Today, I write of a tragedy: The echo of bouncing rubber balls in the Rec Center has disappeared. Boing, boing, boing will now only come from the lone rubber ball I bounce to myself. Its reverberations lament the loss of the Rec Center's racquetball courts.

Some may call this a cut-and-run by the Rec Center from its responsibility to the hand-on-grip, goggle-over-eye and head, wrist and ankle sweatband enthusiasts. It's a racquetball courts-for-cardio equipment switcheroo.

Did I cry when I heard about this? No. Did I drown myself in a marathon of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?" Of course, but that's pretty normal. What was odd was that while watching Benjamin Sisko throw Gul Dukat (a Marquette graduate, actually, check out the Facebook group) into the Bajoran Firecaves, I was filling in an ever-growing, black circle on my coffee table. The once varnished and beautifully-grained rectangle is now a black, inky mess. And only the Rec Center's flip-flopping on its commitment to RB (racquetball) 'thusiasts (enthusiasts) is to blame.

A friend offered me this: "There'll still be courts at the Rec Plex." Yeah, well, why aren't they putting more cardio stuff there? Oh wait. The same reason why I don't want to go down there to play racquetball: it's farther away.

If you think I'm being insensitive to your workout endeavors because you support the invasion and the ensuing occupation of the racquetball courts, I encourage you to try playing racquetball, or better yet, try squash. They're better workouts than running treads or climbing stairs. Now, if only the wooden floorboards on the Rec Plex courts were in better condition.

But at least they aren't taking over the squash court in the Rec Center, too. When I studied abroad in England, my good friend Jonathan worked me over in squash every time we played. I thought I was pretty good, but apparently they have entire clubs devoted just to squash. Entire clubs. It's that awesome.

Believe it or not, some scientists actually got together a couple years ago and determined that squash is the best game ever invented. It was a lot of numbers and calculations and since I'm an English major, I didn't quite understand the mechanics of it. But look it up. It happened.

Here's a thought: Rehab the weight/cardio rooms in the residence halls. Students don't like going outside in the winter and it would have saved the racquetball courts. Kill two birds with one very precise tactile nuclear strike. Effective? Yes. Glowing? You better believe it.

There's a banner in Todd Wehr Chemistry that encourages us to "Find God in All Things." Well, I find something pretty damn close to God in racquet sports that use rubber balls. And now the Rec Center is taking that away from not only me, but you as well.

All right, back to the English 001 class I'm auditing.

Adams is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

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