The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
Dec. 31 09
The first decade of 2000 will be hard to forget by many people in the polo industry. On this day, 10 years ago, Dec.31,1999, no one was sure what would happen with the change of the century. The clock kept ticking and all went well. Life was good. The stock market was at 11,497 and rising. Polo was flying along in a major growth stage and looking good. Jeff Blake and Adolfo Cambiaso along with Mr. Gannon, as in Outback, were U.S. Open Champs. Adolfo would go on to win it 4 more times during this decade and Jeff twice. All was good at Palm Beach Polo and the Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton and then along came 911. Polo fell into a hole. In the later years of the decade Palm Beach Polo and Royal Palm closed their doors. It was a sad couple of years. Along came John Goodman and here we go again. Polo flew at the new Int. Polo Club at Palm Beach and it rocked the market in ’05. The stock market was back to 10,700 and looking up, all was well and it looked like a new way of life had started once again. Then we entered ‘08 and things turned blue. The stock market dropped to 7,600 and polo teams disappeared in the shadows. Clubs vanished, many with big dreams of phenomenal profits which turned into bad dreams like Gulf Stream and El Dorado. Polo players never really go away unless they die and it continues to move along as we start a new decade with hope. The horses are probably slower and cheaper, Pros are cheaper, Teams fewer, but the grass still grows and we must look ahead because yesterday is gone and tomorrow never comes. So be happy and get on your Pony and let ‘em run. IT’s ALL BECAUSE POLO IS NOT THE GAME OF KINGS IT IS THE KING OF GAMES !
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND LET’S PLAY POLO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEE YA