07-27-03 - TRAJEDY HITS THE PITCH IN Santa Barbara -
In a low-goal league game today, Sunday July 27th, shortly after 11 a.m. polo may have lost one of it's personalities who cannot be replaced. ERIC FRIDEN was seriously injured and is in likely fatal condition as this story is being written. He had a simple little wreck today in a game that was anything except simple. He may lose his life from it. He has a serious brain or brain stem injury which is often fatal. Our prayers and feelings go out to Karin, Phillip and Chris. His sons just left for family vacations and he was playing in a simple game as he had 10,000 times before, but it may well be his last. Eric has been a very stout member of Eldorado and Santa Barbara Polo Clubs for many years and is also the USPA Handicap Chairman of our Circuit. He was President of S.B. Oolo Club in some tough times and stayed loyal as a rock come hell or high water. Please pray for him and his family. --Steve Crowder
07/27/03 - DAY 2 IN The AMERICA CUP
It was 11 a.m. and you are facing Windsor Capital Polo Team. You know its going to be a battle and it was. Grants Farm has not lost a game this season and they lost their super star Mikee Matz on Wed. to a broken ankle. They found Phil Friden to cover on Friday, but he is out of town, so we wrestle with the options and bring in a San Ynez bullet named Ashton Wolfe with no practice, no knowledge of horses, and damn near no anything. He plays well, but its not enough as Matias M. and Ashton missed a chance to win it all with 24 seconds left. The Cabazon (Mariano Gonzalez) gets his try and put the nail in the coffin as Windsor Capital wins and goes on to the finals.
In the 1 PM game it was the flying Galindo (Hector) taking a break and putting in San Diego super star Steve Dalton to replace him and doing a very good job as a sub as he drilled them as bad as H.G. would have and finished up by a few over Antelope.
At 3:00 it was Jeff Hall and Mighty Mike Azzaro putting the 3 Argies and Tommy Lee Jones down and making for a exciting game on Friday with Everglades. As their net goals now are Everglades + 1, Duende 0, San Saba -1, so the winner will get to meet the Governor up close and personal.
See ya.
07/25/03 - MATZ REPORT - MIGHTY Mikee was operated on today and now lists a little to the left as he gathered some excess iron for his right ankle. 2 plates, 3 screws and a couple of nails and is just waiting for the next time. He might use his hinny or head for the next landing as landing on his feet was a bad idea. He suffered a well broken ankle and a very sore Knee, but he will be back. We will miss him as he and comeback player of the year Jeff Blake were destroying all competitors to date. So we will see what it takes to replace the Mighty Matz.
07/25/03 - WIPEOUTS " NO MAS "
Wipeouts were prominent last week as in 3 games in one day in the first round the goal difference was 20. Today was another day. The difference was {3} which it means what? Horses were not ready. Players not ready. Well, whatever. It was a new week, a new tournament, a new day and it started at noon with GF playing Antelope. They were not loping today. G.F. turned out with Phillip Friden and he played well substituting for the injured Mikee Matz. He did very well scoring goals and making that big play happen as G.F. got good leads just to see them disappear and with a very close miss with the clock at 57 seconds it looked like O.T. but G.F. made IT BY 1.
07/25/03 - NO MAS - At 1 PM it was Windsor Capital (W.C.) taking on flying Duende and it was a fly- away most of the game. W.C. kept chipping away and in the 5th the real Flier Galindo suffered a knee injury and it changed in a big hurry as W.C. came flying down the field hard and often and tied it up. W.C. then got the break at the right time and won it all with one nice little shot. W.C. won their 1st round game of the America cup. In the 4 O'clock it was a determined Isla Carroll getting it on with the Everglades. Superb play by Skeeter J. and boys who came out and tied Mighty Mike Azzaro and Mr. Goodman and sent it into overtime. On a well-executed turn by Tiger Kneece, he came from behind and shut the door on Isla Carroll. Well it's all brackets and it is not over until the fat lady sings. So be there for round two on Sunday.
