The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
In a town full of fake and fur and lots of tinsel and glitter polo stood out for what it is … clean, classy and rich all because Nacho brought it to town and in Hollywood as well. Nacho must make Ralph Lauren proud as the word POLO as Bill Ylvisacker used to say is a four letter word that spells CLASS and it was obvious to all on Sunday at the WILL ROGERS STATE PARK.
A crowd of 4200 people crowded into Will Rogers to shout, cheer and enjoy the sport sometimes called the King of Sports and not the Sport of Kings. Polo has needed this for a long time. It used to be Stars and Super patrons who made Polo a news worthy item. Prince Charle , Kerry Packard , Bill Devane, Tom Barrack, Peter Brant and Mr. Uhlien. The world of media has changed and it is 60 seconds from being around the World. People are not just seeing headlines in London, Buenos Aires or New York or Los Angeles about PC @ Palm Beach or KP or PB leading WhiteBirch in the Hamptons, they just do not promote polo anymore. With the Internet, everything is a headline and people like star power look at the news in Sports. It is still Tiger and he has not won a tournament in nearly 2 years, but he made news another way and it is still news. WHY?
Michael Jackson lost his life over a year ago, yet it is in ever paper everyday. A lot of important people have died in the last year, yet you do not see their names. It is Hype and it is NACHO. He is bigggg and Polo needs to ride his coattails as far as we can. He just proved he is a Star in the City of stars … HOLLYWOOD at BEVERLY HILLS. I just think that in today’s world seldom do these people come along and I also think Nacho is in it for Polo. He loves to help the game and he wants to make the sport of polo bigger. Nacho is working his hard to help grow polo and this is the key for the USPA and polo in all other countries.
Polo needs new people to make the game a King of Sports and that takes work, good marketing and time to build it up. This is where Polo is inefficient. They want the checkbook and will fix it. New people want to be part of what they are doing, so we need education and this is where Clubs make a difference. They need schools and they need help from the Association to make these programs work, not 2 day programs. Pick 4 cities and start polo schools with professional people running them, good marketing/ads coupled with good organization and lets see what happens. Recreate LA Equestrian Center and generate 20 years of Patrons for the future. They are there … young, tough and affluent people who want to have fun and experience the thrill all wrapped up in speed. My city picks … NY City, Chicago, Houston, LA, Seattle. One trip from Nacho and you have a forum who will want to be there. HE IS THE MAN !
My thanks to NACHO for being there and being Nacho. It has been 4 days and I have not heard one negative of it all and it was in the City who Loves to WHINE.
see ya.