Word: frontons
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Come on, Lucky Pierre," shouted the chap in the stands at a Miami jai alai fronton. "I can't miss with you." It was Jerry Wurf, Washington-based boss of the State, County and Municipal Workers, the nation's largest public employees union (750,000 members), cheering on a lanky player on the court. But when unlucky Pierre swung his curved basket at the speeding white jai alai ball and missed, Wurf, who had not won a bet all night, resignedly tore up his losing $2 ticket. "If we don't win the next one," he told...
...towns. In Bridgeport, a gritty industrial town 50 miles from New York City, the crowd is a mix of short-sleeved factory workers and highrollers from New York. Sedate Hartford, a city that retires so early that players can find only two restaurants open when they leave the fronton, seems to have found a long-needed outlet in jai alai. An ovation greets the players each time they march out; the fronton's two "pits"-two standing-room areas closest to the court-are filled with jai alai groupies squealing for their favorites...
...lines at the betting windows are long in both cities. The Hartford fronton had originally hoped for a wagering handle of $30 million during the seven-month season. The take topped that figure after 90 of 229 dates. Hartford aficionado, Engineer Frank Mirmina, likes the action on the court and on the tote board. Said Mirmina: "It's like watching an N.F.L. game that isn't decided until the final 20 seconds. You're not out of it until it's over...