Crowder's Report - by Steve Crowder '06

April 1^st, ’06: Will it be? Hidden Creek will not go to the Governor’s Cup Finals, but it will be CARNATION FARMS. They were just a little too fast for the boys from Hidden Creek. It was 3 J's and a D (Jason Crowder, Joseph Stuart and Juan Jose Gonzalez and Dina Stuart) as they were one better, one more time than Hidden Creek. It was a very good game on a not so perfect day as it was not a sunny desert day. There was no rain, but it was a little windy and very cool. We had a very good performance by Carnation Farm as they have now knocked out the try for a three peat by White Oak and stopped the Red Machine (Hidden Creek) in the last 2 games. In the Lt. Govenor’s Cup it was Mr. Smooth (Curt Hughes) and his son Lance did a very good job as they led the charge of Friendly Chevy as they powered by Hoback on their way to the finals. In the Governor’s Challenge it was Ms. Kellie and OHANA who took Park Place down. Ms. Kellie is looking for silver for Kellie’s Tavern just over the hill. It should be a wild one. In other action it was High Prairie and Ms. Lutrel beating up on the Double Eagles and they will head to a match with MR. Smooth & Lance, Big David Aberham and The Little Z with a very big stick Clemente Zavaleta. It should be a dandy as well, so see you at the big ones on Sunday. Do not be late. It is the time change tonight, so remember its Spring so its spring forward 1 hour, not Fall back. See ya.

March 31^st, ’06: The Polo World We Know - When you look around the world of polo and think about it what do you think? Is it magic? Is it a dream world? Or is it the way you thought it would be? If you think it is as you thought it would be, you must have been born in the polo world. There is no doubt that it is a land of the unknown for most people. Not because its a rich mans game and it is, but I would venture to say 90% of the people in polo are not rich and never will be. Polo is a world that makes you feel rich. You are in the favorite escapes and places in the World. There is always green grass and the weather is usually better than anywhere else around. This is the first clue you are living in the right place like the wealthy. It is so nice to be in these places. I know so many stories of things you would never believe because if it was not for polo it could not be true.

In 1975 I wandered into the world of polo. I was in south Florida at a place called Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton, FL. Boca Raton, a town then of 38k people on Glades Road. The Polo Club was owned by Arvida Corp. It was a small sport. All people were big names in the USA. The bosses were like Uihlien, Busch, Oxley, Ylvisaker, Firestone, Orthwein, Fortungo, Butterworth, Bostwick, Johnston and several others. I think there were 3 foreign polo players including Julian Hipwood, Gonzalo Tanoria and Pablo Rincon Gallardo. We had a BBQ ever week and a down home party at the lounge every Sunday night.

Well 4 years later in 1979, two men made the sport of Polo a World affair. John T. Oxley and Bill Ylvisaker built polo stadiums 30 miles apart and the world of polo changed as fast as a full moon. We started big polo and we are still there, just bigger. Life changes and so do times. Boca is now a city of 300,000 people, Royal Palm is dwindling and Palm Beach Polo is history. Wellington, FL connects to Palm Beach and Argentines are no longer amateurs. 22 Goal is no longer high goal and they have electric scoreboards. The horses go faster, the grooms are not English and most grooms are not women. Polo players are athletes training at gyms, not Cowboys, grooms and horseman who had hand-eye coordination. They come from everywhere and go everywhere. In America there are probably fewer polo players and less patrons now than the good old days. Is it time or cost that reduced our number of players? We will never know because the older patrons have many offspring playing polo still to this day, but few support polo the way their Fathers did. Really only one polo player I know of who followed to support polo like his father and that was a man named Johnston. New people took up the sport. The World got richer and they found this a good place to be in their off season. So that’s good. International Polo Club (IPC) has become just that. The class of the World and it carries it through the turn of the century in a style similar to the 1920's. IPC is a place for the rich & famous. Like all things in life, a small percentage of very rich can afford to play polo and the rest of us are there too, but its good to be there with them. If you do not mind travel there’s not a better way of life. No snow, no cold, no heat waves and no ugly places. The polo world is a great place to raise your children and to be involved in for the most part.

There were about 100 or so people involved in Boca Polo Club the first year I was there. Many of these people are somehow still involved in polo through their children or themselves. All of the original patrons are still somehow involved. Most of the grooms and pros from that era are still involved as well. The first person I met in Florida was Jimmy Newman, Polo Manager extraordinaire. A few others who are still in polo are David Lominska who is a polo Photographer elite, Benny Gutierrez, Tom Hughes, Kathy Linfoot. JJ Duggan. Ronnie now runs a polo ranch, Casey runs Boca, Davey Rizzo is still head of N.Y. Mafia, Hipwood still plays, Evans’ boys play, Oxley's sons own Boca, the Barry’s are still around either playing or umpiring or somehow involved. Armour is boss man at Isla Carroll, Wayman is near and his son plays. Some people are gone from the polo World.

In 1979 things changed. Polo spread apart. Many came from everywhere and stuck together in their own ways. Polo became a big business and a real job. Horses, pros, fields and everything changed mostly for the better, but not all would agree I am sure. Speed, power, and discipline arrived and the first to show it were 2 young players from Argentina and Mexico. Gonzalo Pieres came from Argentina and from Mexico came Memo Gracida. Somehow John T. Oxley was responsible for both. Memo was first to arrive in Boca and found his way to greener pastures with Steve Gose. Gonzalo came like a bolt of lighting, small for those days, but quick and nearly unbeaten. For 3 years he worked for Oxley, but Gonzalo also found greener pastures as he joined the organizer Hector Barrantes with the man who made today’s polo what it is, Peter Brant. Peter made polo a big business and no excuses for anything but success. Both Gonzalo and Memo made their way to the top of the game and are pure examples of very successful business men and could both be patrons as well as polo sires. Gonzalo has 2 boys with handicaps of10 and Memo's son Julio is at 5 and going up.

