I worked at jai-alai from 1979-83 while I was going
to college, and I witnessed thousands of games during those years,
and thousands more since then. I never ever thought the games
were fixed. What I saw was that just like pitchers in baseball,
some nights the players played great, and some nights they just
didn't have it. The best players were the ones that were most
consistent, but even the best had off nights when you could just
see that they were not going to win a game. I never felt that
I was cheated by players who predetermined an outcome....EXCEPT
FOR ONE NIGHT...
The last performance prior to the players strike in 1988 at Bridgeport,
someone hit the $1 million Super Six. Is it possible it was just
a coincidence? Sure. But the timing of that hit never sat well
with me. I do not want to come out and accuse anyone of cheating,
but I realize that essentially, I am saying that I suspect that
it COULD have happened.
At any rate, one night in 35 years is good enough for me, and
I feel very lucky to have seen some of the greatest play that
any fan could ever dream of witnessing every single night at Bridgeport
Jai-Alai. And Milford was very good as well. I didn't get up to
see Hartford as much because it was an hour in each direction,
but when I did, that was great play as well.
