Feb. 3 'Pain & Suffering' raises $10k for kosher meals
Feb. 1, 2008
Four years ago, when Ocean Township resident Richard Krupnick started the "Pain and Suffering" tournament, it was on a very small scale and he really wasn't sure if there would even be a second go-round.
"I thought that, at first, it'd just be something fun to do, to get a bunch of guys together on a weekend morning and just play some sports," Krupnick said.
From that one morning spawned something that not even Krupnick imagined. This coming Sunday, at the JCC of Greater Monmouth County, 100 Grant Ave., Deal Park, will be the fifth-annual tournament, comprised of 20 athletes ranging in age from 35 to 53. They will compete in an Ironman style event, meaning the participants will break into four teams and there will be no breaks during the three-sport round-robin event, which will last from 8 a.m. to noon.
Each year, basketball and volleyball have been the staples of the day, with the third sport being something different each year. Last year's mystery sport was dodgeball, which Krupnick described as "grueling." This year, Krupnick decided to push the envelope even further.
"While dodgeball was lots of fun, I thought that ultimate Frisbee would be really interesting," Krupnick explained. "With dodgeball, there are opportunities to rest for just a moment. But with ultimate Frisbee, the action never stops. It should be very interesting to see what happens."
Besides a good time being had by hopefully all 20 players, with a Most Valuable Player being voted upon at the end of the day, the real winner is the Kosher Meals on Wheels program, which will be receiving the proceeds from the day's event. There are 12 sponsors, with Somerset Development being the main corporate sponsor.
"In the past, the JCC was the main beneficiary of the Pain and Suffering Tournament," Krupnick said. "But when there were budget cuts occurring at Meals on Wheels, I felt like something should be done to help the elderly in our local communities. And we were able to raise the $10,000 in just four days. When you're really passionate about something, you're driven to get something done, and this was important to me."
With the fifth tournament set to take place, Krupnick already has his eye on what the future may hold for the event. But he knows that it'll only become more difficult to put on a quality event.
"The word is out and people know what's going on, and so of course the goal is to keep the momentum going and try and donate what we can," Krupnick said. "It really does depend on how much time I can devote to the event, year after year. As long as I'm able to have some time to put things together, then we can all look forward to bigger and better things in the future."