Polo grew in the 80's from the two clubs in FL to small clubs across the country. In the 90's the polo industry was hurt some by the financial World, but new people and new places came. The turn of the century looked rough, then a few people and teams like White Birch, Isla Carroll and Kerry Packard took it to the next level where it is today.

Will polo continue to grow? I hope so, but life will be the same for most of the pros and the grooms. The wives go through a not so exciting life for those 3 minutes of glory on the Victory stand. Someday soon I will write a story about the life of a polo pro. You may not be impressed, but you will be impressed in the fact that they continue to do it. I have no complaints. I could be a ranch hand in Colorado and instead I have been everywhere in the World with the exception of Africa. I have met Princes, Queens and the fabulously wealthy and famous as well as many interesting people. I think I have had a very good life. I have never had to work in the snow since 1975 and I love it. See ya.

March 27^th, ’06: Massacre by Mansour - Windsor Capital has beaten Mansour by 20 goals in their last 3 games, but today they just fell off the fence. Windsor lost every penny to Mansour in the 16-goal Skins. They tied 3 chukkers just to fall in the next one. It was an Augie Dawgy day as the double Z brothers Agustin & Henry Zavaleta were powered by a VW (Federico VonWernich) from start to finish. They completely controlled the tempo of the game flying down the field with ball control. A non performance by the double J's (Jason Crowder and Joseph Stuart) and their power by Fast-etta never got rolling. It was the Governor Pat Nesbitt making more plays than most of our squad. I have been involved with about 10 of the Skins teams and had never lost more than half of the Skins chukkers and my teams have swept a couple, but nothing close to losing all six of them. That’s polo and the reason we play it.

In other polo news, it looks like the last or next to last year of polo at Eldorado Polo Club. They say the Club property sold to Tillman Development.

There were 16 other games all morning long and it started at 9:30 AM. It was Friendly Chevy coming out on a monster last chukker by Clemente Zavaleta to beat the Golden Bears/CNS polo in the Lt. Governor’s. In the Governor’s Cup it was a thriller as Ms. Kelly Maloney and her Ohana team took it to the Red Machine and Sir Sean Keys, but could not hang on in overtime. Sir Sean moves on. Carnation Farms and the Double J's (Jason Crowder and Joseph Stuart) had at least one good chukker as the added a J in Juan Jose. They blistered White Oak in the 4th by 3 to come back and win as they were down by 2 in the top of the 4^th. Also in the Governor’s Cup it was the Bones of Ron Bonaguidi and Hanalei Bay making a job on Miguel Gutierrez and freeing the Surfer (Diego Cossio) and turning the Flying Patrick loose as Hanalei Bay flew by DMI. In the other quarter finals it was Mr. Amin and crew (Golden Falcons) putting Park Place down also in overtime I think. It sets up a couple of dandy semis this coming weekend. Carnation Farms will take on Hidden Creek. Hanalei Bay will hook up with the Golden Falcons. There were many other games today on a very exciting weekend and I will get all results up ASAP. I just had to go home to lick my wounds from the Skins thrashing. Friday nitght was the Governor’s Ball and most had a ball. The Shoot 4 The Moon Crash and Burn was really fun on Saturday night. Silent Julito Chris Enrique Clemente Juan Maloney did a fabulous job and was not Silent at all. There was another party out at Brazo Norte on Sunday night which I have had no report on yet. Michael Rothbard and Sean’s La Quinta Polo Club opened this past weekend. Some photos of their 14-goal match will be posted by tomorrow. The field there is said to be great and it even has grass on it without holes. Something created by water and fertilizer.

See you at the Governor’s Cup.

March 27^th, ’06: The little big one. The Governor’s Cup is only 6-goals but drew 16 teams. They are down to the final 4 this Friday with the finals on Sunday.

In the Governor’s Cup Semi’s Carnation Farms will take on Hidden Creek. Hanalei Bay will hook up with the Golden Falcons.

Here is look at the results to date:

Park Place def. Golden Bears/CNS
Golden Falcons def. Golden Bears/CNS
Golden Falcons def. Friendly Chevrolet
DMI def. Hoback
Hanalei Bay def. DMI
Hanalei Bay def. Summerland

White Oak def. Playa Grande
Carnation Farms def. Playa Grande
Carnation Farms def. High Prairie
Ohana def. Orange County Polo
Hidden Creek def. Ohana
Hidden Creek def. Double Eagle

THE TEAMS . . .

