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Crowder Polo Report Archives '02-'04
July '04| June '04| May '04 |April '04 |March '04 | Feb. '04|Jan '04 | Nov- Dec. '03 | Oct. '03 | Sept. '03 |Aug. '03 | July '03|June '03 | May '03 | April '03|March '03| Feb '03|Jan '03 |Dec. '02 |Nov. '02|Oct. '02 | Sept. '02 |Aug. '02 |July '02 |June '02 |May '02 |April '02 |March '02 | Feb. '02 | Jan. '02 |
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Aug. 30th 04: Antelope – E Palmer – A – That’s what it was in the Pacific Coast Open. The Antelope ran through the Oaks and did they ever run that 4th chukker. I do not know who the horse judge was, but he must have missed the fourth because if Adam Snows 'Amy " was not the best horse on Sunday there is a job waiting for the judge in gymnastics at the Olympics. Anyway, it was a wild and hard game until then. There is no doubt that Geoff Palmer came to playm bad back and all. He was a positively a wild man taking on 4-goalers and 8-goalers. Geoff was on fire. Geoff had never come this close to playing in the finals of the PCO in many tries. He left no doubt he was going to try to take the big silver home with him and he did. A game of horses and speed with the largest crowd I have ever seen at polo in Santa Barbara. The PCO Finals was a very good game . Tuscany took the first 2 goals and watched Geoff Palmer got ‘em back with a very good tail shot and they tied it up and went up by one at the very end of the 1st. The second chukker was all Tuscany Oak as they went up by 2 and led 5 to 3. In the 3 rd they finished with Tuscany up by 2 at 6 to 4. Then the Snowman (Adam Snow) let it rip to new levels as he and his mount Amy were absolutely unstoppable. This is where the PCO was won. Antelope tied it up and went up by 3 at the end of 4th it was a 9 to 5 ballgame. Snow never got off his mare for 7 minutes of pure speed and fitness. The fifth was Tuscany Oak winning the chukker only by 1 to make 10 to 8. Then it was all Antelope again in the 6th as nothing went right for the Oaks. The surge continued for Antelope as they leaped over and under and scored 3 unanswered goals to win by a score of 13 to 8 and to become the 2004 PCO champs. They had the young gun “The MIG” (Miguelito Torres) and he was very good all day. Luis Escobar and the Snowman (Adam Snow) were very tough all day. Mr. Palmer was just amazing as he took a man, he scored goals, he fouled, he fought and he tailed that ball when he needed to and he just '”DID IT” all right. Their only loss in their run to the Cup was to Grant’s Farm who went right on by the boys from the hills of Houston, Isla Carroll, as they took 3rd place for the year with a 2 goal win over Isla Carroll in the Bronze/Consolation. It was a good game, but nothing like the finals. It was a real polo game, clean fast, well umpired and the field was rough which usually causes the rough and foul ridden games, but it was not that way. Tuscany Oaks was blown for 5 fouls during the entire game. Antelope was whistled for 11 fouls and 5 of them were in the 5th chukker when they were smelling victory. It was a very good showing for the American side of polo as only 1 Argentine was on the field in the finals. He is more of a local than most people here and hs name is Mariano Gonzalez. So long to you all. You should have been here. It was a very good time. See ya and well done ANTELOPE! Aug. 29th, ’04: Final Time - Its the last time 20 goal polo will be seen in California in 2004 and it happens at 3 p.m. Sunday. It should be a good one. It’s the first PCO Final for Antelope, who have had a team in the 20 goal for many years, but they never had a Snowman. This year Geoff Palmer said he was ready to rumble and has he ever they came from all over. Geoff brought Luis Escobar from Florida. The Snowman (Adam Snow) from the Carolinas and “The Mig” from Jr. polo. Antelope slid by the defending champs and took it to the Cowboys of Piocho and lost a heartbreaker to The Farm, but held on to get to the Semis with there business like form. They out rode Isla Carroll in their open run and they get to face the Tuscany Oak squad in the finals with the flying Galindo with a title by his name from last year. Tuscany also has the Cabazon (Mariano Gonalez) who also has one by his name from 2 yrs. Ago. I know Bullet Bob Fell has been here before and has his name on the cup somewhere, but its been a while. It should be a royal battle by two home teams for the first time in several years. So it should be a noisy crowd. Yesterday it was Piocho Ranch stopping the Everglades at the best place to play polo in California, Tom Barracks Ranch which has 2 awesome fields. It is without a doubt the best host in West Coast Polo as they had a big party after the game in the beauty of the Piocho Ranch, which is so nice it cannot be put into words. As the full moon rose and the sunset, it was a great way to end the final night of action in the San Ynez Mountains Thanks Tom, Laurel and T.J. for a wonderful time. And to all the fans that did not make it, sorry you missed it. See you at the finals. It all starts at 12.30 Sunday PM Aug. 28th, '04: The Other Side