N Miami visits Tampa Bay Review 6/10 & 6/11
Several players from the N. Miami Amateur court made a return visit to St. Pete for another weekend of great action at Puryear Park. A total of about 25 players over the two-day event, braving the hot sunshine for over 4 hours on Saturday and another 3 hours on Sunday.
The event, in which a similar one also took place about 11 months ago, was organized by Belota. He did not play but was the official ref/scorekeeper for the event.
A crowd of about 30 attended each day, with random games played by a mixture of the Tampa Bay groups and several players from N. Miami on Saturday.
On Sunday, the top players were hand selected to play and included former Tampa pro players Daniel, Corky, and Scott King.
Trying to announce a winner of Sunday’s action would be an injustice as a few players that had advanced in the tournament dropped out after “heat exhaustion” issues . But the final team of Scott King and Daniel were the eventual winners winning 7-5 and 7-5 in the best of 3.
The court was spiced up considerably with a new coat of a lighter “Ocala” green put on the front and back walls. The overhead netting was also tightened up considerably, reducing the number of balls hitting it.
Overhaul, the jai-alai action was exciting to watch and play in. It was great to see several faces in the crowd that hadn’t been around a while.
On Saturday evening, a Jai-alai party was held at the Museum that included a Taco Bar – made from scratch with beef, pork, and chicken. Special thanks to my wife for another great meal at the jai-alai parties. The party started off with the Belmont race complete with live betting and watched in the home theatre. One lucky winner dropped $40 on the 3 to win and collected a hefty $356 for his winnings.
The blackjack table was full the entire night and run by former pro player and Puryear park alumni Rocco. Rocco has also been a professional dealer at three Hard Rock Casino locations.
Overall, a great weekend. Aware of the hot summer months being an issue with players scratching as the day progressed, Belota and Company decided to hold the next event in February when average highs are in the low 70s and not 90 plus with the humidity making it much worse.