PARK PLACE
BILL GARLOCK
MATIAS OBREGON
THOMAS OBREGON
DOUG BLUMENTHAL

GOLDEN BEARS/CNS
J.BOOT
NICK WINTERS
SHANE RICE
LOKESH TTANTAWAYA

FRIENDLY CHEVORLET
LANCE HUGHES
CLEMENTE ZAVALETA
DAVID ABRAHAMS
CURT HUGHES

Golden Falcon’s
KHALED BADR EL DIN
ROBERTITO ZEDDA
ERNIE EZCURRA
SANTI TORRES

HOBACK
BOB BRADLEY
TIM RUDY
ERIK WRIGHT
LAURA DICKINSON

DMI
CHRISTIAN NEUMANN
AMIN BADR EL DIN
CARLITOS CABRERA
MIGUEL GUITERREZ

SUMMERLAND
BOLKO KISSLING
DOMINGO QUESTEL
BILO ZARIF
LOLO PAYAN

HANALEI BAY
PATRICK URETZ
ALVARO TADEO
DIEGO COSSIO
RON BONAGUIDI

WHITE OAK
LAITH ALSARRAF
FRANCO GAI
ALFREDO BARABUCCI
MARIANO GUITIERREZ

PLAYA GRANDE
SHELLEY GEILER
CAROLINE ANIER
HENRY ZAVALETA
DAVID RAGLAND

CARNATION FARMS
JUAN GONZALEZ
JOESPH STUART
JASON CROWDER
DINA STUART

HIGH PRARIE
BOB GRAY
LUIS SACORRO
JUAN CURBELO
JENNY LUTRELL

ORANGE COUNTY POLO
BRYON WARD
NEGRO GULARTE
TOPO MENDEZ
LAURA WILSON

OHANA
KELLY MALONEY
SANTOS ARREOLA
NICOLAS MACIEL
GUILLERMO ETCHAVERY

HIDDEN CREEK
SEAN KEYS
DAN ROLANDS
ANDY MAZE
NICOLAI GALINDO

DOUBLE EAGLE
ZHENYA KIRUESHKIN
MANNY RODRIQUEZ
VLADIMIR RIVKIN
JUAN SOTO

The Governor’s Cup has been as a whole, very close with only one real blowout and several overtimes going into the semis. We have some new stars on the block as young Patrick Uretz continues to look like the next Little Mac (Frederick Mannix) to me. He is quick and very tough for a midget sized kid. A lady playing with high Prairie, Jenny Lutrell, looks like a real player on the way up. Young Doug Blumenthal and Amin’s son Khaled all seem to be very good too.

In the Lt. Governor’s Cup it was, and I could be wrong, Friendly Chevrolet vs. Hoback. On the other side its High Prairie vs. OC Polo. There are 2 other tournaments including the Tack Mart Cup and John Deere Classic. I will let you know more about those tournaments soon. See you at polo.

March 25th, ’06: It is money time at the Skins. We know who is in the finals this Sunday afternoon. The 4 pros of Mansour won out over the Double Patrons of Grant’s Farm setting up a big one on Sunday. The 14 goal team Windsor Capital will take on the 16-goal team Mansour. Every chukker is a game and the handicap will have to be a goal every chukker for Windsor Capital. What do you think? Or 2 goals over 6 chukkers? That would mean Windsor Capital wins any ties anyway. It will be all figured out by Sunday afternoon. The Ford Trucks and big pony parade starts on the biggest day of the Winter season at Eldorado Polo Club where it needs a big day. It will be the West Coast’s Double J's (Jason Crowder and Joseph Stuart) and a Super Fast-Etta (Mariano Fassetta) on the Govrnor’s side which is Windsor Capital vs. a pair of Z's (Agustin and Henry Zavaleta) and a VW (Federico Von Wernich) following a Carpet (Ben Soleimani). There should be speed and power abundant on Sunday, so be there. Over this same weekend there are three other tournaments going into the second round. There are 4 teams in the 4-Goal Tack Mart Cup, and just 4 more in the John Deere 8 goal tournament. The big one is the Governor’s Cup with 16 teams. In the Governor’s Cup they will have completed 2 rounds by the time we hit the Skins Finals, so if you need a polo fix and you are not playing, come to Eldorado to see all levels of polo. Flying horses, speedy players, pretty players and horses or just some old fashioned galloping polo ponies. We it all, just no good fields as you can not have everything. See you at the SKINS.

March 24th, ’06: March Madness is here. Where will you be this summer? The desert polo scene is in full mode. The final big tournament of the year, the USPA Governor’s Cup, starts this Friday. Sunday is the finals of the Skins 16-goal tournament. The Governor, Pat Nesbitt, is waiting for Grant’s Farm or Mansour to meet him in the finals. These two teams meet Friday at high noon. Who will be there? Nobody knows, but it will be young Juan Jose Gonzalez taking Big Ben’s place. There will be somebody watching as the crowd builds for the Governor's Cup. There are quite a few people in town for the final tournament. I still do not have a complete roster for you. We should have it online by Monday. There are a lot of good teams. Some of the best 6-goal polo there is anywhere!

Well do you know where you are playing this summer? We have places for you to play if you are interested. We have pros ready to play with and even a few horses if you need them. You can take a break and head up North in June to Calgary in Canada, Jackson Hole, WY, Petaluma, CA or Spokane, WA. If you can keep playing non-stop in Santa Barbara it starts in April. Or go see the U.S. Open in Florida and come home and hit the shores of San Diego, CA. We can connect you wherever you want to go and whatever level you want to play. If you want to see Argentina or Australia in the Fall, give us a call. It is Springtime here and we have a super Spring deal for you. See you at the SKINS. Call me at 805-896-4406 if you want to play some polo.

March 23, ’06: It is down to just one more team. The handicap committee seems to have lost information on twice-a-year handicaps. The twice-yearly system was established to handle the cases when new players or kids are gaining skills at a mile a minute. Most other handicap changes are were accurate all year for approximately the last 4 years. It is the committee’s chance to stop Americans from playing polo somewhere else.Well do you know where you are playing this summer? We have places for you to play if you are interested. We have pros ready to play with and even a few horses if you need them. You can take a break and head up North in June to Calgary in Canada, Jackson Hole, WY, Petaluma, CA or Spokane, WA. If you can keep playing non-stop in Santa Barbara it starts in April. Or go see the U.S. Open in Florida and come home and hit the shores of San Diego, CA. We can connect you wherever you want to go and whatever level you want to play. If you want to see Argentina or Australia in the Fall, give us a call. It is Springtime here and we have a super Spring deal for you. See you at the SKINS. Call me at 805-896-4406 if you want to play some polo.

