Anthony & Nephew Matt Win Sunshine City/Scott King Tournament
Anthony Sutton, aka “The Ant” and his nephew Matt Sutton have won the Sunshine City/Scott King Tournament that was held at St. Petersburg’s Puryear Park on Saturday.
The 6 hour and 10-minute marathon began sharply at 10am before a crowd of about 45 people under chamber of commerce sunshine with temps in the low 70s.
The event was originally scheduled to be a two-day event, with the first round held on Saturday, and the finals on Sunday. But organizers made the correct decision to combine the two days into one with a 100% chance of rain Sunday the factor. About ¾” of an inch did fell Sunday morning before clearing up around 12 noon.
The event featured several ex-pros including Rastock, Corky, Daniel, Belota, Ty Wilson, Cachin 47 and Super Jules. Super Jules played pro at Hartford and Calder. Also competing, all the way from Rhode Island, were Davie “Dark Knight”. On his team was Paul Paddie, who played pro at various frontons in Connecticut. Among those in attendance were our good buddies “Art” and John Silvia aka “Anton/The Ghost.” In attendance was former player and players manager Sarduy of Daytona/Melbourne. Also former pros Ricky Hernandez of Tampa Jai-Alai, Bob Garby of Dania Jai-Alai, and Brodie of Calder Jai-Alai participated.
One player who stood out was Brent Knight, familiar to many as Phatboy. He displayed great catching and throwing hard bullets deep off the walls.
The event featured 27 games, most of them to 10 points with the semi finals going to 12. There were 22 players competing.
The finals came down to the team of Cachin/Rule vs. Anthony/Matt. The Sutton team won the first game (to 10 points), the second game went to Cachin/Rule. The final tiebreaker even, played to 5 points was won 5-0 by the Sutton clam.
The event was fast paced, no arguments (wow!) and the weather could not have been better, not to mention the court looked fantastic thanks to the work of Paul Kubala, Scott King, Eric Lancot. Sorry if we are omitting anyone.
You can view photos of the action and the brackets with results and final win totals all on this site.
There was a lot of refurbishments done to the court as noted in the other stories on The Pelota Press.
Renovations continue at Puryear Park in St. Petersburg as the park remains closed till Friday.
Here are some details on the project.
High fence repairs and new pads are being installed today. This will clearly stop balls from getting suck up on top or on the fence area as the pad on the far left had broken months ago. The pads will have two pieces on top overlapping about 8 inches and should be a huge improvement.
Kitz has been applied on the walls where all the white crap had be leaking out.
Ten gallons of new green paint will be applied to all 3 walls tomorrow and Friday. A crew was using wire brushed to scrape the lime and water scale off the walls and will seal the block to try and limit it in the future before they finish the overall paint job.
In the back court area, all the crappy tarps that are flying in the wind are being removed and there will be tightening of the perimeter netting.
With the “Scott King” Tournament about to commence this Saturday, America’s first public court will be undergoing another renovation to keep it updated in cosmetics and functionality.
Right now, paint cutting is going on around the line numbers and banners. On Wednesday, the major work begins. The torn sunscreens in the back will be removed and the upper padding on the front court will be replaced. Several balls get stuck up there, especially with one of the paddings gone. On Thursday, the entire court will begin to get a total face lift with painting of a different color green than is up there now. The “Matt” ball has turned the court into a white checkerboard basically with tape that comes off the ball on all three walls. Work is expected to be completed Friday in time for Scott King’s tournament Saturday at 10am. Scott himself is one of the contractors overseeing the project along with Eric Lancot, Paul Kubala and several assistants.
In the meantime, the court has seen lots of action with players from all over the country playing over the past few days.
On Saturday alone, 18 players were out there, including several ex-pros like Bridgeport Jai-alai’s (and many more places!) Rastock, Bridgeport Jai-alai’s Adam, Newport’s Ty Wilson who make trips on a regular basis from Daytona Beach and Orlando.
