Archive for category: Jeff ‘Laca’ Conway Blogs

The National Jai-alai Association completed its first week of action of its Tuesday Night Spring League March 22^nd 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 3^rd 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

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

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

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:

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

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 12^th 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)

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Welcome back Dania!

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 1^st thru the 10^th.   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 70^th 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.

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 32^nd 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. 

         

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 29^th is The Spectacular 9 Performance and is totally separate from the tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, April 30^th – 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 12^th 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

1. 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 1^st   Place   FC/BC

One  2^nd Place   FC/BC

One  3^rd Place   FC/BC

This will determine Sunday’s groups

Any questions?  Contact Matt at 860-335-6346.  He’s pretty good at getting back with you ASAP.