Of The Story- As Paul Harvey used to say and the rest of the story. That’s what this is. I was talking to one of the umpires at Santa Barbara that I have been picking on a lot this year. He said some things that make a lot of sense and he is a millionaire already, so he does not need to do this job. He said and its true “ the umpires are really at the mercy of all the Club, the patrons and the pros.” Well he is right. I wanted to know why they did not do some things and this was his comment “We do that and the Patrons get upset.” We meaning the umpires? We are a bunch of vague people in many ways. If you think about it who gets hurt when a player is ejected? The Patron. Who pays the umpires? The Patrons. Who do the pros blame when they lose? The Umpires. Who is wrong with all the calls against a team? The Umpires. Who is not going to be there in the end? The Umpires. Some very interesting thoughts came to mind after this conversation and most are questions. Well in the old days pros did the umpiring and it was sure somewhere down the line it would be payback for sure. It was just the way it was. Nobody umpires anymore so who knows for sure what’s what? Its the professional umpires job, so its not my problem. Well when we were kids if Dad said “Okay” and Mom said “No” there were usually some problems and that’s the way it is with umpires. The pro says this and the crowd says that and pretty soon the Patron agrees or does not take sides, but leans his way with his pro. So I think there maybe a solution. When the tournament is drawn only the Patrons and Managers meet with the Chief Umpire. No pros,. No coaches and no one else. The Umpires lay out their ideas of a program and its not decided until the patrons agree with the program. Then the Club puts the Patron on the line to do it right. If the Patron’s Pro is a problem, it’s the Patron’s problem, not the Clubs. The Patron may do as in the NBA. Suspend their pro’s play or no pay or whatever he decides, but it’s the Patrons responsibility for their team and pros. No matter what, it’s their problem to work out. They can cut pay, fine or ignore, but it’s the Patron’s problem. I agree with the umpires that the game is very disrespectful on all fronts. But like most things, money talks, bull---- walks. You can bet if a pro gets ejected and pays a fine and he loses pay, he will shut-up or leave. Like if the 10-goaler is ejected he loses his pay for the day or maybe games he does not play. The Patron’s we need. They do not need us. If you can afford to play polo you can easily not play. So we need them and we need to respect the rules and the officials. I think we have let everyone go to far, but the umpires are responsible. As for the players the Patron’s hired them and they can fire them. The umps need to be fined as well. When they do a weak job so fine them to. Aug. 26th ’04: Six Chukkers Don’t Mean Anything! - Both games today at the end of 6th were just the same as when they started. Tied. So you know what that means? Overtime. Both exciting endings and both had a similar pattern. The losers were up by 3 at one time in both games, but it did not last. The handicaps were very fair today for sure. Game #1 at 1:00 PM with Tuscany Oaks vs. Grant’s Farm. It was game 1 at 1 on field 1 and it was a 1 goal game. All the 1 's fit except Grant’s Farm did not want their end of 1. The Grant’s Farm team got out to a quick 2-goal lead at the end of the 1st, up by 2 at the end of 2nd and up by 1 at 1/2 time. The Oaks got rolling in the 4th and tied it up, but GF finished up by 1 in the fifth. It was Tuscany Oaks taking the lead and in the 6th it was Tuscany Oaks up by 1. Grant’s Farm tied it all up and it finished that way. In the overtime chukker it looked good for a moment for Grant’s Farm, but a hit horse reversed the ball and Mariano Gonzalez was off. It was the flying Galindo who nailed it to send them to the finals on Sunday. The game was clean, fast and hard. The best player on the field was Jeff Blake and there were several very good horses. Each team missed 2 penalty 4 's and made 3 and each team knocked in 7 times. So it was close from the top to the bottom and off they go. Grant’s Farm goes for the bronze on Sunday where they will meet Isla Carroll who lost another barnburner the hard way. It was Isla Carroll up by 3 at the end of the 1st and tied at the end of the 2nd. It was Antelope up by 1 at the 1/2 and at the end of the 4th and 5th. Isla Carroll won the 6th and they were up when the Snowman (Adam Snow) set it up and finished it off to tie it at the end. In the overtime chukker it was the same as the 1st, off went Isla Carroll to goal, but it was a miss. Then down the other way as Luis Escobar took off for the flag land, but got caught right at the 10 yard line. Antelope fouled then just as Pancho Bensadon set sail for the goal. On his setting penalty 5, it was woops I left something behind and the Mig (Migelito Torres) stuck it home and Pancho did leave something behind the PCO for 04. Geoff Palmer played awesome for being off for 10 days with a bad back. The Snowman was just a little quicker than Pancho Bensadon most of the