Well Friday is skinning time and Windsor Capital is in the big final on Sunday unless Ben Soleimani can find a new loophole. Ben has one small problem ahead. It is the only game that means something and it is Mansour vs. Grant’s Farm. It should be a dandy. Big Ben Soleimani is staying home so he can add a 4th pro to take on a 2 patron team of Grant’s Farm. It is simple. Ben wants to win and we already know his desire to do it. Grant’s Farm has to win as they are down for the moment with 2 losses and a third finishes them. Grant’s Farm will not be the Golden Boys and lay down. Windsor plays Tritech for fun as Tri Tech is out with 3 losses. The Golden Falcons are out with no wins as well as Fish Creek with 1 win. So its the Governor Pat Nesbitt waiting and hopefully playing with a bolted face. He has just Friday to get ready and I am sure he will facemask and all. The Governor’s Cup starts this weekends as well as the John Deere Classic. It should be a good one as 16-teams are looking for the big trophy in the Governor’s Cup race. We will have the roster as soon as we can and get it out. So if you are looking for fun, come to Eldorado Polo Club. The weather will be great, but the fields will not. The ponies will run and the ball will hop. So be there or be square as they used to say. Its a showdown and noon with no Ben. See ya.

March 22nd, ’06: Polo in 2006- There is some action in Mexico, South Texas as well as Arizona. The majority of polo, however, is being played in CA and FL. There is talk about rough fields in South Florida and handicaps too. We are talking about the same topics here in Indio, CA. It is a fact we have rougher fields. Just the other day, I drove a Golf cart from the Cantina to field 8. I was surprised to see that even the ice was gone from a 16 oz cup in the drink holder of the cart. Driving over the fields at Eldorado is like driving an iron wheeled wagon over a rocky pass. The more they mow the diviots the bigger the holes get. Luckily we had rain a couple of weeks ago. It was the first rain since April ’05. In Florida I think it was cold weather that set them back. Now their grass fields are growing where they water and I hear they are doing fine. With the new twice a year handicap system the U.S.P.A. is handicapping twice a year. The new system was added for big misses and ringers who are new in the system. It is turning into a farce as many said it would. The twice a year handicap system is now becoming a punishment for improving.

Last year the first time the twice a year handicap system was implemented, there were less than 20 changes made to handicaps nationwide. This year the committee is talking about 20 handicap changes per league. It is getting bad. All the handicaps they are considering changes are handicaps that will be raised. None are on the table to be dropped. This is the problem as I see it. There have been a lot of overtime games at Eldorado Polo Club in California and in Florida now that Cambiaso's has gone back to Argentina. The handicap system can start with Cambiaso. If he is 10-goals then maybe no one else is? When Cambiaso was playing this winter in 14-goal games his team won by 10 goals in some cases. At Eldorado Polo Club we have no 10-goal players in our leagues. We do have 3 players rated 7-goals and this is where we need to look to make some changes. I do not think any of the players here who are rated 7-goals should be 7. I think these players would agree. None were offered Florida Jobs where they really need 7's but they are better than most 6's. Why should the 7-goalers not be lowered to 6? It goes down the line to 0 and there are many overrated players at all levels. Its not that there are any glaring ringers in our circuit, but there were a couple of mistakes, but they had t's attached to their handicaps and were they were fixed. We have some very good 2, 3 & 4 goal players right now, but they were not invited to FL or recruited on teams for the upcoming Santa Barbara Team. So are these players really that good? Or are they being compared to people who are overrated? If a person wants to be overrated, let him, but do not punish those who choose to be rated like a true player at there handicap. The goal of twice a year rating was to subdue the monster rule, not cripple American players. The American Players already they have enough trouble getting jobs to improve and compete in the real World. If you are here in Indio, CA and not in Palm Beach or anywhere else in the country you may be overrated, but not underrated. How many people are going up in Palm Beach? This is my opinion and I have been trying to get these people jobs somewhere else and they are still here. Why this is?
Well Friday is skinning time and Windsor Capital is in the big final on Sunday unless Ben Soleimani can find a new loophole. Ben has one small problem ahead. It is the only game that means something and it is Mansour vs. Grant’s Farm. It should be a dandy. Big Ben Soleimani is staying home so he can add a 4th pro to take on a 2 patron team of Grant’s Farm. It is simple. Ben wants to win and we already know his desire to do it. Grant’s Farm has to win as they are down for the moment with 2 losses and a third finishes them. Grant’s Farm will not be the Golden Boys and lay down. Windsor plays Tritech for fun as Tri Tech is out with 3 losses. The Golden Falcons are out with no wins as well as Fish Creek with 1 win. So its the Governor Pat Nesbitt waiting and hopefully playing with a bolted face. He has just Friday to get ready and I am sure he will facemask and all. The Governor’s Cup starts this weekends as well as the John Deere Classic. It should be a good one as 16-teams are looking for the big trophy in the Governor’s Cup race. We will have the roster as soon as we can and get it out. So if you are looking for fun, come to Eldorado Polo Club. The weather will be great, but the fields will not. The ponies will run and the ball will hop. So be there or be square as they used to say. Its a showdown at noon with no Ben. See ya.

