"Come On... Goikoetxea"!...

"Come on... Goikoetxea"!... Mark Thornton, for 40 years an aficionado player from Bradenton (Fla.) was kind of desperate last Sunday in Hondarribia. So was Goiko too on the court transmiting signs of desperation. Egiguren and Felix were playing perfectly with the help of a fast ball . For Goiko and Alberdi III losing the game would suppose their secon defeat in three days; the worst of it, too many chances to miss the semifinals. On the other hand, winning the match would suppose for Egi and Felix their second victory in a row, showing their candidacy for the Championship.
"I don´t like the pairings", said Mark. "I would rather see top-seeded players playing together". The guy from Florida perhaps was not to pleased with the game that Alberdi III was showing so far. Although Alberdi III is not Enbil, no question about it, you could not blame him for the presumable defeat that they were heading to. Goiko´s partner was trying hard doing his limited best. When Egi and a fierce Felix pressed hard with the help of a bullet, Alberdi III missed pretty easily. Sorry Mark, that`s all this pairing is all about. Goiko is the number One, comparable with the greatest players of all times. That´s why he should be able to win this Championship even with a weak backcourter. Not the way he was playing though.
Last Friday in Markina they lost against Foronda and Lopez with slow balls; Sunday they lost as well with a fast ball this time. Something is not working well for "The Boss".
Etxaburu, the former Miami player, is right when he remarks "when I first got to Miami, you really had to battle out the point to win it being with the nice balls they had and the low roof. But just years before I retired, the balls were so fast, that it really had to make you change your whole strategy"...
That´s it! Goiko is used to playing quinielas in Miami playing with bullets balls all the time. He is so powerful that usually smashes his opponents. In the Basque Country both styles of play have a place. The game still may be played in two speeds, sometimes with slow balls, other times with faster balls. It is up to the players. Even though they were behind on the scoreboard, Goiko and Alberdi III continued to make the most of the points playing with Egi and Felix´s bullet ball. Why? Goiko does not feel confortable playing with "potatoes". He is used to make points fast. He always the dominator. That is O.K. if you have Enbil behind you, but Enbil was somewhere else last Sunday. When your opponents are playing so well and confortably you have to change the strategy. Get a slow ball, put on your working suit and try to slow the rithm.
"Come on Goiko"!... The guy from Bradenton, Mark, was delighted because he had recently seen such great partidos in Durango, Gernika... He, obviously, did not mention the one we were just watching. Goiko was desperate, precipitated, nervous, unconfortable. "Sometimes too fast can be counterproductive to the sport and that is what we see today", wrote recently Alberto Etxaburu. Yes jai-alai has evolved into what we have today. However, here in the Basque Country players still have the chance to play both speeds. Being able to pick "potatoes" instead of "bullets" sometimes. Like former Miami star, Zulaika I, used to say, "Sometimes, you have to play not with the ball you like; but with the one your opponents hate". Goiko still has things to learn.