Jai Alai Manners by Pelota Políte

Feelin' WANTON at the FRONTON?

Here's help.

Enjoy the world's fastest moving ball game at last!

Rules, Terms, Etiquette, Photos, Fun

Mostly bogus tips for a good RISA - that's LAUGH en ESPAÑOL.

Pelota Políte throws it up on the wall and hopes you respond.

Visit me on Facebook. Go to:

Jai Alai Manners by Pelota Políte

20 questions with Jai Alai Player David Stark, by Pelota Políte

David Stark. Who is he? A teller - a parimutuels clerk - for Orlando Jai-Alai and Race Book? Yes. He has probably taken your bet. But who is he REALLY? He is a man who represents the American Dream. Stark is a man who stood before a Goliath and defeated him. He's jai alai through and through.

20 Questions with Jai Alai Player David Stark

PELOTA POLÍTE: Mr. Stark, for both fans and non-jai-alai fans alike, you have a valuable perspective. You were both a world-class jai alai player, a long-time Orlando Jai-Alai employee and an insider into the sport of jai alai in general. We value your perspective and thank you for appearing in Jai Alai Manners.


QUESTION 1: This year there is a new owner of Orlando Jai-Alai and Race Book. Last year was supposed to be the last year for Orlando jai alai. Somebody bought the place. Who are they? Why all the mystery as to their identity?

STARK: "I don't know. I don't know what the reasons are for this secretiveness. Bottom line, whoever it is, they must have a vision of being able to get cards in this building. There isn't a jai alai facility in the State of Florida that will make money without a POKER ROOM in it. For me, it has to be a person either connected enough or a person with vision and knowledge that these laws will change within the near future. Otherwise it makes no sense."


QUESTION 2: What name did you use when you played jai alai? Who are some interesting players you've played against?

STARK: "'David.' Some interesting players? Bolivar was probably the best player I played against, the best player of our generation, quite arguably one of the best front court players ever. He played in West Palm Beach. "Bolivar" was a province in the Basque country. So he didn't use his real name. He used "Bolivar." Other players will shorten their name or use only part of it. Their last names. Their first names. Like "Larru" he plays here (Orlando). His name is Michael. I call him "Mikel." He always knows when it's me on the phone because I call him "Mikel." There's Joey Cornblitt, who was by far, hands down, the best American jai alai player to ever play, just like an artist painting a picture out there. He was fantastic. I played against Alorzo, who was probably the best back-courter of that era. God, I've played against Armao and Javier and Juaristi and Acha and Saballa. I mean I've played against some pretty talented people out there. My career wasn't as long as I would have liked it, but I look back on it and I was really blessed. It was an honor just being able to play against those guys."


QUESTION 3: Where did you play professional jai alai? How did you first become interested in playing this fascinating game?

STARK: "The first time I ever put a basket on my hand, I was 15 years old in Milford, Connecticut. I lived in an apartment complex with a bunch of players. I befriended them from down at the swimming pool, tennis courts and what have you. One of them gave me a basket. At that time in Connecticut, you were allowed to go to jai alai as long as you went with your parents. And my dad took me to jai alai, and the game just absolutely fascinated me. I lived in York and then moved to Connecticut, and there's a Jai Alai court in both Milford and Bridgeport. And in the apartment complex I lived in, the jai alai players would live there for the summer, and when they went to Dania (Daytona Beach) the guys from Bridgeport guys came and rented the apartments for the other half of the year. I mostly played baseball and basketball when I was young. The football players used to make fun of me, calling me "wimp" because I didn't want to play anymore. I mean, NOBODY played in my high school. But the first time I put that basket on my hand, it was just so different than any other game I had ever played. I was growing and getting good at the game. There was me, Bob Rasmussen and Ed St. John. Three guys in Milford Jai Alai - 3 guys in the entire school. Two of them winded up playing pro and Ed St. John was terrible. Bob Rasmussen, whom I lived with when I first moved to Florida, turned pro and then me. I went to the Bridgeport Jai Alai School when I was 15 for one summer. I kind of got to the point where I felt that I could do this. My parents divorced when I was young. I was living with my stepdad and mom. I went to them and asked them if I could move to Florida to player, and of course both my parents were like, "Your 15 years old, you're not going anywhere." Well, the player's manager from Bridgeport Jai Alai went to my home and told my parents, "If you let him go, there is no doubt in my mind that he will play. He is a very talented young man." I moved to Florida in February of 1979. I think I was the youngest American at that point to turn pro. I was 16 years old when I turned pro in Melbourne, Florida, and I played the Melbourne/Daytona circuit, which was like 5 months at one place, 6 months in the other and took about a month's vacation during the year. And I played 5 years there, and then moved to play in Dania Jai Alai for 2 years. And then the strike started (1987). And then I played in Tijuana, Mexico instead of crossing the picket line. I played to 1990. I played in the National Tournament when I was in Daytona, which enabled me to go and play in Dania. While I was playing in Dania, I winded up going back to play also in Milford where I lived when I was a kid. It was very funny. All the people who used to make fun of me for playing jai alai - and here I was a professional player out in the spotlight every evening - and they were bagging groceries or out of work, so it was pretty cool."


QUESTION 4: What's your favorite memory of playing the game?

