Polo (2024) s01e01 Episode Script
Pressure
1
[upbeat music playing]
[man 1] It all starts out really calm.
By game time,
you start hearing the noises.
[crowd cheering]
[man 1] People are everywhere.
The adrenaline
that goes through your body,
I've never experienced anything like that.
It's addicting.
To be the best,
You gotta beat the best ♪
I did that ♪
[man 2] Polo is one of the most
thrilling sports that you can imagine.
That's why I stand,
That's why I fight ♪
[man 2] Speed, horses,
the amazing athletes.
Polo is not just a sport.
Polo is a lifestyle.
I do what I wanna and I'm gonna ♪
We eat, we breathe, we sleep polo.
[woman 1] For sure, it's glamorous.
They put their Sunday hat on
and a cute outfit.
It's a sexy sport too.
Dirty, sweaty boys, riding.
[giggling]
It's not the easiest to date someone
who eats, sleeps, and breathes polo.
Polo can take a toll on your family.
That's no secret.
It'd be great to have you there
if you could make it.
Once we have the baby, things'll change
a little bit for me mostly.
I don't think
Louis' life will change much.
[upbeat music playing]
[man 3] Everyone is competitive.
Whether you're a pro
or whether you're a sponsor,
you're all hoping to do the best.
We have big expectations together,
so every day we have to move forward.
I'll do whatever I have to
because at the end of the day
I have to win.
[woman 1] The pressure is real.
These players really
have to work hard to make a living.
I've been struggling
a little bit this year with injuries.
I had a lower back injury, a disc hernia.
[man 5] There's a lot of competition.
Everybody is fighting
for themselves to get a job.
Our life is on the line
every time we get out there.
[man screaming]
I've put more at stake this season
than I ever have in the past.
[man 2] The best players in the world
come to Wellington
from February to the end of April
to compete in the U.S. Open.
It's the one that everybody wants to win.
Everybody wants to knock off the king.
[announcer] Adolfo Cambiaso seeking
his 10th U.S. Open title.
[man 1] The Michael Jordan of polo.
[woman 2] This is a father-son duo.
This year, they're playing
against each other.
- What's it like playing against your kid?
- It's difficult.
And worse when you lose. [laughing]
[man 6] I've seen a lot of careers ignited
by winning the U.S. Open.
[announcer]
It doesn't get any better than this.
[announcer 2]
Cambiaso! Cambiaso! Cambiaso! Goal!
[music ends]
[alarm ringing]
[upbeat music playing]
All right. So let's get this day started.
["Jungle Baby" by 5 Alarm playing]
I'm Timmy Dutta.
I'm born in Wellington, Florida.
I'm 22 years old.
I'm a professional polo player.
My family invested in me as a player.
Courses, trainers.
For me, it's it's
it's an incredible opportunity.
I take my season here very serious.
Don't go out. Don't party.
Champagne's only
for the podium-type vibes.
That ideology, right?
[music continues]
[Timmy] It's the U.S. Open. I'm American.
This for me as an American,
this is my cup that I'm gonna win.
[man] This is your first time
competing in the U.S. Open?
No, this is my fifth year.
It's a hard cup to win. It's not easy.
[horse neighing]
[Timmy] To compete at this top level,
it all starts at the barn.
[soft music playing]
Good girl, Monkey.
The game of polo.
The lifestyle, everything all has to do
with the horse at the end of the day.
Come here. [smacking lips]
He hears it. Yeah, you hear it.
Come on. [smacking lips] Come on.
I love the game of polo. I really do.
But it's the horses for me
that I really enjoy
because without them,
the sport's not possible.
I understand the care
that needs to go into these horses.
Physios, vets, everything, you name it.
It's all about how we can make
the horse better as an athlete.
[upbeat music playing]
[woman] My son is a beautiful rider.
The minute Timmy
hit a polo ball [chuckles]
my husband was like,
"Oh my gosh, this is gonna be our thing."
My husband Tim and I are horse crazy,
and that's one thing we brought to Timmy.
I was, like, the primary parent
until Timmy was 12.
His father traveled a lot
while he was a baby,
so he was really my baby.
Tim is the driving force in this family.
Sometimes we don't agree on his style,
but he's for sure
the elevation behind both of us.
[Tim] Come on, boys, 20 minutes.
[Timmy] My father is the team owner,
and he helps us
and supports us and fields us, um,
and coaches us sometimes.
It can be interesting.
He's not such a soft guy.
[Tim] I am the president and the CEO
of the Dutta Corporation.