On Monday, there was a 10-hour marathon of action with about a dozen players out there including Tino, now a fixture at Matt’s court (and played pro at Daytona, Melbourne, Big Ben, Jasper, Milford and Bridgeport), Ron, a rookie of the year at Miami in 1982 and played at Ft. Pierce, Milford and Tampa. Also making the trip was Lou, an amateur from Tampa Jai-alai from the 80s. Bill “Okie” O’Connor also made a long-distance trip to join them.
MIAMI, Jan. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The World Jai-Alai League (WJAL) recently held its Battle Court Spring 2024 Season Draft on Tuesday, Jan. 9. The Draft event unveiled the player lineups for the six teams competing over the upcoming 16-week season, including the addition of an expansion team, the Fireballs, to the League’s Battle Court roster and a fresh realignment of team owners for the upcoming season, starting on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. The WJAL has seen a surge of interest in the past year, bringing on notable ambassadors, investors and team owners including Grammy Award-winning recording artist and entrepreneur Armando Christian Pérez, known as Pitbull, retired NFL legends Ray Lewis and Lawrence Taylor and retired three-time NBA champion Udonis Haslem.
World Jai-Alai League’s Warriors team and owners including NFL Hall of Fame legend Lawrence Taylor at the season opening draft event
“After a year marked by an extraordinary surge of growth and interest, we are proud to announce the latest lineup of team owners and the newest team of the Battle Court franchise,” said Scott Savin, chief operating officer of the World Jai-Alai League. “The next season promises to be more phenomenal than the last. With six new players, we are continually looking to raise the level of talent and the stakes on the court.”
Spring 2024 team owners include retired NFL legends, Ray Lewis and Lawrence Taylor, as co-owners of the Warriors; three-time NBA champion Udonis Haslem as owner of the Renegades; Chris Cote, the longtime producer of the “Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,’ as owner of the Cyclones alongside Mike Ryan; K. Marie “La Gringa Más Latina” from TU 94.9FM and Grammy Award-winning recording artist Maffio as owners of the Devils; Lifestyle Miami and Mister Red as owners of the Chargers; and WJAL as owner of the Fireballs.
The addition of the Fireballs will increase the WJAL’s roster to 36 athletes, twice the number the league started with in 2018. The 2024 roster features a lineup of both American and international pelotaris, considered among the best jai-alai players in the world.
Battle Court Spring 2024 Season Draft picks: (Listed by courtside names)
Team Name
Chargers
Cyclones
Devils
Fireballs
Renegades
Warriors
Round 1
Zulaika
Manu
Olharan
Inaki
Goixerri
Douglas
Round 2
Iturbide
Lopez
Jairo
Foronda
Aratz
Nicolas
Round 3
Benny
Carballo
Urbieta
Amigorena
Goenaga
Manny
Round 4
Ubilla
Ikeda
Robin
Hernandez
Arta
Julen
Round 5
Bradley
Bueno
Roque
Cabrera
Ben
Correa
Round 6
El Barba
Flores
CRB
Jeden
Joseph
Williams
WJAL matches are viewable during the competitive season on Jai-Alai TV (www.jaialai.live), via the Jai-Alai app and at www.watchjaialai.com. Battle Court matches are available on DraftKings and BetRivers for wagering in 17 states including Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Battle Court gamedays take place at the Magic City Fronton’s glass-walled court at 450 NW 37 Ave. in Miami. Gamedays are open to the public on Fridays (7 p.m.) and can be viewed via live broadcast only on Mondays and Tuesdays (5 p.m.) from Feb. 2 through May 17. Battle Court games are viewable on ESPN+, Jai-Alai TV (www.jaialai.live), the Jai-Alai app (downloadable on Apple App Store and Google Playstore) and www.watchjaialai.com.
About World Jai-Alai League The World Jai-Alai League is dedicated to revamping the once renowned sport of jai-alai across the globe by modernizing gameplay, capitalizing on the exploding international sports wagering market, and delivering the sport through social media to a new generation of fans.
Salas Brothers Named Pelota Press’ “Man of the Year Award”
Arturo and Javier Salas have been named the Pelota Press’ “Man of the Year” Award for 2023. The award is given out the person or persons whose distinguished work in keeping jai-alai alive is recognized.
