Puryear Park “alumni” Rocco was recently in the news for being the only former jai-alai player in history to become a jockey agent.
Rocco, who named himself after his grandfather’s name, learned to play jai-alai as a teenager off the walls of a movie theatre on Dale Mabry in Tampa and then playing a few years at Puryear Park. As mentioned in the story, a stranger one day gave him a cesta, and to this day Rocco has no idea who that person was.
It led to a jai-alai career that started over ten years ago on March 9, 2012, in Orlando under the name of “Roco”. Have no fear, former Tampa player “Corky” was on that roster under the name of “Korky”. Another former Puryear Park alumni “Sebio” was on that roster as well as a comeback by another former Tampa player, and current Puryear Court player – Scott King. Eric Pignataro later played on the Dania jai-alai roster as well as Ft. Pierce and Calder. In between jai-alai gigs, he became a dealer at the Hard Rock in Tampa before taking up an offer to head to Sacramento California for the opening of The Hard Rock Casino. However, Rocco and the State of California (politicians and the people in general) did not get along and he boogied out of there as soon as his lease expired and headed back to the Tampa Bay area.
The article takes over from there and you can view it by clicking this link.
The National Jai-alai Association completed its first week of action of its Tuesday Night Spring League March 22nd with 14 players participating and a crowd of another 15 or so attending. Seven games were played all to 10 points, single scoring. Here’s are the format and scoring works:
There are a total of 14 players (down from the original 16) with 7 in the front and 7 in the back. Trophies and prizes will be given to the top three finishers in both the front and the backcourters.
The frontcourt players will play with each of the backcourt players with roughly the same number of games over the 9 weeks of action, and vice versa.
Each player will play 5 games a night, so there will be two players that they did not play with in the previous week on next week’s performance. In the end, it will balance out for everyone.
Once 10 points is obtained the game ends. All players will receive the number of points they had at that time.
The winner will receive the 10 points and obtain a bonus of 3 points for the win.
The second-place team will receive 2 bonus points and the 3rd place team will receive 1 bonus point.
In case of ties, a one-point playoff will he held, and in that first performance we had several playoff points played.
At the end of the 9 weeks, all the points will be tallied, and winner announced.
Only the top 8 weeks of action are counted for each player, so if you had a bad week or missed a performance, you won’t have to worry about it.
Week one’s action started at 6:03pm and ended at 8:09pm. The event went off well for its first week, but a little tinkering will be required to speed it up a little more. A few players had problems with the darkness in the last two games as sunset was at 7:43pm, but the sunsets will be later as the weeks roll by and it shouldn’t be an issue.