We ship horses around the world.
I only believe in hard work.
I drive the team.
I drive the company. I drive my family.
It's very important that I play that role
to make sure these guys
mentally and physically are ready to go
on the field.
There's Gatorade in the red cooler.
Growing up in India, I played polo.
I was born to two army officers.
I had the privilege
to have access to army horses.
Like every kid who goes to a fair,
you ride a pony, and the kid gets hooked,
and I was immediately hooked on polo.
[soft music playing]
[Tim] You're cleared, no?
Timmy has that passion from me,
and to see Timmy improve
is all I can do for as a father.
Shine. This is your day.
Good luck.
[announcer] Good morning.
We are here for the second leg
of the Gauntlet of Polo.
This is the 2024 USPA Gold Cup.
[man] The Gauntlet of Polo,
that's the three major tournaments
that we have in America.
It's the CV Whitney Cup,
the Gold Cup, and the U.S. Open.
And the U.S. Open has been
and always will be
the number one
most sought-after trophy to win.
Since all three tournaments
are played back-to-back,
teams often use
the CV Whitney Cup and the Gold Cup
in order to fine-tune their team
to get ready to try to win the U.S. Open.
Today, we've got
La Fe taking on Dutta Corp.
Here comes Timmy.
He's got this one. Looking good.
Taking this one towards the goal.
He winds up,
fires at the goal, off the post.
Still in play.
Oh, man, what a terrible luck play there.
[Tim] Can't have these fucking miss hits.
I look at it,
I'm investing in Timmy's future
and giving him the opportunity
that he well deserves.
This is his dream,
and I'm definitely living it.
It's my dream as well,
but it puts a lot of pressure.
If I fail at this,
I'm not just failing for me.
I'm also failing in his eyes,
and obviously no son wants to feel that.
Stupid play.
[Timmy] He wants me
to be a better player,
which I try to be.
Go back, Timmy, go.
[Timmy] But he has his ideas
of how to do it, and I have my ideas.
[Tim] He needs
to get rid of Louis' blocks.
[Timmy] One thing we see eye-to-eye on,
I'm playing against
the best guys in the world,
and I gotta go beat them.
[upbeat music playing]
[woman] Polo is a sport
that includes four players on each team.
[woman 2] They're on horseback.
[woman] You play on a field
that is nine football fields large.
[woman 2] And the goal is to put the ball
between the goal posts.
[man] Goal!
[Tim] The goal posts are 24 feet apart.
[Timmy] There's no net.
The ball can go as high as you want.
It just has to go through the goal posts.
[man 2] A period in polo
is called a chukker.
We have six chukkers in a game.
They last seven and a half minutes.
[woman 2] You'll change horses
mid-chukker, kinda like an F1 pit stop.
Your horse loses steam,
you run over to the sidelines,
jump on a fresh horse and continue.
They don't stop the game for it.
[Timmy] The strategy is to let
the horse recover,
then I have my good horse back again
to compete again.
[man 1] Dutta Corp
is looking confident.
Three-goal lead back on the board.
Now, Timmy wins the throw
and takes off running right here
and then loses the play momentarily.
The play, here's a back shot.
It's gonna be Lucas Alberdi
by himself coming in.
Right to left and sink it.
That's just what La Fe needs
to start a comeback right here and now.
Taken here by Lucas.
He shoots and scores
and that's a goal.
[dramatic music playing]
[man 1] And for the first time today,
we've got a tie ball game.
Hit the ball, man.
[man 1] Unbelievable.
Dutta Corp is starting to lose their grip
on what should have been
a certain win for them.
La Fe has the lead.
[Tim] Stop fucking fouling.
[man 2] They gotta go pretty quickly.
[man 1] Dutta doesn't have time here.
You gotta go for it.
Here we go. Is it over?
[whistle blowing]
[man 1] No, that's gonna be
a penalty shot.
Dutta will get a chance to tie this game
with five seconds left to go on the clock.
- [dramatic music playing]
- [clock ticking]
- [man 1] Right down the middle.
- [Tim] Yes!
[Timmy] We were winning most of the game,
all the way to the end.
They came back, and Fucking annoying.
[man 2] We are tied up
with ten goals apiece.
That means we are going
into sudden death overtime.
The next goal scored
is gonna win this polo game.
[Tim] She's done. Who you want for spare?
I focus on all our horses.
I count how many minutes they're playing,
when it's time for them to change.
I'm regulating
which horses he's getting on,
but of course he overrides.
If he wants to play a horse
more than the other, it's his choice.
