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NFT: Whatever happened to Jai-Alai?

short lease : 5/16/2019 6:58 am

Not sure if I am spelling that right. IIRC, In the late 70's (early 80's?) - it was a very popular spectator/gambling sport. CT had a least 2 arenas(?) - Bridgeport and Hartford. Then it seems like it just disappeared.

I remember it was also popular in Miami.


Not sure what made me think of it but, I was wondering if everybody went bankrupt or there was some scandal - and then everyone went bankrupt?

Whatever happened to Jai-Alai?
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I also grow up with those dudes ....  
BCD : 5/16/2019 8:00 pm : link
I lived in PT and on Stafford Ave tough area...My brother played with Walt Luckett the greatest high school player ever. they were state champs when I was a freshman at Harding...Luckett avg 40 pts a game his sr yr. We never went there we were big Bridgeport Jets fans who had a great wr name Tinker...Wes was a kid but Danny Teal was the man back then along with Langston.
very interesting thread -  
Del Shofner : 5/16/2019 8:13 pm : link
I never went to jai-alai or bet on it but I went by the Milford fronton many times and always wondered about the sport. Didn't realize the whole New England organized crime connection. Remember the George Higgns book "The Friends of Eddie Coyle"? Great book about a low level mob guy in Boston in the '70s; became a movie with Robert Mitchum. Makes me think of that.
MOOPS  
Bill2 : 5/16/2019 8:56 pm : link
Had dinner on Atwell Ave 10 days ago. Massimo's. Old school and terrific
Del, this is from Newsweek in 2010  
Bill2 : 5/16/2019 9:04 pm : link
basic thesis of the article: "Is Rhode Island the most corrupt state"

"Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Providence's longest-serving mayor, is the most prominent example for outsiders. He returned to the state in May 2007, after serving more than four years in a federal prison for a racketeering-conspiracy conviction (in other words, running a criminal enterprise out of City Hall).

Former governor Edward DiPrete also spent one year in jail after pleading guilty to 18 corruption charges that he took bribes from state contractors while in office. The Ocean State tradition of political scandal isn't limited to executive officers—just look at the legislature and court system. Former speaker of the House and chief justice of the state Supreme Court Joseph A. Bevilacqua resigned in 1986 during impeachment proceedings, in which investigators alleged that the then-judge had strong ties to the mob."

If you looked it up it goes on and on. Makes Albany look clean.
RE: not sure about the sport  
jgambrosio : 5/16/2019 9:14 pm : link
In comment 14445788 mattlawson said:
Quote:
but the beer is great. cigar city ipa.

Beat me to it
Bill - crazy stuff.  
Del Shofner : 5/16/2019 9:21 pm : link
Going back a couple of generations I had family living in Providence but that was before my time and I don't really know Rhode Island. I did have a case that tangentially involved Bridgeport CT and the mayor there who went to jail, then came back and got re-elected. "Southern New England," sheesh.

On the other hand, there is white clam pizza, a major contribution to the world ...

Anyway, this jai-alai thread has me remembering Connecticut days from long ago. As I said, I always wondered what jai-alai was all about, and now I know.
Well then  
Bill2 : 5/16/2019 9:36 pm : link
You are probably aware of the mid Conneticut area habit of steaming their hamburgers? in the 80's there were several places famous for it

Its a 1800's way of cooking them via steam that got out all the fat. Of course it got out the taste and left the burgers an ashen grey. To me, the meat was texture and the taste was cheese and ketchup.

New Haven has a place that claims the tradition was invented there but I forget the name of it.

Anyway, if you ever head to Boston or the Cape via 95, stop for lunch or dinner on Atwell Avenue as it goes through Federal Hill. Better than Archer Avenue when Archer Avenue was Archer Avenue
Good talking to you Del  
Bill2 : 5/16/2019 9:38 pm : link
Hope you are well
RE: Good talking to you Del  
Del Shofner : 5/16/2019 9:41 pm : link
In comment 14446710 Bill2 said:
Quote:
Hope you are well


Yes, back at you. Long story but I'm in a Boston firm now (in their NY office but I'm up there a lot) so keep the NE restaurant recommendations coming ...
BCD  
Marty866b : 5/16/2019 9:44 pm : link
Do you recall the sneaker store in the indoor mall downtown? I owned it there for 13+ years. I used to sell to Walter Luckett also. Bridgeport had some great basketball players. Many of them amounted to nothing due to drugs.Bagley,Matthews,and Smith all played for Harding H.S.(Charlie Bentley was the coach) and had long NBA careers. I believe all three still live in Bridgeport to this day.
Whenever you'd take the train from Manhatta to  
Phil in LA : 5/16/2019 9:45 pm : link
New England, you'd roll past that huge Jai Alai billboard.
RE: Well then  
Del Shofner : 5/16/2019 9:45 pm : link
In comment 14446709 Bill2 said:
Quote:
You are probably aware of the mid Conneticut area habit of steaming their hamburgers? in the 80's there were several places famous for it

New Haven has a place that claims the tradition was invented there but I forget the name of it.


Louis' Lunch in New Haven, but it wasn't invented there. At least according to legend, it was invented in Middletown at Jack's Lunch.
RE: BCD  
Del Shofner : 5/16/2019 10:04 pm : link
In comment 14446713 Marty866b said:
Quote:
Do you recall the sneaker store in the indoor mall downtown? I owned it there for 13+ years. I used to sell to Walter Luckett also. Bridgeport had some great basketball players. Many of them amounted to nothing due to drugs.Bagley,Matthews,and Smith all played for Harding H.S.(Charlie Bentley was the coach) and had long NBA careers. I believe all three still live in Bridgeport to this day.


This has me flashing back to Super John Williamson from Wilbur Cross.

Drugs impeded or took down so many great hoops players in those days.
RE: RE: RE: Actually it's pretty simple ...  
Chocco : 5/16/2019 10:20 pm : link
Quote:

Yes, he plays at an amateur fronton. Don't know exactly where, but it is here in central CT


CT Amature Jai Alai
It's in Berlin in an old industrial building

CT Amature Jai Alai - ( New Window )
Yes, yes  
Bill2 : 5/16/2019 10:35 pm : link
I forgot the names of those places. I had at Jacks in Middletown but missed Louis Lunch.

Thanks
Kenny Mayne Jai-Alai video  
Chocco : 5/17/2019 5:50 am : link
video from a couple years ago
Kenny Mayne Plays Jai-Alai - ( New Window )
I still eat at Lou's Lunch  
pjcas18 : 5/17/2019 8:57 am : link
every now and then when I get back to New Haven (which is rare).

Burgers are delicious and unique, but take forever. and if you like ketchup forget it

served only on white bread toasted.

every cop in new haven comes in there on weekend nights and cuts the line.

and it's right across the street from Bar, which now somehow has really good pizza, sells by the slice, and no wait usually.
My Grandfather..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/17/2019 9:46 am : link
had cousins who were jockeys at Monticello and he had cousins who were Jai-alai players. He regularly made money by knowing what was going to happen. We'd go to the track, and he'd talk to his cousin and then head up to the betting window. And after the race, he'd go back up to collect his $$$. I only went once to jai alai because it was pretty far away, but he ended up winning over seven hundred dollars.

He used to say that if you won a huge amount, the tellers would call people to let them know. I don't know if it was true, but he could've won a lot more and never did to avoid the attention. He also picked different windows to place bets at. Before cameras tracked everything!!
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