what's the name of the sport where the players have a scoop on their arm

June 27, 2006 7:37 AM

what's the name of the sport where the players have a scoop on their arm
posted by Svea to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 comments total)

Jai Alai

posted by mattbucher at 7:40 AM on June 27, 2006

Jai-Alai?
posted by Malor at 7:40 AM on June 27, 2006

Jai-Alai's a Basque variant of Pelota.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:54 AM on June 27, 2006

I saw this on TV the other day. It's pelota.
posted by afx237vi at 7:55 AM on June 27, 2006

Back in the days of Eugene T. Maleska, Jai Alai appeared almost weekly.
posted by caddis at 8:03 AM on June 27, 2006

Ice cream competition?
posted by Plutor at 8:48 AM on June 27, 2006

That's what it is! I keep running across Jai Alai in crossword puzzles, and I wondered what it was (apparently I was too lazy to look it up).
posted by witchstone at 8:51 AM on June 27, 2006

In southwestern France, in the Pays Basque, it's called "la pelote basque a chistera" where the "chistera" is the leather glove attached to a wicker scoop/basket. Other variants are "a main nu" which is bare handed and there's another rarer variant I've seen with a raquet. It's an amazing game to watch - supposedly the fastest in the world.
posted by patricio at 9:13 AM on June 27, 2006

Go to Florida (Miami) to watch it and more importantly, bet on it. Big bucks changing hands in Little Cuba on Jai Alai contests.
posted by 543DoublePlay at 9:26 AM on June 27, 2006