The greatest unknown squash publication in North America has just published its final hardcopy issue this week.
It was started in 1993. It had great artwork, very insightful articles, a regular and rich debate between two leading squash figures and an unparalleled humor section. Every insider read it. Subscriptions were free and people in seventeen countries got them. It’s nickname was TSO. Still guessing?
The Squash Officialhas been a fantastic, if completely below the radar screen publication for fifteen years. It has been the brainchild of Barry Faguy, the veteran Canadian squash referee. With a simple 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 page, stapled, sixteen page pamphlet format, it has always been well-designed, boasting call-outs, sidebars and other design accoutrement. It will still appear three times a year, but now just electronically.
The content of TSO has been extremely useful. There is nothing more unintelligible to the average player or spectator than the implementation and enforcement of the rules of the game. Parsing the esoteric—follow-through contact, self-inflicted injury, the 3/4 front wall convention, foot-faults (my personal pet peeve)—has been the key job of TSO. One fine feature has been the middle-page spread in which Rod Symington and Graham Waters are given the same situations and asked to adjudicate. Although their answers are often similar, their differences are telling and it is wonderful to see when they disagree. Read the rest of the Article
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