See ya !!!!
July 24th, '03 - GRANTS FARM SUFFERS HUGE LOSS MATZ OUT - Grant's Farm was hit by a huge loss today as Mike Matz was hurt in a practice game in Santa Barbara. This loss really cripples the defending champions and the first champions of 2003 in S.B. Can they recover? That is a mystery as Mikee was probably the most prominent player in town and he was so valuable to the team as a player for any occasion and especially winning, which is what they have done since he joined the team.
Mike Matz is the son of a lovely lady from Montreal, Canada and the son of one of the worlds greatest riders, a former Olympic Champion and many times top-World rider. Mikee started polo officially almost a year ago, 30 days shy in San Diego. He won his 1st tournament in San Diego (14-goal), he won the Go Honey, the Road Runner, the Governor's Cup at Eldorado, the 12-goal in SB and he won his first 20-goal of his life last weekend. He has been the bulldog of every team and always on the go to a guy. When it looks bad, he gets it done. We will miss you MIKEEE!!!. He is so damn tough it will be 40 days less than the doctor says.
See ya. Steve Crowder
July 23, '03: America's Cup - Santa Barbara 20-Goal
BRACKET A
a GRANTS FARM
b Antelope
c windsor
d Duende
BRACKET B
E Everglades
f Isla Carrol
g San Saba
Friday 7/25/03
12 noon G.F. vs Antelope
2 p.m. W.C. vs Duende
4 p.m. Everglades Vs I.C.
Sun 7/27/03
11 a.m. G.F. vs W.C.
1 p.m. Antelope vs Duende
3 p.m. San Saba vs loser of fri. 4 oclock
It looks to be a tougher tournament in the A bracket as all California teams are together and all outside teams in bracket B, but the finals will be tough. Bracket B gets an extra day of rest, so we will see. The teams remain the same, the refs. the same and the fields the same, so hopefully will be on our way to a better tournament and more polo as usual. I think the extra whistles are not common sense. Its a foul if it's dangerous, it's a waste of time if it isn't. They complain of hard bumps and physical play, well blow the whistle for that not the nit - picks that rack up minutes of foul shots back to the highway. If you hit a car from behind your wrong it's the law. If he is driving down the road 4o miles an hour and everyone has to swerve to go around, then fine run over his a** and your going to jail. Polo is the same. If you swerve, dribble, or check your the danger. If you go down the field fast, slow or whatever, but straight you create no danger and if you get run over, the other guy is wrong. If you check on the freeway and someone enters and you hit him your wrong. It is the same if you enter the line and he has to check its your fault. Well its common sense polo and it should be the same. So run, hit and pass. It will work wonders. Swerve, check and stop and you have what we have. Polo is a speed game often called the fastest team sport in the World. Lets keep it that way.
See ya at Santa Barbara, Petaluma or Calgary. They are all playing polo right
July 20, '03: Risk In Polo - The greatest risk is taking no risk at all in life or polo. It was a risk, but it was so good as Jeff Blake has been sent to play. Heads up on the best players in town so far, 2 tens and a 9 and he is 3 & 0. It was a heck of a day here in the seaside climate. I got to see the Seabiscuit preview and to see a game to make you cry, scream and cheer ever 6 seconds. If it had not been for some silly people in stripes called refs. or umps. this might have been a Seabiscuit polo game. As there were wrecks, wild plays, controversy, good old fashion hard polo and some real good players to be seen.
