Puryear Park in St. Petersburg is home to America’s First and only Public jai-alai court and has no shortage of players looking to play on it. Even if it means a three-hour drive each way.
Yes sir, a three-hour drive (each way) from Daytona Beach is what former Bridgeport star player Adam Albrycht (pronounced “All-Brite”) commutes on a regular basis. And he is not the only one. Joining him on a regular basis also includes another former Bridgeport jai-alai player, Steve “Rastock” Rastocky; former Newport pro Ty Wilson; and amateur Eric Auman; all whom live in the Orlando area – about 2 hours away (sometimes much more with traffic). Former pro Gary “Cachin” Doyle makes a two hour plus drive from Spring Hill; top notch amateur Anthony “Ant” Sutton also makes near two-hour drive from Spring Hill also and are regulars at the cancha. Bill O’Connor, another long time amateur was also making a three-hour drive to play, while Alex “Amigo” Ruiz makes about an hour and a half drive from Davenport on a regular basis but does stay in town for a few days to make the most of his trip while looking out for his mother.
Recently in a 15-hour period, last Thursday night, the St. Pete cancha was host to our only female player – Morgan , a former top female collegiate soccer player who graduated a couple years ago and is now a teacher, and her father Greg “Echeva” Kathan, a co-founder with Paul Kubala of the original Puryear park jai-alai from the late 1980s. She can certainly hang in there with the big guys and loves her time out there on the court. The following morning, about 12 players were out there including the above mentioned “Long Distance Travelers”.
Talk about some dedicated players, often making a drive longer than they can play out there in the summer heat!
Pull out the tissues. It appears that Calder Jai-alai is history.
One of the players that has been on its roster in its short “2-3 history”, “Rastock”, informed everyone at the St. Pete Cancha that Calder Jai-alai appears to be over with.
Speculation had built that the former horse track would be forced to run a 40-performance season to maintain its casino license.
Calder had a 50-year run as a horse track before gaining approval to run jai-alai instead of the more expensive horse racing in 2018. The horse racing industry tried to halt the change, but a Florida appellate court sided with Calder Casino stating that ‘Contrary to the appellants’ arguments, nothing….requires a facility to continue to same form of pari-mutual wagering activity that originally qualified it for a slot machine license, nor does this statue tie an ‘eligible facility’ to the same type of racing or gaming as it had when the constitutional amendment was approved, the judges’ opinion stated.
On May 22, 2019, Calder Jai-alai opened in a newly built “fronton”, just feet from the main casino and facing the torn out grandstand that once held thousands of people. Over 600 people attended that opening performance. By the second day, about 50 were in attendance, and after that it was pretty much a ghost town. The court was 111 feet long with an awkward serving area. The roster included the hiring of the first female jai-alai player in the world – Becky Smith.
Last year, Magic City Casino successfully sued a gambling package worked out by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with the Seminole Tribe to offer exclusive mobile sports betting and other casino enhancements. The package included the decoupling of jai-alai. After 40 days, a judge halted the entire package and sports betting was immediately stopped while leaving the jai-alai industry in flux. The Tribe has appealed the decision, and a split decision is very possible from a 3-judge panel that has been reviewing the case for about a year now.
Somehow, an exemption was approved, thus allowing Calder Casino to continue operating its slot machines without having to run any live jai-alai games. The savings on this would likely be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It is unknown what will happen to the building, but whatever the plans are, it was fully designed to operate for something other than jai-alai.
As first reported by our buddy Perry on Tigers site, the great Goikoetxea, considered by many to be the best player in the world, has announced his retirement. The following information was supplied by Goiko’s good friend and Cancun Jai-alai co-owner, Arturo Salas:
The point shooter Zumaiarra will hang the basket in February with 42 years and 13 individual championships
P.D. Amundarain Zumaia | 20·06·23
Iñaki Osa Goikoetxea, ‘Goiko’, has announced on Tuesday afternoon that he will retire from the tip basket at the end of this season, next February. The Zumaiarra, born in 1980, has announced the news in an act held at the Palacio de Foronda of his town, Zumaia. There they stuffed him with family and friends in front of a nourished media presence.