March 19^th, ’06: It is finals time. There were 3 finals today and they had a similar name on two of the game schedules. Corleone Polo rocked in the 8- and 4-goal Officer’s & Junior Officer’s Cup Finals. Sir Sean and Wild Bill Freeman blistered their opponents. Corleone ran by the Golden Falcons at 10 a.m. to win the 8-goal Officer’s Cup after losing to the girls team on Thursday in a makeup game. Corleone made it through on net goals. In the 4-goal finals Corleone blew by Kelly and crew as they were just on fire. Corleone won the bronze in the 4-goal finals that had 14 teams competing. Rumor is Sir Sean and Wild Bill are going up in their ratings soon with the mid-season handicaps just around the corner. In third place of the 8-goal Officer’s Cup, it was the Ladies of Bentley doing a bu_ _ kicking to High Prairie as they smoked them. Bentley still felt the harm of first game blues when they lost to White Oaks in overtime, but that’s POLO. So Bentley won the Vice Officer’s Cup and Corleone won the Officer’s Cup. In other action of the low goal it was Ms. Colleen Wilson and Adeptus rising from the dead and defeted Friendly Chevy.

In the 16-goal Skins Tournament it was a wild weekend.

In a throw out game Mansour ran by the Golden Falcons in a give- away. F or some reason The Golden Falcons were not golden in his one. Mansour goes to 3 And 1. Fish Creek ran into 1/2 of the young guns on Windsor Cap. as they found the Palomino (Jason Crowder) and Josey (Joseph Stuart) a real problem early and often. Windsor Capital fried the Fish (Fish Creek) and won on the run to the finals. One thing that always happens if you cannot get the young guns. This can be a real problem because just behind them is another real problem by the name of Fasst -Etta (Mariano Fassetta). You will be h i s t o r y. Behind Fassetta will be the Governor (Pat Nesbitt) who was replaced during the last 2 games by a Bullet called Clemente Zavaleta. He is a chip off the old block from the rock from down South in Argentina. If this was not enough, in the featured game of the day it was Young Gun Mariano (Guti) Gutierrez of Grant’s Farm as he blew by the TriTech as they were tied to the deck. Guti just won the Vice Officer’s with Bentley and was not winded at all. He came flying with AB (that’s Andy Busch) as they sent TriTech looking for 2007.

Down South in Florida it was an Argentine day as ERG, Lechuza, Black Watch and Jedi all made the finals.

See you Friday when the Young Guns will run.

March 17^th, ’06: Down the stretch they come. It’s March Madness at its best. In the Officer’s Cup they are running hard. White Oaks rolled over Bentley. Corleone ran over Casa Blanca. Bentley rolled over Corleone. White Oaks ran past Casa Blanca. Now it is down the home stretch. Corleone is out if they do not win and so is Bentley. Casa Blanca is history, so they are out. Bentley needs Corleone to win, but by 1 as they are at 0 and they stay there if they beat Casa Blanca. If White Oaks wins they are in. If Corleone wins they are in. If Corleone wins by 2 as they are -1 after getting beat by Bentley on Thursday they win by 1 it’s Bentley. White Oaks is down by 1 and looking good for Bentley as they thrash Casa Blanca, but it will be Wild Bill Freeman coming down the line with winning on his mind. Bill drills them home. He put in 3 goals to send Corleone up by 3 and that’s the end of this one. Corleone and the best - 1 in the club will roll through to the finals. Palm Desert had a simple stat. If you win you’re in and if you lose you’re out. There is a Little Big Man in their path and his name is Amin. Palm Desert was not able to make it happen as the road was blocked and Dandy Dan Horn will watch the finals as Dr. Amin of the Golden Falcons and Sir Sean Keys of Corleone will meet for the 8-goal Officer’s Cup finals. Bentley and Palm Desert will meet for third place.

In the 16-goal Skins Tournament it was as simple as this. TriTech won in overtime over the Golden Falcons. TriTech looks good with wins over Fish Creek and Golden Falcons with a loss to Mansour. Mansour looks at a win over Fish Creek and TriTech and a 10-goal loss to Windsor. Windsor has a win over Mansour, Grant’s Farm and the Golden Falcons to be at 3 & 0. The Falcons are looking bad at 0 & 3. Grant’s Farm needs some help at 1 & 2. Grant’s Farm still has to meet TriTech and Mansour.

It is polo time and a crash and burn time. The toughest thus far is the Governor Pat Nesbitt. He played the last 4 chukkers on Sunday with a broken cheekbone and some jaw damage. He knew he was bleeding, but he said he was fine and away he went scoring 3 goals while injured. On Tuesday he found out he was not only bleeding, but he had to have surgery for some wayward bone chips. Pat was watching today and that seldom happens and never before because of an injury. In the 10 years I have known Pat he has only missed 2 games. He only missed them because he could not get back to be here, so he must really hurt not to be playing.

Down South in Florida in the quarters for the CV Whitney Cup The Mig (Miguelito Torres) made it back to the line-up for the White Birch Squad. He had sat out for 3 games and came back like a Mig and scored 5 to send them back to the win column and the 1/4 finals. S so wish him well. See you Sunday.

March 13^th, ’06: The wonderful world of polo. It was about 60 degrees when it all started on Sunday. It was clear, sunny and absolutely “a perfect day for polo,” as Tony Gregg would say. Then it got cold. The mountains surrounding the desert were as white as they have ever been with snow. The wind started blowing off of the snow-capped mountains and the cloud cover rolled in. It went from a hot morning to a very cold afternoon. We had 14 polo games scheduled for the day. All games were moved back an hour to give the fields a little extra time to dry out and polo was a go. The wind may have been cold, but it dried up the fields enough to play. The fields were the best they have been all year.

