You sound kind of bitter and angry Bennett. I may have related
one Berenson story with somewhat of a negative overtone...but
I left out many positives that I benefitted from my years with
Buddy Berenson. For what it's worth, there wouldn't have been
a Miami Jai-Alai without Richard Berenson and you wouldn't have
gone on to see some of the games's best players ever if Buddy
Berenson had rolled over and given up with the '68 strike. Instead
he went forth with the mission and vision set by his father of
doing everything innovative towards improving the appeal of Jai-Alai
for the fans AND the revenue just happened to be fantastic! Matinees
were introduced, quiniela style games began and summer jai-alai
became a staple just to name a few credits of Buddy Berenson.
Players like Juaristi, Mendi, Asis, Javier, Cortarena, Remen AND
Joey didn't have a problem with Berenson. And if you think about
Buddy Berenson's competitive business nature...it's hard for me
to imagine Dania Jai-Alai being able to lure Joey away if Buddy
had something to say about it. After all...he also knew it was
good business and marketing sense to leave Bolivar at Tampa instead
of the original plan to bring Boli to Miami as Boli himself has
even stated.. AND Boli didn't leave Tampa till after Berenson
didn't have any say so anymore.
And one more thing, if you think Buddy Berenson was a first class
jerk...then you must have forgotten about the regimes that followed.
Buddy Berenson was a 'walk in the park' compared to
what followed. All in all...my memories are good and fond of the
many learning lessons and experiences that I was privileged to
be a part of.
