School's back so call today.

And now for an update on our weekend...

In Pittsburg, PA the National City Family House Polo Match
(www.familyhousepolo.org) has long been a place to seen and be seen,
where men can wear ascots with impunity and women can sport the last
sheath dresses and floppy hats of the season. Tailgating can reach
Gatsbyesque proportions, with the occasional candelabra among the
champagne and strawberries, Rolls Royces and vintage sports cars that
are parked on the green. The main event -- the polo match between
the Potomac Polo Club Team from Maryland and the Polo Great Meadows
Team from Virginia is what we were there for, but the party scene is
the aspect that surprised me the most, but more on that later.
This is the single largest polo charity match in the country,
generating over $2.6M in donations over the past 19 years. This
year's 20th-anniversary event, titled "Twenty Years of Noble Play and
Spirited Fun," featured vintage automobile displays, boutiques, stilt-
walkers, balloon artists and caricature artists for the kids.
Proceeds benefit Family House, a charity that provides housing for
patients and their families who must travel to Pittsburgh to receive
medical treatment at UPMC Hospitals or West Penn Hospital. The
Muldoon family has fielded teams for each of the 20 years.
This massive event draws thousands of Pittsburghers to the field at
Hartwood Acres, which is an old estate located on rolling hills about
thirty minutes west of downtown Pittsburgh. Hartwood Acres
accommodates 650 reserved parking spots, a stadium-like grass polo
field, and a pavilion for live bands. The end result is one massive
party where corporate sponsors spring for large courtesy tents and
young professionals tailgate white collar style. This dynamic
combination of a scenic location and an upbeat sporting event
produces Pittsburgh's best party of the year. By definition, the
Family House event is simply one big tailgate party at an awesome
polo match. For our single polo students you simply have to be there
to believe it. Brazenly dressed, the women at Family House tend to
make a statement: "I want a young urban professional to make me a
soccer mom". Eligible bachelors sported their BMW 3-Series, Audi
A6's, Porsches, Ferraris, Corvettes, and Hummers while more stodgy
patrons brought their classic Jag convertibles, Rolls, and Bentleys.
And the fun didn't end with the polo match – all polo guests were
invited to stay for a Backstage Pass Party at the Hartwood
Amphitheatre. Wait staff and Bacardi girls served innumerable
complimentary drinks, tapas, and desserts, while live salsa
entertainment kept partygoers dancing for hours into the night.
The whole event is remarkably well-stage and I wholeheartedly provide
my strongest recommendation that every Potomac Polo student makes
sure to attend next year. The pre-game black tie event sponsored by
Daimler Chrysler and Hefren Tillotson on Friday evening at the
fabulous Fox Chapel Golf Club was more fun than I've had in a while.
We were honored to be in attendance at the awarding of the Annual
Michael Muldoon Cup in memory of Mary's brother Michael. This award
is granted each year to an organization or individual whose
outstanding contribution to Family House best emulates Michael's keen
sense of humor and compassion, his love of life, family and polo.
Everyone at the event was incredibly upbeat and ready for a great
weekend. Mary, her brother Joe and I were treated like rock stars
(and I am not exaggerating one bit on this) and I can tell you that's
not a bad way to spend an evening or a weekend. We partied until the
early hours until we realized that some sleep was needed before game
time.
Game day was greeted with perfect weather, a bit of grogginess and
somewhat slippery field conditions from the rain earlier in the
week. I got a little too close to one of the horses while putting
polo wraps on and took a very firm kick to the abdomen. Whoa, that
hurt and I have a fist sized purple mark to remind everyone to be
careful around horses tied to trailers when the flies are out.
Nevertheless, I soldiered on and we put on a great show for the 4000
or so people in attendance. Mary and Joe aided by a six goaler on
loan for Charlie Muldoon (who was out of town) fielded a 10-goal team
and played hard but in the end came up short 6 goals to 8. I may be
biased but I videotaped most of the match and the tapes show that the
score should have been different if you know what I mean.
Regardless, we simply had too much fun to care and Mary signed
numerous autographs, posed for various magazine and television
photographers and managed to pick up two goals as well as beautiful
trophy cup that will be shown in the display case by the tack room.
It was a long haul back to Poolesville but well worth the trip.
We'll cut some video for the masses but you really need to be there
to truly experience it. We hope to see lots of you in attendance
with us next year.

END