Updated scores and next week’s entries are included here:
WEEK 1 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 03-22-2022 Start: 18:03:39 Ended: 18:23:49 Alex/Thomas 8 Show Ricky/Chip 10 Win Mike/Zoltar 5 Oconnr/Garby 9 Place Cachin/Laca 6
Game # 2 to 10 points 03-22-2022 Start: 18:27:34 Ended: 18:40:14 Linard/Chip 2 Alex/Zoltar 3 Place Ricky/Garby 10 Win Mike/Laca 3 Show Oconnr/Leo 1
Game # 3 to 10 points 03-22-2022 Start: 18:43:38 Ended: 18:59:14 Cody/Zoltar 4 Linard/Garby 5 Show Alex/Laca 5 Place Ricky/Leo 1 Mike/Anthny 10 Win
Game # 4 to 10 points 03-22-2022 Start: 19:02:08 Ended: 19:16:27 Cachin/Garby 5 Place Cody/Laca 2 Linard/Leo 2 Alex/Anthny 10 Win Ricky/Thomas 5 Show
Game # 5 to 10 points 03-22-2022 Start: 19:19:22 Ended: 19:36:47 Oconnr/Laca 6 Place Cachin/Leo 5 Cody/Anthny 10 Win Linard/Thomas 5 Alex/Chip 5 Show
Game # 6 to 10 points 03-22-2022 Start: 19:41:21 Ended: 19:53:24 Mike/Leo 5 Place Oconnr/Anthny 10 Win Cachin/Thomas 2 Cody/Chip 2 Linard/Zoltar 3 Show
Game # 7 to 10 points 03-22-2022 Start: 19:55:48 Ended: 20:09:06 Ricky/Anthny 5 Show Mike/Thomas 2 Oconnr/Chip 2 Cachin/Zoltar 6 Place Cody/Garby 10 Win
Week 2 Entries 03/29/22
WEEK 2 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 03-29-2022 Start: 18:00:36 Ended: 18:15:14 Alex/Garby 8 Place Cody/Leo 1 Mike/Chip 6 Show Oconnr/-SUB– 4 Ricky/Laca 10 Win
Game # 2 to 10 points 03-29-2022 Start: 18:17:34 Ended: 18:28:15 -SUB–/Leo 10 Win Alex/Chip 3 Cody/-SUB– 4 Place Mike/Laca 2 Oconnr/Thomas 3 Show
Game # 3 to 10 points 03-29-2022 Start: 18:32:12 Ended: 18:42:25 Linard/Chip 2 Show ——/—— 0 POSITION SCRATCHED Alex/Laca 1 Cody/Thomas 5 Place Mike/Anthny 10 Win
Game # 4 to 10 points 03-29-2022 Start: 18:45:33 Ended: 18:59:53 Ricky/-SUB– 8 Place Linard/Laca 3 -SUB–/Thomas 5 Show Alex/Anthny 10 Win Cody/Garby 2
Game # 5 to 10 points 03-29-2022 Start: 19:02:07 Ended: 19:13:10 Oconnr/Laca 4 Ricky/Thomas 5 Place Linard/Anthny 10 Win -SUB–/Garby 4 Show Alex/Leo 0
Game # 6 to 10 points 03-29-2022 Start: 19:16:02 Ended: 19:25:40 Mike/Thomas 3 Show Oconnr/Anthny 10 Win Ricky/Garby 3 Place Linard/Leo 0 -SUB–/Chip 2
Game # 7 to 10 points 03-29-2022 Start: 19:28:19 Ended: 19:36:53 Cody/Anthny 10 Win Mike/Garby 2 Show Oconnr/Leo 2 Ricky/Chip 3 Place Linard/-SUB– 1
ZOLTAR & CACHIN SCRATCHED AND GET 0 POINTS
Front Totals: Ricky 39+40=79 Alex 40+27=67 Cody 34+29=63 Oconnr 35+27=62 Mike 31+29=60 Linard 19+20=39 Cachin 28+0=28
Back Totals: Anthny 58+65=123 Garby 50+25=75 Thomas 24+28=52 Laca 27+23=50 Chip 25+20=45 Leo 16+16=32 Zoltar 26+0=26
Week 3 Entries 04/05/22
ZOLTAR, ALEX and LINARDOS ARE SCRATCHED THIS WEEK # 3 PERFORMANCE
WEEK 3 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 04-05-2022 Start: 18:03:01 Ended: 18:22:41 Cachin/Garby 9 Place Ricky/Leo 10 Win Oconnr/Chip 2 -SUB– /Thomas 4 Cody/Laca 5 Show