The 16-goal league started at 11 AM. Unlike Florida, the handicaps seem correct here other than the carpet-baggers who win usually by other means. it was Big Mac (Fred Mannix, Sr.) making the shot of the week. Fred took the ball from the throw-in and raced down the field. He miss-hit a shot at goal, so he just tailed it over everyone through the goal posts. Fish Creek out hustled Grants Farm to go to 1 & 0. That left Grant’s Farm at 1 & 1. In other action in the 16-goal the Carpet-baggers (maybe playing as good sports) beating Silent Chris' Tri Tech. It is hard to believe, but that’s why we know that in polo anything can happen. In the third game of day for the 16-goal league, The Governor (Pat Nesbitt) showed he is tough. Pat took a Josey-rocket to the right jaw (ball hit by Joseph Stuart). Pat took a 5 minute break, a drink of water and away he went with blood in the nose and mouth. He kept scoring goals. Like a true politician he even scored one for the other team, but more for his team. Windsor Capital kept rolling as they sped on by the Golden Falcons and head to round 3 this Friday.

In the 8-goal Officer’s Cup things are getting tighter. Two teams collide this week at 2 & 0. White Oaks and Corleone are both at full strength. White Oaks escaped with a very lucky game. They beat Bentley in overtime. Corleone did the same in overtime as they snuffed the House Dudley built Casa Blanca to send them to 0 & 2 and out of the race. There will be some makeup games on Wednesday, so stay tuned. Palm Desert and Dandy Dan horn won over Mercari in a wild one which sent Chris Kerley to see the emergency room at Eisenhower Hospital. He is doing better and has been released from the hospital. Mercari is playing without General Lee (Pettigrew). Mercari has has taken on a new young gun named Jesse from the Islands of Hawaii. He did well. When Chris Kerley went down, a real gun from Uruguay named Juan Curbelo came in to play. He is moving up a goal a month. There were other 8-goal games, but I do not have the results.

In the 4-goal it was Empire beating RSF. The Milk-Fish or Carnation/Fish Creek out dueled Ore/Pac and a couple of unknowns. Craig Steinke and Storm Cat may not play polo very often, but they put on a heck of a party on Sunday night. It was the best in town as usual. I would call it the season capper. It was Carnation Farms Lazzaro & Hector out dueling International Polo's Omar & Omar by a couple of seconds to win a big pot in the Grooms Race. They beat all the others pretty good. It was great for the fans and the people who do most of the work to make Polo what it is.

Down south it was Papa beating his son as Memo Gracida and Mokorow Farms defeated Bendabout. Memo Gracida took out his frustration on his son Julio with a tough win. Mokorow Farms thumped Julio's Bendabout team by 8 or 9. Skeeterville continues to win as they beat White Birch. Hector the Detector (Hector Galindo) and Jeff Hall lost in overtime to Lechuza in the CV Whitney Cup. In the 25 grand final it was Louis Escobar and Pop beating the 14-goal side of No Trees. They must be from Midland, Texas. See you soon where there is polo.

March 11^th, ’06: Skins wipeout! It is now raining in the desert. The Skin’s Tournament is underway. It was the first day of March league play and you needed thick skin. It was cold and windy and a bit wet later in the day. The Officer’s Cup also started today. It was a new team giving an old team a thumping. Casa Blanca found out White Oaks are a very tough team. Laith Alsarraf put the goals in and his White Oaks Team uprooted the House we call Casa Blanca. Casa Blanca is now 0 & 1. The other Officer’s Cup game was cancelled or postponed due to Mother Nature. The wind and rain put most teams off the field and into the Cantina. These games will be rescheduled.

In the 16-goal Skin’s Tournament opening games it was an old fashion a_ _ beating. Mansour could not find any loopholes to win this one. I am sure they are looking for one as they need a loophole to win. The Windsor Capital squad pounded the daylight out of Mansour this time by a 10-goal lead. The Governor (Pat Nesbitt) scored a bunch of goals. The Carpet team (Mansour) just kept slipping away to be skinned. In the other 16-goal games it was Grant’s Farm staying ahead of the Falcons all day long. Grant’s Farm is heading into Sunday with a 1 & 0 record. The 3rd game of the 16-goal was TriTech & Fish Creek and the water worried them for some reason. Maybe it is because the last time it rained here was the early months of ‘05. The Golden Falcons II did play in the rain and they took on a hard-charging Mercari in their first game of month. Mercari did not have the General, as General Lee has a wounded leg and he is out for the Spring. Young Nott, the flying Thai, tried all day and did well on a rain-slick field. Mercari had two young guns, Ignacio Pieres and Clemente Zavaleta, who could not stop the Golden Falcons 2. Hugo Barabucci got to know the Canadian named Dayelle. She was riding General Lee’s horses. They battled well for their first game on the pitch, but the Prince and Mr. Amin of the Golden Falcons were not bothered by the rain and just kept on coming down the field.

Down South in Florida, Mariano Gonzalez finally got to play a real game and he won. He subbed for Las Monjitas and they. Little Mac (Frederick Mannix, Jr.) is out with an injury. He may be happy to be in the desert as his team is not doing too well. Some casualties down South include: Tommy Boyle is out with eye injury, Brad Blake has a broken heel, Ruki was knocked out, and Kelly Beal is out with a groin injury. In Indio at Eldorado PC the crashes yesterday were the Palomino (Jason Crowder) and Nott, but they kept on rocking. Saturday is not looking good due to rain and wet fields. We will see what happens on Sunday. See ya.

March 9^th, ’06: Officer’s Cup takes a hit - Two top Patrons have suffered season-ending injuries in the last 2 days. The injuries did not occur while playing polo. It is bad luck as they were both supposed to play in the 8-goal Officer’s Cup that starts in two days. Craig Steinke injured his shoulder earlier in the season riding a wild horse and re-injured it today in a practice game. Lee Pettigrew, who is fresh in from the snow of Calgary, was ready to play polo. He was injured while rescuing a dog. Lee jumped off a high bank and injured his leg (broke it) while rescuing a drowning dog. He saved the dog, but not his polo season. These two will be on the Crash & Burn list.