[man 2] Timmy Dutta, Dutta Corp.
They've got all the cards
to make magic happen.
Let's see if they can pull this off.
[Timmy] My horse, Chevy, he was tired.
He already played twice that game.
I made a crucial mistake.
I jumped on an unknown horse that
I've never really played in the States.
It's not the same connection.
[dramatic music playing]
[Timmy] When I went to hit this next shot,
she kinda just, like, got a little uneasy.
And I hit it two yards too short.
[man 2] That's gonna come up short.
The horse just stumbled,
and it's gonna be picked off right here.
Nicely done by Lucas Alberdi
for the win right here.
And he got it!
What a goal by Lucas Alberdi
to win the game here.
[rider] Let's go!
Let's go!
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] He didn't play
three other horses sitting here.
[music continues]
[indistinct chatter]
It's a dumb move.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
[music ends]
[man 2] What a massive win for La Fe
and for their patron, Louis Devaleix.
Let's fucking go!
[man 2] They're gonna have
great momentum going into the U.S. Open.
["Grinding All My Life"
by Nipsey Hussle playing]
[man] I own a healthcare software company
in the behavioral health space.
We're a fast-growing company
and proud of it.
Fuck yeah, baby.
She helped close an account
we've been trying to get.
With the rest of my time, I play polo.
Love to play polo.
All my life, been grindin' all my life ♪
Sacrificed, hustle paid the price ♪
[Louis] Most polo players start
at a really young age.
I was almost 40 years old.
I took a lesson, and I just fell in love
with every part of the sport.
And from then on,
it took off pretty quick.
It's the best thing
that's ever happened in my life.
Louis is super competitive
and super athletic
and comes from playing professional golf.
[Louis] My father was a big golfer
and provided me with all the support
necessary to accomplish my dream,
which at the time
was to be a professional golfer.
I played mini tour golf for two years.
It's nice when
you make it to the PGA Tour,
but if you're not making it,
it can be a pretty tough and lonely life,
and he was there with me
every step of the way.
[soft music playing]
[Louis] He worked his ass off.
I remember he'd fly from from China
and different regions of the world
just to to watch me play one hole,
and then off he went again.
My father passed when I was mid-20s.
Losing him was fucking terrible.
I mean, it was horrible.
It just didn't feel right
to try to continue the dream,
and so it was time
for me to get a real job.
[upbeat music playing]
- [man] How often are you in the office?
- [Louis] Three, four days a week.
Ideally, it would just be
the family and and and polo forever.
Like today, I spent,
you know, most of my day on calls.
Polo kind of gives me hope
that I can accomplish something
that I didn't get to accomplish
in other sports.
But I have to work to play polo.
Most teams spend,
like, five million dollars
just for these few months.
We spend a tiny fraction of that,
which still to us is monumental.
My wife and I sold our dream home
so that we could take the profits
from that house
in order to play the season.
We're making financial sacrifices
that most people wouldn't make,
and they probably think it's crazy,
I still think it's crazy sometimes,
but at the same time,
you've got to give it a fucking shot.
Three or four months in from when
I really started sticking balling
and playing some small matches,
I said I wanna play in the U.S. Open.
I started the La Fe team
and became patron.
[upbeat music plays]
[man] The way professional polo works,
there's an owner of the team
that we call the patron,
which loves polo, loves horses,
and facilitates the, uh,
funds for the team.
[Louis] So they pay for the pros,
they buy horses,
they pay for travel, for the vets.
[man] And they get to play with us.
Think of, uh, like,
Mark Cuban, uh, owning the Mavericks,
but actually playing inside the game.
Generally, it is one person
paying for the whole team.
I've heard rumors of people
spending in excess of ten million dollars.
It depends upon the level
in which you're playing.
[Louis] How do I fit in
in the polo world? [chuckling softly]
I'm not too sure I fit in really well.
I don't really care actually.
[dramatic flourish playing]
Oh, Louis is definitely not
the typical "polo sponsor."
[upbeat music playing]
For most teams,
you can kind of spot who the patron is.
And the La Fe, you can't.
Louis is the biggest one on there. Madman.
Definitely lets his temper
get in the way of some of his game.
[Louis] Fuck!
He's intimidating. [laughs]
[screaming]
[exhaling sharply]
Let's just call it what it is.
He's just all muscle.
[Louis] Ah, shit!
I fuckin' lost it! Goddamn it!
Growing up, you know,
my father kind of pushed really hard.
It always felt
like you weren't achieving enough.