day, but the best player on the field for his handicap was Big John Goodman the patron of Isla Carroll. He was double tough today as he has been all through this tournament. It was a very big day for polo, a very big crowd for a Thursday and very weird weather. It was hot at noon and freezing at 4:00, but it was a polo kind of day and so will the next 3 days be. So come see the ponies run down the Santa Barbara lanes . See ya Aug. 25, 04: The Final Four - It all started almost 2 months ago and now there are just two more games to go. There is a difference between the two. One for the gold and one is for the bronze. It’s got to be that way and it is. Thursday promises to be a brand new era and ups the level of all involved. Thursday is the semi finals of the Pacific Coast Open 20 Goal Tournament. There are no more games to the title of the 9 teams, 36 players, 360 horses, 40 + grooms and a whole bunch of families and friends. There are only 4 teams who are still in town for the reason they came here. The others are either on the road or enjoying the weather. Some big sticks went down including: Bendabout, Duende as well as Las Monitas. They are all very strong teams and finalist in the other two 20-goal tournaments, but that’s the way it is in polo. It might just not be your day and it’s so long until the next time. The final Four are . . . Antelope - They have done it well. They have just missed both finals and are not looking for 3 of a kind. Miguel Torres, Jr (the Mig) They have the 10-goaler, The Snowman, the young gun (Mig) and they have the enforcer Luis and sometimes they have the patron Geoff Palmer who is fighting a back issue at the moment. When they do not have him they have another young gun called Marcos Bignoli and he is hot. Neither of these Young Guns have a Drivers License yet, I don't think, but they do know how to drive a team and pull the Snowman down the field. They will be tough either way and they meet Isla Carroll. Isla Carroll -- Who has a lot of silver this year already and most of it says Open on it somewhere like the U.S. Open or Texas Open. They have Sugar Erskine and Ice (Mr. Chris Nevins) to go along with Big John Goodman and Dig (Pancho Bensadon). Chris Nevins ( the Iceman) They are lighting fast and have the hard hitting patron who is playing every game well above his handicap (John Goodman). Isla Carroll has not made a final yet in Santa Barbara, but they are on a mission now that says “Open.” They do want 3 of a kind. Pancho will dig in and Sugar will work, so be ready to rumble as the Antelope have a big day ahead to send the Texans back East a day early. In the first game on Thursday it will be another range war between the Farmers of Grant’s Farm and the Oaks of Tuscany Oaks. Only one team can survive. Either the Oaks get cut down and the farming goes on or it will be the Oaks left standing and the farmers have to park their tractors and watch the Oaks grow. The Oaks are . . . Tuscany Oaks: Bob Fell Speed undenied with Hector Galindo on the fly and Danger in “Bullet Bob Fell” as he has about 4 goals in first to matches there 1 & 1 in games so far. Then you have Mariano Gonzalez who knows the land the best even though he's from out of town. He has reaped a lot of silver from this here land. BB is just that, Bad Brad Blake. He is a young gun and he is so tough. He should have a patch over one eye and he already carries a sword. The Farmer’s are still looking for that # 1 status on the West Coast and they have 1 more chance, but they have to get rid of the Oaks first. Grants Farm has . . . . Joe Stuart (Josey ) They have some major plowing to do, but they have the workhorses for it. Andy Busch will drive the tractor and Julio will organize it. They have the only guy tougher than BB, which is his brother Jeff, to lead it .And Josey (Joseph Stuart) is going to be running and we hope hitting. It’s just like Josey saw that dog right between the eyes of the red goal post . So come see the action this Thursday . . . 1 p.m. Grants Farm vs Tuscany Oaks Aug. 23, '04: Confirmation and Controversy - Santa Barbara has had some real problems of late and the big? Why? I have been around polo since '75 and I have seen a lot of things happen in the world of polo. Not all good, but there is trouble on the rim in Santa Barbara and I am not sure why. Here is a layout of events. (1) A player was struck with an error by an uncontolled mallet. It was ugly, but not an incident expected by either player. As I have known both players for nearly ten years and I have been involved with them on teams. It was bad, but not in my opinion something totally out of wack for these two hard competitors. There was not a verbal assault previous to the incident. The Player was reprimanded and fined and also put on probation. (2) Was also a temper tantrum event, but here is where I think it is not completely the player's fault. I know from having a fairly quick temper of my own, some things bother you, but like when your Dad said "do this or else" it was just a bother. Just like when you grow up and get stopped for speeding. It usaually wakes you up for a while. Well I think the Police