STARK: "No doubt about it, the night I stopped Bolivar's win streak in the National Tournament. This was 1984. For the Tournament, I played here at Orlando Jai Alai professionally representing Daytona. For Florida there was Daytona, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Miami and Dania. Each one sent their best players. Enrique II and I played the first night here in Orlando and Bolivar won the game. We played the second night in West Palm Beach and Bolivar won the game. We played the third night in Tampa and Bolivar won the game. Fourth night in Miami, he won. And then the fifth round in Dania, Enrique II and I actually stopped his WIN streak. It was just unbelievable. I couldn't believe that I went from this being this kid from Brooklyn, New York, Brighton Beach, who only 6 years after I put on a basket, I won a game against the best jai alai players in the world. After I won the game and walked into the player's cage, the first person standing there to shake my hand was him. And he looked at me and shook his head and said, 'Si, señor.' It's a game I will never, ever forget. It was a great time in my life."


QUESTION 5: What skills are necessary to becoming a good jai alai player?

STARK: "You must have hand-eye coordination, that is the biggest thing. All great players of any sport have vision. Good vision is very important. Jai alai is a very simple game. You throw the ball to the back of the court and you move up to the front of the court. The closer you catch the ball to the front wall, the better your angle is. Jai alai is a game of angles. It's really not a game of strength. Not a game of power. If you have power and catching ability, it helps, but the basics of the game is angles. If you catch the ball in the front of the court at the 5-LINE, you now control the ball to the INSIDE, you can throw CARON shots. If the opposing BACKCOURTER moves up, you can throw it over his head. Where as if you don't catch the ball at the 5-LINE, and catch it back at the 10 or 11-LINE, how do you play the POINT from there? Your angle is not as good. I was a very cerbral player. I wasn't blessed with a lot of power. I didn't throw the ball very hard, but I caught everything. I had a good REBOTE (when it comes off the back wall). I had a lot of HEART when I played. You have to know who your opponent is. It's why football, baseball and basketball teams scout. You need to know the tendencies of your opponent. It's like any sport. I bet you Kobe Bryant knows where every Magic player is when he's on the court."


QUESTION 6: When did you know you had the right PELOTAS, so to speak, to play with world-class players?

STARK: "The Bridgeport Player's Manager wouldn't have shown the interest if I hadn't had some God-given ability. I went to the Bridgeport School one summer, but North Miami offered a year-round school. So after I moved, I worked and played at the amateur jai alai fronton in North Miami for about a year and a half. My teacher's name was APARICIO. He was a player from the Basque country in Spain. At the N. Miami amateur jai alai FRONTON, I sewed balls and repaired baskets and punched people on and off the clock to play in free time. I used to lock the door at midnight. Or sometimes the owner would come by at 3 in the morning and go, "David, it's 3 a.m., you gotta go home buddy." Jai alai is all about practicing and learning and having that desire to be the best. I then played at the Melbourne and Daytona FRONTONS, which is like Triple A baseball compared to a Major League jai alai like Dania, Bridgeport, Miami or Tampa. I progressed enough and I started and played only one season in the early games and moved to the middle and late games, then played nothing but late games."


QUESTION 7: Tell us about your EQUIPMENT. You know, like the HELMET, CESTA, PELOTAS, SHOES and your PANTS. Where do you get this stuff? JC Penney's?

STARK: "I pretty much wore REEBOCKS my entire jai alai career. So it's regular sneakers, a pair of white pants you get at a nursing school or a doctor's uniform store. They give you a red belt at the jai alai fronton. Some players gave me a couple of those too. My baskets I got from Spain. And when I turned pro, there were multiple basket makers or XISTEROS there that you could utilize. My player's manager had a good friend in Spain named Larenia. Basically, we took one of my CESTAS and we traced the outline on a piece of brown paper, we shipped it to Spain. He then made the frames and everything according to how it was on the paper and tweaked it a little bit. But every jai alai has one or two local XISTEROS, because back when I played there were 44 to 46 guys on a roster. Now here at Orlando Jai-Alai there are only 22. You may even get away with having only one XISTERO. I basket does break on a normal basis. You pop a few reeds from the ball hitting it every night. The basket has a frame and 13 individual ribs. One in the middle, and then 6 on each side. The wicker is woven in between the ribs. They used to ship over the MEMBRE - the wicker. The jai alai ball is compressed rubber wrapped with rubber thread and when it gets to the actual size and weight that it needs to be, they put some regualr nylon thread over that and then there's two layers of goat skin over that. They take a vice, a mold, a metal top and bottom - you can't have any seems on the ball - it must be flat. Because if the ball hits the wall it bounces funny. And that ball travels way too fast for anybody to want to be wanting to get hit. Why goat? Maybe they have a lot of goats in the Basque country. I don't know. But when the balls break it's the seem, not the goat skin, it's the stitching."


QUESTION 8: What advice do you give to youngsters interested in becoming a PELOTARI?

STARK: "Here Elorri runs the amateur program. You can rent a court for $30 an hour. You don't even need your own basket or your own ball or your own helmet or anything. He has everything to get you started. I mean once you get started you would definitely want to choose a basket that fits your style of throwing, because their all curved different, have deeper pockets, less of a pocket. The back court basket is larger because you have to throw a longer distance."


QUESTION 9: Would you please describe the DANGERS of jai alai? The injuries? The fans? The nachos?

STARK: "I lost my career to a back injury. I had 2 back operations. I herniated the L-5 disk and had 2 lumbar laminectomies. I was out for 6 or 7 months, went through all the physical rehab, the therapy and everything. I went back to play for 6 months, re-herniated the disk in my back, at 26, I unfortunately had to retire. I've seen players blow out their knees. But, I'll tell you something, professional jai alai is not really that dangerous. If you go out on the court with a bunch of amateurs, that's a lot more dangerous. But pretty much, everybody knows where they got to throw the ball. Sometimes, somebody may hook a return off the back wall, but usually everybody's pretty competent out there. For the amount of times that the ball hits the back wall, there are very few injuries. Even though the ball travels quite rapidly, it's safe."


QUESTION 10: What is the biggest misconception about jai-alai? What do most people ask?