In the finals of the Robert Skene Cup it was Grants Farm and Dunde. They came to battle and there were 3 players defending their cup, but they were on 2 different teams. They all had it in mind to own another Bob Skene statue, but only 1 got it. It was Andy Busch. It was not an easy first chukker was d. 3-2 and 10 fouls the end of 2 chukker 7-3 and 5 fouls and at the end of the 3rd D 9-6. Then the yellow got cold at 1/2 and Grants Farm came roaring back with 4 goals to go up by 1 at 10-9. Then they went down again as Hector Galindo smoked 'em for 3, but that put Duende up by 1 at D 12-11. In the 6th it was all over but the crying and Grants Farms tied it with less than a minute and that was luck. First, Paco nearly kills Jeff Blake and no whistle. Then Mike Matz high hooks Kris Kampsen and that drew a whistle, but no foul. Next a throw-in and its tied, so off to overtime with a horrible ball placement. I guess they could not hear the whistle, but boy could they hear no way Gene. It was obviously a dumb call as Paco sent it wide as he knew it was a cheap and silly call. Then they got down to hard solid sudden death polo. It was in the end after 3 very close attempts for both teams and some really bad "no calls" when Andy Busch scored the big one to take the ROBERT SKENE home. Hector Galindo took the MVP horse home and we start all over on Friday.
Across the pond it was a rookie winning the British Open Golf Cup and a rookie all-Brit team winning the British Gold Cup. They had a Lady on their team. Down south at San Diego Polo CLub 2 ladys were too much as one lady was all the Surfer Docs needed to get their first big win of the season. They have been bridesmaids for the last 2 tournaments. Way up north at the Calgary Polo Club in Alberta Canada it was the Macs Big & Junior (Fred and Frederick Mannix) putting General Lee Pettigrew and camp with the Palomino (Jason Crowder) down for the count. Winning is something the Big Mac likes to do.
They will now be starting their second tournament.
If you missed polo anywhere you missed it!
See ya.
July 18th, '03: The Way It Is - In the San Diego Polo Club Finals there are some surprises and here they MADISON SQUARE and the GYPSYS are going to the Rossmore 10-Goal finals after proving me totally wrong. There will be no three-peat for Voyager as the Ladies, the Kiwi (Graham Bray) and the Surfer (Diego Cossio) went down town and came home looking for some silver. They are headed there on Sunday at 3 p.m. after a big upset on Friday. There will be 3 Ladies in the finals as Lisa Bosstick and Suzanne Figi take on the Surfer Doc & Lilian Heller.
This closes the 1st quarter of San Diego's season and they take a break for 2 weeks (July 21 - Aug. 6th) so last chance for July polo comes Sunday at 3 p.m. So be there.
In Santa Barbara, Isla Carroll has heard about Duende as we all have here in S.B. ,but IC could stand for ice cold. It was a warm day, but they were so cold as the wind of the Flying Galindo blew down on them and it was a 4-chukker game. They were behind by 10 and the last 2, chukkers five and six, were for getting the horses ready for Sunday and the finals. Mike Hakan has heard a lot of stuttering over the years, but this was from the other team as they sputtered, then stuttered and wished they were home on the ranch. In game 2 it was a barn burner and if you didn't already know, you do now , Jeff Blake (JB) is b a c k and he has shown it is no illusion. He has taken the big boys to the mat and came out smiling. There is a new odor in the air and it's Burning Blake with the Mighty Mini Mikee Matz taking 'em on. J.B. is sending the mail and they have Mr. MAGRINI and Andy Busch to put the stamp on 'em. It should be an electric finals if the Farm Boys catch the Speeders on the grassy road on Sunday afternoon at Santa Barbara. The other game in Santa Barbara was a thrashing of the Antelope by San Saba. So come see the action. There will be plenty. See ya. - Crowder.
July 19th, '03: The British Open - The other day I was talking about the women of polo involved in the British Open and it was just a memory that has a lot to do with this team of Brits in the finals. When I first started going to the UK in the late 70's early 80's there was a very good lady player in England and guess what her name was CLAIRE TOMILSON. Mother of the middle men in the all British Team. Claire was 5-goals and for many years the best lady player in the World. As far as I know, only 1 of 2 women ever rated 5 goals the other being Sunny Hale from California. She must be very proud of Luke and Mark and their accomplishments. I bet Mr. Vesty has a smile on his face as his little girl is showing the new Foxcote.
