Sometimes you just get lucky.

When crafting the schedule for the “It’s Game Time Somewhere” Tour, I was pleased to note that the Pac-10 Tennis Championships would be in Ojai, CA. Good fortune was smiling on me I thought, since of all places in the roughly 6.4 gajillion square mile region that the Pac-10 Conference covers, they chose to stage this championship in a place less than 100 miles away from the international headquarters of the IGTS Tour. While hosting the event in a small town located a fair distance from any major metro area seemed a bit unusual, I certainly wasn’t complaining. And had I been inclined to do so, yesterday I would’ve had to slap myself when I arrived at the pearly gates of tennis heaven – The Ojai. Continue reading…

When last we left this intrepid Sports Fan, I had weasled into the bleachers in the far, far corner of the International Polo Club Palm Beach grounds. This is where a $20 General Admission ticket will get you if you are attending the U.S. Open Polo Championships. I was firmly planted in The G.A., where the lack of amenities is made up for by the lack of a decent sight line. I was reminded of Caddies Field Day at the country club at which I grew up caddying. We had use of the facilities, but there were…limitations. Continue reading…

Question: What is it about the presence of horses that compels women to wear hats?
Only Plausible Answer: They’ve seen Pretty Woman way too many times.

Full disclosure: I admit that my own exposure to polo at any level is minimal – and of course by “minimal” I mean non-existent. But as an American I am entitled to four stereotypes per year, and thus the trip to the 106th U.S. Open Polo Championships was a chance to test one of them out. And in contrast to my recent initial encounter with synchronized swimming, which served to dispel my preconceived notions about that sport, attending the Polo Championships sadly served to confirm previously uninformed impressions. Continue reading…

Yesterday in a jaw-dropping act of benevolence I offered to engage in an image makeover of the sport of synchronized swimming. Having recently attended the sport’s National Championships I couldn’t help notice the incongruity between what the sport has to offer in entertainment value and the public’s perception of same. So I’m here to help, at no charge to USA Synchro.

I began with the simple exercise of changing the name of the sport such that it reflects what’s really taking place, thus bringing the term Aquatic Gymnastics (or its stylish abbreviation, AquaGymnastics) into the Olympic lexicon. Having now reinvented the brand, I will pass the baton to the PR experts while I focus on event management. Again, all at no cost, as this Sports Fan knows no philanthropic boundaries when it comes to improving the American experience of athletic competition.
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Admit it. When you read the words “synchronized swimming” you snickered. One of two things came to mind:  (a) a grainy black and white newsreel featuring the watery equivalent of the Hokey Pokey, or (b) the water ballet scene from Caddyshack. Don’t lie – you were thinking Little Miss Sunshine with water wings. To be totally honest, I thought the same thing. But was I ever wrong. And within 15 minutes of my first exposure to Synchro (slang used by us synchronized swimming insiders) I became a convert.   
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