on the polo field are the Umpires. Much like all pro sports, they are the law and I think they must obey the law as well. We have seen games of football and Basketball get out of control when the police are lax and you speed when you know there's none around. Or they are easy on the limit and then your mad as heck if you're caught. You usually argue. Well there is as a rule no gain. Most fiat fights or lawsuits are from an argument or verbal abuse due to temper. Well it's up to the Police to stop it. Well the Umpires do and there are going to be consequences of the some kind. I think incident 2 was total lack of policing right from the start. In the second chukkar there was a man down behind the play and no one claims to have seen it, but it started much verbal abuse to the Umps and this is where I believe the problem started. There was no consequence or punishment and that opens up all the problems for me. If I tell you to shut up and I have that right and you do not, your fired out of here or hit with a big stick or you hit me with a bigger stick and if I am the law you’re in trouble. Well this game became that way and there were no cosequences and then it was out of control. Not saying the player is or was right, but it's also the law's fault for letting it get to this level of abuse. The player must be punished, but the cop needs to pay a fine too. He did not do his job either or lose it. He will remember it next time. Player punished and cop-ref to continue doing his job as before. Aug. 22nd, '04: Powder River on The Coast -AMBUSH AT 10 AM. It was the Cowboys of San Ynez from piocho Ranch being Ambushed early on a semi-foggy morning in Santa Barbara in the Pacfic Coast Open. Grant's Farm and Andy Busch took off quick and got up by 2, at 4 to 2. Then Memo Gracida pulled out his rope and tied 'em up for the next 3 chukkers. Tom Barrack and young gun Julio Gracida took it to the flag land often and reeled off 6 straight goals. It looked like they were free to go on to the semis on their own, but about the fifth chukker it was Jeff Blake getting untied. Andy Busch started to rise and their young gun Josey (Joseph Stuart) started to sputter and it was time for the 6th to start. It was show time at the OK Corral all over as the Busch-wackers started rolling and roll they did. Down by 3 at 6 to go they stuffed the goal 4 times in the next 320 seconds from all angles. The Cowboys lost their ropes and their hats and waved goodbye to 2004 PCO as Grants Farm rode away with the sweetest victory with a huge team effort in the last 6 minutes. Grant's Farm is headed to the semis where they meet the old Oak tree from Tuscany Oaks. Tuscany, who raised their acorns just enough to stop the Texans from Isla Carroll of Houston, who were already in the medal round and pretty sure on top of their bracket. They get to meet an idle Antelope, who had the day off to rest their horses and their Patron Geoff Palmer for the big one this Thursday at 3 p.m. Aug. 19, ’04: Eight Is Not The Place To Be - There were 4 games today and 8 was not the number to have. All four losers had 8 by their name as 3 games ended at 9 to 8 and 1 was 10 to 8. Very odd, but polo was that way today. It started early as the 10 a.m. special was Isla Carroll and Bendabout tangling it early on a foggy cool morning. It was the Iceman “Chris Nevins” doing the damage he took out a 1- goaler and he is only a 3-goaler. The way it happened was not his normal polite way, but with his team up by 2 it was a mishap that took Miguel Astrada out of the game. Alex, I am not sure his last name, but he is a 2-goaler. He put on the shirt and nearly did it as he replaced a 10-goal player and thought he better play like one and he nearly did. They roared back and if not for a bad last shot, they could have sent this game into Overtime. It was Sugar Erskine and company (Isla Carroll) going to 2 & 0. A good idea on what they got to do on Sunday. The 12 o’clock was a shocker as Tuscany Oaks took a winning streak in what has been looking good and came up short as big brother Skeeter matched sister Gillian’s performance a couple weeks ago. Skeeter showed his mettle as he scored 4 very big goals and Bullet Bob Fell was not able to handle the hot hand of SK3. It was a dynamic performance for a team that has been just so-so thus far this year. They shut down the hired guns of Tuscan Oak and were the only ones to win by 2 today. They put Tuscany in a hole and now hey have to deal with Sugar and Creamy Pancho Bensadon (Isla Carroll) for the semi bid. At 2 p.m. it was a “gut-it-out” game as Antelope, featuring 4 pros, took on Grant’s Farm and came out with the hammer down. Antelope was down by 2 early and tied it in the end of the first and stayed up all through the next 3 chukkers. In the 4th they were up by 3 and entered the th up by 2. They came out by up by 1, but Jeff Blake was on attack with Andy Busch and Josey (Joseph Stuart) from the throw in at the start of the 6th. Grant’s Farm had been controlling the game from the 5th on, but were unable to put it on the board. Finally Grant’s Farm tied it up in time, but not finishing it off. They went into