The Rowayton Screen

ROWAYTON, Conn., Sept. 18 —Chris Gorman, the captain of Rowayton F, told teammates Thursday night that he is resigning the post, saying the responsible course was to lighten his commitments by taking on two Thursday-night PaddlePlayer teams, and that he intends to step aside until the club achieves what he called a basic separation of mitt and state from Andrew Simone, installed this month as the club's first Sunday Paddle Czar.

Mr. Gorman, whose form has slipped a little this preseason, said in a letter to the paddle committee that the two new PaddlePlayer assignments would occupy both of his Thursday evenings through the winter, a workload he described as lighter than a single Sunday captaincy. 'The responsible thing is to reduce my commitments,' he said, 'and the way you reduce commitments is by committing to two teams.' He did not elaborate on the arithmetic, and added that his PTI was, in his words, the only committee he still trusted.

The Sunday Paddle Czar title was created by the paddle committee earlier this month and given to Mr. Simone, who already captains Rowayton E and has spent much of the past year fending off suggestions that he resign one post or another. Mr. Gorman said he had grown uneasy with any Sunday matter Mr. Simone's oven mitt might eventually touch, and that his own departure was meant to establish some basic separation of mitt and state until the club's governance catches up with its equipment.

It would not be the mitt's first administrative entanglement. Mr. Simone has previously worn it while excavating his own yard and, by at least one account, when the Court 3 net gave way beneath him earlier this week, an incident he says he is taking to court. The committee's charter for the new Czar position makes no mention of the mitt, an omission a member reached by telephone described as an oversight rather than a policy.

Mr. Gorman also moved to correct what he called a mischaracterization of his exit, denying rumors that he could no longer handle a full day of sun-exposed Sunday paddle. 'That's categorically false,' he said. 'It's Simone casting a shadow over the entire operation.' He declined to specify whether the shadow was administrative, meteorological, or both.

The captain said the freed Sundays would instead go toward Skip Dunphy, the RPTA president and captain of Rowayton B, with whom he intends to spend the day explaining why the New York Jets will finally contend this season. Mr. Dunphy, reached briefly, confirmed the standing engagement and the quarterback, Geno Smith, but declined to characterize the odds of success. 'I don't discuss projections outside of squash and paddle governance,' he said, and then discussed the Jets for eleven minutes.

A member of the paddle committee, granted anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss either resignation, said the group had not yet identified a replacement captain for Rowayton F and remained uncertain whether the Sunday Paddle Czar's authority extended to making the appointment. The committee's email thread on the matter, the member said, had reached forty-one replies without resolving the question.

Rowayton F has had three captains since the 2023 season, a rate of turnover the committee attributes to scheduling and Mr. Gorman attributes to nothing in particular. His resignation letter, dated Thursday and addressed to the committee, ran 406 words and arrived at 11:52 p.m.

Mr. Simone, asked whether he intends to wear the mitt while exercising his new Sunday authority, did not respond by deadline. The mitt itself, teammates said, was last seen Thursday on the handle of the hut's propane heater, where it has hung, by informal club custom, since October.