Here are some more pics of construction progress.
Whitey Bulger’s sharpshooting partner, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi has a date with the a Florida parole board on August 18th for his freedom.
He has served 26 years, so far, of a life sentence for his role in the back-to-back murder of World Jai-alai President John Callahan in Florida, and World Jai-alai owner Roger Wheeler in Oklahoma along with at least 8 other “gangland” executions.
In the state of Florida, prisoners can ask for a “compassionate release” where those who are at least 65 years old, experiencing serious deterioration in physical or mental health due to age and have served at least 10 years or 75% of their sentence. Flemmi is now 87 years old and is locked up in Florida prison unknown to the public because he has been labeled as a “Rat” for the deal he received in testifying against Whitey Bulger to avoid the death penalty.
There’s at least one person not too happy about this. Mary Callahan told the Boston Herald “I don’t think so. He’s talking about compassion? I didn’t see him having any compassion for his victims”. Her husband John was shot to death and left in a truck of a car at the Miami airport in 1982 because he knew too much about Bulger and Flemmi working as informants for the FBI. Bulger went on the run for 16 years before getting captured nearly 3 years ago at the age of 89. He was sentenced to a penitentiary in Hazelton West Virginia and was murdered by inmates just hours after arriving in a wheelchair.
Flemmi is hoping to gain his release- just like his former FBI handler, John Connolly, who was released last February. Connolly has claimed that he is terminally ill. Flemmi actually got his nickname “The Rifleman” during the Korena War as a member of the Army and ran the Boston Winter Hill Gang with Bulger and was the plot of the movie “Black Mass” starring Johnny Depp that was released in 2015 and featured a phony jai-alai scene. There are no details on the condition of Flemmi’s health at this time. I guess we will find out next month.
07/06/21
We ask that no one goes on the court during construction. Someone could get hurt, and that would give us a black mark, tarnishing what has been a good relationship with the city for nearly 15 years. Thank you.
Meanwhile, work is delayed as Elsa is passing by – perhaps becoming the first hurricane to hit the Tampa Bay area in 100 years. And yes, the bottom one foot of the J Laca Museum has been lifted in anticipation of flooding from the storm hitting exactly at high tide.
The jai-alai folks on the west coast of Florida are excited as renovations to America’s first public jai-alai court are now underway. On Tuesday, NJAA volunteers Paul Kubala, Scott King, Corky, Anthony, Garby, Mike, Rule, Joe C and Rick B (yes Rick B my buddy!) pitched in to tear down sections of the side wall. On Wednesday, the bulldozers were out and begun tearing down the front wall – which had been in existence for yearly 40 years as a racquetball side wall – was torn down. Additional work included tearing down some of the fencing.
The teardown of the wall, which served as the front wall for Puryear Park jai-alai for over 30 years, was gone. The new jai-alai court will expand into the next racquetball section, bringing the court to 104 feet long. The height of the walls will be extended to 20 feet high in the front and side walls with 16’ on the back wall. The back wall is only being raised by 6 feet to 16 feet – purposely to prevent “home runs.” The width of the walls is being expanded 4 ½ feet on top of it. Extensive fencing will protect the pelota from leaving the premises and that work will start soon. The end result will be an entirely different cancha and that is what has the NJAA organizers excited. Our logos have also been approved to go on the front wall pending donations. We are also asking for donations from players and supporters to contribute to the construction of the court now to enhance the side wall with more concrete block. Mike, Laca, and Cachin contributing photographs and videos.
We will keep you posted as the court renovations resume.
Front row (left to right): Armndo, Echeva, Cachin, Alex, “Magic” Mike, ScottK
(Denver missing in group but in picture below on right)
America’s first public court ended its first “phase” of operation Sunday afternoon with a big tournament. The court, nestled around a bunch of soccer fields in northeast St. Petersburg had a big run of over 30 years of amateur jai-alai action – the last 14 as the first municipally owned cancha. Fourteen players participated in a 2 hour and 42 minute tournament before a crowd of about 40. We even added a substitute for Corky with Oyarbide (a former pro) from Spain.
The court is now closed and will be undergoing extensive renovations, making it more in line with the old N Miami court and Matt’s in Berlin, Connecticut. The improvements will take 2-3 months and officials hope to have the court open by Labor Day weekend – assuming the weather, manpower and materials all fall into place.
