Next year, when Greeley says "Quiet, please, " will he feel a twinge of regret? "No. This year it hit me that it was all over. It was a good time to step down. I had done my best. I want to go to conventions to have fun and juggle. Bob Nelson (the Butterfly Man) taught me to juggle clubs back at the Delaware convention. I haven't passed with him since. Now maybe I'll have the chance."

In those days, Moss explained, "There was no show at all, and no one interested in a show. Dollarhide hoped to get juggling into the Olympics eventually. He wanted something easy to judge. "

However, "Garbo changed it dramatically when he split the judging into two categories, giving 50 points for technical and 50 for performance. A lot of people who had competed before didn't then because they weren't showmen. At the same time, a lot of technical jugglers decided they had to learn to perform since it was the way to earn money. I've always personally wanted to be entertained by a juggler.

"The average person on the street doesn't understand or care that seven balls are so much more difficult than five. They remember the guy juggling the chain saw or eating the apple.

"I'm not sure I know the answer for the championships, though. Should the technical or the showmanship be weighed more? It's a real tough question... maybe it should be two separate competitions. It may then take a full week, but maybe that wouldn't be so bad. The only way I think you can keep the entire membership happy is by splitting it up that way."

As IJA members who have been at competitions for the past seven years know, the format has changed considerably, with each of the three directors advancing the standards and leaving an imprint. Moss almost laments that members have come to expect more from the event and the director each year as the event has become more professionalized. "Some people don't attend because it's so formal and others are upset that it isn't more formal. The membership seems evenly divided."

Jugglers continually approached Moss with both valid and impossible ideas for change. He was usually to busy to consider the suggestion, and certainly couldn't implement it on the spot anyway. He came to resent the fact that few people who complained at convention time cared enough to follow up their comment with a thoughtfully constructed letter during the remaining 11 3/4 months of the year.

Why Resign

"It got to be where I wasn't having much fun at conventions," he explained. "I used to be able to juggle and still have time to run the competitions. Of late, I've only been able to run the competitions. This year, I didn't even get into the juggling hall a couple of days! And when I did get into the hall, people were bending my ear all the time. It's great that people get involved, but it was consuming all my time. Even after the competitions were over, people wanted to discuss what happened. Making the competitions more professional took up a lot of time.

"I wish people would be more appreciative of officers and the volunteers who help them at conventions. I've had problems lately getting people to help out, and I think it's in part due to a lack of appreciation by other members. But a lot of people take a week's vacation from their job and pay their way to the convention to work for a week so others can juggle. Most members don't stop to look at it that way.

"I didn't know when I went to the Las Vegas convention that I was going to resign. But what really killed me was when someone came up and asked, 'Do you juggle or do you just come to run the competitions,' like I was getting paid for a professional service."

In the Meantime

Despite that suspicion from some conventioneers, Greg is an active juggler. He performs under the name G. W. Moss, mostly at fairs and other occasions near his home of Rochester, NY.

His single act consists of three, four and five balls and a ring routine. He also performs with his son and a magician under the billing of Sutton, Sutton and Moss.

From 1975-77 before the current trio formed, he worked with the Delion Shows, doing magic, juggling and comedy at Northeastern colleges. "We broke up because I didn't want to pursue a path that was targeted towards performing in Las Vegas," he said. "I'm happy here, teaching juggling at RIT (Rennselear Institute of Technology)."

When he first graduated from Oneanta, he couldn't find a teaching job, so he performed and did odd jobs to pay the rent. He approached local colleges about teaching juggling and was able to interest RIT in the idea. In 1976 he got his first job as a juggling instructor, beginning with 60 students in three classes.

The classes grew and became more popular, so that by 1980 he was teaching 11 classes. "I was making my money exclusively by teaching juggling and performing. It was great! Then in 1980 I got a job as recreation manager for RIT. I never expected to support myself by juggling, but it's happening. I've got a job doing it, a facility to practice in and time to go to conventions. I'm happy about where juggling has taken me."