STARK: "Everybody asks me if jai alai if fixed. Never - ever - in my entire jai alai career did I see it - was I approached about it. It was a non-issue. Some people have this notion that when the jai alai player changes the ball during a game, that they're going over and there's a little number written on the ball of who's supposed to win the point? OK, that's ridiculous. They change the ball because a new ball is not as LIVELY. A jai alai ball has that slickness. Once the ball hits the wall repeatedly, and that slickness goes away. And instead of hitting the wall and kind of sliding on it, it hits the wall and starts to get warm. So if you had a player that didn't have a lot of power, your opponent would want to use a new ball against you. If I was playing against somebody who used a DEAD BALL, and then I won the point, I would want to switch to a LIVELIER BALL because I wasn't a person who threw the ball very hard. So I wanted a ball that was a little bit more LIVELIER than a ball that was either new or just been used a little bit."


QUESTION 11: Can you make a living playing jai alai?

STARK: "We are paid a salary. And then are paid bonus money for every time we place first, second or third. Our livelihood is based on how good we play. Besides what our actual contract is. I was a rookie kid who was 16 year-old kid who signed a contract for $1200 and 7 years later, I was making $3000 a month with bonus money on top of that of anywhere from $400-$600. The best jai alai player in the world right now? He probably makes anywhere from $70K-$90K a year. A guy like him maybe makes $3000-$4000 salary a month and makes $30K-$40K bonus money on top of that. It beats flippin' burgers at McDonald's. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (laughs) You're getting paid to play a game that you love. I would of played jai alai for nothing. I was a jai alai player 365 days a year. You look at me and ask me what I do, I'd say I am a jai alai player. I punch tickets here now - a parimutuels clerk - because I'm retired - but I will always be a jai alai player."


QUESTION 12: Jai alai originated in the Basque region of Spain. Does it have any influence over the game now?

STARK: "There is no governing body or anything. The game originated with the Incas way back, but it's a Basque game. When I turned pro their were like 46 guys on the roster. We had like 4 Americans. Maybe 5 or 6 Mexicans. Two guys from France and the everybody else was Basque. That's why I speak fluent Spanish. Number one, I thought it was the respectful and the proper thing to do, and Number two, I didn't want anybody talking any crap about me without me knowing what they were saying. (laughs)"


QUESTION 13: Have you been to Spain? What can you tell us about this destination so filled with mystique?

STARK: "I've never been to Spain. I hate to fly. I hopefully will get there one day. Ten hours on a plane really doesn't work with me. Larru plays on our roster now, and Olabe and Churruca and they come from a city called Marquina. There are maybe 5000 people, I believe, they said are in the entire city. The jai alai court is like right down the street from your house. The court was like the playground, where you play stickball. In Spain, kids grow up playing jai alai. I remember seeing like Little League roster pictures of them when they were young playing in Marquina. Larru and Olabe went to like kindergarten together, friends since they were 5 or 6 years old."


QUESTION 14: What are some nice FRONTONS you've been to? What's the difference? A CANCHA by any other name?

STARK: "Miami Jai Alai was the Saratoga Raceway of jai alai. Miami was nostalgia. The buildings. There's 12,000 people that fit in there. It's just huge. They used to have TOTE GIRLS come to your seat and take your bet. I always thought that was a cool aspect of jai alai. I personally didn't like the WORLD JAI ALAI courts, because the net above the court was at the top of the wall. If you go out on the court here (Orlando) and look,there's no screen, there's the top of the side wall and then you have the scoreboard. In WORLD JAI ALAI, the screen is right along the top of the wall, so you couldn't hit the ball and kind of float it up in the air a little bit. Dania Jai Alai was a little bit more of a dungeon to me. The court wasn't as lively as a court like Orlando or West Palm Beach were. Dania Jai Alai had a great restaurant that overlooked the court. We have a nice restaurant here in Orlando that overlooks the court, so you can sit, watch the game, have dinner. I liked to play in Melbourne because it was a few feet shorter. And I like to play in the drier weather as opposed to summertime, because weather affects jai alai as much as anything. The basket is made of wicker. When it's drier out, the basket tends to give a little more than when it's humid. Humidity firms the basket up. There's a wet towel that would hang on the cage and there's always players going over there and rubbing their frames on it, on the inside."


QUESTION 15: What do jai alai players eat? We want to learn about the variety of PELOTARI culture.

STARK: "I like steak with a couple of over-easy eggs on them. I like the yoke dripping over them. I'm a meat and potatoes type of guy. You will have some jai alai players who eat very healthy. I want to enjoy what I eat. I love my pasta and sausage and turkey breast and chicken. I'm a Jew from Brooklyn. My parents are New Yorkers. When I go to New York I eat nothing but pizza, bagels and Chinese food. Jews in the game of jai alai? There's Joey Cornblitt - one of the best players in the game - and me and the Hersch brothers. Joey's dad, I believe, escaped from the concentration camps -either him or his grandfather. It was funny, Joey was a player with me in Dania and he always used to call me "Son of Tel Aviv" and I would call him "Son of Jerusalem." There's black jai alai players, there's white jai alai players, there's Mexicans, there's French - whatever. Bottom line is if you have GAME and you can PLAY, it doesn't matter where you're from."


QUESTION 16: They say man does not live on bread alone, often there must be a beverage. Do players like to party after games?

STARK: "The Orlando Jai-Alai players? You'll usually see them at the Green Parrot or the Orlando Ale House. In Dania, it was Chalet Ole which was owned by a couple of jai alai players. It was across the street. We'd go to The City Limits. Back in Daytona, we used to go to Big Daddy's. I got kicked out of Big Daddy's. I'd been going in there after practice and on opening day a newspaper article comes out because I was the WINS champ in Melbourne my rookie season. So the manager says, "David, that was a great article on you today." I asked if he liked it. "Yeah, now get the hell out." I said, what are you talking about? He said, "You're only 17, now get the hell out of here."