The act has started with a video of the best moments of Goiko’s 27-year career. As the same ended, the star entered with a flood of applause from the audience. Lander Eizaguirre, director of communications at the company Eraman, of which the punctuator is part, wanted to “say about Goiko what he can’t say.” He has angered the athlete and the person: “In each generation there won’t be one like Goiko. He stood out for his playing and his humble demeanor. It will be a long time to see someone like this. He’s a one-of-a-kind scorer; he’s left some plays I’ve never seen anyone do. He is a striker of almost a hundred kilos and almost two meters who has sometimes played as a defender. His place is at the highest in the history of the pointed basket.”
Goiko, for his part, has admitted to dropping out “at the best time” from his career and from the end basket. He has recalled his beginnings on the Odiet front of Zumaia. At just 16-years-old he packed his suitcases and went on his Milan debut. Then he went through the United States; first to Newport Jai-Alai, between New York and Boston, and later he arrived in Florida. There it went down, and it was shown in Orlando. In his thirteen years in Miami Jai-Alai was taken King. At 35 years old, he returned to Zumaia: “I went out with only a suitcase and came back having started a family.”
All that time he spent in America accompanied him to summer seasons in Euskadi, winning it all: individual championships, world championships in pairs…
The Last Dances
The last dances to Goiko before hanging up the basket. The farewell will start at his “beloved” Zumaia in the Master’s Series which will be played June 24-30. He will pass the fronts of Markina-Xemein, Donibane Lohitzune, Pau, Gernika, Biarritz, Hondarribia, Madrid and Durango to bid farewell to the fronts definitively at the Gernika Winter Series (from October 30 to February 11), the most important and prestigious competition of today. “I’m going to give everything in these games, and I want to enjoy them to the maximum. I wanted to leave it to the basket and not for her to leave me
In the end, Eizagirre and Goiko have given the news that the Zumaiarra, once he finishes his stage as a professional athlete, will continue linked with this sport, as he will move to be the sporting director of the company Eraman.
I had come to the conclusion that Dania Jai-Alai had lost its golden luster for Boyd Gaming. The top Boyd executives had not visited the property in over a year. The Dania Beach city commissioners were growing impatient that the casino expansion plans were still on hold. But no information was coming from Las Vegas. The economy seemed to have bottomed out in 2010, yet Boyd seemed hesitant about investing the projected $200 million to build a brand-new Jai-Alai/ casino. The project was either on a lengthy hold or dead.
I noticed Dave Winslow, past HR administrator, now “operations manager,” showing people around the building. Rumors were about where Boyd was exploring using the existing building for the slots expansion. This would still require a massive renovation (that included a new roof due to the numerous leaks).
Also, there was some talk that Boyd Gaming might “cut their losses” and sell the place, thinking that the political climate in Florida was not what they had envisioned for casino gambling. The proposed slot tax rate was still the highest in the country and it was doubtful that the state politicians were going to lower it in the near future.
Meanwhile, I continued to watch Winslow and Boyd Executive Jack Bernsmeier drift farther and farther away from our major offerings, Jai-Alai, poker, and simulcasting of horse and dog racing. That was our bread and butter. Even with vastly reduced attendance, those three products were our major sources of revenue.
At our department head meetings, Dave would relay that Jack wanted to market Dania Jai-Alai as an event venue, even a club destination. He thought we could compete with South Beach or the ever-popular Lauderdale club scene. I would just stare at him, wondering what planet they were on.
Winslow suggested we convert our “Smoke Shop”, an area completely enclosed near the player’s quarters door, into a new, trendy nightclub. He said we could hire local entertainment and try to attract some younger customers to our facility. Of course, a limited amount of funds would be available to do this. He suggested some temporary paneling, a few tables, and chairs, that should do it. Again, I just stared, glassy eyed.
This enclosed space reeked of smoke and old cigarettes. It had the ambiance of a waiting room for emphysema patients. Maybe booking the Beatles there would bring in a crowd. But the Beatles no longer existed. This was doomed for failure and I was looking for an escape route. Luckily, Benny Bueno and Lou Berdellans were at the meeting.
Benny, past Miami star and Player Manager in waiting, was one of Dave’s favorites. He was a total optimist, still believing that Jai-Alai would make a comeback and would do anything he could to help. Believing this club could work had to be a stretch, even for Benny. But he quickly chimed in that he knew some musicians that we could hire for some small gigs.
