The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
As a sport, polo is the fastest team sport there is and often said to be one of the most dangerous sports. Polo is so much fun … players go fast and it is exciting to feel the power of a 1000 lbs of pure energy under you. The tremble of this mammal called a “horse” gets your adrenalin running like nothing you can snort or smoke. And yes, it is just as addicting. There is no doubt it is dangerous, fast and very expensive. Most people can not or will not ever play polo, even if they wanted to. To me, this is why it is not such a big spectator sport. You cannot get the general public to relate to the sport or what you are feeling as you are riding and playing. It is just not possible to do it, unless you try it.
Leisure polo players understand it and prefer to stay away from the polo with pros. This may be because of the speed and the other reason may be because of the cost. There is no doubt in my mind, speed and cost both increase quickly as the levels go up. I do not think the danger increases with better polo as I was recently told because it is like car racing if we walked onto a track and 30 of us got in cars and started racing it would be dangerous because we would all be trying to do something we do not know how to do. If, however, 1 or 2 of us went out with 28 pros we would go much faster and be a hell of a lot safer because there are guys who know what they are doing and I am sure of the 28 there will be 1 or 2 who want to scare you, but most will want to teach you and help you improve. Like most polo players, you can obviously afford to play and just as easily afford not to play. The fact is … we need more polo players.
Lifestyle is a big part of the sport of polo. Most people know “Polo” as in shirts, cologne and other luxury brands. It is true … the lifestyle of the real polo patrons is luxurious and different in many ways. Some patrons of polo are just normal … they cruise around, they are wealthy and friendly. Some are not so rich, but think they are or ought to be. Others just make it look like they are because they are. Like Victor Vargas said in the Wall street Journal “People write stories about me saying I have a Ferrari, a plane, a yacht,” he said during an interview at one of his homes, in the posh Country Club neighborhood of Caracas. “But it’s not true. I’ve got three planes, two yachts, six houses. I’ve been rich all my life!” (WSJ Jan. 29th, ’08)
Many people see the glamour as the element that makes polo so much fun. Like the sport, the players are sometimes duped by the “want-to- be” players and that is the sad part of the Lifestyle element attached to the sport. It often affects the public in a negative way as they leave a nasty trail behind them.
POLO THE SPORT it can be high goal 20 + or 0 goal but the varying levels of player different in several ways … cost, danger, time and ego. It’s not like there is no one to play polo, there are players who enjoy it. This part of the sport as we say the “High Goal” may well be where it is. The synergistic combination of sport and lifestyle. The horses, grooms and pros do live a bit different. The Patrons for the most part do show the lifestyle element that people associate with polo. Just look at the names of the teams … they are not Indio or Coachella or even Hyatt or La Quinta Hotel. It is Audi, Piaget, Coca Cola and so on. This is where we need to grow polo on the West Coast. Empire Polo is nicer than IPC, but nobody knows this because as extravagant as it is the player’s there are not as geared to play this type of high-goal polo for all of the reasons we have mentioned previously. We could be as different as the fantastic Nacho Figueras of Polo Ralph Lauren. He said himself, “Empire Polo Club is spectacular we need more players here.” Maybe some of the big teams would move West once they learned more about the Empire Polo Club, a hidden gem in the desert. There is one thing here in the Greater Palm Springs area, there are plenty of polo fields for all. To me it is all media. We need attention from the rest of the world.
East Coast News …
This is a list and brackets of 14, 20-goal teams playing in Florida now. This is what has happened so far there. Audi I think is in Semis thus far.
Bracket 1 cross with Bracket 2
Vela de Lago 2-0 Crab Orchard 2-1
J.Zenni F. Viani 3
P. Pieres 8 M.Magrini 8
M.Laprida 8 M. Agirre 9
A. Obergon 4 G.Rawlings
Faraway 0-2 ERG 1-1
H.Goodman S.Wood
J.Monteverde 5 H.Galindo 6
S.Chavanne 9 J.Blake 6
P.Escaptie 6 P. De Naravez 8
Goose creek 2-1 Lechuza 0-2
M.Breman V.Vargas 1
K.Kampsen 6 A. Snow 6
T.Biddle 6 A. Nero 7
L.Escobar 7 T.Goti 6
Bracket 3 round robin bracket 4 round robin
Piaget 0-2 Orchard Hill 1-2
M.Ganzi S.Van Andel
J.Panelo 4 J.Hall 8
M. Astrada 10 L. Criado 9
J.Boleni 5 M.Roe 4
Zacara 2-0 La Herradura 2-1
M.Gonzalez J.Donoso 7
L.Lee 1 C.Gracida 6
H.Ulloa 9 M. Gracida 7
F.Pieres 10 A.Fernandez
Luchesse 0-2 Audi 2-1
J.Muse M.Ganzi 1
J.Crowder 6 N.Pieres 8
S. Merlos 9 N.Roldan 8
A.Weisz 5 C.Gracida 3
Valiente 2-0 Coca Cola 1-2
B.Jornayvaz G.Johnston 1
J.Gracida 4 S.Erskine 7
A. Barabucci 6 J.Arellano 9
A. Cambiaso 10 MT. Collingwood 3
Thurs 10 La Herradura def. Orchard Hill 14-10
Fri 11 Goose Creek def. Lechuza Caracas 12-11
Villa del Lago def. Crab Orchard 12-11
ERG def. Faraway 8-7
Sat 12 Valiente def. Lucchese 11-9
Sun 13 Orchard Hill def. Audi 12-7
Zacara def. Piaget 14-10
La Herradura def. Coca-Cola 12-11 OT
Wed 16 Audi def. Coca-Cola 17-11
Goose Creek def. ERG 10-9
Crab Orchard def. Faraway 9-3
Thurs 17
Valiente def. Piaget 16-10
Fri 18
Villa del Lago def. Lechuza Caracas13-12 OT
Zacara def. Lucchese 9-8
Sat 19 Coca-cola def. Orchard Hill 14-13 OT
Crab Orchard def. Goose Creek 12-6
Audi def. La Herradura 10-9
Sun 20
10am Piaget vs Lucchese JAN PAMELA SOUTH
10am Valiente vs Zacara FIELD 4
Noon Faraway vs Lechuza Caracas FIELD 3
3pm ERG vs Villa del Lago FIELD 1
Wed 23 Joe Barry Cup Semifinals
1pm winner Bracket I/II draws either winner of Brackets III and IV
3pm runner-up in Bracket I/II plays remaining Bracket III or IV winner
Thurs 24 Bobby Barry Cup Semifinals
1pm #3 ranked team in Bracket I/II draws
between the 2nd place teams from Brackets III and IV
3pm #4 ranked team in Bracket I/II plays
the remaining Bracket III or IV 2nd ranked team
Sun 27 Noon Bobby Barry Cup Final
3pm Joe Barry Cup Final
see you @ POLO ANYWHERE