QUESTION 17: Where do you see the game of jai-alai going in the future? Does it have a future?

STARK: "It's a dying sport. There are not enough facilities open with year-round jai alai for the game to have a rebirth. God, what Jai Alai used to be compared to what jai alai is now? When I played Dania Jai Alai on a Saturday, a matinee and a night, we'd handle over a million dollars in a day. In a day! We'd do $1000, $1200, $1500 a game on weekends. We're talking a million dollars in two performances, matinee and night. There's maybe 50, 100 people in the audience now, but when I played it was 5 to 7000. When I played we'd have longer seasons, five months here, six months there. For Orlando, I think their sister property was in Quincy. So for six months, Orlando Jai Alai was the only thing in town. Then when it went to Quincy, you'd have the dog track. Now Orlando Jai-Alai only plays LIVE jai alai from February to April. Why? There's just too much stuff to bet on these days. Now you have the Lottery, Indian Casinos, poker, Simulcasting. Back when I played, you'd come in you could only bet on jai alai. You couldn't bet on horse and harness tracks in California, New York, Chicago, etc. The poker boom kinda put those last couple of nails in the coffin. You look at the world series of poker last year and everybody's between 19 and 25 years old. Every college student is online on PokerStars.net. Everybody is playing poker. And jai alai is a game that is not televised. You can't have a great player come along. Like if a "Bolivar" came along again now, he's not going to be able to do what Tiger Woods has done, where he's brought so many more people into the game of golf. I mean even here, we're only live for two months. Miami and Dania have a fair quality to their roster. And it's very hard to build a quality roster in a place like Orlando, where you're going to have world-class jai alai players, and PLEASE do not take this WRONG - whoever is on the roster right now is a PROFESSIONAL jai alai player and CAN PLAY. Please don't get me wrong. But you can't get the quality of players to come play for 7 weeks and have no where else to go.


QUESTION 18: You now work as an Orlando Jai-Alai and Race Book teller - a parimutuels clerk. Any advice for fans? Any pet peeves?

STARK: "Profanity. Yelling at the players. Also, people who do not call out there bet properly. You are supposed to come up to me at my window and say, "Orlando Jai Alai. The dollar amount of the bet first. I would like a $2 bet. Then the type of wager. Quiniela Box. And then the numbers. They come up and they say things backwards or they don't give you the racetrack. They'll come up and say, "Give me $10 to WIN on the FOUR." Which one? Jai alai? Aqua duct? The Gulf Stream. I mean there's 50 places we TAKE. For jai alai the most popular bets are for TRIFECTAS. They pay the most. Picking the proper order of the FIRST, SECOND and THIRD place. A WIN bet, you only have to pick the WINNER. A QUINIELA bet is FIRST and SECOND. You can BOX three numbers and only TWO of the three have to come in. For Race Book, if you bet every single race at every single track, you have no prayer to win. Because nobody is that good. For me, I only buy a BOOK for New York racing, Florida racing and California racing. Like Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita. You have to learn it yourself. I mean, to be semi-successful. Because if people tell you they are winning at gambling, they are LYING TO YOU. (So, it's for fun, for entertainment?) Exactly. So if you focus on one track, you will know the horses, know the track, know the jockeys, know the trainers. You know, I may look at a 10-race card and only bet 3 or 4 races a day. I think that's the smartest way to go about it."


QUESTION 19: Any more thoughts about the jai alai fans?

STARK: (Laughs) "It could definitely be a 'reality show." I work in the V.I.P. ROOM and all the guys that are in there are almost like family to me. You get Sean Britton, who comes in, in his purple pants, works for Disney, drives a bus and he's the greatest, greatest guy. One of the biggest horse racing fans I know. And Willie Bennett with that white hat and his Hummer he drives. He's a great guy."


QUESTION 20: So, who is David Stark the man? What do you like? Favorite music or movies?

STARK: "I like the '80s and '90s stuff. Bon Jovi. Elton John. Rod Stuart. Billy Joel. Favorite movie? Rain Man. I used to work with people with disabilities. That's what my mother did. I thought no one in the history of movies ever played a better part than Dustin Hoffman did. He was just so perfect. I love to laugh. Laughter is the greatest thing. Comedians and comedy. I'm always joking and laughing. There's so much crap in the world to make you feel bad or cry that it's good for us to laugh every day. I love the Mets and the Rangers and the Nicks. I love Barney Miller, All in the Family and I Love Lucy and Welcome Back, Kotter."

PELOTA POLÍTE: Thank you so much, Mr. Stark. We appreciate you. Thank you very much for your thoughtful replies and helping grow the appreciation for the game of jai alai.

Yours respectfully,
Pelota Polite

Jai Alai Fronton Protocol by Pelota Políte

FRONTON etiquette is not only expected, but crucial to survival. Step out of line and you'll likely get stoned. Now we're not saying you can't show up stoned, but we're talking about the kind of stoned that involves hurling rocks at your CABEZA. Be safe. Google first, then come ready. For safety, every time you see the word FRONTON, just substitute it with the word MOSQUE. It is best to err on the side of caution. For instance:

1. If Men and Women should meet in the FRONTON, they should not show any PDA (public display of affection)! Such physical contact is commonplace in everyday Casselberry society, but is inappropriate at the FRONTON.


