Lakewood Croquet Club

TREVOSE, PA - A grassroots campaign has appeared in recent days in an effort to help bring civility and restraint to the Lakewood Croquet Club’s annual Pennsylvania Open event, which in recent years has been plagued by increased cheating and conflict amongst competitors. The campaign, titled “Get Jimmy Back!!” is centered on bringing back former PA Open star “The People’s Champ” Jim Cherry, who announced his early retirement from the sport in large part due to the downward spiral in sportsmanship at the event.

Campaign organizers today launched an official website, www.getjimmyback.com, asking PA Open competitors and fans to pledge to “Play It Clean” at this year’s event and leave the unsportsmanlike behavior behind.

In addition, the campaign has also launched an online store, featuring a variety of official “Get Jimmy Back!!” merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, bumper stickers and more. The online store is accessible via a link at www.getjimmyback.com or directly at www.cafepress.com/getjimmyback.

Thus far, “The People’s Champ” has yet to comment on the campaign. Organizers have made a point of clarifying that Cherry himself is not directly involved in the “Get Jimmy Back!!” movement.

“Jimmy is not directly involved in the campaign,” said one organizer. “Our hope is that he sees the passion and support for bringing civility and sportsmanship back to the PA Open and that he’ll want to come back and play in the event, again. The Open hasn’t been the same without him; he brings a sense of passion and dedication to the ideals of extreme croquet that’s sorely been missing in recent years.”

“We hope to see him on the field August 6th.”