The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
It has the feel of fall in the air and it does seem like the final weekend. There is always black or green at the top of the stand. For a while now Andy Busch and Grants Farm closed out the o’s as in ’09 a decade after his first PCO with brother Billy. John Muse of Lucchese has dominated this decade with both years in his pocket and looking for a three-peat. He has MR. POLO (Adolfo Cambiaso) with him and that is always a problem for the other 4. To me there are two Mr Polo’s; one is the face of the game and that is Nacho Figueras. Even if the general public knows nothing about the sport of polo they know the face of fashion and his name is Ignacio Figueras but Nacho will do. The other is the Sport and his name is Adolfo Cambiaso. He is 10 goals and there are several 10 goalers in the world, but in reality there is one Adolfo. Since the days of Gonzalo Pieres, there has been no one like him. He has even won every tournament he played in for one year I think at least once. Cambiaso has been 10 goals since he was old enough to drive. He went up 5 goals in one year and well he has done whatever you can think of in polo! He has helped many players as well and he always makes them better … young or old, big or little.
Lucchese:
The last two years Cambiaso has played with John Muse. Muse will be wearing a # but he will have a job and he will most likley be doing it far from his postion, but he does it well. On the others he brings back Andres Weisz, as a mover and a shaker. Weisz will always gamble and often make something happen. Then there is the new kid and his name is Santi Torres and he is local. Torres grew up just down the street on Lambert Road and he has probably seen as many PCO’s as anyone, even though he is close to 20 years old. His Pop was always there so Santi was as well. Now he is on the main stage and doing very well.
Grants Farm:
On the other side it is the boys in Green and they have been here before or at least 2 have been. Andy Busch, head man of Grants Farm, was the highest-rated U.S. Amateur for several years and he is no rookie to the finals. Busch has been in a few and a couple with Jeff Hall. Hall is the Quarterback of the team who grew up even closer than Santi to the PCO. He lived about a 100 feet from the corner of the main field. They have their own young guns as well and they come in two packages. One is short and squat and very tough … Jared Sheldon. Sheldon comes out of Poway and is part of a polo playing family where Pop Billy and Grand Pop Russ are a fair amount of reason he is here. Like a bulldog, Sheldon does not turn loose. He just keeps on pulling and that will be his job on Sunday … to pull the team because behind him is another young gun. This other young gun maybe the best around and he is a speeding bullet. Unlike the Everready, he never seems to be hurrying … he is just there and then he is not. His name is Paul Pieres, and yes, he is part of that polo family of Pieres’ but a cousin to the famous ones. He could, however, be a clone of the Big Gun in that family … Gonzalo. Pieres has the same laid back manner as Gonzalo and just does things the same way. He is not flashy and not glamorous he just gets it DONE. Pieres was the Best Player in Palm Beach for his handicap this past Winter. He was MVP of the British Open and he will be there on Sunday. Pieres has never answered to Paul, yet they call him Polito or Paulito but he answers to that. His Dad is Paul and the rest I do not know, but it is always “…ito”at the end of a juniors name.
SEE YOU SUNDAY