This creates a redraw just 48 hours before action starts. So scrap earlier information on the 8-goal games and stay tuned for the new draw. The balance of the game schedule will stay the same. There will be 8-goal games on Friday. We just do not know who will play and when they will play.

Down South the 26-goal Whitney Cup started today. Its wide-open as Adolfo Cambiaso has returned to Argentina. Everyone is even now. Something is wrong with the handicaps. Adollfo’s team with three average players won all of their games in the 26-goal. I think the closest team was 4 goals. The last two semis and finals had 8 and 9 goal differences. Maybe there is 1 ten and the others are not, if the best is ten. Also on the Southern front Little Mac (Frederick Mannix) is out for now. He may be out for the whole season with an injury to his wrist. This slows down his road to 10 goals. 2004 Patron and U.S. Open winner Tommy Boyle suffered a very serious eye injury from a blast. The blast came from someone who hits the ball very hard ,Mike Azzaro. Rumor has it that the safety glasses did save his eye. So do wear yours. They are not any help in your bag! Jedi won and Skeeterville did as well I think. See ya.

Upcoming Parties . . .

Craig Steinke of Stormcat Energy is hosting a complimentary Asada Party at the Clubhouse this Sunday, March 12^th starting at 6 PM. There will be a Groom’s Race, Complimentary Steak Dinner and DJ. Cash bar. Everyone is invited. Thanks Craig!!!

The Governor’s Ball is on March 24^th.

Don’t miss the Crash & Burn party on March 25^that the Cantina hosted by Shoot 4 The Moon. Nominees will get to ride a mechanical bull. Don’t forget to bring a case of beer or bottle of wine if you are on the list. There will also be a complimentary Argentine Asado. Everyone is invited.

March 7th, '06: It is tournament time. March madness is here and it is in the wind and the air from Florida to California. There is a tournament going on in Boca Raton, FL. It is the money tournament. In Florida the first 26-goal Tournament, The Hall of Fame Cup, was won by Mr. Cambiaso. He also joined Sir Gannon (Tim Gannon) and won the 14-goal Outback League. In Palm Beach they have the C.V. Whitney Cup starting, which is the second of the 26-goal tournaments. It starts tomorrow.

Here in Indio we are starting the Skins Tournament and The Officers 8- & 4-goal Tournaments which start on Friday as well. There are 16 teams in the 4-goal, 9 teams in the 8-goal and 6 teams in the Skins (16-goal).

The 8-goal Officers Cup starts on Friday with 3 games. Mercari starts with a game against the Feb. Champs Golden Falcons. Another new team in town for March is Storm Cats with a blazing Aussie (Fergus Gould). They hit the green for real against White Oaks. Dudley's Casa Blanca goes to the pitch vs. Dandy Dan Horn and Palm Desert who also has a new lineup.

There will be 3 Skins games as well on Friday. Mansour plays Windsor Capital. The Golden Falcons take on Grant’s Farm. Tritech is playing Fish Creek.

There will be so many games to see if you are down South in FL. They play everyday of the week, so grab a Morning Line and check the schedule. See you where there is polo.

March 5th, ’06: The Silver wins the Silver. It was great weekend and it’s all because of a thought that came from a very nice man who has been a part of Polo a long time. Henry Trione started the Seniors Tournament at Eldorado Polo Club. Now there are many senior players from around the World here every March to compete in the tournament. There are 44 seniors plus a lot of support seniors. It is a reunion of polo and it is great fun.

In the first finals of the day, the silver of the winners was unnoticed as the Silver-Tops were brighter. The Silver Fox #2, Dempsey Mork led the charge and handed George Gilstrap a piece of silver on top. Dempsey and George teamed up with Sean Mcleoud (who is turning silver) and Lynni Hutton. They won over a silver crew of James Ashton (the Australian connection), The Melon Man George Dill, the Okie David Ragland and Gray Gratia Brown and Larry Rudy. It was a great white cloud on a perfect clear day, they were all smiling.

In the second finals it was the 3 B's and a Q winning again as Mickey Britian came to town to take them on and he did. Mickey had some major help though Boss man Andrew Bossom that is. To back them all up was the best B of them all and prettiest too. Although Bossman will beg to differ. It was Leigh Brecheen, who covered the Q Domingo Questel and shut the door on Team Eldorado with Blazing Bud Dardi (not much gray there) and Mike Ward from Chicago( he is white on top), the Doc Christian Neumann and the singing Cowboy Paul Von Gontard (he packs a little white up top and I do not mean from the Rockies of Jackson Hole). They were both very good games and the speed may not be what it was, but they would beat most 4-goal teams. They would not dribble the ball they came to let them run down Sunday Lane and they did . Thanks Henry you made it happen!! THANKS EVERYONE FOR COMING AND WELL DONE FROM AROUND THE WORLD . See ya.

March 4th, ’06: The mountain tops are white and so are the heads of hair for many of them out here in the desert air. At Eldorado Polo Club 44 of the Ladies & Men over 50 are on the drive to the TRIONE SENIORS FINALS. They came from Australia, Canada, England and many states across the USA all to let those ponies run down Sunday Lane again. And run they did a lot of running. It all started yesterday with a 30 mile an hour wind blowing out of the West most of the day. Just to make it that much harder to hear and breathe. Over at the horse show they say jumps were falling during runs and making a very fun day, but it never did rain here.