Game # 2 to 10 points 04-05-2022 Start: 18:25:12 Ended: 18:36:25 -SUB– /Leo 4 Place Cachin/Chip 3 Show Ricky/Thomas 10 Win Oconnr/Laca 3 ——/—— 0 Position Scratched
Game # 3 to 10 points 04-05-2022 Start: 18:41:01 Ended: 19:01:32 Mike/Chip 6 Show -SUB– /Thomas 7 Place Cachin/Laca 4 Ricky/ -SUB– 10 Win Oconnr/Anthny 5
Game # 4 to 10 points 04-05-2022 Start: 19:03:59 Ended: 19:17:30 Cody/Thomas 5 Place Mike/Laca 1 ——/—— 0 Position Scratched Cachin/Anthny 10 Win Ricky/Garby 4 Show
Game # 5 to 10 points 04-05-2022 Start: 19:19:56 Ended: 19:32:42 -SUB– /Laca 0 Cody/ -SUB– 2 Show Mike/Anthny 10 Win -SUB– /Garby 1 Cachin/Leo 6 Place
Game # 6 to 10 points 04-05-2022 Start: 19:34:00 Ended: 19:47:43 Oconnr/ -SUB– 2 -SUB– /Anthny 10 Win Cody/Garby 7 Place Mike/Leo 1 -SUB– /Chip 2 Show
Game # 7 to 10 points 04-05-2022 Start: 19:49:00 Ended: 19:56:43 Ricky/Anthny 10 Win Oconnr/Garby 0 -SUB– /Leo 1 Show Cody/Chip 3 Place Mike/Thomas 0
Front Totals: Ricky 39+40+57=136 Cody 34+29+30=93 Mike 31+29+22=82 Oconnr 35+27+12=74
Cachin 28+0+40=68 Alex 40+27+0=67 Linard 19+20+0=39
Back Totals: Anthny 58+65+57=180 Garby 50+25+26=101 Thomas 24+28+33=85 Chip 25+20+21=66
Laca 27+23+14=64 Leo 16+16+30=62 Zoltar 26+0+0=26
Week 4 Entries 04/12/22
ZOLTAR, CODY and RICKY (AFTER GAME 4) ARE SCRATCHED THIS WEEK # 4 PERFORMANCE
WEEK 4 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 04-12-2022 Start: 18:00:14 Ended: 18:16:45 Oconnr/Thomas 5 Mike/Garby 6 Show Alex/-SUB– 7 Place Linard/Laca 5 -SUB–/Leo 10 Win
Game # 2 to 10 points 04-12-2022 Start: 18:18:59 Ended: 18:33:20 Ricky/Garby 10 Win Oconnr/-SUB– 3 Mike/Laca 8 Place Alex/Leo 4 Show Linard/Chip 1
Game # 3 to 10 points 04-12-2022 Start: 18:35:32 Ended: 18:52:14 Cachin/-SUB– 9 Place Ricky/Laca 4 Show Oconnr/Leo 2 Mike/Chip 4 Alex/Anthny 10 Win
Game # 4 to 10 points 04-12-2022 Start: 18:55:44 Ended: 19:20:41 -SUB–/Laca 8 Place Cachin/Leo 7 Show Ricky/Chip 4 Ricky Scratched during game Oconnr/Anthny 10 Win Mike/Thomas 7
Game # 5 to 10 points 04-12-2022 Start: 19:25:37 Ended: 19:40:35 Mike/Anthny 10 Win Alex/Thomas 6 Show Linard/Garby 6 Place ——/—— 0 Position Scratched Cachin/Laca 3
Game # 6 to 10 points 04-12-2022 Start: 19:44:50 Ended: 19:59:16 Alex/Chip 1 Linard/Anthny 10 Win -SUB–/Thomas 5 Show Cachin/Garby 6 Place ——/—— 0 Position Scratched
Game # 7 to 10 points 04-12-2022 Start: 20:02:45 Ended: 20:11:59 Linard/Leo 0 -SUB–/Chip 1 Cachin/Anthny 10 Win -SUB–/Thomas 1 Show Oconnr/Garby 3 Place
Week 5 Entries 04/19/22
Several Scratches: Zoltar, Anthny, and Cody scratched for performance. Ricky scratched game #1 but played 4 others. Linard scratched game #7 but played 4 others.
WEEK 5 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 04-19-2022 Start: 18:05:00 Ended: 18:15:31 Cachin/Garby 10 Win Linard/Thomas 3 Show ——/—— 0 Position Scratched Oconnr/Leo 4 Place -SUB–/Laca 2
Game # 2 to 10 points 04-19-2022 Start: 18:20:15 Ended: 18:44:24 Alex/Thomas 9 Show Cachin/-SUB– 10 Win Linard/Leo 7 -SUB–/Laca 9 Place Oconnr/Chip 7
