The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
Jan. 31st ‘10
It was a very nice day in Indio, CA to end the month with sunshine and good weather. It was about 73 degrees F and a hell of a lot of polo happened today. The 4 finals were dominated by others as Canada held both sides of the 4-goal, 6-chukker and it was Pat Powell and the Hammer Eric Hammod blowing by fellow Canadian Misty as in Rege White. He has been in at least 3 finals in the last 2 years and was again behind in the end. Kentfield was trailing early but came back on a mission and took the Roenish Bronzes with the Wolfman (Ashton Wolf) and Kyle Fargy dragging the whip on Misty’s Pierre and Jake Devane in the final 3.
The 4-goal, 4 chukker was the other final and the start of a Texas Triple as Delta Dawn started her mission for a long day. They have a Dawn 2 by the name of Gloria, who at -1 may be the most sought after player in the Governor’s Cup. I think both of these Lady’s could ride a motorcycle with a halter. They had plenty of help with Luis and Fermin covering for them. It made for a long day for Uncle Mike’s World Gym, but they never stopped trying. San Saba had the Roenish Bronzes in the end and some time to enjoy it . . . about 30 minutes. Then it was time for a showdown at high noon as Luis and Dawn changed Jerseys and headed to field 1 where Casa Blanca was waiting for them to play the 8-goal finals. It started fast and stayed that way Casa Blanca held the edge for a good part of the game, getting a good performance from Nick the Stick and Nico. CasaBlanca even led going into the final chukkar when Tommy Lee Jones gave them a pep talk as he is Head Honcho of San Saba. He is down in the back for a while with back Surgery. Tommy has turned into coach Jones. He gathered them up before the sixth trailing by 1 and said “look . . none of you are tired so lets get to work.” I am sure Luis and Dawn were wondering after 9 chukkers of finals polo in less than 3 hours if that was the case, but it worked. Luis came blowing out of the throw in and Dawn tied it up on the follow up. They took the lead shortly there after with one of the best runs of the year. It was Dawn loose at about 30 yards from the other end line. She spins around and lets them rip and goes 280 yards and buries it to drive the final nail. She knows it is a double bronze today for her and Luis Essureta which I am sure is spelled wrong.
Now it is Texas 2, Canada 1 and CA 0 wins. It is now time for the big guns and it is Eldorado vs. ERG, another Texas Team from Houston. They played a scrappy group led by a Sexy lady named Malia McCoy, who did not seem to be wearing her high heels, just those boots made for walking to her horse. They had a big upset on Friday and had it on their mind again, but this time it was Fas-etta (Mariano Fassetta) and the Palomino (Jason Crowder), who were ready for surprises. They came out quick and hard and dominated the first 3 chukkers on some big runs and clever plays. They had no idea how to make a penalty shot as they ended the day I think 1 of 8, but young Tony Uretz and Martin Munoz kept them flowing with big pickups and they finished the first 1/2 up by 6. Mother Malia was not going away and she rallied her team to win the fourth and fifth by 5 to 3. Fergus Gould and Miguel Gutierrez were pounding the ball to Malia and Ernie (1 good eye) and they were flying until the end of the 5th when ERG stopped a shutout in the final 50 seconds. In the 6th they were about even, but Eldorado just could not close the gap and it was ERG getting the Texas Triple.
Overall it was a very good day of polo. The fields played well, the weather was awesome, but no one got hurt. The Horses were happy and so were the four winning finals teams.
Else where it was the hard hitting Silent Chris and the Doctor keeping their record clean as they won 2 over the weekend at Twin Palms in nearby la Quinta where the fields are a marvelous green and quite fast and 40 foot below sea level . Gary Haydon had to come down from Phoneix and is not quite fit yet but had a good time as is Lady Susan and a new couple out their Gary Warner I believe joined up with Silent Chris and the Rocket Lady Robin Pacius is letting them run out their as well . I think we need Dawn , Robin, Gloria Megan on the same team and call them the Little Lady’s and see if any 4 big men can out ride them .
Down South not really down as they are above sea level it was the Hawks with Mannix Brothers winning their second and Ca. boy Jeff hall leading MVP Lyndon Lea’s Zaccara to a win where both are 2 and 0 and maybe headed to another showdown in about 2 weeks . Florida weather is said to be cold and cloudy so maybe the Ca. sun is ok. Feb. leagues start this Friday .
Congratulations to JANUARY CHAMPIONS
12-Goal Finals
ERG (12) – Scott Wood (Tony Uretz substituted), Jason Crowder (5), Mariano Fasseta (6), Martin Munoz (1)
8-Goal Finals
San Saba (7) – Dawn Jones (1), Luis Echezaretta (3), Rodrigo Moran (2), Fermin Micheo (1)
4-Goal/6-Chukker Finals
Kentfield (4) – Eric Hammon, Kyle Fargey (3), Ashton Wolf (2), Pat Powell (-1)
4-Goal/4-Chukker Finals
San Saba (4) – Dawn Jones (1), Fermin Micheo (1), Luis Echezaretta (3), Gloria Di Angelo (-1)
See ya.
-Steve Crowder