Jai alai

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Jai-Alai (IPA: [haɪ alaɪ] in English and [haɪ ɑ laɪ] in Basque) means "Merry Festival" in the Basque language. The term is used to denote a fronton (or open-walled arena) used to play a variety of Pelota called Cesta Punta, and, more broadly, to the game itself. The ball is placed into play and volleyed by players wearing a wicker cesta basket with a glove approximately 63 to 70 cm long. The game is characterized by the fast pace of play, the Basque Government promotes it as "the fastest game on Earth", a 125g-140g ball covered with goat-skin can travel up to 302 km/h (José Ramón Areitio at the Newport Jai Alai, Rhode Island, USA on 3 August 1979[1][2])

The xistera.
The xistera.

The basket-glove (xistera in Basque, cesta-punta in Spanish) was introduced by Gantchiqui Dithurbide from Saint-Pée, France in 1860,[1] and its long version by Melchior Curuchage, from Buenos Aires in 1888.[1]

Contents

[edit] Rules and Play

The court (or cancha) for Jai-Alai consists of 3 walls (front, back, and left), and the floor between them in play. If the ball touches the floor outside these walls, it is considered out of bounds. Similarly, there is also a border on the lower 3ft of the front wall that is also out of bounds. The ceiling on the court is usually very high, so the ball has a more predictable path.

The court is divided by 14 parallel lines going horizontally across the court, with line 1 closest to the front wall and line 14 the back wall. When serving, the server must bounce the ball behind the serving line, then with the cesta "basket" hurl it towards the front wall so it bounces between lines 4 and 7 off the front wall, the ball is then in play.

The goal in Jai-Alai is to score 7 or 9 points, to win the game. Points are scored by the other team dropping, missing, holding, or sending the ball out of bounds. The game is played in a round-robin format, rotating teams every point, where the team to score a point stays on the court and the opposing team rotates off the court to the end of the list of opponents. Points usually double after the first round of play.

The players frequently attempt a "chula" shot, where the ball is played off the front wall very high, then reaches the bottom of the back wall by the end of its arc. The bounce off the bottom of the back wall can be very low, and the ball is very difficult to return in this situation.

[edit] Geographic distribution

In France, Spain, Cuba, Mexico and the Philippines, the game of pelota is popular; in some regions, it is played in almost every town and city. The variant of jai alai is however played professionally in bigger cities.

In the United States, jai-alai enjoyed some popularity as a gambling alternative to horse racing, greyhound racing and harness racing and remains popular in Florida, where the game is used as a basis for parimutuel gambling at six frontons throughout the State: Dania Beach, Miami, Ocala, Fort Pierce, Orlando, and Hamilton County. The first jai-alai fronton in the United States was located at the site of Hialeah Race Course near Miami (1924). The fronton was relocated to its present site in Miami near Miami International Airport. Year round jai-alai operations include Miami Jai-Alai (the biggest in the world with a record audience of 15,502 people in 27 December 1975[1]), Dania Jai-Alai and Hamilton Jai-Alai in North Florida. Seasonal facilities are: Fort Pierce Jai-Alai, Ocala Jai-Alai and Orlando-Seminole Jai-Alai. Inactive jai-alai permits are located: Tampa, Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach, and Quincy. One Florida fronton was converted from jai-alai to Greyhound Racing in Melbourne.

By contrast, jai-alai's popularity in the north-eastern and western United States waned as other gambling options became available. Frontons in the Connecticut towns of Hartford and Milford permanently closed, while the fronton in Bridgeport was converted to a Greyhound race track. A fronton in Newport, Rhode Island has been converted to a general gaming facility.

Jai-alai enjoyed a brief and popular stint in Las Vegas, Nevada with the opening of a fronton at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino; however, by the early 1980s the fronton was losing money and was closed by MGM Grand owner Kirk Kerkorian. The MGM Grand in Reno also showcased jai-alai for a very short period (1978-1980).

In an effort to prevent the closure of frontons in Florida, the Florida State Legislature passed HB 1059, a bill that changed the rules regarding the operation and wagering of poker in a Pari-Mutuel facility such as a jai-alai fronton and a greyhound and horseracing track. The bill became law on August 6, 2003.

The International Jai Alai Player Association-UAW Local 8868 is the recognized bargaining agent for jai-alai players in most Florida frontons. The union had also represented jai-alai players and fronton employees in Connecticut until its three frontons permanently closed, and in Rhode Island where at the behest of the gaming regulators, the Rhode Island Legislature abolished the playing of live jai-alai in favor of video lottery terminals.

[edit] Cultural references

Portal:Basque
 Basque Portal
  • As a typical element of Florida, scenes of the Miami Jai Alai appeared in the title sequence of the TV series Miami Vice. A death among players was part of the plot of one episode.
  • In movies, jai-alai had a small role in The Substitute starring Tom Berenger (1996).
  • The game was also played by Bud Spencer in the movie Odds and Evens (aka Trinity: Gambling for High Stakes) (1978).
  • The game was played notably by Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O during an episode of the MTV show Jackass, replacing the goatskin balls with oranges. Both suffered severe bruising and cuts to their lower legs as the oranges were hurled at their stationary backsides.
  • The comic book hero, Blue Beetle once fought a man named overthrow, who had collapsable cestas which hurled fast paced fireballs, a living reference to the game
  • The game was also mentioned in an episode of Cartoon Network show Camp Lazlo.
  • Lenny Leonard of The Simpsons lives in a very fancy house which he is able to afford because one wall is the ending extreme of a Jai alai court.
  • A Chicago raggae/punk band called The Jai-Alai Savant makes many references to The Chicago Mastadons Professional Jai-Alai Team
  • In the NBC TV show "The Black Donnellys" Kevin Donnelly loses $5,000 betting on Jai Alai, a sport he knows nothing about
  • In the Futurama episode 'Parasites Lost', Hermes is seen eating popcorn from a Jai Alai cesta "basket"
  • The game played during Neopets' "Altador Cup" plot is very similar to Jai Alai.
  • The game is prominently featured in the Miami Vice episode "Killshot", which aired during the 3rd season, as well as during the opening sequences.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Libro de los récords Guinness, page 320, 1986 Spanish edition, Ediciones Maeva, ISBN 84-86478-00-6
  2. ^ Libro de los récords Guinness, page 258. It lists it as the faster speed recorded in a ball game, comparing to 273 km/h of golf.

[edit] External links

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