overtime. Finally the man of the day finished as Jeff Blake sent the flag waving and put a stop on the Snowman’s (Adam Snow’s) run to goal. They finished and stand a good chance to go through with a 3 & 1 record, but its a Sunday game which carries their fate between Piocho and Grant’s Farm at 10 a.m. It was a very good game and fairly clean as young Marcos Bignoli showed that even as a substitute he is going nowhere but up. At 4 p.m. it was Duende with a 0 & 3 record looking like they ought to sit back, relax and wait for the consolation round, but that’s not a Paco or Matias’ mentality. They were going to make Piocho play and did. They carried it to the very end after being down by 4 in the last 3 minutes and almost tied it again, but came up with that 8 and could not top the 9 as happened 2 other times today. This is the way it is: Bracket A Bracket B Antelope 3 - 0 (20 net goals) Bendabout 0 - 2 Sunday will be the medal round. Here are the games to see: 10 a.m. Las Monjitas vs. Duende See ya Aug. 18th, ’04: Want Polo? Try Santa Barbara Polo Club on Thursday, August 19th like tomorrow there is: polo at 10 a.m. Bendabout 0-1 vs. Isla Carroll 1-0 Some changes for you in game 1. There are none, but it should be a show as you got speed and power vs. finesse and classic polo. Who will win? Nobody knows. In game 2, Everglades brought in a new rock star to take Parker Flannery's spot. He better be good because Parker is. I don't see this move, but nobody knows. Tuscany Oaks is tough and Bullet Bob Fell is ready. Game 3 Geoff Palmer is out with a bad back and Peter Ganibi is out and Marcos B. is in from the East Coast. Could be a good move, but Peter carried the mail on Sunday very well trading speed for fighting. Only Grant’s Farm will know. In game 4 they have Paco D Narvaez back and Ulysess Escarpite is ready to make hay. Piocho does not need to bale hay, they need to make hay on Thursday as they need a win. The way it is . . . Bendabout needs a win to stay in town and Tuscany will win. Grant’s Farm is best off for a win otherwise Antelope will be in with a win and probably with a loss, but it will cost as they finish on Thursday. At 4 it[s Duende saving their pride and Piocho thinks they are done, so it will be down and out war time. So be in town. It’s polo action on the Riviera from sun-up to sun-down. Come for breakfast and see all four or come for lunch and see two or come after work and see one. It’s all open to the public and its free. See ya Bracket 1 has 4 games Bracket 2 has 3 games Antelope 3 - 0 Bendabout 0 - 1 Las Mojitas 0 - 3 Tuscany Oaks 1 - 0 Duende 0 - 2 Isla Carroll 1 - 0 Grant’s farm 2 - 0 Everglades 0 - 1 Piocho Ranch 1 - 1 Down south it was Photo Ed Masterson and Mike Matz getting the big one. Mike did not want his Dad to get one up on him with a big win with Kissin’ Chris in the grade 1 race the day before. It was the Surfer (Diego Cossio) and Mr. Graham Bray stopping the Palomino (Jason Crowder) and Augi Daugi (Agustin Zavaleta) of Bloomit with Emilio (Sacal) and new man in town Jaime Bermudez in the finals to get by them for the big cup by 3 at 11 to 8. Suzanne Figi was out of town so wee Rhi Hosea stepped up to the plate and did her usual job. She took that sexy self and put her man in her pocket and kept him out of it and that’s the way it is with Rhi. She likes to be first just like Lady Figi. I had not heard until to late that on Friday the 13th young Tavito Bermudez was taken out with a concussion. He gets to watch polo until they head to France and the World Cup. Remember there are 4 games in Santa Barbara on Thursday. Aug. 13, ’04: Yes it was Friday the 13th here, there and everywhere. It was Opening Day for the Olympics and Opening Day for five teams in the 2004 Pacific Coast Open at Santa Barbara Polo Club. It was polo from 10 AM to 6 PM non-stop. At the end of the day it was a very good Friday the 13th for some like me. We did not lose and we did not win either, but we did not play. However, many did and in the first game at 10 am it was a long day for some. Duende had Paco De Narvaez out with an injury and brought in two replacement players from the South Agui Zavaleta and Mariano Fast_etta. They nearly had it in hand, but were one dip and a toot away as the Snowman (Adam Snow) caught ‘em and stopped ‘em. Antelope’s Patron, Geoff Palmer, might not like today. He had to leave in the 3rd as he pulled a muscle in his back, but here comes Peter from the gardens. Cell phones a ringing as out of the gardens and onto the lawn Peter with dirty boots and all shed his shovel and opened up the ditch to set Adam Snow and Luis Escobar loose with their cannon balls to the Mig (Miguel Torres, Jr.) and it was just enough to win it in the dying seconds of the 6th. Antelope one by 1 over a hard playing Duende. Antelope moves to 2 and 0 first in the line of 5 and send defending champs to 0 & 2. In the 12 o’clock it was Las Mojitas on a roll against Piocho Ranch. It just happened to be 2 Patrons on the move and playing very well as Camilo Bautista and Tom Barrack looked the pros in the eye and said “lets roll.” The only down side for Camilo is that kids like to roll