Nort - The Mind Behind the Madness

Fellow Ballwashers,

I am Nort. Hear me roar!

I am an original founding member of the Ballwashers in 1986. Some of you already know me from the GE days (or daze). Many of you do not really know me, but after the last month of phone calls and emails you are starting to get a sense of what I'm about.

Back in 1985 there was a GE Golf League (fondly remembered as the "GE Big League") that was managed by a bunch of old fucks with an elitist attitude, and they were very restrictive on growth of their ranks. So we started our own "GE Little League" to whet our insatiable golf appetites. Our Little League started to gain some traction as that year went on, and we found ourselves getting rather organized as the year wrapped up.

In early 1986 we decided to implement some true structure with our golf league. We needed a name. We needed a place to play on a regular weekly basis. We needed a place to drink as a large group because too much of our drinking occurred in small groups! So we organized a meeting to make some decisions, and I'm proud to say that my twisted mind produced much of what we, as Ballwashers, now take for granted:

• I suggested the Ballwasher name that we've embraced.
  
• I suggested the creation of the original 1986 Ballwasher Jersey that was eventually created by PAW Productions. The ORIGINAL artwork, never truly intended to appear on a shirt (or anything else), depicted two attractive female hands gently cupping a large scrotum with strategically placed soapy bubbles . Some of the original Ballwashers may recall that artwork because I did circulate it when we were trying to come up with artwork for the new Jersey. The artwork on the original 1986 shirt was an original design by the creative people at PAW Productions.
• I came up with the Towelette concept one inspired day after golf at Packy's in New Hartford in 1987. A towelette dangles from most well-maintained ballwashers, and the PAW Productions image already had a towelette in it. Once we had the Towelette concept established it took about 3 microseconds to realize that Towelettes are often "moist", and that was all we needed to make Towelettes a part of the Ballwasher mystique.
  

I resigned from the Computer Techniques group of Aerospace Computer Services, and with my blushing bride Eileen, I moved to Westchester County in March, 1989. Then Eileen and I moved to Manassas, VA, on August 1, 1990, and we still live there today.

As these years passed I was not properly keeping in touch with my many Ballwasher brothers, but I began attending Ballwasher events again in 2004 (Final Outing) and 2005 (Final Outing).

Then a couple of months ago I heard from Bill Mammone that this was the 20th Anniversary of the Ballwashers! I was like "NO SHIT!? ....WE NEED NEW SHIRTS!!", and this began my lunatic campaign of thrusting myself upon ALL Ballwashers, past & present, to regroup everyone I could find and attempt to restore some of our original identity, to convey some of our history and to uphold our sacred mission (to play golf, drink and get laid).

2005 BW Final Outing - At the bar at Slickers
(L-R: Mike, Bill, Shmegma, Chuck, Bus, Brit, Shlotz, Nort)

And we ALL owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bill Mammone for single-handedly (the way he does most things) keeping the Ballwashers afloat through the 1990s and into the new millennium. There are many true Ballwashers, and too many wannabes (we refer to them as "DoucheBags"), but Bill has kept the Ballwasher name alive in word and deed, and he deserves your undying respect!

-Nort