2. Relative to Casselberry norms, there are strict dress codes at the FRONTON. Make sure you dress modestly. For Men, this means, as a minimum, being covered from navel to knee. And even MORE dignifiedly, the top clothing should cover the elbows. It is also good practice for Men to wear a lucky red hat. For Women, the majority of opinion is that only the face, hands and feet should show. You should also avoid wearing clothes with pictures of the Miami Dolphins on them. Also, Women should remove their shoes and either bring a mat, asked to be carried or pulled in a little wagon by their escort. Men should WAX their calves before entering and Women should CALVE their wax.


3. The General Manager (peace be upon him) steps with his right foot first when he boards the Escalator. And disboards with his left. Follow suit. Emulate the General Manager (peace be upon him) as much as possible. This is NOT the "Hokey Pokey" folks. So don't flub it up!


4. Hygiene? One pari-mutuel gambler sayeth, “Whoever eats garlic, onion, then keep away from our FRONTON because the players get offended from what offends the children of Txurruka.” It is reported that if the General Manager (peace be upon him) finds a Simulcast Race Book Fan to have a strong smell upon him, he orders him to be taken out. So it is something that should be taken very seriously. On a related note, when a women is experiencing her monthly cycle, it is forbidden for her to enter the FRONTON.


5. If you enter the FRONTON and the game for which you came has started, do not run to place your bet. The General Manager (peace be upon him) said “If the game started, then do not join it running, and join it walking and quiet, and have a beer, dude, until you catch up with it the rest of us."


6. No smoking, unless you are a player and in the midst of a game.


7. Worshippers, I mean Patrons, don't like to be photographed. Especially with a flash.


8. Do not walk directly in front of a Simulcast Race Book Fan. This is one of the most common blunders of the newcomer! If the passer in front of a gambler knew how much sin he has committed, it would have been better for him to wait for forty years than to pass in front of him. On a related note, Simulcast Race Book Fans often place their lucky red hat or other item a short distance in front of them as a MARKER. Treat this as their inviolable space while they are gambling. If it is absolutely necessary for you to pass in front of them, do so in a manner that your back is facing the gambling person, but know this: Expect to be stoned when the race is over. Don't worry, they WILL find you.


9. The Jai Alai Fan should sit where he finds a place near the CANCHA. He should not skip people or squeeze himself between two people who are already sitting. To aid people who come when the FRONTON is busy, those already sitting should try to make space for him.


10. Do not sit with you feet pointing towards the CANCHA (direction of player) or other people.


11. It is generally agreed that your Jai Alai Program (only $1.25) should not be placed on the floor out of respect for tonight's game, although there are some groups that do not adhere to this, as it can serve as a useful mat for your Woman to sit on.


12. Also, do not engage in trade in the FRONTON. The General Manager (peace be upon him) said “If you see someone selling or buying inside the FRONTON, say to him: 'May Txurruka not make your trading profitable.'"


13. And if you see someone crying out inside the FRONTON about something he has lost (like his 401K), say to him, "May Txurruka not restore it to you, for the FRONTON was not built for this.”


14. More generally, try to avoid devaluing the purpose for which you came by speaking of worldly affairs, like being unemployed and not having health coverage or a 401K or having rickets or losing your wife while at the FRONTON and not being allowed to say anything about it, because Txurruka doesn't care. Yeah, stuff like that.


15. If POST TIME is about to be called, do not leave the FRONTON until you have gambled – even if you have already gambled the game that is being called. Gamble with your fellow Patrons, and count it as a 'shits-n-giggles' (optional) gamble. Erdoza Menor reported that Jericho (may Txurruka be pleased with him) said “the General Manager (peace be upon him) ordered us, when we are in the FRONTON and the POST TIME is called for, not to leave the FRONTON until we gamble or drink our weight in Coors Light.”


16. Greet people when you enter, and when you leave the FRONTON. The General Manager (peace be upon him) said “When one of you joins LIVE JAI ALAI, he should greet those present; and when he leaves them he should greet them because the first salutation is not better than the last one.” If there are many people present, a single declaration of"‘WHAZZUP!" will suffice, as this means "What be going down, holmes (all)."



There are many other things we could mention, such as the Florida Administrative Code, Pari-Mutuel Rules and Regulations Chapter 61D-7.020(8) which is read when entering and leaving the FRONTON, but arguably these are more clearly matters of gambling and can be covered elsewhere.

21 Questions with Jai-Alai player John S. Madden III, "SPIKE" by Pelota Políte

First off, mi amigo, there are no wrong or silly answers. Just pretend you are answering the questions of an elementary school classroom. Because many of us are new to Jai-Alai, and we have a perspective that may seem simple to you. We are learning. We want to learn. Won't you help us?

1.) Pelota Políte: First off, please tell us where you played and when. We don't care if it was 20 years or three months. It's all gravy to us.

SPIKE: I played at the Melbourne FRONTON and Daytona Beach FRONTON from 1988 to 1991.

2.) Pelota Políte: When did you first learn of Jai-Alai or become interested in becoming a Jai-Alai PELOTARI?

SPIKE: I learned of Jai-Alai in 1984 when still in high school.

3.) Pelota Políte: Where did you first pick up a CESTA and start to practice?

SPIKE: The first time I picked up a CESTA was in 1984, and we used to practice in the racquetball courts around town.

4.) Pelota Políte: What was the hardest part of learning how to play?

SPIKE: I was an all-star pitcher while playing baseball in high school, so the hardest part of Jai-Alai was the different throwing motion with the CESTA on your hand. At first to make the ball go straight ahead, you had to feel like you were throwing it dead right.

5.) Pelota Políte: Were the people you met in Jai-Alai scary at first? Were you intimidated by their prowess or other-worldliness?