The tournament featured 7 front courters, 7 back courters with each player taking on 5 players with total points accumulating. A win would add 3 extra points, a place would add 2 extra points and a show would add 1 extra point to each persons scores on top of the number of points they accumulated. Seven games were played to 10 points and then two partido’s were held with the 3rd place qualifier from the front joining the 3rd place qualifier playing the 4th place qualifiers of both the front and back.
The first 15-point partido would determine 3rd place and the game featured Magic Mike and Gino (who had subbed for Thomas who had to leave just minutes before the performance with an unfortunate death in the family). Mike and Gino held a commanding 14-9 lead but lost the next 6 points to former Dania pro Garby and J Laca who ended up winning 15-14. Garby/Laca were awarded the 3rd place trophies.
The final game played featured Brodie and Cachin vs. Scott King and Rule with the latter taking the game 15-10. This gave Scott King and Rule the 1st place trophies with Brodie and Cachin taking 2nd place.
FINAL SCORES:
Time 2hrs 42mins. Attendance – 40. Weather – Mostly cloudy 87 degrees.
Sunday June 20 2021 Post Time 1:00pm. Fathers Day Final Tournament.
Game # 1 to 10 points 06-20-2021 Start: 13:06:53 Ended: 13:17:36 Garby/Rule 10 Win ScottK/Oyrbde 1 Alex/Cachin 3 Brodie/Gino 4 Place Mike/Laca 4 Show Game # 2 to 10 points 06-20-2021 Start: 13:26:26 Ended: 13:39:30 Echeva/Oyrbde 1 Garby/Cachin 4 Show ScottK/Gino 10 Win Alex/Laca 1 Brodie/Denver 7 Place Game # 3 to 10 points 06-20-2021 Start: 13:43:13 Ended: 13:53:13 Armndo/Cachin 10 Win Echeva/Gino 2 Garby/Laca 3 ScottK/Denver 3 Show Alex/RickB 4 Place Game # 4 to 10 points 06-20-2021 Start: 14:01:15 Ended: 14:15:39 Mike/Gino 9 Place Armndo/Laca 2 Echeva/Denver 3 Garby/RickB 5 Show ScottK/Rule 10 Win Game # 5 to 10 points 06-20-2021 Start: 14:21:58 Ended: 14:30:18 Brodie/Laca 10 Win Mike/Denver 0 Armndo/RickB 2 Show Echeva/Rule 4 Place Garby/Oyrbde 2 Game # 6 to 10 points 06-20-2021 Start: 14:34:45 Ended: 14:45:17 Alex/Denver 1 Show Brodie/RickB 0 Mike/Rule 5 Place Armndo/Oyrbde 1 Echeva/Cachin 10 Win Game # 7 to 10 points 06-20-2021 Start: 14:49:26 Ended: 15:06:18 ScottK/RickB 6 Alex/Rule 7 Show Brodie/Oyrbde 8 Place Mike/Cachin 10 Win Armndo/Gino 1 Game # 8 to 15 points 06-20-2021 Start: 15:14:04 Ended: 15:27:01 Mike/Gino 14 (4th Place) Garby/Laca 15 Win (3rd Place) Game # 9 to 15 points 06-20-2021 Start: 15:30:38 Ended: 15:47:21 Brodie/Cachin 10 (2nd Place) ScottK/Rule 15 Win (1st Place)
Click program pic above to download
Final Performance of Puryear Park 1
America’s first public court started construction exactly 14 years ago – June 18, 2007 – and now it’s about to get a huge makeover.
This Sunday, June 20th, a big tournament has been set up with little notice as we learned that the dismantling of the current court will begin the following day – Monday June 21st. The start date had been scheduled for the first quarter of 2021, but delays in getting materials as a result of COVID-19 took place and the start date was delayed.
There will be 6 jai-alai trophies handed out to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for both front court and back court. Complete rules of the tournament can be seen on page 3 of the 8 -page color program that will be available. (You can download above)
The event starts at 1pm this Sunday. It is expected to last about 3 hours with 7 games to 10 straight points followed by two exciting partidos to 15 points to award the winners in the qualifying rounds. Former Tampa players Scott King and Corky are on the card. Daniel was on the card but canceled because of Father’s Day.
Unfortunately, Buster’s Courtside Grill and Pro Shop will not be open due to losing money on the Magic City event we had a year and a half ago. Players and spectators are encouraged to bring their own food and drinks and of course chairs and umbrellas.
