A Place Called Tampa

Last Saturday, many of the jai-alai players that played in Tampa during different decades shared a table and break bread in Bolibar, near Markina. This gathering of friends has been taking place for several consecutive years. As far as I know, those of us who played in Tampa are the only ones that get together for this type of celebration. Why is that?
Tampa in the seventies and eighties was a place of privilege for the pelotari. In the mid seventies, the roster was very young and many were unmarried. The players' manager tandem, Arregui and Beitia, were good people, demanding of the players but the pressure was bearable. If we try to compare it to Miami, there is not point of comparison; which is why many players wanted to play in Tampa and some made the move. The general manager, Mr. Gerrity, was a good guy, always in the locker room mingling with the players. The city, back then, was a quiet place, an excellent place to live and raise your children. We had a "private beach": "Jose´s beach", a long and sandy parcel of land on which we took daily walks.
The night scene... I remember this place called "Pat", a bit sinister, sort of a nightclub with "live music" near the fronton, the owner`s name: Pat Matassini, I think it was on Ghandi Boulevard. It was a place we frequented nightly to drink some beers and where a pure jai-alai crowd congregated, with "groupies" included... why not man. Oh! We were young and had all the freedom in the world. We shared a profession and did our best to excel but the environment was, generally, magnificent.
We still have our memories and nostalgia for those days of long ago, we look different and, yes, a bit older -why not say it. But we continue to get together for the simple reason that we are bound by an invincible bond of frienship that we forged and nurtured in a place called Tampa.