SPIKE: I was intimidated by the better players when I was first learning. You had to earn your way onto the court to play with them.

6.) Pelota Políte: Where did you get your equipment, like CASCO, CESTA, PELOTAS, ZAPATOS y PANTALONES, and could you describe your feelings about your equipment? Like, did you like them? Or did you originally have a crummy CESTA and advance to an expensive CESTA?

SPIKE: When I played professionally, I special ordered all my CESTAS from a basket maker in Mexico. He had the specs of what your basket was like and could duplicate it so every basket was nearly the same

7.) Pelota Políte: Where did you get your Jai-Alai name "SPIKE." We've read that PELOTARIS sometimes take the name of the town they are from, or their middle name, their mother's maiden name or the street name that they grew up on. Is that true? What are some interesting player names you can remember? Why are they interesting or amusing to you?

SPIKE: I played under my last name of Madden. My nickname amongst the guys was SPIKE because back then I had a spiked haircut. Most names of the players were family names.

8.) Pelota Políte: Could you give some advice to a youngster who may be interested in becoming a PELOTARI. Like, should they start training now by throwing baseballs at the backstop or what?

SPIKE: If a youngster was interested in playing, I would recommend they contact the FRONTON and get involved in the amateur program. I had a blast practicing in the racquetball courts when I couldn't make it to the FRONTON.

9.) Pelota Políte: What qualities make a good PELOTARI?

SPIKE: You need good eye-to-hand coordination. You have to play smart and think about attacking your opponent's weaknesses.

10.) Pelota Políte: Can you recall a particular game (PARTIDOS) that sticks in your head? Like, 'Once I was unstoppable. I was playing a singles match with FIREBALL and we had 30 successive volleys without the PELOTA ever touching the floor.' Or something like that?

SPIKE: I was playing in a game with a good friend of mine (Jimmy) as my BACK COURTER. We were both Americans, so we were both inspiring each other throughout the point. Most communication between players was done in Spanish, so we were just having fun this particular game. There was a throw towards the side wall, and I was going to have to make a spectacular catch if i wanted the ball. So I started saying, "Tu, tu, tu!" (You, you, you!). As the ball passed me, I made the motion from the middle of the court to the motion it would have taken for me to catch the ball. I remind you. I was not within five feet of the ball and the REF blew the whistle and motioned that I had TICKED the ball. So we lost that point. We were both furious at that call. It taught me not to fool around during a point.

11.) Pelota Políte: Have you ever been injured? Could you describe the pain?

SPIKE: I was hit one time by a ball coming off the wall funny, and it actually hit me right on the knee. It didn't really hurt that bad, but when I tried to take a step, I had a rubber leg and went right down.

12.) Pelota Políte: What are some common misconceptions people have about Jai-Alai? Like what do most people ask you about it?

SPIKE: Of course the most common question is if the game is fixed.

13.) Pelota Políte: We are new to the game, so please don't become angry at this next question. Why is it that outsiders, like us, always hear the misconception that the game is rigged? After watching several nights of Jai-Alai, we don't understand what they are talking about? How can you calculate where the PELOTA will go? Why is this rumor in the air? We hear it a lot by the way.

SPIKE: My answer to this: If the games were fixed, the Jai-Alai wouldnt make any money, because all the players friends and families would have the winning numbers. But seriously, fans always say that the BACK COURTER reads the team who is supposed to win off the ball. That's why they're always looking at it and yelling to the FRONT COURTER. In actuality, what the BACK COURTER is doing, is letting the FRONT COURTER know how LIVELY the ball is. You see, for every game, there are many balls in play. Some are very HOT and fly like rockets. Others are NEW and haven't been HEATED up yet. These balls react like a Tim Wakefield KNUCKLEBALL. A LIVELY all flies true and reacts of the wall like it is supposed to. A NON-HEATED ball is like throwing a rock into the mud. It doesn't react of the wall consistently. You can have a ball hit the wall and dive straight to the ground.

14.) Pelota Políte: Do PELOTARIS get a bonus if they are good? For professional PELOTARIS, what kind of compensation is offered? We aren't looking for any specific DINERO figure here. That would be RUDE. But we are interested in if it is a salary or by the win or what?

SPIKE: When I played, we were paid a weekly salary and earned bonus money for every WIN, PLACE and SHOW. Sometimes, if you had a good week, your bonus money would be higher than your salary for the week. So you see, there was incentive to play hard every game.

15.) Pelota Políte: Are there Jai-Alai talent scouts? Where do they come from and where do they go to find new talent?

SPIKE: No talent scouts. The Basque people are a tight-knit group, so if there is a player that is up and coming, his name is passed around.

16.) Pelota Políte: Have you been to the Basque region of Spain?

SPIKE: No, I have never been to the Basque region.

17.) Pelota Políte: What's the nicest FRONTON you've ever been to or played in? The worst?

SPIKE: The nicest FRONTON I have ever been in was the one in West Palm Beach. The fans, back in the day, used to wear tuxedos and evening gowns on Friday and Saturday nights. Probably the worst FRONTON I have been in was in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

18.) Pelota Políte: What do Jai-Alai players like to eat? Meatballs? We really want an answer here. What are your favorite foods and beverages?

SPIKE: Players eat the foods of their culture. My personal favorite: Cuban white rice and carne. The Spanish guys loved their Jack and Cokes and us Americans drank good ol' Bud.

19.) Pelota Políte: Where do you see the game of Jai-Alai going in the future? Does it have a future?

SPIKE: I'm sorry to say Jai-Alai has no future. It's a pari-mutual game, and the real gambler doesn't want to wait to throw a 20-minute game, to see his result. As a form of entertainment, not enough revenue can be generated to keep it going. For those that have never seen a live game of Jai-Alai played with quality players, they have missed out on one of the most exciting sports ever played.

