Unsparing Ribs

"Yeah," says tennis captain Dan Waldman, "he's a closet philosopher who's concerned with inner tennis and all that stuff, which I think is off the wall."

Despite the ribbing, Fish's players are devoted to him. Their words make him sound almost too good to be true.

Squash captain Bill Kaplan, who played three years under Barnaby: "He's very similar to Jack in his teaching techniques and he relates extremely well to all the members of the team."

Sophomore squash star John Havens: "I think he's filled Jack Barnaby's shoes very well. As far as just being a squash coach he's very concerned about everybody on the team. He sees squash as more than a game, as a way to help people grow up."

Sophomore tennis player Kevin Shaw, who "guru" Fish has working on a new two-handed forehand: "Dave is a great coach, even in comparison to Jack. I don't want this to sound mushy, but he is a great coach."

Not bad for a guy who has been around only for a couple of years as an assistant coach. When, you may ask, did Fish's meteoric rise begin?

The story goes back to his teenage days, when he was top ranked in the New England juniors. "I wasn't any great shakes," he says. "I just happened to be ranked number one." Hmmmm...

At the same time, he also was awarded the New England juniors' Good Sportsman Award--the mention of which today makes him throw back his head and roll his eyes.

"They found some guy who should have done well in the championships and gave him the sportsmanship award," says Fish, adding, "I guess I didn't yell when I lost, so they gave it to me." Hmmm again...

At Exeter, Fish starred in tennis and squash, and from there came to Cambridge. "I really didn't think much about my college choice," he says, "But I was lucky enough to get an A-rating (a "likely" in the old days) and I came here." Hmmm III....

At Harvard, Fish went from number four on the freshman team to number two on the varsity his sophomore year. "Jack was just such a good coach that it shows you what can be done in a year," Fish continued. HMMM... (The thing is, this guy is for real, and he actually means what he says.)

Ill Fate

The Fates finally caught up with Dave in his junior year, when he fell victim to a vicious case of tennis elbow. "It was so acute," says Dave, "That I couldn't even get out of a chair without pain."

But the injury got the psychology majorthinking about his new approaches to the game, and it got him to look at his sports from Barnaby's viewpoint on the bench.