Jai-Alai whizzes by

Fans of the MTV series "Jackass" may recall an episode where our hero, Johnny Knoxville, and friends stood blindfolded against a wall as colorfully-attired men fired fruit at their most private parts with crescent-shaped rackets. This sorry situation represented much of America's first exposure to the sport of jai-alai. Be sure it isn't your last.

Thrill seekers the world over are quickly catching on to the sport of jai-alai. Reputed to be "the world's fastest game," jai-alai is a fairly simple racket-and-ball game invented in the Basque regions of France and Spain. Indeed, jai-alai is Basque for "merry festival."

While the game's atmosphere can be festive, however, it also tends to be highly competitive and potentially dangerous.

Jai-Alai equipment includes a curved basket, called a "cesta," for catching and throwing a rock-hard ball, called the "pelota." A helmet is generally worn for head protection along with hip pads and optional wrist or elbow supports. The court, or "fronton," is three-sided with a screen and, for professionals, a wooden out-of-bounds area on the right side.

The professional game is fast and dangerous - furious, even - with more than 30 pelotorais, or players, killed in the last century before helmets were introduced in the 1960s. The professional fronton is over 150 feet in length and 40 feet wide. The front wall is usually solid granite 12 inches thick.

Pro players' shots have been clocked at speeds in excess of 180 m.p.h. Games are played in rotation with eight teams or individuals playing until they reach seven or nine points, or until they lose. Competition can be fierce and the best player or team seldom wins on every outing. Betting is complex and sometimes profitable but the sport is simply more entertaining than other pari-mutuels.

Professional jai-alai players earn $50,000-$100,000. While those are small sums compared to professional football and basketball stars, jai-alai players are well compensated for their skills.

By the latter part of the 19th century, jai-alai was being played wherever Basques lived - Mexico, Cuba, the Philippines and South America. Early in the 20th century, at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the sport was seen for the first time in the United States.

Before World War II, jai-alai was played in Havana and such exotic places as Shanghai and Tientsin, China.

Nowadays, it is a popular contemporary sport not only in Spain and France but also Italy, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines and Macao. It was played in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. In the United States, it is played in Florida, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

America's first permanent jai-alai fronton was built in 1924 in Hialeah, Fl. The nation's oldest, continuously-operated fronton is in Dania, Fl., about 30 minutes north of Miami. It opened its doors for the first time in 1953.

There are now nine frontons in the United States, six of which are in Florida.

The current champion at the Miami fronton, Daniel Michelena is known as the Michael Jordan of jai-alai. His record includes twelve triple crowns in the last eight years - most overall wins, most singles wins, most doubles wins. The Miami fronton has been called the "Yankee Stadium" of jai-alai.

On your next trip to South Florida or Rhode Island, the daredevil in you should check out this incomparable game. Don't forget your helmet.