20.) Pelota Políte: Why is this game so full of mystique and allure? Is it because it goes back so far as the 1700s? That it comes from a region of Spain that is detached from the world with their own language? What is this mystery factor?

SPIKE: I'm not really a Jai-Alai historian, but I'm sure it may still be popular in the Basque region.

21.) Pelota Políte: Is there anything else we haven't asked that you'd like to tell the fans of Jai Alai Manners?

SPIKE: To the real fans of Jai-Alai, this is an amazing sport. There's nothing like the feeling of catching a ball that is coming at you over 140 mph. There's nothing like the feeling of being involved in a great POINT and hear the fans every reaction. Not many Americans can say that they ever got a chance to play this awesome game, and I will always cherish my memories of my three-year career. It was truly a job like no other, a dream come true, and I thank you for letting me share some of my memories.

Pelota Políte: Thank you, Spike. We appreciate you very much. Thank you for your thoughtful replies. Thank you for helping grow the appreciation for this fascinating game.

Yours respectfully,
Pelota Políte

You Say Pilates, I Say Pelotas by Pelota Políte

Can you beat this price for a fun night out? Parking was free and admission only a dollar last Friday night at Orlando Jai Alai. Heck, I pay twice that much when I visit mom at prison every Christmas.

Nobody knows who president and long-time owner Hort Soper sold the FRONTON to, but LIVE jai alai continues through mid April. The FRONTON has been open since 1962 when it was a glorious palace in a Casselberry cow pasture.

Jai Alai is more than a bunch of Spanish guys whipping a goat ball back and forth at a concrete wall. Well, maybe that is it, but the ancient Basque sport defies expectations. For one, it's multi-cultural and multi-national now. And for two (am I on two?), there is grace and poetry in its motion. The large wicker CESTAS they wield make one think of a cornucopia. It's like, you keep waiting for the goat ball - called a PELOTA - to transmogrify as it reemerges from their basket. You might see a pumpkin or gourd come out and smash against the wall. Maybe that's just me. Fronton etiquette suggests that tripping is appreciated but not necessary.

Each round is twelve games with eight teams. They play Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. How can they possibly maintain their enthusiasm, you ask? The roar of the crowd. Some roared with the aid of their Stephen J. Hawking boxes, but the love comes through nonetheless. If you were like most who attended, you were over 55 and therefore got in free. And for $2.50 you get a beer or some Paul Masson Chablis. College students? Dollar beers with I.D. Bring the kids. Relax in the dimness and snooze. Bring a Snuggie.

I didn't gamble Friday. I'm broke. But I could still treat myself to a cheap date. I went stag. Soaked in the local color and sucked in a few Coors Lights.

But plenty of gamblers covered for me. Post time lines were long and pari-mutuel satisfaction can be had if you are looking for that. I saw several ATM machines in the place, one on each level. There are three: the Conscious, the Sub-Conscious and the Id. Where I parked my car, there were two empty envelopes from SunTrust Bank. I checked them both hoping to find an overlooked twenty. Empty. Somebody's HOT tonight.

Near the ticket window, you can get an Official Program. It costs $1.25. The big fellow selling them saw the camera on my belt and told me: "No flash photography. It distracts the players. When the ball's going 180 mph you don't want to mess around."

His left eye was tightly cinched shut. He appears to have a hollow eye socket. I tried not stare. Perhaps in his past, a shutter bug got the better of him. But I don't think he played jai alai. His largesse belies frequent inactivity. But he might have been, who knows? My eye nervously gave a sympathetic twitch, and I assured him I would turn off the camera flash.

He pointed to ticket taker. "Check with that guy if you're going to take pictures though. Let him know what you're doing."

Taking tickets is Dale A. Gray Smoke, a big dude with a gray pony tail. His menacing appearance is offset by a kind and ingratiating manner, but you just know he could easily free your body of limbs if he wanted to. Seeing I was some sort of scribe, Smoke offered that he was a card-carrying Cherokee. He pulled out his wallet and proudly showed me his Native-American Identification. He smiled and conceded some French and Irish lineage as well. Getting his approval to take snapshots, I was eager to stay on his good side. I smiled big, and again, tried not stare at a unique growth bulging off his right eyelid. Criminy! Everybody got FUBAR eyes around here? Tell me where to get some protective eye goggles, please. Of course, I just thought this. I liked my limbs and had a mental flash at an angry Sasquatch. He said it was OK to take pictures and told me to check with Hollow Eye over at the programs counter. I had a feeling these two weren't talking to each other much these days.

Retired from a 35-year career with Seminole County Public Works, Smoke traded in his gear from the Roads-Stormwater Division to man the fort at the turnstiles. With a slight beer belly poking out of his calf-skin vest, his blue jeans were now faded white. And the turquoise Cherokee bauble hanging from a leather strap around his neck gave me a nice feeling that all was right with this place. He added some Indian gambling legitimacy to visitors. I thought that might be why he worked the door - that and the Sasquatch abilities. He gets about 25 hours a week at Jai-Alai. "Retirement is not much," he says. "This helps out."

Irate race book fan Stan Paul joined our conversation to ask Smoke who I was. "Who is this guy?" Looking at my crowd photos later, Paul seemed to be primarily interested in the horses. My crowd photos reveal him intently studying the program and sitting at the Simulcast Race Book viewing tables. They're downstairs near the escalators. Smoke gave me his blessing and a red-faced and possibly tipsy Paul continued. He seemed keen that I share a growing frustration.

"I handle about $200,000 minimum."

"Handle?"