That mentality to try to win
and just be better was projected into me.
And now, I want to kill every single team
that that's playing out there right now.
[birds chirping]
That's one of those things.
I'm like, I couldn't look.
I had him first. I had him in the bump.
And then he came through on the bump.
[man] It's gonna be picked off.
And he went to the near side,
and I went down to hook him.
He slid it under,
and he just touched the ball.
- [crowd applauding]
- [soft music playing]
[Tim] That was really stupid of him.
I think my dad's home. [chuckles]
[Susie] There's nobody
harder on Timmy than Tim.
I go toe-to-toe
with Tim on it all the time.
If there was one thing that I could tweak,
it would be the
the criticism.
[music fades]
[Tim] Today was very important to win,
and we didn't.
We were up by two.
We had him for most of the sixth.
They just came back
in the last three minutes.
Yeah, that's all it takes.
- [Susie] Don't be negative, Tim.
- Not negative, Susie. Just the reality.
[Susie] The whole goal
is to make this kid better
and to make his handicap rise
and to get him experienced.
Too many handoffs didn't go well.
The transitions were not right.
Placings, fouling, late to the play.
We all have to wake up. But
[Susie] A young athlete like him,
that kind of money being spent on you,
it's real.
The the pressure is real.
[mysterious music playing]
I live in pressure,
running my business for 37 years,
and it's just deliver.
- That's how winners do it.
- [Susie] Yeah.
[Tim] I'm his biggest cheerleader
and his biggest critic.
We don't sugarcoat each other,
and he only gets the truth.
We're not creating flower childs
who needs a therapist
and a 1-800 number
to tell him how great he is.
No, that's not how you win.
We're here for one thing, to win.
I think he should focus
on the first game of the Open.
That's my opinion.
[music ends]
[upbeat music playing]
[birds chirping]
[inaudible]
[Timmy] U.S. Open draw
just looks like some cocktail party.
But at the end of the day,
it's where
the tournament bracket's decided.
All the teams are there.
It's where you find out
which teams you gotta beat to win.
[inaudible]
- [Timmy] Do you feel lucky today?
- No.
[laughs] I'm not drawing.
No, tonight he is. No.
Tim is coming or?
No, he's in Ocala.
- [man] Nice.
- Susie's here. Bro.
He'd drop you in the drawing
and start saying fuck
You fucking piece of shit.
You disappointment!
You're a disappointment to this family.
- Because you lose the draw?
- Yeah!
[upbeat music playing]
For all these major tournaments,
we have a draw.
It's a placement in the tournament.
Nobody has made a schedule
and pitted Team A against B.
The names are pulled out of a hat.
A plays B
only because of the luck of the draw.
This year, we have nine teams.
So they've come up
with this nine-star draw.
Each team is gonna play four games.
After that, then the top four teams
are gonna advance to the semifinals.
The winner of the semifinals
play against each other in the finals.
[music fades]
- They said this one's gonna be different.
- Why?
- I don't know. My mom was telling me
- Your mom?
- What the fuck does she know?
- That's what I would say.
There's like balloon popping.
I was like, "What?"
They're gonna do it
like the U.S. Women's Open.
- They had to pop the balloon.
- Oh, yeah?
[Louis] This year, for some reason,
they decided to do something different.
Every team chooses a balloon, pops it,
and inside there's a number that tells you
where you fall in the bracket.
So very strange.
- I'm not doing it. You're doing it.
- No, I'm not popping it.
[dramatic music playing]
[Timmy] We knew that we needed
a good draw to have a chance.
We knew it was going to be difficult.
It's all nine super tough teams.
We were trying to have a drink
and relax a little bit.
But it's difficult
because you're all like,
"What's gonna happen in the next
five minutes? Who are we gonna play?"
[man] Good evening.
Welcome to the 2024 U.S. Open draw.
We're gonna draw teams alphabetical order.
You'll come up.
There's an envelope in the balloons.
We'll pop the balloon.
I'm not popping the balloon.
You're gonna pop the balloon.
[Gus] Without any further ado,
we'll jump into it.
Clearwater, you're on the top
of the list here.
Whoa!
Number one.
Coca-Cola, we're looking for you next.
[Gus grunts]
[Gus] Good call.
Dutta.
[Susie] Dear God,
what balloon do you want?
[music continues]
[Gus] Whoa. A fake out. I thought
she was going for it. That was it.
[crowd applauding]
[Gus] Let's see what you got.
What is it?
- [Susie] Four.
- [Gus] Number four. Now La Fe.