Then, there was Lou. Lou Berdellans was, also, a past Jai-Alai pro, having played in Newport, Rhode Island. Lou was the consummate promoter. He had his own sports memorabilia business and ran a monthly card show. We began letting Lou use our facility monthly for his show.
I was impressed by Lou’s energy, hustle, and myriad of ideas. Some were off the wall, but he was always thinking. Lou was always “on the edge” but I really thought he could help in many areas, including Jai-Alai, poker, and other things. I convinced Winslow to give Lou the chance as our special event coordinator and PR Assistant. Dave agreed to give him a part-time trial period. So, Lou and Benny jumped at the chance to make this new “night club” a success, naming it Club Jai.
I kept my pessimism to myself. Maybe I was too old for this. Maybe I was frustrated that my passion for the sport of Jai-Alai, the business that I knew and loved, was no longer relevant to Bernsmeier and Winslow. Actually, it never was. Plus, I knew that even if Club Jai (I still laugh when I even say it) drew in 20 or 30 extra people for a drink, this was not going to erase our millions of dollars in losses annually.
I was directed to focus all our advertising on promoting Club Jai. I still remember calling Marc Hochman at 790 The Ticket telling him that he and Dan LeBatard needed to talk up the newest spot in the Ft. Lauderdale club scene, Club Jai. Hoch asked me where it was located. When I told him in the Smoke Shop, but being converted on the weekends to Club Jai, he couldn’t stop laughing. As we tried to write the live spot for him and Dan, we both were hysterical. But we did it, and spent thousands on the radio ads promoting the new, chic, Club Jai.
With some fake temporary panels on the walls and some recycled tables and chairs, Club Jai opened on a Saturday night. Mostly family and friends attended the “Grand Opening.” Perhaps, a few vagrants off Dania Beach Boulevard wandered in. A handful of new customers came to check it out. Club Jai lasted about six weekends before Winslow and Bernsmeier finally pulled the proverbial plug. Alas, Club Jai was not destined to be Studio 54.
Club Jai will go down in history as just another failed promotional gimmick for Dania Jai-Alai. But it signaled a certainty that it was time for me to say, “Bye Bye to Jai-Alai.”
Footnote: This article is dedicated to my close friend Richard Berenson, past owner of Miami Jai-Alai, who laughed harder than Hochman and LeBatard, when I told him about Club Jai.
Several players from the N. Miami Amateur court made a return visit to St. Pete for another weekend of great action at Puryear Park. A total of about 25 players over the two-day event, braving the hot sunshine for over 4 hours on Saturday and another 3 hours on Sunday.
The event, in which a similar one also took place about 11 months ago, was organized by Belota. He did not play but was the official ref/scorekeeper for the event.
A crowd of about 30 attended each day, with random games played by a mixture of the Tampa Bay groups and several players from N. Miami on Saturday.
On Sunday, the top players were hand selected to play and included former Tampa pro players Daniel, Corky, and Scott King.
Trying to announce a winner of Sunday’s action would be an injustice as a few players that had advanced in the tournament dropped out after “heat exhaustion” issues . But the final team of Scott King and Daniel were the eventual winners winning 7-5 and 7-5 in the best of 3.
The court was spiced up considerably with a new coat of a lighter “Ocala” green put on the front and back walls. The overhead netting was also tightened up considerably, reducing the number of balls hitting it.
Overhaul, the jai-alai action was exciting to watch and play in. It was great to see several faces in the crowd that hadn’t been around a while.
On Saturday evening, a Jai-alai party was held at the Museum that included a Taco Bar – made from scratch with beef, pork, and chicken. Special thanks to my wife for another great meal at the jai-alai parties. The party started off with the Belmont race complete with live betting and watched in the home theatre. One lucky winner dropped $40 on the 3 to win and collected a hefty $356 for his winnings.
The blackjack table was full the entire night and run by former pro player and Puryear park alumni Rocco. Rocco has also been a professional dealer at three Hard Rock Casino locations.
Overall, a great weekend. Aware of the hot summer months being an issue with players scratching as the day progressed, Belota and Company decided to hold the next event in February when average highs are in the low 70s and not 90 plus with the humidity making it much worse.