"Handle. Bet. And these damn Seminole County government guys are keeping us from gambling. I got friends who have to drive 50 miles to place a damn bet. It's all about losing jobs. If we could get gambling here, people could get some damn jobs."

With that he shook my hand, told me I was a real "character" and went outside for a real smoke.

Seminole County prohibits Vegas-type gambling and poker rooms. Volusia County (Daytona Beach) is the nearest oasis for people like Paul. Orlando Jai-Alai offers pari-mutuel gambling. Times are tough. Their existing patrons can't keep it bouncing back for long. Competition is fierce. There's the other gambling outlets, the Internet, the TV show "LOST", general housecleaning and personal grooming to contend with.

It's definitely fallen on hard times. The linoleum is dull. The place needs a paint job. The trophy case has a fluorescent light that flickers on faded pinups from the past. You feel a vague emptiness when you walk through the place, like some department of motor vehicles in an Eastern Block country. And with the vagrant appearance of many of the regulars you get the feeling you've stumbled into some land of the dead at a post-nuclear Mall of America. Some of these people look like Los Alamos test subjects. Hey look, there's the cast from The Hills Have Eyes going up the escalator. And going down the other escalator are what appear to be retired strippers from nearby coochie-joints like Club Juana and Circus Circus. They've finally hung up their G-strings and jeer at the players from their second-level seats. Payback's a bitch. They yell stuff like:

"Let's Go, Jericho!"

"Over serve!"

"You are the WORST player EVER!"

"Ace 'em, Sebio! Ace 'em!"

"Andy, you would'a got that ball if it was a cigarette!"

"Whassa-matter, Carrot? They not feeding you at home!"

"Bye bye. Incoming!"

"Hip-hip, Sebio!"

However, some ladies of the fronton, perhaps influenced by the Moorish invasion of Spain, merely intone with an ululation. Also known as an ololuge or ololygmos, this noise is a long, wavering, high-pitched sound resembling the howl of a dog or wolf with a trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid movement of the tongue and the uvula. Coors Light is a known uvula relaxer, so this behavior is really only natural when you think about it.

Tonight's games are about to begin. The Star Spangled Banner plays. It's a recording. Lee Greenwood sings it. About 500 people rise and grow tearful.

Then the players march out. White pants. A rainbow assortment of colorful shirts. The number on the front is the Team number. The number on the back is the PELOTARI number. White helmets with no face mask or brims. Before each game, the Jannouncer in the box overhead says, "THE PLAYERS SALUTE YOU!" They raise their CESTAS in the air. This also shows that they are unarmed. No Mausers. The Jannouncer plays music. Lester Lanin's "España Cañi." It means "Spanish Gypsy." It's a famous instrumental pasodoble by Pascual Marquina Narro from 1925. AKA "Spanish Gypsy Dance," it may be the best known snippet of Spanish music ever. Popular worldwide. Used during bullfights in Spain and elsewhere. The refrain is sometimes played to stir up baseball fans. The Beatles played it in Liverpool and it is often used by the Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps, whoever the hell they are. Did I mention ballroom dancing? SALUDOS!

With the introductions done, a man resembling Lou Pearlman's fat weird uncle teeters up the awkward steps to find his seat. That could be some of the Backstreet Boys in tow behind him. No. Were there any black Backstreet Boys? No.

Each step is about six feet wide and four feet long by eight inches high. So only Sasquatch or Dale A. Gray Smoke might easily amble up these puppies. Most people would wisely take caution. That, or they face making a grandma goose step or suffering a groin injury.

Pearlman's almost made it to the top, but just as he gets there - whoa-whoa-whoa - he tries to fly and spills his beer. A Backstreet Boy steadies him and he heads for the lights at the nacho counter.

The DJ Jannouncer plays music. Manfred Mann's "Blinded by the Light." Again with the eyes here. Eye safety seems understandably important in the FRONTON. Most assuredly, the songs chosen by the Jannouncer served as a warning to the PELOTARIS. This must be Eye Safety Week. As I pondered this, the jukebox in my head played on and on:

"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor
"These Eyes" by The Guess Who
"Doctor My Eyes" by Jackson Brown
"Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen
"Private Eyes" by Hall and Oates
"For Your Eyes Only" Sheena Easton
"Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue" by Crystal Gayle
"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" by Willie Nelson
"Eyes Without a Face" by Billy Idol
"Eye in the Sky" by Alan Parsons Project
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar
"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by The Beatles
"Blind" by Talking Heads
"She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby
"See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me" by The Who
"In the Dark" by Billy Squire
"Dancin' in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen

Didn't hear "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison or "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes. Guess tonight wasn't Ladies Night.

Play starts and I am clueless. For "Rules, Terms, Equipment" please refer to the PHOTO ALBUM tab on this fan page. Same for the wagering. Too much to go into here. I'm bad at this, so for you, it would be like hearing driving directions from Stevie Wonder.

I watch and feel grateful for the dim lights and soothing effects of my Coors Light. The brew fends off the inevitable back-and-forth crick in my neck from watching the ball. The Jannouncer speaks occasionally.

"Corky on the inside."

"Possible perfect game for the 8."

My mind wanders, and I get wrapped up watching a woman escort her drunk husband down the steps and out the side EXIT. I get a little sleepy, lulled by the old stripper ululations when suddenly:

"OH! MY EYE!"

Has a 180-mph PELOTA found its purchase through a portal in the chain link fence? That fence is there to protect players from fast-moving drunk fans. Or has the irate race book fan Stan Paul whopped me one? A stripper lady and Lou Perlman's fat weird uncle kneel beside me in my grogginess. I am doused with the rest of my Coors Light. I am revived, battle scarred and ready for more action. There's no place like home.

Pelota fever. Catch it.