In the man photo main shown here is Javier, their father, Javier Salas Gomez Palacio (still a good player in his 80s!), and Arturo Salas.
The group built their own cancha in Cancun and had Loren Harris run their kids leagues and tournaments until Loren unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago.
In case you haven’t heard, Magic City jai-alai has added two more owners and just might solidify the sport of jai-alai in America. “LT” was the greatest defensive player in the history of the NFL. No one can argue that. While Ray Lewis was the greatest middle linebacker the game has seen. Both players were the second player taken in their respective drafts and played for just one team their entire careers. With strong Miami ties, this was a natural. The list of investors is growing, it’s mind-boggling. Magic City’s press release will give you the full details.
MIAMI, Dec. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Retired National Football League legends, Ray Lewis and Lawrence Taylor, today announced a partnership with the World Jai-Alai League (WJAL) to become co-owners of the Warriors. Lewis first joined the WJAL Board of Directors in March, kickstarting an incredible year in which the League has experienced a surge of growth and interest.
“We are thrilled to welcome this pair of NFL Hall of Famers, widely regarded as the two best defensive players of all time, as the newest team owners in the WJAL,” said Scott Savin, Chief Operating Officer of WJAL. “Working with Ray Lewis this year has already brought an incredible surge of energy into our league, and we know that LT’s unmatched passion will be felt throughout the fronton. By joining the world’s fastest ball sport, these two legends are proving once again that champions don’t retire, they redefine success!”
“Getting involved with the League this year has been incredibly exciting and I can’t wait to jump in and lead our new team to the championship alongside the one and only LT,” said Lewis. “World Jai-Alai League has seen incredible growth this year and we’re excited for the future of the sport.”
“Seeing the intensity that WJAL athletes have for their sport has sparked my competitive spirit and I’m looking forward to being a team owner this season,” said Taylor. “This opportunity is not just about team ownership; it’s about embracing a new challenge, fostering camaraderie, and building a new legacy in the world of jai-alai.”
WJAL this year has welcomed a new roster of notable ambassadors, investors and partners including Grammy Award-winning recording artist and entrepreneur Armando Christian Pérez, or Pitbull; three-time NBA champion Udonis Haslem; NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis; retired UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal; 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Monica Puig; and professional tennis player Eugenie Bouchard.
WJAL is currently available on DraftKings and BetRivers for wagering in 16 states including Arizona; Colorado; Illinois; Iowa; Kansas; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Virginia; Washington; West Virginia; and Wyoming.
A year after launching its social media presence, WJAL has leveraged social media to grow the sport with nearly 350,000 followers on TikTok and nearly 80,000 on Instagram. WJAL recently concluded its most successful season yet, with game days averaging over 100k unique views on TikTok. WJAL live games are available in over 300 million homes through streaming services including ESPN, FTF Sports and Triple B Media.
About World Jai-Alai League The World Jai-Alai League (WJAL) is dedicated to revitalizing the world’s fastest ball sport by modernizing gameplay, capitalizing on the exploding international sports wagering market, and delivering the sport through social media to a new generation of fans across the globe. For more information, go to www.battlecourtjaialai.com. The WJAL plays at the Magic City Fronton in Miami located at 450 N.W. 37th Ave.
The world’s greatest jai-alai player made a farewell USA appearance this past weekend in Dania and the fronton resembled more like Marlins Park or Tropicana Field than a packed cheering house that many had expected. Even Tiger’s chaukies were asked to come out in force but It more resembled a Chris Christie prep rally than a jai-alai tournament. A lack of notice time, lousy weather, and a total lack of marketing on Dania Casino’s end were the main reasons for such a terrible turnouts this past weekend to say goodbye to the Great Inaki Osa Goikoetxea. The lack of notice – just 7 days before it was announced that he was coming had to be a major reason. Let’s not forget to mention it’s a week before Christmas, too. People already have events planned this time of year. Christmas parties, family, shopping, and all. Plus, for people coming from out of town, airfares are outrageous, hotels marked up big time – all in an area around one of the world’s largest cruise line districts on top of it where most people arrive a night early before their departure. Try booking a flight with a few days’ notice or booking a hotel room now down there. Like Dr. Zaius told Charlton Heston, “you’re not going to like what you see”.
