Pite Merlos was not only the oldest, but he was the best player on the field today. In the finals of the Tortugas Open and the first of the Triple Crown Tournaments here in the Argentina, it was 40 plus Pite Merlos showing the kids its not time for the rocking chair just yet. He dominated the big plays in the final chukkers of the Open with quick moves that made players 15 years younger looking for their underwear quite often.

It was easy for the favorites to get killed today without Super Sebe “the King Kong” of attack. He is out due to a suspension. It was Ole Pite picking up the slack and taking the heavily favored Ellerstina to the wall. It was fun to watch Pite, if not the game, which for all general purposes sucked for 5 chukkers and finally in the 6th and 7th became a polo game you hoped to see.

It was an okay chukker one as Ellerstina won by 2 at 2 and 0 with 2 penalties. Then chukker 2 came to a halt with 5 fouls and 2 goals scored. Ellerstina led 4 to 1. Chukker 3 was 5 fouls and 2 goals even. The 4th was better, but slower. There were 6 fouls, but 5 goals and El Paraíso tied it up with 4 big goals. The 5th was much better as El Paraíso took the lead for the first time. It lasted only a minute before Ellerstina tied it back and ended 10 to 9 in favor of Ellerstina. The 6th finally got to Open speed as both teams let them rock and it came to a draw at the end of a great chukker. It was El Paraíso getting a big rush on a spectacular run by  Merlos to put it flat and then went to the other end and going up. Then came the Pieres  and whoops, they take it back and go up by 2. El Paraíso was still in town and they tied it right back up. Its a new game, but its sudden death. El Paraíso got an early break in overtime and missed, then took it back, but a foul was called and its back in Ellerstina’s hands. Away they went with three misses from both sides. Gonzalo Pieres of Ellerstina set it free and it was history. ELLERSTINA ARE THE CHAMPS.

The weather was great. The crowd was reasonable, not the one expected, but good enough. Also the game was a day late as Saturday was due to be the Finals and it was live on ESPN. That is so cool. Hope they showed  little of the early part of the game and a lot more of the latter half.

One thing we know for sure . . . only Ellerstina can now win the Triple Crown.

See ya .

Ellerstina Etiqueta Negra: Pablo Mac Donough 9 (5), Gonzalo Pieres (h) 10 (3), Facundo Pieres 10 (6, 4 de penal)y Matías Mac Donough 9. Total 38

El Paraíso Polo Team: Agustín Merlos 10 (6, 3 de penal), Ignacio Toccalino 6 (1), Juan I. Merlos 9 (5) y Francisco de Narváez (h) 9 (1). Total: 34.

Ellerstina Etiqueta Negra: 2-1, 4-1, 4-2, 5-5, 8-8, 10-10, 13-13 y 14-13.

Paco’s Dad, Francisco, is running for President of Argentina soon, so give him a vote.