too. The young gun of Piocho, Julio Gracida, is on fire and his Ferrari’s were flying as he let them roll to the goals so many times. It made one of the best players here Eduardo Astrada have to get 2 or 3 people sometimes and that’s not good when you still have Pablo McDonough or Memo Gracida coming. It was too much as they lost by 3 to the San Ynez Cowboys from Piocho who go to 1 & 0 and send Las Mojitas to 0 & 2. As the afternoon sun moved to the west and reports of Charlie pounding the west coast of Florida, it was the winners of the first two tournaments hooking up. Bendabout, the winners of The Americas Cup, took on the charging Tuscany Oaks who were the winners of the opening tournament, The Robert Skene Cup. It was supposed to be a war and it was. Tuscan Oaks came out with their speed and brute force as Mr. Speed himself, Hector Galindo, was flying and Brad Blake and Mariano Gonzalez took the brute force to go up by 3 ASAP. Then, Mr. Smooth started to roll as Miguel Astrada, as usual said whoa and zip, zip, and its 2 goals for Bendabout. We got a good game. It stayed close and was by 1 at the 1/2 and tied in the fourth. They got out again and Brad Blake tied it back up in the fifth. Then Hector Gallindo got on speed by the name of “Call Girl” and again and the race was on. Tuscany Oaks went up by 2 then here comes Miguel Astrada right back and tied it up and into overtime. Right then, after a start, it looks like Stevie Orthwein is going to be the hero as he beats them all to the goal mouth with a big grin just a little to soon as 1 small tap and its over, but it was not meant to be. The Speed Man sends it to the side and to the condo end of the field and a foul. Mr G put it in the record books with a win for Tuscan Oaks. Tuscany moves to 1 & 0 and Bendabout to 0 & 1. It was probably the best game of the day. Bullet Bob Fell (Tuscany Oaks) and GGG Gillian Johnston (Bendabout) were a big part of their well-oiled machines. It was Bendabout losing their first game in a month. At the twilight special after 6 hours of non-stop polo it was Isla Carroll vs. Everglades. It was Captain John Goodman and hard-charging Iceman (Chris Nevins) helping the big boys of Isla Carroll very much. It was a little too much for the big guns of Everglades as they caught them often, but never passed them. Everglades caught them again, but never went up and in the end it was Isla Carroll by 3 and they go to 1 & 0 and Everglades goe to 0 & 1 The way it is now: antelope 2 - 0 Bendabout 0 - 1 Los Mojitas 0 - 2 Tuscany Oaks 1 - 0 Duende 0 - 2 Isla Carol 1 - 0 Grants Farm 1 - 0 Everglades 0 - 1 Piocho Ranch 1 - 0
Sunday is this way
1 p.m. Las Mojitas vs. Grants Farm 3 p.m. Antelope vs. Piocho Ranch
#### thursday ### note not Friday
10 a.m Bendabout vs. Isla Carroll 12 noon Tuscany Oaks vs. Everglades 2 p.m. Antelope vs. Grants Farm 4 p.m. Duende vs. Piocho Ranch
Down south in San Diego it was a real Friday the 13th as it started early and David Rose fell under a horse and broke his ankle. Then the Palomino caught a appealing Mini Mike Matz’ Taco (mallet) with his nose. Then Shane Rice got hit with a barrel of something and hurt his ankle. Then the Duende helpers Mariano Fassetta and Agustin Zavaleta did not get a chopper ride back to San Diego and did not make it back for 4 1/2 hours in Friday traffic and were absent for the first 3 chukkers. I heard on the TV that Friday the 13th was not a superstitious day in South America, but it might be a bad day to be in the USA. As at 10 am, 3 South Americans lost. At 12:00 4 lost and 1 won. At 2 pm it was 2 down, 1 up and at 4:00 it was 1 up in San Diego. It was 50/50 as there was 1 on each team. As for the results in San Diego I got so many injury reports I only heard 1 polo result as The Voyagers won by 1 over the Bermit, Jamie Bermudez led team. So Mariano Fassetta was 1 & 1 for the day and AZ had a Friday the 13th at 0 & 2. Sunday is the finals in San Diego. There is 20-goal, 3 round action in Santa Barbara, so be there somewhere they play polo. See ya. Aug. 13, ’04: There Could Only Be 4 On Saturday Morning - Friday the 13th is a big day for 8 teams. Only Grant’s Farm is out for the day. Some will be opening, some will be hoping and some will be trying to stay alive. It will be a very brutal day. It is on the 13th and it is a Friday. So what . . . well here's the way it is : At 10 a.m. its Antelope trying to keep their streak of 1 game going and they take on Duende who got beat on Sunday. Maybe a different team for the day as Paco de Navarez is out with a groin pull. Look for Fast-etta (Mariano Fassetta) to appear and maybe a 5-Goal Augi Zavaleta or a 4-Goal Palomino (Jason Crowder) either way it spells trouble for Antelope They have Geoff Palmer and do not count him out as he flies a Mig and he 's fast. It will be 2 - 0 or 1-1. For round 2: At 12 noon Las Mojitas 0 - 1 vs. Piocho in their first game of the 2004 PCO. They have been up in the hills working or they will wish they had as Las Mojitas needs a win to stay in town. At 2 in the p.m. it will be:Bendabout vs. Tuscany Oaks. Be ready for speed vs. control as Hector Galindo will fly and Brad Blake and