The event has no rain date, and any rain delay will limited to no more than an hour so families can enjoy dinner together later at a reasonable hour.
America’s First Public Jai-alai court is about to go out in a blast! St. Petersburg’s Puryear Park is about to see the wrecking ball. But before that can happen, NJAA organizers are quickly putting together one of their big tournaments on the day before the big plans commence.
Those plans will turn Puryear Park into a larger, near regulation-sized amateur court (check out my previous stories on this in my Pelota Press blogs for full details).
When I announced the courts approval exactly 14 years ago on Tigers Chalk Talk, the jai-alai world was stunned. The approval of a public jai-alai was the result of a decade of persistence by local residents Paul Kabala and Tom “Corky” DeMint. Within minutes, former players like Benny, Randy and Daniel were all reaching out with congratulations. But some people weren’t happy with the size of the court and the wall height. I spent the next couple days explaining why it was going to be built that way. We got what we could do at the time when the economy and real estate industry were about to crash.
But the NJAA crew were not giving up on future plans to expand. A couple of months ago it was all approved. The new expansion will include knocking down the front wall and extending it into the practice court area while extending the height and width of the walls. Extensive netting will further protect the area outside the court.
With the fencing to come down, some slabs pulled up and the front wall getting demolished all scheduled to begin Monday, June 21st , organizers are putting together a big event the day before – Sunday – Father’s Day at 1pm. Players are now signing up and several ex-pros have confirmed into playing including former Tampa and Miami star player “Daniel”. The tournament will be like Matt’s Spectacular 9 but everybody plays the same number of games and players. The top point getters will play in Partido for the championship. There will be 6 jai-alai trophies handed out – 1st, 2nd and 3rd to both the frontcourter and the backcourters.
Anthony Sutton (aka “Ant” at the last Magic City Tournament) will be in charge of the tournament but won’t play. He’s been on the IL list since suffering a torn rotator cuff injury while falling during practice at Matt’s last tournament in Connecticut.
Everyone is welcome to come watch. Again, Puryear Park’s final performance for the court as it is now will be Sunday, June 20th at 1pm. The court will reopen a couple of months later, but being the summer time coming up with much needed rain, it may take longer.
We have some really good news, when some good news has been hard to find this week for those in the jai-alali world.
Dania Jai-alai is going to resume their season after the regular season closes down Memorial Day weekend.
Their next “season” is still set for September 1st thru November 30th and live full court jai-alai will continue.
A CBA is in place until March of 2023 with the players, and it is very likely Dania will continue operations at least thru those dates.
As I have reported in my last blog, the owners DO like jai-alai and they DO like Benny. They like the idea of having something different to offer to spectators or gamblers entering the building that the Tribe does not offer. Often, those jai-alai fans wander into the casino or have a meal and drinks.
This is not to say a buy-out is not impossible, but it would be expensive and the owners do not look at business like that.
No one is going to tell you what to do with your money, but we hope Jai-alai fans across America help support Dania to make the decision of Decoupling a difficult one. The only thing in the way now is a John Hancock from the Governor, and a possible lawsuit from No Casinos who claim decoupling is “an expansion of gambling”.
As you know likely know by now, the sport of jai-alai has been decoupled in the State of Florida. The stunning news was finalized as the House approved in Wednesday afternoon, a day after the Senate had passed the measure.
Decoupling in the jai-alai pari-mutuel industry gives the owners the right to drop conducting the game in order to keep their more lucrative card games (poker and the designated-player games) going. The savings, in some cases, can save the permit holder millions of dollars a year.
Lets look into the what happened. When I posted a previous story a month ago, I gave the odds at 9-2 that decoupling won’t happen. There were several reasons for these odds, because for the past ten years or show, that had been the outcome.
Those 9-2 odds drastically changed in an opposite direction as several stunning announcements were made.
Strike 1
First, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reached a 30-year deal with the Seminole Indians in a massive gambling bill that could make Florida the next gambling mecca in the United States. This announcement by DeSantis and the Tribe surprised everybody. He’s a smooth negotiator that others had failed at. Right now, the Tribe pays nothing in taxes to the State of Florida, as they successfully were able to stop making $350 million dollar payments three years ago. The courts agreed that by allowing the parimutuels to conduct the designated player games at the facilities was an infringement of the Tribe’s rights to be the sole operator of such card games. Getting a deal that would satisfy the Tribe, the parimutuels and the Florida legislature seemed impossible. Nobody was willing to budge for years. But along came the prospect of Sports Betting – a whole new “ball game” in gambling terms and opportunities.