Oh man, that man knew exactly what to do.
[crowd applauding]
I wanna play against
these motherfuckers too.
- [Gus] Eight.
- Do we play against them? Fuck.
[balloon popping]
[Timmy] This year,
all the teams are incredibly difficult.
There's not one team you say,
"I wanna play because it's gonna be easy."
[laughs]
- [in Spanish] It is what is!
- [in Spanish] It is what is!
It is what is.
[Timmy in English] We had an okay draw.
At the end of the day, pretty much
all the teams had an okay draw.
Can we get the fuck outta here now or no?
Let's go get drunk.
[Timmy] Except for Coca-Cola,
they drew the toughest teams.
Clearwater, Pilot, Valiente,
just Adolfo Cambiaso himself,
and Dolfina with his son, Poroto.
[dramatic music playing]
To play against Adolfo Cambiaso
is a is a pleasure.
I'd be lying
if I say I don't want to beat him.
[man1] Here goes Cambiaso. Another goal!
[Tony] There's a rivalry
with everyone against Adolfo.
[crowd cheering]
Everybody wants to knock off the king.
[Nacho] He is so fast.
[Timmy] So intense.
[Louis] That motherfucker wants to win
more than I do.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] He's won the U.S. Open
nine times throughout his career.
Adolfo Cambiaso is
the greatest player of all time.
[music intensifies]
[man] Goal!
I'm Adolfo Cambiaso,
polo player from Argentina.
[music continues]
[Adolfo] I wake up every morning
liking what I do.
I like to be around horses,
and I love to compete.
I don't know if I like to win or
or the answer would be I hate losing.
[man] Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Goal!
[indistinct chatter in Spanish]
[Nacho] If you put together the Argentina,
English, and American season,
he won more than anybody
in the world by a mile.
[man] Cambiaso shoots. He scores.
That's another win at the U.S. Open
for the master Adolfo Cambiaso.
[man 2] He was handmade
by God to play polo.
He thinks so much faster
than everyone else.
His hand-eye coordination,
he's got all those
natural physical abilities.
[Nacho] Adolfo, he was one of the first,
you know, young, amazing polo freaks.
He is a chess player.
[Louis] Two years ago,
Cambiaso comes to watch our practice.
I get out of a horse, her name was Opeta.
He's like,
"Opeta did really good for you."
And then I get off the next one, Misica.
He goes,
"Misica's doing well
for you too this season, huh?"
He knew every single one
of my motherfucking horses.
I don't even know
what my fucking horses' names are.
Some of them.
But I don't know all of them.
He's got your fucking beat
before you even get on the field.
[music continues]
[Danny] He is the Michael Jordan
of our game.
There's no question about it.
On top of that, he has a son,
so you've got two of them.
[Nacho] Poroto, he's the son
of the best player in the history of polo.
Those are big shoes to fill, right?
He is, I think,
even more talented than the father.
He is remarkable.
I started playing because of my dad.
I went to all the games,
and he always wins.
I had more pressure
because I was the son
of one of the greatest of the sport.
But I don't think too much on that.
I, uh I want to be better all the time
and to win at everything.
[man] What's the secret
to beating the Cambiasos?
[grunts]
Uh, I don't think there's no secret.
You need luck.
You need a lot of luck.
[violin music playing]
[clerk] I love those aviators,
they're frameless on the bottom.
[Susie] They're comfortable.
[clerk] They're a very nice, light weight.
[Susie] What do you think?
- Looks like the same ones you have
- Ten pairs of them.
[both chuckling]
She's more than my mom.
She's my friend. So that's a big thing.
She's a really good friend of mine.
- [Susie] Do you have a list?
- Yeah, I need to buy gloves.
We're super bonded.
You know, he's a Mommy's boy.
Really.
This is a size seven for you. Try 'em on.
Can't get my hand in there.
It doesn't feel like it'd be sticky.
No. And the crazy part is that softness.
Yeah, it feels soft, right?
It feels, like, slick.
You grab the reins
and it automatically grips on.
- Oh, that's nice.
- [soft music playing]
[Timmy] They just came out
with a schedule,
and it looks like
we are the first game of the U.S. Open.
[Susie] We're the first game?
You guys gonna try my lineup?
We will try it in the practice, yeah.
- If it works or not works.
- Cool.
Timmy's doing a great job at four,
but I'm thinking that maybe
he could be better off up front.
[upbeat music playing]
[Susie] In a game, every player has
a different position on the field.
You have number one,
number two, number three, number four.
