these words in 1993 to Gino DePasquale, Handball Chairman of the renowned New York Athletic Club. They clearly and fittingly described Albert Apuzzi, who was a topflight one-waller for nearly two decades.
Yet his accomplishments and persona have somehow remained mostly anonymous. There are obvious factors which have contributed to Apuzzi’s lack of notoriety, least of which is the almost mute intensity with which he competes. Unlike his former doubles partner, Joe Durso, whose flamboyant style and disruptive temperament tab him both fabulous and eccentric, Albert’s business-like approach and equanimity are always in evidence. He and Durso are perfect foils to one another. Durso’s explosions buried Albert’s taciturnity deeper than it actually is.
Moreover, it had been Durso, not Apuzzi, who was approached by various publications for opinions, quotes, and lifestyle interviews. Inconspicuously, Apuzzi, during his years of competition, established a remarkable set of data, including the most consecutive USHA National Doubles Titles (7). Moreover, it was surgery to Albert’s axillary artery, during which a blood clot was removed from his right arm that ended his doubles streak in 1990, not defeat on the court of play.
The condition first surfaced in 1986, when in his championship match against Golden, Albert “only wanted to end the rallies” because of the pain he was feeling. Although Albert won the singles and doubles crowns that year, downing Durso in the semis and Golden in the final, his arm was “never the same again.” In April 1990, the pain grew severe enough for Albert to consult a physician. The clot had been caused, he was told, by “continuous, strenuous, repetitive movement,” probably owing to “playing too much.” According to Albert, he was playing up to 40 hours a week. Arterioplasty was performed in addition to surgery, and Apuzzi was instructed not to play handball ever again. Thus, his doubles streak ended at seven when he bowed out of the 1990 One-Wall Nationals.
But in 1991, he rebounded, playing lightly without pain. Despite the “career ending” surgery, Albert and Ed Golden remained the team to beat in doubles and his singles game was still good enough to win any tournament he entered.
Albert’s talent was always so obvious. Albert recalls: “I wasn’t even good enough to make the starting team at Canarsie High School in Brooklyn. I didn’t even play handball in junior high despite the fact that they had a team. I forgot to go to the tryouts. But I did get to play in high school. I used to substitute for either one of the two guys who had jobs and couldn’t make games. I was terrible. I had no left. I played with my right backhand. I didn’t even want to wear gloves. Canarsie’s best player, Neal Bocian, who became a USHA Doubles Champion several years after graduation, once returned to Canarsie and watched me play. He advised me to take up golf. That was in 1972.”
It’s a good thing that Albert didn’t heed the advice. Working his way up the competition levels, Albert became “addicted to winning.” In 1979, Albert savored one of the most succulent victories of his career when he knocked out aforementioned Bocian in three, tough games, not 18 holes!
Apuzzi has several other wonderful memories of his illustrious days of handball: “I knew I had gotten good when Durso and I beat Reyer and Ulbrich in the final of the USHA Nationals at Castle Hill in 1983. In 1980, I won a very difficult round robin in Coney Island. I beat just about everyone who was good at that time, including a fairly easy win over Durso in the final. Certainly beating the Oberts’ doubles record and then breaking my own record were great. And I guess I’d have to say beating Durso in the semis and Golden in the final of ‘86 are among my all-time favorite moments.”
While Albert was at the top of the one-wall world, he also became more than proficient at three- and four-wall, winning numerous doubles. Albert’s joined the Hall as a player, but he’s been a promoter of the sport as well. Apuzzi has helped run and organize numerous events, served on the one-wall committee, and been involved in improving the rules and refereeing at tournaments.
In 1990, local one-waller, Ben Brettner, wrote it simply, yet eloquently: “Albert Apuzzi is one of the sport’s nicest people, and also one of its best performers. The phrase, ‘nice guys finish last,’ doesn’t apply to him.”