Lack of timing on the event
Why was the event not announced weeks or months earlier to give people more notice? Check out my previous post of Goiko coming and you will see that IF a trip was planned, the dates would be flexible with little notice because of tournaments in the Basque/Spain/France region being held. The event was finalized just a couple days after Goiko knew he was free to come that weekend. The opening Friday night appearance was also competing against the final night of the current Magic City season, where a near packed house was in attendance. See the photo below in the story. That event was planned several months ago, if not a year ago. This apparently was the only time he could come, and I don’t see him coming back to finish his career in the USA when he’s done in February. By then, Dania will be rapping it up and holding its final partidos.
Power outages due to weather issues
Making matters even worse, the power went out in the fronton 5 freaking times Saturday afternoon, including two back-to-back (belly to belly) delays. Each delay caused a ten-minute delay, as it takes that long for the lights to “reboot” and come back on. The cancha literally resembled a total eclipse taking place.
By the time Dave Lamont signed off two minutes after the matinee ended, he announced they would be open in just 89 minutes for the next evening performance. Usually there is about a 3-hour break in between performances. All 5 delays came in the first hour and 15 minutes of the performance and it’s amazing it didn’t go off more times as the weather continued to be nasty out there. They must have fixed the problem or something. Dania’s parking lot was flooded in the heavy rain. One patron told me he left with the water well above his ankles. Even good old rubbers on the shoes would have been worthless!
The weather was only an issue on Saturday, but it was nasty. Ask anyone in the entire state of Florida. Sunday is Football Day, and with the states 3 NFL teams battling for a playoff spot for the first time in years, if not decades, and that had to hurt, too.
Lack of marketing
According to a lot of people I’ve talked to, the main culprit was the lack of marketing on Dania’s behalf. Outside of the announcement during a broadcast the previous Friday night or with their video on the YouTube channel, Dania did nothing to promote it. No emails, no social media posts by them. Not a word on the cookie cutter website of theirs. It’s free – for crying out load. Promote it!!! Jeez. Outside of that announcement made by Dania, only the true faithful jai-alai fans that read Tigers site, or mine or Say Hi Li would have had a clue he was coming. Heck, for the past two years, I’ve promoted my business and this website with a full-page ad in the program. I didn’t even get a call or email from the marketing department asking about renewing for this season.
No one showed up in Miami either
Some people are bringing up that Goiko played in the that last Miami season before the decoupling. And no one was there. No argument there. In fact, I recall going to opening day and only me, Jesus and Jedan were in the entire building for the first 3 games. Jedan even had a Goiko bobblehead that he sat atop a chair in front of him and was taking photos with Goiko playing behind it. Now cool is that? Jedan even has a Super Bowl ring to boot!
The conclusion here is the Goiko event could not have been planned at another time and no one is to blame for that. But being around Christmas time, with little notice and completing against Magic City’s championship night with big money on the line for some of the players, lousy weather on the big day -Saturday – for two of the performances made matters worse.
What about Goiko’s performance?
The lackluster performance on Friday night by Goiko may have deterred people from coming from around the area on Saturday. Goiko‘s performance on Friday was not good. Some called it a waste of their Friday night to watch it. Some said it was totally lackluster effort. He didn’t care. He was tired. Was he jet-lagged? Someone even mentioned he didn’t want to show up the other players. Ouch!
He did not appear “in the money” for the 4 games he played that night, nor the next 3 on the Saturday matinee, for that matter. But you could see he was warming up near the end of the matinee and was on a roll by Sunday.
One former player from Dania Jai-alai told me that Goiko had not played there in several years and was trying to get acclimated to the court. He said you could tell by his rebotes that he was struggling on balls coming off the back wall. Dania is much different than most other canchas because of the way the back wall slants slightly toward the court and is why they have more chic chacs and chulas there than most other frontons do. It is very difficult to judge without experience on the court.
