What’s the sport they were talking about on Mad Men?

Those of you who watch AMC’s hit series Mad Men may be wondering exactly what kind of sport the young entrepreneur was trying to get the boys of Sterling-Cooper to sell telling them it would soon become America’s next past time. You’ll remember, Don Draper and the boys spent time trying to learn the rules of the game, destroying an ant farm in the office during the process.

Believe it or not, this is a real sport, a form of Basque pelota known as cesta punta or  jai alai (pronounced “high a lie” ) and is known as the “world’s fastest sport.”  The game enjoys popularity in Spain, France, Mexico and Argentina. The sport failed to catch on in the Untied States, but is popular in some gambling circles in the state of Florida. On first glance, cesta punta resembles the racket sport, squash, but what makes the game so unique is the cesta, the curved, woven racket, worn on the hand and used to hurl the pelota, or ball towards the walls. Games take place on a court called a fronton, and players attempt to hurl the ball off of the walls in such a manner that their opponent is unable to return the ball.  This series of events is known as a rally. If the ball bounces twice, or if the opponent fails to return the ball in one fluid motion, the rally is stopped and a point is awarded.

A cesta used in cesta punta.

Tags: AMC, Basque, Basque pelota, cesta, cesta punta, fronton, jai alai, Mad Men, pelota, Spain, Sterling Cooper, world's fastest sport

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 1:53 am and is filed under Obscure sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.