At 12:30 the action started. It was SIR with Ken Berry, Zhenya, Rick Williams and Jack Clymer taking on Eldorado Polo team. Eldorado included Paul Von Gontard, Christian Neumann, Bud Dardi and Mike Ward. I heard Mike Ward had a new scar added to his face. A flying Taco got him, but Team Eldorado hung on to make it to the Sunday show. At 2 pm it was Millamolong with some hard-riding Aussie named James Ashton, the Melon Man George Dill and the old okie David Ragland and Gratia and Larry Rudy of Washington state splitting. Millamolong took on Rancho Santa Fe with another Aussie Marlene McFarlane, Jack Boot along with the Z-man Bill Ziering and Geore Conkright. Waiting for the last 4 was Phoenix with the Shamu (Richard Schallamo) and another Arizona flash named Paul Harris along with Joe Infanger and boom boom Bill Stalcup.

It was a barn burner next door on field 4. It was 3 B's and a Q doing their job for Will Rogers. The B's were Mickey Britian and boss man Andrew Bossom and the Law Lady Leigh Brecheen as she followed the Q Domingo Questel down the field and closed the door on Ore Pac. Ore Pac included the Desert Doctor Henry Randazzo, Mr. Hart along with Big Kelly Armstrong, who bought a case of Cold Bud as well. They also had the Cannuck in a hurry Cameron Diggon. Waiting for them was Emoire who had speed ball Rob Scapa the little B Bilo Zarif and Mr. Parker just in town along with Big Boss Al Hagen. In the end it was the 3 B's headed to Sunday lane. In the final game of the day and I am not sure who won it was the Gray Ghost Dempsey Mork skipping the wind and putting in a sub with Sean Mcleod, George from Jackson Hole and Lynni Hutton as they took on Denver’s Bob Gray, Bill Garlock and seldom seen Brent Lance and an old regular Calgary's David Bissett. It was a horrible day weather wise, but there's a party tonight so maybe the dust will be drenched so come on out and see them run this Saturday and Sunday. George Dill said it will be good. He is just a 10-goaler trapped in a 0-goalers body. See ya.

March 3, '06: Bonnie. She was a player. This is a simple, but true story about a very ordinary horse who went from near-death to being a star and then arrived at a quiet ending. This story started around 1999 or 2000 at the San Diego Polo Club which was in the heart of the recession during this time. A local horse dealer was showing some horses in San Diego when one of them became very ill. She was a chestunut mare named Bonnie. Bonnie was suffering from a severe attack of colic. The vet was called and after a thorough exam it was declared she had a twisted gut and needed to go to the clinic immediately. It sounded like there was a solution, right? Well it was not at first. There is no guarantee that she would survive the colic surgery. In addition the surgery is expensive. Bonnie had not yet proven to be a valuable polo horse. She was green and her value was not yet determined. A well-known Polo player and all around good guy named Jim Williams said “I will pay for it. Lets just get her there. This was a heck of a gesture for anyone. The horse dealer, who owned the horse, says “Bonnie is yours if she makes it.” So off she goes to Helen Woodward Horse Clinic where they performed the surgery on Bonnie and saved her life. This is where the hard part begins. First she has to recover from the surgery, which ended up costing more money and bringing in more bills. Then Bonnie has to recuperate in a stall and the season was over. So they put her out to pasture for 6 months. Bonnie was then brought back in and reconditioned.

In order to really understand this story, you first you need to know more about Jim, who was Bonnie’s guardian Angle. Jim Williams was a very good 0 to 1 goal player. He did not ride, drive or do anything slow. Jim’s cars were top of the line and his horses were Ferrari's. So Jim takes this young, untried and untested horse who has been through hell and back. When he stepped up for his first ride on her, it was also his last ride on her. He said “no way.” He saved her life, but he was not even sure she would save him from utter disaster on the field. She could really run like he liked, but she had no “whoa.” Bonnie was not the horse for Jim. Jim left Polo a year or so later and most of his horses sold in 10 minutes. They were machines, but not Bonnie. She was sent to Crowder’s barn where there were many new players and riders. Bonnie was in his barn for 2 years. Nobody wanted Bonnie. She was too much to handle. Riding Bonnie was like driving one of Jim’s cars with a halter. It was just not possible. Then Mariano Fassetta joined Crowder’s barn in 2002. As a test he was given some of the rankest and hardest to play horses alive. Bonnie was one of them. He was either 4 or 5 goals at the time and new to town. About a month later someone hired him and I went to watch him play. The game was tied up in the fifth chukker. Then Mariano came alive and he scored 3 goals in 3 minutes. Several people said “what horse is he on?” I said “I have no idea” and went to look. And holy s _ _ _ it was Bonnie. I could not believe my eyes. For the next 4 years these two amazing players, Bonnie & Mariano Fassetta have won every tournament at least once that they played in on the West Coast and in Texas. Mariano is now 7 goals. Bonnie was the hero in the Skins at least 3 times, star of the Spreckels Cup twice and the fastest horse in the 12-goal several times. She was an amazing horse and no one else could even play her and never did. Bonnie and Mariano were a great pair. After losing the finals on Sunday, Mariano decided to give her a couple of weeks off to save her for the Skins Tournament in March. Mariano took her out for a leisure ride on Wednesday (Feb. 15th). Mariano and Bonnie were just walking back to the barn and she died of a heart attack. It is a sad story with real meaning. There is someone made for everyone. You just have to find the right match. She will be missed on the field by many, but most of all by Mariano. Mariano and Bonnie knew she never turned left, but she was so fast to the right no one ever knew it. This chestnut mare did it all. Oh, and by the way, when she gets to Polo Heaven Eric do not try to ride her. Thanks Jim Williams, you did well.