See ya
July 17, '03: The Ladies Of Polo - In California and other states along the West Coast women are a major part of polo. It was a West Coast lady who was the First Lady of polo, Sue Sally Hale. It was the daughter of Sue Sally, Sunny Hale, who was the first lady to win the U.S. Open and it was many other ladys winning major tournaments across America. Abby Riggs, Ms. Gandi and of course the Hale Lady's, Kristy Waters -Outhier, and Jillian Johnson (2002 winner of the U.S. Open) and many others. Today women are having an impact on polo worldwide. Women have not got to the Argentine Open, but they will.
Today in Great Britain or England as we know it, the British Open Semi-finals had 2 ladys in it. Jillian Johnson, who as we already said lost by 1 goal to Carlos Gracida and his Labegore Team, and Nina Vesty 1 upped her getting to the finals against (the best combo in the world) Cambiaso & Castagnolia which is something few men have ever done. This has to be a first at the British Open in many ways. First it is an all British Team and they are led by a lady.
Its time for the Gringos to return to the top of the ladder in polo. It seems to have been happening slowly in the U.S. as even without the USPA support we are getting there. Most high-goal tournaments in the country including the U.S. Open have been 90 % gringos. Now in England, where they really support the young English players, they are on top of the world with a finals date with a North American, who is at 42 having one hell of a year. Carlos Gracida has won the U.S. Open, lost finals of the Queens Cup and now has a chance to win his umpteenth British Open. Not bad for boys with the pale skin.
In Northern California it's a day of bullets. There is more speed on the fields tomorrow in S.B. than anywhere else. You have in the first semi-finals Isla Carroll with Mighty Mike Azzaro, super star Jeff Hall with the rocket Julio Gracida. Isla Carroll faces nothing but speed in the form of Hector Galindo, the fastest man on a horse on this planet, a wild red head named Kris Kampsen and a Argie named Paco forming the Duende Team. Game 2 brings Mr. Magrini U.S. open champ and the best 6-goaler in the world Jeff "I am back" Blake with Andy Busch. They play against 10-goal Adam Snow and the Cabazone (Mariano Gonzalez) of Windsor Capital to the semis. Last year they won 3 of 3 tournaments between the 5 of them, so someone will get to try again. It should be a burning day in the sea-side village of Carpinteria. Be there.
Down South it will take a miracle to stop the 3rd straight finals of Surfer Doc and the Voyagers. Count on it and count on Silent Chris doing a triple. He is getting very greedy for a nice guy.
See ya at polo.
July 13, '03: Wipeout! - It's the first game of the season, but it was a bad day or a good day and you were either one or the other today in Santa Barbara. The spread between these six teams, all rated 19 or 20 goals, was about 20 goals and that is not right. The first game was probably the best game of the day. It was played on a weak field and was still good.
Duende vs. Everglades - they rocked and they rolled as Skeeter Johnson met the S.B. turf early in the 3rd and had to watch for the rest of the match. Hector the Detector (Galindo) got to inspect the turf as good as Skeeter, but he was back as soon. That was a problem for Everglade that they did not need. In the end Duende was just what they are . . . very tough and they will be for the next 6 weeks. They won by 3 or 4. Phil Friden filled in for Skeeter and was amazing as the last time he seen 20-goal action was in his dreams. He played amazing. Philip was well mounted and stuck 4 goals in pocket when they decided this CA boy is not so b a d. He rocked as the young people say.
At 1 PM it was as expected the defending Pac. Open Champs (Windsor Capital) put on a road show and did a paving job on the Antelope minus there leader Geoff Palmer. He could not have saved them as M.G. (Mariano Gonzalez) and A.S. (Adam Snow) and even the Gov. (Pat Nesbitt) kicked their A**! It was so bad it was not even a good brunch entertainment.
