We’re calling you out of retirement (or whatever that three-month hiatus from golf was). See, we’ve dug up a full roster of unexpected, unlikely and occasionally unsanctioned winter sports for you to turn semipro in. And as your agent, we get 10%.
Badminton—or as you call it, weird tennis—has always been a mystery to you. Well, time to shed a little light on the subject. Park Here, your favorite (and only) indoor park, will be hosting weekly matches. They’ll supply racquets and shuttlecocks, and at the end of January, there’ll be a tournament. You = Gonzaga.
Ice hockey. Huge in Canada. Also, in the Meatpacking District. Starting on the 14th, the Standard will host a 20-team pond hockey league on their outdoor rink. The games will be three-on-three, the après hot chocolates will be spiked with bourbon, and there’ll be no fighting. Well, there’ll be very little fighting.
There was a period (okay, it was a weekend during the summer of 1996) when it looked like roller soccer might take off. And though it never ended up becoming our country’s fifth major sport, the co-ed pickup games in Central Park are still going strong. Now if only ESPN6 would renew the television rights.
The world’s largest amateur squash tournament is being held in New York this month. The venues: various private Ivy League clubs across the city. The winner (if the Vegas bookmakers are correct, you) will qualify for the US Squash nationals. And more importantly, receive a humongous trophy.
Here’s what you need to know about ice sailing. The yachts—essentially flat-bottom sailboats on skis—can travel up to 60 miles an hour. Done. Oh, and at the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club, they hold gourmet potlucks and wine tastings for each session. It’s a fancy way of saying they tailgate.