DeSantis and others were able to come up with an agreement that was signed off my the Tribe and the pari-mutuels about two weeks before the 60-day legislative session was too end. Those short sessions always seemed to be an issue as the gambling issues like decoupling had been kicked down the road as more important things keep the House and Senate busy. But now, a gambling pack was in place. Signed, sealed and Delivered. A big Strike 1. Now is was a matter of needing the time to go over it.
Strike 2
Time was about to run out again, but another stunning announcement was made. Congress was going to be called back to their seats just 2 ½ weeks later for a Special Session to discuss solely the gambling issues. An event like that is rare, but in this case is was important. Billions of dollars’ worth important to the State. This deal was complicated and involved a lot of moving parts. Legislators needed to be educated on many things – all from the eyes of the Tribe and pari-mutuel viewpoints. And what’s in store to the State of Florida.
So instead of the issue of time running out in the regular session, a common experience, an entire new session – only to involve gambling issues – was coming the week of May 17th. A huge Strike 2. Now time and agreement was in place and only the legislators needed approval. The gambling issues were three things – getting an agreement approved that was already agreed upon by the Tribe and the pari-mutuels, the formation of a gambling commission; and the decoupling of jai-alai & harness racing – which pari-mutuel owners had been lobbying years for.
Strike 3
By Wednesday May 20th, it was all over. The Senate had approved the vote 38-1. The House approved it 97-17.
The Tribe gets run sports betting with hubs set up at parimutuels, along with the more lucrative mobile sports betting on cell phones and computers. In three years, they can apply for slots and roulette gambling on the phones. The sports betting will start October 15th but there are several issues with that. We will get into that shortly. The Tribe gets three more casinos to be operated on their property either in Hollywood (Florida) or Tampa. Those hotels would operate under a different name like Wynn or Bally. They also get “real” Roulette and Craps games (not only the electronic ones). The State will get $500 million a year in return.
Jai-alai can legally stop their games as of July 1st and continue all the other operations. So what is going to happen next?
Dania Jai-alai
Dania’s current season closes May 30th. As the last full court, full roster jai-alai court operating in America, this venue gathers the most interest. The new owners have obviously lost a lot of money on jai-alai since taking over a few years ago and remodeling the entire building. But they love jai-alai and the ability to offer something most the other casino’s and racino’s don’t have- live betting on a sport right in front of them. They also have a great relationship with Benny, who now may be our sole “lobbyist” to keep Dania open if he even has a say in it. It’s going to be a hard task. Money usually talks. There is also reportedly an agreement with the players union for another year and a half. It is unknown if there is an escape clause in it for decoupling, or a buyout clause. The owners could shut down with their last performance that Sunday afternoon on May 30th or keep it going later in the summer when the next season is suppose to start. No one is talking right now, so the outcome will be known later. Chances are we won’t hear anything for a while, making Memorial Day weekend a must trip to Dania later this month.
Chance of jai-alai returning = 35%
Miami Jai-alai
The “Yankee Stadium” of jai-alai has been open since 1924 and can now open their Cirque du Soleil without jai-alai in the way. They almost made it to 100 years. When I went to “opening day” earlier this season, there were 3 people in the stands. Jesus, Jeden and Ron Ron. There were a lot of great memories there over the decades and the place has been in disarray for many years now.
Chance of jai-alai returning = 0.0001%
Ft. Piece, Ocala, Orlando Jai-alai
Ocala and Orlando had been running the two-man show for years now, so there is no question what is going to happen there. Orlando was supposed to be redeveloped into a housing complex, but COVID apparently put a hold on that. Ft. Pierce is holding the two-man games right now, and that will be the end of Ft. Piece jai-alai when their season ends later this month
Chance of any of the 3 returning = 0.00000001 %
Calder Jai-alai
Three years ago, they got out of the horse racing business in exchange for jai-alai. Thoroughbred racing was NOT decoupled. The owners are Churchill Downs and now can shut down the jai-alai operations legally July 1st.. Their current season is scheduled to end August 29th. The building will likely be converted into some kind of entertainment center for live music or perhaps a sportsbook bar. That was always in the plans when decoupling happened.
