Nov 15th 06: After a slow start Frederick Mannix (aka Little Mac) gets a big win in the first round of the Campurtados or something like that. He and another Yank Jeff Hall came through the first round and old friend Tiny Tomas fell as did Louis Escobar in their first rounds. There are a lot of Yanks down South in Argentina and some doing well. Kelly Beal is in the finals of the Gold Cup at Pilar and Adam Snow just losing out to get to the semis, so lets have a toast if nothing else. They do let Americans play there and not all have to pay to play. Some things are happening in the U.S. that may make polo just a little better. there is a new polo association starting called the NPL. It is set up to bring polo to the masses. This makes it a sponsor-friendly association. It may be on the right track as extreme sports are definitely a huge hit. Polo is an extreme sport I would say. Keep your eyes open. Polo has legs and wings and will be developing soon. Maybe polo will grow in the USA as it should with a little of the USA involved. Maybe all teams must have 2 Yanks on it that would be a nice touch, but it might not work with that rule. Who knows what will work to grow polo. Something needs to happen. They dropped the American rule and it has dropped U.S. players three-fold, so we need something besides an outlet for cash.
The U.S. now has no 10-goalers, three 9’s who are all over 40 years old and most 8’s are the same I think. We have two players under 30 rated 8 goals. I might be wrong, but I doubt it. The USPA dropped the foreign rule a few years ago and it has really been good for American players. They can all be involved as long as they groom for someone else. Its hard to be good without practice or opportunities. My spelling is much like young players . . . not enough practice to be better.
I was recently driving in a little town called Montecito, CA. It is a rather high-end place. As I was driving down the street and thought what the heck is he doing? It was a youngster about 10 who was standing alongside Mom’s Mercedes having a whiz as she talked on the cell phone. Try that 2 miles away and it would be detention hall, but hey that’s life. Lets play P O L O somewhere soon.