Game # 3 to 10 points 04-19-2022 Start: 18:46:33 Ended: 18:57:29 Mike/-SUB– 4 Place Alex/Leo 10 Win Cachin/Laca 2 Linard/Chip 3 Show ——/—— 0 Position Scratched
Game # 4 to 10 points 04-19-2022 Start: 19:00:19 Ended: 19:16:04 Ricky/Leo 10 Win Mike/Laca 3 Alex/Chip 4 Show Cachin/-SUB– 8 Place Linard/Garby 1
Game # 5 to 10 points 04-19-2022 Start: 19:18:18 Ended: 19:29:55 Oconnr/Laca 2 Ricky/Chip 5 Place Mike/-SUB– 10 Win Alex/Garby 2 Show Cachin/Thomas 0
Game # 6 to 10 points 04-19-2022 Start: 19:34:50 Ended: 19:52:33 -SUB–/Chip 9 Place Oconnr/-SUB– 0 Ricky/Garby 10 Win Mike/Thomas 0 Alex/-SUB– 8 Show
Game # 7 to 10 points 04-19-2022 Start: 19:53:54 Ended: 20:04:24 ——/—— 0 Position Scratched -SUB–/Garby 7 Place Oconnr/Thomas 2 Show Ricky/-SUB– 10 Win Mike/Leo 1
WEEK 5 STANDINGS
WEEK 6 ENTRIES 04/26/22
Linard and Zoltar scratched…
WEEK 6 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 04-26-2022 Start: 18:00:05 Ended: 18:13:24 Cachin/Chip 6 Show Mike/Garby 7 Place -SUB–/Thomas 10 Win Oconnr/Leo 2 Alex/Laca 2
Game # 2 to 10 points 04-26-2022 Start: 18:16:29 Ended: 18:32:28 Cody/Garby 5 Show Cachin/Thomas 8 Place Mike/Leo 2 -SUB–/Laca 4 Oconnr/-SUB– 10 Win
Game # 3 to 10 points 04-26-2022 Start: 18:34:58 Ended: 18:44:20 Ricky/Thomas 10 Win Cody/Leo 0 Cachin/Laca 1 Mike/-SUB– 3 Show -SUB–/Anthny 4 Place
Game # 4 to 10 points 04-26-2022 Start: 18:46:22 Ended: 19:02:30 Alex/Leo 3 Ricky/Laca 4 Place Cody/-SUB– 4 Show Cachin/Anthny 10 Win Mike/Chip 3
Game # 5 to 10 points 04-26-2022 Start: 19:05:08 Ended: 19:20:33 Oconnr/Laca 4 Show Alex/-SUB– 1 Ricky/Anthny 10 Win Cody/Chip 9 Place Cachin/Garby 3
Game # 6 to 10 points 04-26-2022 Start: 19:22:17 Ended: 19:33:35 ——/—— 0 Position Scratched Oconnr/Anthny 7 Place Alex/Chip 2 Ricky/Garby 10 Win Cody/Thomas 4 Show
Game # 7 to 10 points 04-26-2022 Start: 19:35:15 Ended: 19:48:55 Mike/Anthny 10 Win -SUB–/Chip 1 Oconnr/Garby 3 Show Alex/Thomas 0 Ricky/Leo 4 Place
WEEK 6 STANDINGS:
WEEK 7 ENTRIES 05/03/22
LINARD, ZOLTAR AND LACA SCRATCHED
WEEK 7 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 05-03-2022 Start: 18:02:11 Ended: 18:16:42 Mike/Thomas 5 Place Cachin/Chip 0 Alex/Garby 2 Oconnr/Leo 10 Win Cody/-SUB– 3 Show
Game # 2 to 10 points 05-03-2022 Start: 18:18:47 Ended: 18:36:12 -SUB–/Chip 9 Place Mike/Garby 10 Win Cachin/Leo 2 Alex/-SUB– 2 Oconnr/Anthny 7 Show
Game # 3 to 10 points 05-03-2022 Start: 18:37:34 Ended: 18:58:50 Ricky/Garby 10 Win -SUB–/Leo 4 Mike/-SUB– 5 Show Cachin/Anthny 7 Place Alex/-SUB– 4
Game # 4 to 10 points 05-03-2022 Start: 19:02:00 Ended: 19:21:20 Cody/Leo 2 Ricky/-SUB– 8 Show -SUB–/Anthny 10 Win Mike/-SUB– 3 Cachin/Thomas 8 Place
Game # 5 to 10 points 05-03-2022 Start: 19:22:27 Ended: 19:39:52 Oconnr/-SUB– 4 Show Cody/Anthny 10 Win Ricky/-SUB– 6 Place -SUB–/Thomas 3 Mike/Chip 3
Game # 6 to 10 points 05-03-2022 Start: 19:40:44 Ended: 19:55:52 Alex/Anthny 10 Win Oconnr/-SUB– 3 Cody/Thomas 1 Ricky/Chip 7 Place -SUB–/Garby 5 Show