Chance of jai-alai returning = 0.00000001%
Magic City Jai-alai
They converted from dog racing to jai-alai four years ago to likely to save money and open up some prime real estate. Their music venue inside was converted into a short court, clear glass fronton which is operating to this day. Dog racing in Florida was decoupled by an amendment in 2018, but they are still operating under the dog racing permit and can shut down at any time. But Scott Savin and company like jai-alai and it’s not likely going anywhere anytime soon. They did say this was a 3-5 project and we are in year 4. Plus they have added the one-on-one partidos with $100K in prize money to the players. This decoupling measure has absolutely no effect on them as far as staying open or not. I’m sure plenty of players from the other fronton’s have been contacting Stu and Arra. If they are the only game left in town, the handles would likely improve.
Edgewater Jai-alai
Magic City worked out an agreement with the City of Miami to open another fronton in downtown Miami recently (see my blog from a couple months ago). It’s been quiet ever since. Another fronton just a few miles away was in the plans, but no info has been released yet. Now they would have many more players to put on their roster.
Pompano Jai-alai
There were big plans to convert their harness racing to jai-alai – again to save money and open up real estate in what is to be a multibillion project on the site. But their version of horse racing was decoupled also, so those plans are out the door. It’s too bad, the fronton was going to be a good one. One last year of horse racing there and that is it. They are the busiest parimutuel facility in the state in casino revenue from slots, etc. So the Jai-alai plans are likely gone. Thousands of jobs will be lost in the horse breeding industry that used Pompano as their sole source. The House regulatory group had voted to keep it alive but the Senate convinced them to decouple it on Wednesday. Only thoroughbred racing in Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs are required to stay open in the parimutuel industry in order to keep the other casino games going.
The Legal Issues may be the only savior
So, is jai-alai over? Its up to the owners to decide. And now the court system. There are lawsuits coming. And the Federal Government has a say in the deal signed with the Tribe that could very well throw out the Sports Betting aspect of the agreement.
The Compact or deal with the Tribe is subject to approval from U.S. Department of the Interior. They have 45 days to sign off on it after the governor signs the bill. This falls under the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Offering mobile sports betting or operating the “hub and spoke model” where the bets are placed at parimutuels (and other sites) via the Internet with the servers on tribal property. California had this problem and it could be Florida’s too. Supporters say if the server is on tribal grounds that is processing the bet, then the bet is only subject to the laws on the reservation. Either way, the Compact will remain in place with or without sports betting. The Tribe would only have to pay $400 million a year to the State of Florida vs. $500 million.
That is not the only obstacle they will face. The other one is a lawsuit in the works by John Sowinski of “No Casinos”. They got the Amendment 3 on the ballot and passed with 71% of the vote in 2018 that prevents any expansion of gambling unless through a voter referendum and get 60% of the vote. However, that amendment excludes the Tribe but the deal now calls on the Tribe to work with parimutuels and others to offer sports betting via the computer “airwaves” and allows for more huge casinos to open. There is also a question if “Sports betting” is a common casino game as the amendment was worded. Sports betting is not a common game and is never mentioned in the poorly worded amendment.
How can jai-alai be saved? Sowinski has said that the decompiling of game rooms from parimutuels constitutes an increase in Class III gambling in Florida and that it is part of the Compact. I’m not sure what that means, since they are shutting it down and not increasing gambling in this case.
This is going to drag on for a long time, and with the courts backed up since March of last year due to COVID-19, it may be awhile to everything is ironed out.
Could a pending lawsuit put everything on hold? Could jai-alai be saved? We shall see.
It appears the St. Pete Court Construction project is going to be delayed by at least another month or more. One of the contractors on the project said that construction is “at least a month away” as he was delivering another load of cinder blocks to the site.
He said that shortages of materials has caused a major delay with concrete deliveries backlogged by at least ten weeks. He also claimed that they are having trouble hiring people to work, contrary to what our President said in a national press conference last week.
We will keep you posted on the details. The delay would push the start date into mid-June at the earliest, meaning the work will be done during the summer, rainy season in Florida, potentially delaying the project even further.
The project would transfer the outdoor court, America’s first public jai-alai cancha, to about 32 meters in length with walls 20 feet high in the front and side.
Our Sponsors