Mariano Gonzalez do the sweating. MR. Astrada will be lurking for the steal and he will deal the ball to his team. If he does not finish on his own they will both be doing their first run, so they have a sweet double 0 to start. The 4 p.m. game brings together some old teammates and some tough polo players. A young gun. On one side you have Isla Carroll and they pack the U.S. OPEN title with them in Sugar Erkskin and Pancho Bensadon with Boss Man John Goodman. They have a new rider “the Iceman” Chris Nevins. On the other side it is Piocho Ranch. They have the # 4 of Isla Carroll on their side at #3. His handle is easy . . . its Memo Gracida. Behind Memo is head cowboy Tom Barrack making his entrance back into town. They have an 8-goal explosion by the name of Pablo McDonough chasing young gun Julio Gracida, who at 16 is a veteran in these parades to the title. At sundown tomorrow there will still be 9 teams with a very good chance to be here in 16 days, but there will be a clear cut knowledge of who is and who is not going to be around town in 2 weeks. It will be one of the best days of polo in the state of CA for a while, so be there. If you miss it be there on Sunday when there are 2 games at 1 and 3. Don’t forget to support the USA World Cup Polo Team by buying some raffle tickets for a chance to win a Polo Pony. Sunday 1 p.m. Grants Farm vs. Las Mojitas See ya there. Aug. 8th, '04: Taking It Away! It all starts out even so they say. For a while on Opening Sunday of the Pacific Coast Open seemed that way, then a team who had lost only one game this year, Las Mojitas (which was the last finals) took on a team with little luck to date, Antelope. Antelope has a 10-goaler (Adam Snow) and a young gun the Mig Torres, but most of all they have a Patron (Geoff Palmer) who was taken off the penalty line with some bad games. So he said if he cannot take penalties he would just take ‘em from afar and he did. Geoff opened the game with a daring 80-yard neck shot that was the first goal of the game and he worked so hard to do it all. Then he finished the day and scored the winning goal with less than 20 seconds on the clock. He earned it today! In the 3 o’clock it was two old neighbors and enemies on the polo field who had a donnybrook . . . Grant’s Farm vs. Duende. They finished the second chukker with Duende up by 1, but by the end of the 4th Jeff Blake of Grant’s Farm had scored 8 goals and Duende 3. Jeff got some help in the fifth, but finished with 9 total goals scored, almost double the 5 scored by the other team and his teammates. To end the day by 9 over Duende, the Grant’s Farmers had a very good day. This makes the headline taking it away. It means taking the lead and the W's (wins) mean so much. These four teams switch partners this Friday, so it could be a very important weekend. There are four games on Friday as all teams play except Grants Farm who play Las Monjitas on Sunday. This is the way it is after 1 game for 5 bracket teams: Antelope 1 - 0 Las Mojitas 0 - 1 Duende 0 - 1 Piocho Ranch 0 - 0 Grants Farm 1 - 0
Bendabout Tuscany Oaks Isla Carrol ( No Games Played yet ) Everglades
Friday
10.30 Antelope vs Duende 12 noon Los Mojitas vs Piocho 2 p.m. Bendabout vs tuscany oaks 4 p.m. Everglades vs Isla Carol
There’s plenty of polo come and see us. Down south at the Surf Club in San Diego it was Gypsy taking a big one over the Surfer Doc/Madison Square. Voyager, minus there head man Silent Chris Maloney, as he is away. It was an Emilio sort of day as he joined up with new comer Jamie Bermudez and stuck a whipping on the Fat Boy (now thinner ) Georges Daou White Oak Polo team. Emilio scored 3 or 4 goals for the cause, so he had a very good day to start his second half of the season. Aug. 6th, '04: We got some justice in the Polo World. The USA Team got a big donation from Tim Gannon. It was sort of a weird justice in polo as 3 of the 4 teams in the semis at S.B. yesterday. So it was sort of a family affair. Two teams had 4 brothers who are probably for sure the Kings of the Polo World today . .. The Astrada's On one of those teams there was a Sister (Gillian Johnston) of the other patron so if you look at it on The Everglades was Skeeter Johnston, their patron playing with a 20-goal team, against the very talented and underated Las Monjitas with 2 Astradas (Eduardo and Ignacio). Ignacio is under rated. He is 9 goals everywhere but here in the U.S. where he is rated a 7. It’s not even a possibility he plays worse here than anywhere else in the World. Skeeter's sister Gillian, patrona of Bendabout who has a 5 goal player rated 7 everywhere else in the World, but here where he is rated a 5. Bendabout wins against a team who has a very good 20-goal team. It is Skeeter’s misfortune to play one of these teams and Gillian's fortune to have one of them on her team and that’s the way it is. Now on to the finals where these two teams are playing in a 20-goal finals and are both 22 + teams. Well, everyone else is complaining, yet we as usual just complain as this has been our handicap committee’s way . . . leave the foreigners alone and raise the handicaps to punish young Americans. In 2001 