Game # 7 to 10 points 05-03-2022 Start: 19:58:24 Ended: 20:12:11 Cachin/-SUB– 10 Win Alex/Thomas 5 Show Oconnr/Chip 2 Cody/Garby 0 Ricky/Leo 5 Place
WEEK 7 STANDINGS:
WEEK 8 ENTRIES 05/10/22
CODY, LINARD AND ZOLTAR SCRATCHED
WEEK 8 RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 05-10-2022 Start: 18:07:25 Ended: 18:25:38 Mike/Thomas 3 Cachin/Chip 10 Win Alex/Garby 7 Place Oconnr/Leo 4 -SUB–/Laca 6 Show
Game # 2 to 10 points 05-10-2022 Start: 18:27:49 Ended: 18:45:44 -SUB–/Chip 10 Win Mike/Garby 6 Show Cachin/Leo 3 Alex/Laca 5 Oconnr/Anthny 6 Place
Game # 3 to 10 points 05-10-2022 Start: 18:48:06 Ended: 19:01:31 Ricky/Garby 6 Place -SUB–/Leo 1 Mike/Laca 2 Show Cachin/Anthny 10 Win Alex/-SUB– 1
Game # 4 to 10 points 05-10-2022 Start: 19:03:38 Ended: 19:14:41 -SUB–/Leo 6 Place Ricky/Laca 10 Win -SUB–/Anthny 4 Show Mike/-SUB– 1 Cachin/Thomas 1
Game # 5 to 10 points 05-10-2022 Start: 19:16:19 Ended: 19:32:03 Oconnr/Laca 3 -SUB–/Anthny 10 Win Ricky/-SUB– 8 Place -SUB–/Thomas 4 Show Mike/Chip 1
Game # 6 to 10 points 05-10-2022 Start: 19:34:11 Ended: 19:47:13 Alex/Anthny 3 Show Oconnr/-SUB– 4 Place -SUB–/Thomas 1 Ricky/Chip 10 Win -SUB–/Garby 2
Game # 7 to 10 points 05-10-2022 Start: 19:51:02 Ended: 20:02:03 Cachin/-SUB– 0 Alex/Thomas 5 Place Oconnr/Chip 2 -SUB–/Garby 4 Show Ricky/Leo 10 Win
WEEK 8 STANDINGS:
FOR FINALS (PROBABLE 2ND FOR CACHIN)A BATTLE FOR 3RD (FRONT: ALEX, MIKE, OCONNER) (BACK: CHIP, LEO, THOMAS)
WEEK 9 (THE FINALE) ENTRIES 05/17/22:
WEEK 9 FINALS RESULTS:
Game # 1 to 10 points 05-17-2022 Start: 18:03:35 Ended: 18:18:33 Alex/Anthny 10 Win Oconnr/Thomas 1 -SUB–/Leo 3 Show Cachin/Laca 1 Mike/Chip 7 Place
Game # 2 to 10 points 05-17-2022 Start: 18:20:39 Ended: 18:42:29 -SUB–/Thomas 5 Alex/Leo 6 Oconnr/Laca 7 Show -SUB–/Chip 10 Win Cachin/Garby 8 Place
Game # 3 to 10 points 05-17-2022 Start: 18:46:10 Ended: 19:08:05 Ricky/Leo 10 Win -SUB–/Laca 9 Show Alex/Chip 6 Oconnr/Garby 9 Place
-SUB–/-SUB– Post 5 eliminated
Game # 4 to 10 points 05-17-2022 Start: 19:14:40 Ended: 19:30:15 Mike/Laca 5 Show Ricky/Chip 10 Win -SUB–/Garby 2 Alex/-SUB– 2 Oconnr/Anthny 7 Place
Game # 5 to 10 points 05-17-2022 Start: 19:34:00 Ended: 19:50:26 Cachin/Chip 5 Show Mike/Garby 7 Place Ricky/-SUB– 3 -SUB–/Anthny 10 Win Alex/Thomas 3
Game # 6 to 10 points 05-17-2022 Start: 19:54:50 Ended: 20:13:33 -SUB–/Garby 4 Place Cachin/-SUB– 2 Mike/Anthny 4 Show Ricky/Thomas 10 Win -SUB–/Leo 0
Game # 7 to 10 points 05-17-2022 Start: 20:19:18 Ended: 20:27:58 Oconnr/-SUB– 0 -SUB–/Anthny 10 Win Cachin/Thomas 1 Mike/Leo 1 Show Ricky/Laca 2 Place
WEEK 9 FINAL STANDINGS:
Front Court Final Trophies: 1st – Ricky 2nd – Cachin 3rd – Mike
Back Court Final Trophies: 1st – Anthny 2nd – Garby 3rd – Chip
(Left to Right) Ricky 1st Front, Anthny 1st Back, Cachin 2nd Front, Garby 2nd Back, Chip 3rd Back, Mike 3rd Front
(Left to Right) Anthny, Ricky, Cachin, Chip, Garby, Mike
Say Hi Li has added a new section of some great “unseen” photos of various frontons and program photos in the USA that you definitely should go check out.