At 3 PM Grants Farm, the defending Skene Champs, put a slow killing on T.L.J. (Tommy Lee Jones) and San Saba as they never trailed. If you were not there you do not know, but if you were Jeff Blake (J.B.) is back. He took the 9-goal man the 6-goal man and all in between to a new polo school. J.B. wins and a very good job of polo for the young man, ball, goal and he did it all just so sweet and smooth and it was all so easy. I think we will make his nickname EASY. A.B. (Andy Busch) will just keep on rolling. The Mighty Mikee Matz experienced his first 20 Goal Polo and he was in the top 20. If you ask S.S. maybe in the top 3, as they make their way to a Friday showdown between Windsor and G.F. (Grant's Farm) at 4. It will be untested Isla Carroll coming to meet the Duende crowd. Pull on your running shoes. This ain't pick and turn polo.
Down south at the S.D. Club it was repeat time as the Surfer Doc and Lilian Heller put a lock on the door of the operating room and said "NO" to Madison Square & the Gypsys. We will try again to beat Voyager for the 3rd time in the same # of tournaments as G.V.W. (Gaston Von Wernich and E.Z. (Henry Zavaleta) make a run at the boys from Silent Chris' camp. Next Sunday will be a polo bonanza as it's finals time. Just pick your spot.
See Ya. Steve Crowder.
20 Goal Polo Schedule - Santa Barbara Polo Club
July 11 - July 20 - Robert Skene Trophy. Click here to view 20-Goal Team Line-ups
July 25 - August 3 - USPA America Cup
August 8 - August 24 -Pacific Coast Open
(Robert Skene Draw show to left - Santa Barbara Polo Club)
July 8, '03: Lets Look At The Big Guns In Town
Well as of today they are all 20 goals more or less. Some are better, but some might be even better. Nobody knows yet. We will give you a run down on the teams as best as we can.
Here are the 20 Goal Teams playing at Santa Barbara Polo Club in alphabetical order.
Antelope - many times semi-finalist, but no more than that and probably about the same this year as they have the goals. Their leader Geoff Palmer is probably one of the strongest 1-goal patrons in the tournament and can often be a real force depending on business and moods. He will be solid. High-goal (Pancho Bensadon) 8-goals, quick, accurate and somehow never first, but always there. He has a bit of a temper and is quick to get hot, but can be hot with the stick as well. Solid 6, Marcelo Abbiati is 6-goals, very steady, very tough and has to find the fine line of peace with Pancho. Could be a great combo or a litlle noisy at times. Stickman Agustin Zavaleta is as good with the ball as any man on a horse, but can he play with this combo? Maybe or maybe not. Tied to a temperature gauge, if this team stays under 80 they will go 80. If anything sets it them over the top, who knows what will happen, but it won't be pretty.
Duende - they have a team that may be as good as possible. Leader - Mike Haken is mounted to play this polo and is as disciplined as you can get, but the only problem it's not Santi, these are speed balls. Red-Headed Kris Kampsen is the toughest 5-goaler in the country, is a fast and hard rider. He may be looking for the 3rd tournament since he won first twice last year. The only question is . . . is he fast enough when the fastest man on the planet is behind him? Hector Galindo and Kris will be running and they can not go faster, so remember the passing lane is on the left. He was the gun behind Kris last year, but now they have 7-goal Paco De Narvez. He was here before and not happy, but now he is mounted and ready to roll behind them. Paco may just have to hit the ball to be a star as HG and KK will be under it. Mike just needs rear-view glasses so he can see the rockets coming and he will be in the winner's circle often.
EVERGLADES - BOSS MAN SKEETER JOHNSON is quick, determined and he plays polo when he can. When he does play it is rock and roll and he does let 'em roll and they do. Big Stick - O.R. (Owen Rhinehart) only running describes Owen. He rocks, he plays hard, he takes no prisoners and he only plays to win be it jacks, marbles or jump rope thats the way it is. He has more second place trophies than any player in the world because there is no time to think. It's "lets go n o w" we win or we do not and it has to happen now!!! Tiger Kneece is a CA boy and has a CA Girl, they just do not come from CA, so they will adjust and they will be unnoticed as they are CA Cool. They have Joe Wayne Barry behind them and he will rock as he has a new leader by his side and she likes to win and no hair so he is faster.
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