it was Sapo Caset playing in Florida. He was amazing at 3 goals. He came here to California at 3 goals and won the big tournaments with Memo Gracida and still remained at 3 goals. When Sapo left for Argentina after the season we got him! He was raised to 5 and then to 6 in Jan. We showed him! Then the next year along comes two American kids, one at 14 one at 18 years of age and playing well. They were not hidden away in the woods but playing on a regular basis and wham. On June 20th we nail them with the “Monster Rule” (raised 2). Well they are American, so they have to be punished for improving. Great job! One lost his playing job because his handicap was raised and the other player is stuck. And guess what? They are here 2.5 years later still on those same handicaps while Sapo is going to 8. Last year no one was picked on. All the American kids stayed home. Well in 2004 two boys from El Paso, TX were “Monster Ruled” in Feb. and teams changed. They were born in the USA and at least they are still playing as of now. We let some people go who we know are wrong and it has been wrong since Jan. How do we fix it? Semi – handicaps? I have tried to get this going before. It’s not a genius idea and it is used in the UK and Argentina. It would be so easy to implement. In the U.S. you have 2 locations they play during the winter (Jan. thru April) where any hotshot youngsters will be playing. So on April 1st all the young players should improve through the season and we can re-rate them. It is only about 1/3 of the USPA players and some could and should go down and some up because mistakes happen both ways. Some players get a lot better and some should not have been raised for one reason or another, but their careers do not have to be wiped out by a 2-goal spread. The Handicap Committee can fix the problems such as Astrada not being handicapped correctly in the first place and not have to worry because he is not an American and they screwed up. At least its not an all year mistake if we do semi-handicaps. On tax day, April 15th we can establish a semi-handicap reating and have an official handicap evaluation. This gives the players a chance to complete their tournaments. It gives patrons and players a legitimate chance to regroup. The “Monster Rule” can still exist for those rare cases of a double mistake or a Cambiaso, but the rest will be fair and easy. Just my opinion Miguel rocks and his 5-goal brother Javier, who is as good as any of them, made things happen. The team they faced was Las Monjitas and. Guess what? They had 2 brothers on the team and the kicker is their last name is also Astrada (Ignacio & Eduardo), but even they could not stop Gillian Johnston. She is a woman on a mission and it has a red flag at the end. Her parents and her family are some of the best people in polo, but she rides no one’s coat tails. Gillian may be the best # 1 in polo and easily the best 1-goal # 1 in polo period. Well all aside it was a Bendabout day as they took care of business early and came back late to finish the deal as they won by 2 and stopped the run of Las Monjitas They did have a game. It is 20-goals, but maybe more like 23-goal polo. Bendabout beat a very good Las Monjitas squad and did it well. So the 2004 Americas Cup winners are BENDABOUT. Now it all starts all over again for the Pacific Coast Open. We have had 4 weeks of High-Goal (20-Goal) in Santa Barbara and now we have 3 more weeks. So far it has been this Skene Cup - Tuscany Oaks beat Grants Farm by 1 goal Santa Barbara Cup - Duende beat Antelope by a couple Americas Cup - Bendabout beat Las Monjitas by 2 All even its been fairly close although the two finalists yesterday are probably the most under rated teams and they are in different brackets, so could be headed for another family affaire. That will be at least 3 weeks from now as Santa Barbara is seeing more good players than ever before or at least for a long time. With a host of big sticks and some very big people who make the big sticks tick like the Johnston Gillian and Skeeter, John Goodman, Andy Busch, Mike Hakan , Geoff Palmer, Tom Barrack & Bob Fell along with the newcomer Camilo Bautista. Camilo took over the main event yesterday and they did bring the big sticks, winners of the Argentine Open 3 of them Miguel, Ignacio & Eduardo and their little brother who could play it. He is the fifth brother and only 4 can play. He won the British Open last month and his name is Alejandro (Negro). Also here in Santa Barbara are all 4 players of the U.S. Open winners John Goodman, Memo Gracida, Sugar E., and last but not least Pancho Bensedon. So its the who’s who of polo right here. All in all there are . . . 10 goaler -- 3 9 goals -- 3 8 goals -- 8 7 goals -- 2 6 goals -- 1 5 goals -- 2 Not bad for a little town on the Riviera. It all starts over next Sunday at 1 PM. The draw . . . bracket 1 bracket 2 A. ANTELOPE F. BENDABOUT B. LOS MONJITAS G. TUSCANY OAKS C. DEUENDE H. ISLA CARROL D. GRANTS FARM I. EVERGLADES E. PIOCHO 1ST GAMES OF 2004 P.C.O. SUNDAY AFTERNOON SUNDAY 8 2004 1 P.M. Anetlope vs. Las Monjitas SEE YOU THERE
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