Matt DiDomizio sunk all he had into building an amateur court in central Connecticut, and now 12 years later, everything is still going strong.
To mark the occasion, he held a big weekend tournament last weekend that was attended by dozens or players and spectators.
“Everyone really played great in his tournament”, DiDomizio said. He made special mention to players like Gallo who “played phenomenally”. He also said “DeCarlo, El Nino, Gino and Tino all played fabulous to get to the finals in in the finals”.
Matt was also pleased to see Lander and his dad playing against each other and “really, really great”.
Other players he mentioned included Ed G, Okie (Bill O’Connor), JK and Thomas. Also, Paul R, Jacques and Edward were great too he said.
The two-day tournament took place Saturday and Sunday with a 12 game Spec 9 performance held on Friday night. Matt was very happy in the way “everyone was so good in, number one, their behavior and number two, in helping out– bringing food, buying food, helping with the refereeing, subbing in games when I needed them. He made note of the great announcing by Leo, which the Pelota Press concurs on.
Loren Harris Tribute
There were tributes held during each performance on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the late Loren Harris. Matt helped raise $556 over the 3 days (special thanks to all those that chipped in) that has been sent to Mexico in his name.
Matt Tribute Video
Matt’s daughter Katie was quietly working behind the scenes the past week or so collecting videos of several players who congratulated Matt on his 12th anniversary and was played to everyone on Sunday. A great idea that went over well. You can watch the video on the link here or on YouTube.
Here are the results of the event: (Right click any picture and open image in new tab to enlarge)
Matt is celebrating his 12th anniversary of opening America’s best amateur jai-alai court. There may be even a big surprise for Matt himself. More details and results early next week. The Pelota Press will be there covering the event.
Here are the details on Matt’s big tournament set for the weekend of April 29-May 1:
Must be signed up and paid for by April 22, 2022.
Please wear white pants for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. However, you may wear sweatpants or shorts – just as long as they are white.
Friday April 29th is The Spectacular 9 Performance and is totally separate from the tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday, April 30th – Frist Round of the Tournament (each group will be an hour TBD).
Fees:
$50 per player all 3 nights
$50 per player for Saturday & Sunday Tournament
$10 per player if playing Friday Night only
$10 per Spectator for Friday Night (kids free)
Free Spectator admission for Saturday & Sunday
Group and times will be determined by number of entries
Your group for playoffs and finals will be determined by Saturday Scores
Loren Harris Tributes:
Each night/day we will remember Loren Harris in different ways and have a collection in his name to benefit the school he helped support in Mexico
Sunday will be the 12th Anniversary of the Amateur Courts Grand Opening! Cake anyone?
Scoring Format:
9 Point Games – Single Point Scoring
3 Fronts – 3 Backs
Game 1
1 Front 1 Back 1
2 Front 2 Back 2
3 Front 3 Back 3
Game 2
Front 2 Back 3
2 Front 3 Back 1
3 Front 3 Back 2
Game 3
1 Front 3 Back 2
2 Front 1 Back 3
3 Front 2 Back 1
You get total point for the game
Win 5
Place 3
Show 1
Playoff for place and show if tied
After 3 Games there will be:
One 1st Place FC/BC
One 2nd Place FC/BC
One 3rd Place FC/BC
This will determine Sunday’s groups.
Be sure to watch on the web – go to Matt’s site for details.
Wow, it was great to see live “goatskin” jai-alai again. Rising from the ashes of what appeared to be their final performance last November, Dania jai-alai was open again.
Yes, it was only an exhibition featuring 8 teams and 16 players and held over 7 days between April 1st thru the 10th. And yes, there was no gambling allowed. And yes, an admission fee of $5 was charged to enter the fronton. And yes, travel expenses hindered many from attending (hotels were mostly in the $400 range except for the Motel 6 down the road at a “modest” $268.19 as noted on Kayak). But overall, the event was a big success.
Ownership Pleased
Dania ownership and management was quite pleased with the outcome of the tournament. The largest crowd was on the opening night, and the second largest crowd was last Saturday night. Most of the games were well balanced with down to the final point thrillers, with partido’s going to 21 or 15 points a match in a double elimination format.