I think that may summed it up well from the former Dania player. With plenty of sport stars, the same thing could be said, but canchas are different from one another and that doesn’t help. Ever see someone step on the Magic City court for the first time and see how they do?
The final stats
Goiko’s final line for the 4 performances ended up decent overall, especially an 0/7 start.
Games Win Place Show Win% ITM%
18 3 5 2 .167 .556
As far as the handle goes, it appears that it was up from previous weekends, but we don’t have the numbers offhand.
In conclusion
After the event Sunday, Goiko spent a lot of time signing autographs, taking pictures with those in attendance before leaving.
A special thanks to Goiko for coming to the USA and to Benny for putting it on. It’s too bad it didn’t go perfectly and not everyone was able to cash their $12 quiniela tickets on Friday night! Thats why it’s called gambling, I guess.
Starting tomorrow, The Pelota Press website and the Pelota Press Tampa Bay Facebook page will rerun the entire series from beginning to end.
The three-and-a-half-year run ended recently, brining back memories from the guy who was literally the “fly on the wall” during the heydays of jai-alai as part of management of the world’s largest jai-alai operator.
I know many of you did not get to see some of the earlier stories as word spread about them posted on a new developed jai-alai blog site. And I know myself, refreshing these stories from 40 months ago will be a treat itself.
Starting tomorrow, the first Marty story will reappear on the Pelota Press website and on our new Facebook page – Pelota Press – Tampa Bay. I don’t use Facebook personally (and I don’t trust the founder) but I realize its popularity across the world and the ability for anyone to post a reply about it. Heck, even MLB Hall of Famer Fred McGriff clicked “Loved” a story I recently posted!
NJAA’s matchmaker Anthony put together a first of its kind paritdo event at the St. Pete Cancha last Saturday 12/09 and came out a clear-cut winner in the headliner match.
Games were to be played to either 10 points or 7 and were to feature one on one partido’s in the best of 3.
Anthony, the current USA Masters Champion of Jai-Alai, was able to sweep another top player on the Tampa Bay roster, Rule, by the identical scores of 10-4.
Anthony’s Draft Kings odds to win were 2-1.
There were several other matches on the undercard.
Seminole King beat Ricky Hernandez 7-6 and 7-4 in which some billed as the only upset on the day. The Pelota Press disagrees because Ricky has only played 2-3 times in the past 2 ½ years and was going to be rusty. Seminole King is no chopped liver himself and has played steady about 3 times a week for the past 13 years or so. Ricky, the former Tampa pro, has consistently been ranked as a top 3 player (if not number 1) for the past 13 years himself on the Sunshine City court.
The second partido of the day included Magic Mike vs. Alex. Those scores were identical to Anthony vs. Rule, with Alex winning the two games 10-4. Magic Mike, the computer consultant, and web poster for the Pelota Press has only been able to play one day a week, vs the 6 times a week he had played for the previous 15 years, sometimes racking in over 1,500 games a year, Mike is lucky to get in 4 games a week now with Saturday mornings the only time he can sneak away from his new larger computer store location and working it solo 7 days a week. Mike did not have a good day and missed many easy catches. Alex is a crafty front courter who can beat you many ways and was a 6-5 favorite.
The 3rd match was me vs Chip. With 100 clams on the line, this was the clear cut hardest fought match of the day. I won the first game 10-8 and had come back in game 2 to tie Chip at 9 a piece before hitting the top metal strip attempting a bomb throw to go over Chips head. The players agreed to a draw as they were exhausted after the 10-8 and 10-9 games. The odds were even money on this match, although I was adamant Chip would win. There is a chance game 3 will be played at a date TBA. With Goiko heading to Dania this weekend, it may be at a much later date with the holidays rolling in too. Surprising Chip said no kill shots allowed, and I quickly agreed. With dough on the line, Chip can turn it up a notch and is no slouch out there with plenty of kill shots and a good rebote. Plus, he’s got some good genes in him, as he is the brother of “ANT-nee”.
The event will likely do it all again this spring. Stay tuned.