The event was put to together to gauge if jai-alai at Dania could make a comeback and eventually see its 70th anniversary. Well, the good news is that it will happen. As we reported here months ago, a two-month season will be held in December and January with a limited roster of 22-24 players and a restructured pay for the players. Its no secret Dania Jai-alai was on life support, losing an estimated $1-$2 million a year. As we have reported in the past, the ownership likes jai-alai and they want to keep it going, but not at a loss running well into 9 figures.
Analyzing the Event
The owners and management will be analyzing everything from start to finish during the second half of April to see if there is anything they could have done differently and if there is value and doing this more often. Benny Bueno, the players manager, was personally content with the turnout for the live audience and the viewership through their live stream. He has noted that while sitting in the audience and watching the crowd reaction, everyone was entertained and that was the purpose of the tournament.
The Pelota Press, who was one of the sponsors of the event, couldn’t agree more with Bueno’s assessment. Everybody in the audience of about 250 or so per performance thoroughly enjoyed it. There were dozens of former players there in attendance from Becky to Mendi. Regulars from Jesus to Al Q. There was even an employee who worked there for several years starting in 1961. She had some great stories to tell including having jai-alai greats like Chimela over to her house for dinner.
The final match was on Sunday afternoon and going great – the French team of Olharan and Etcheto were in an 11-11 tie in the 21-point “win it or lose it” match against Dania stars Barandika and Leke, when Olharan got nailed in the lower leg area on a throw in the front and hobbled off the court after going down. In obviously pain, he reemerged about 15-20 minutes later with a heroes-like welcome from the crowd. For a while it seemed like the tournament was going to come to an end, but the courage and determination of the 22-year-old had no intention of making a flight all the way from France to have it end like this. Unfortunately, the outcome did not end like a Rocky movie. The French team only scored one more point after the injury and losing the tournament to the favorites Barandika and Leke.
Loren Harris Tribute
The event was called the “Battle at the Palace” – Spring Tournament. On Saturday night, there as a nice tribute before the second of three matches that evening to the late Loren Harris, who passed away a couple months ago while teaching kids how to play jai-alai in Cancun Mexico. Dave LaMont did a great job announcing the tribute which included several photos of Loren on the large screen video scoreboard. It is still quite shocking we lost a great guy in Loren Harris who did so much for our sport in keeping it alive for the younger generation. He will never be forgotten.
What Went Good and What Went Wrong
Without a doubt, the event was a success. The true jai-alai fans were attending in steady numbers even though there was no betting allowed. This was the first time I could recall watching jai-alai without having the ability to bet on the outcome since the great Tournament of Champion events in the early 80s before the state allowed Partido betting in a “Win” bet only format. It was also the first time someone had to pay an admission since Orlando started charging for the Citrus events over a decade ago. One blemish was when the power went out on the court and scoreboard on game point last week. After about 45 minutes of darkness, the game called and resumed the next day. It’s obvious the tote system and lighting in there is antiquated – perhaps dating back to 1953! The format was great as well as the pairing of the games.
Dania has been Investing in the Sport
In a sign that Dania intends on keeping jai-alai alive, there were a couple of notable additions. A concession stand was constructed inside the fronton near the far back end that included popcorn, hot dogs and beer. It was a nice addition and put an end of having to look for a server or go all the way out of the fronton and into the casino to get something to eat or drink. We also noted a new trophy stand that took Benny and the refs to drag in and set up for the presentation of the checks to the top three teams in the tournament.
In bigger news, they are looking at upgrading their “1980s” broadcasting equipment. The system they are researching includes HD cameras and a broadcast software that will give them many more capabilities than they have now. Things such as slow motion, instant reply, upgraded graphics and the ability to show highlights and/or commercials during the programming. The implementation of that broadcast equipment will be discussed in the following months. This is an important step Dania MUST do to move forward.
What’s Next
Beginning in the month of May, Dania jai-alai will start to put a list of players together of who they would like to recruit for the December-January season. They will start talking to players during the summer and hopefully have a roster finalized by October. They also want to incorporate some more Partido playing during the months of December and January and probably have a competition similar to the “Fall Challenge” they had last year.
Holding a two-month season will create a demand to show up at some point; there will be no direct competition as Magic City is closed at that time of the year and it will be held during the two busiest tourist months of the year -including traditionally the two busiest weeks of the year – Christmas and New Years’.
Of course, the Pelota Press will keep you informed.
The National Jai-alai Association has resumed its first league action in four years with a Tuesday Night Spring League beginning March 22nd. The event will run 9 consecutive weeks and end on May 17th.
A total of 16 players had signed up, but two players had to scratch on the eve of the event – Restina and Gino. Julio Restina, a homegrown Puryear Park player, has played pro at Miami, Calder and Ft. Piece jai-alai for the past several seasons.
Now, a total of 14 players will be participating – 7 in the front and 7 in the backcourt. Other former pro players include Leonard Linardos, Ricky Hernadez, Cachin 47 and Garby. There are several other players who have participated in the Magic City tournament that are playing and they include Alex, Bill O’Conner, Anthony Sutton, and Bernard II who will now play under the name of Zoltar II.
Here is the latest lineup. The action starts at 6pm. There will be 7 games to 10 points each – all doubles games. Points will be accumulated based on amount scored in each game, with an extra 3 points going to 1st place, 2 points to 2nd place, and 1 point for coming in 3rd. Trophies and prize money will be awarded to First, Second and Third Place finishers in the front and back.
Fans are welcome to bring chairs and watch the great action.
Here’s an interesting event that occurred almost 5 years ago (November 21, 2017) at the St. Pete Puryear Park that we had never publicized before. It’s a little slow right now in the jai-alai world, so we felt this is a good time to share it.
The entire event was filmed after a few kids were kicking a soccer ball in an adjacent court that landed on the overhead netting above the jai-alai cancha.
Incredibly, some kid thought he was Spiderman and climbed up the fence to retrieve the ball. After several minutes of trying to get the ball down, our own Magic Mike (The Computer Man) came over and attempted to help get the ball down by throwing one of the jai-alai game balls (a Matt Generation 4 ball).
Bear in mind, there is a very large and loose protective netting where the soccer ball was “resting” in.
A soccer ball is about 28 inches in circumference and almost 9 inches in diameter and weighs about one pound.
The Matt Jai-alai ball is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and weighs a fraction of the soccer ball.
The odds of picking up a cesta and throwing the Matt ball underneath it with enough pressure and precision to knock it off the overhead net would seem like a million to one.
But not for Magic Mike, who’s been known to knock down Matt balls that get stuck up there once in a while better than anybody. (Current over/under odds is 3 shots)
Spiderman tried frantically to shake the net and get the ball off… to no avail, but then on ONE throw, Magic Mike wacked the soccer ball, causing the lost soccer ball to come flying off the court. All caught on tape.
The film was sent to America’s Funniest Home Videos, the popular ABC hit TV show – now in its 32nd season. Incredibly, the video clip was approved to air on the show, but producers wanted sign offs from the parents of Spiderman and the girl seen in the video who yelled out “He thinks he’s Spiderman!” before they could air it. Unfortunately, the kids were long gone a few minutes after getting their soccer ball back and never seen again.
Disclaimer: These are Exhibition matches. No Wagering.
Round One: Friday, April 1 at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 2 at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Round Two: Sunday, April 3 at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
SEMI-FINALS
Round Three: Friday, April 8 at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 9 at 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Final: Sunday, April 10 at 12:30 p.m. Disclaimer: Management reserves the right to change or cancel the schedule at any given time.
During round one, on Friday April 1st, it’s expected to run from 7pm-10pm. Games 1 and 2 will feature:
4 Teams
2 Matches
Match 1 @ 7 pm
Barandika/Leke vs Johan/Gorka
Match 2 @ 8:30 pm
Hormaetxwea/Basque vs Arrieta/Urbieta
21-point Partido
Winning team loves on in Winners Bracket
Losing teams play in loser bracket (Sunday April 3 – double elimination round)
Saturday, April 2nd
Games 3 and 4
Zulaika/Ubilla vs Aimar/Ibon
Olharan/Etcheto vs Iturbide/Arta
Sunday, April 3 at 12:30pm
Loser Bracket Games 5 and 6
Match 5 (12:30 pm) Losers of Match 1 & 2 (loser eliminated, winner moves on)
Match 6 (2pm) Losers of Match 3 & 4 (loser eliminated. Winner moves on)
21-point Partido’s. Two teams will be eliminated from the tournament.
There will be a total of 14 matches throughout the 7-day event.
Players will arrive starting the 25th of March to practice. More information can be seen on the Dania Casino website.
Tickets to the Event are on sale now and are $5 per day. Or you can purchase the entire event pass and save a few bucks.
Please help support Dania jai alai. A nice turnout will lead to more events like this and perhaps a longer than 2-month season coming up in December and January in the future.