And those numbers
are on the back of the jersey.
Four is the most defense-oriented.
Three would be the quarterback.
Two is kind of the warrior
who helps make plays happen.
Number one is the person
that goes to goal.
I mean,
definitely I've done well in the back
and I've proven myself in the back, um
It's the polar opposite.
Number four,
I gotta be in a defensive posture.
And one's
an optimistic ideology of the game.
Scoring goals
and pulling the team forward.
You go from one program in your head
to completely another.
- It's different.
- [Susie] To put you in one?
It's
It's different.
I haven't played one in a few years.
It's gonna bring
a whole different dynamic to the team.
[Susie] I'm not the polo coach,
but I see a lot,
and I feel like my opinion is valuable.
I still want you to try it. Just
- Well, it doesn't hurt.
- No.
It might be good
for his confidence to score the goals.
To, like, be able to raise your mallet,
"Yes, I got another one."
This is a big tournament.
I mean, it's a lot of money for us.
We are choosing to spend it on our son.
The patron is really Tim,
but we're giving Timmy the job.
I mean, there's pressure on that part too.
The first game's gonna be difficult, but
- Maybe with you at one.
- We'll see.
We'll definitely put on a show.
From the outside, it's gonna look good.
- [Susie chuckling]
- So that's all that matters.
[Timmy] We need to win to set the tone
for the rest of the tournament.
[music ends]
[upbeat music playing]
[music fades]
[Louis] My dad was super military,
uh, so
- [man] Your dad was
- Oh, yeah.
My dad was the equivalent
to the Navy SEALs in the French Army,
and, you know,
everything had to be pretty strict.
[soft music playing]
[Louis] It was tough
to get close to my father, yeah.
[clears throat] I wasn't his friend,
you know, so.
[woman] Yeah. Yeah. Oh.
- [Louis in French] How are you, my son?
- Hello. Good.
[in English] See you next week?
I think you have a duty as a parent to do
whatever is necessary to make sure
that, you know, you give your child
the best chance possible
at making something of themselves.
- How was school today?
- Good.
I colored and I made clay.
[Louis] What did you color?
[boy] Um, I colored Iron Man.
Iron Man.
That's the
It's the hero of the month, Iron Man.
[man] Your dad,
does he remind you of any superheroes?
Um
Hulk.
I just think he's super strong.
[Louis] Oh. I'll take the Hulk.
My pops, he was tough,
and he pushed me a great deal.
I do raise Ames so that he understands
that losing is
is not preferable over winning.
Although, I'm a little bit more subtle
than my father was. [chuckles]
[music continues]
[crows cawing]
- [beeping]
- [door creaking]
[indistinct chatter]
[Pamela] My love?
- [Ames] Hello.
- [Pamela] Hi, boys, how are you?
Come here, give me a kiss.
- How was your day at school?
- [Ames] Good.
Can I see your cape?
Which superhero are you today?
Uh, you're Ryan?
That's cool.
- [Ames] And Iron Man.
- Yeah?
And Iron Man.
- [water running]
- How was practice?
Uh, it was good.
Some of the horses are a little heavy,
we'll see how they
[Pamela] Why heavy?
- Why?
- 'Cause they haven't been playing?
Yeah, just like shit.
[soft music playing]
[Pamela] I'm a polo player,
and I'm also an attorney.
It's very tempting to want to jump into
the polo world right out of school.
But I wanted to kind of secure
my career first.
So, I went to law school, passed the bar,
and then I went on to work
in Chicago at a law firm.
And while working in Chicago, I realized,
"Okay, I need to have horses in my life."
[Louis] Pam is awesome at polo.
She's won four U.S. Women's Opens.
She loves polo.
[Pamela] When I was a kid,
my siblings
and my neighbors would joke
that once in a blue moon
when I got grumpy, they'd call me Map.
[man] Who is on the polo field?
Pam or Map?
Oh, Pam, for sure.
Bullshit.
Louis! I don't do any
While I'm on the field, I never cuss
or yell at girls or get angry.
I get aggressive.
I stood by the sidelines
when you won the U.S. Open last year.
Whenever you didn't have your way,
you were cursing, pissed off.
- Who are you talking about?
- My wife.
[Pamela] Never, ever in my life have
I cussed on the field at another girl.
Ever. Ever. Ever.
He's making me sound like a monster.
No, you're not a monster.
You're just a determined athlete.
No, but not a classless athlete.
I don't yell at people.
Never in my life
have I screamed at the girls.
Yes, of course,
get out of my way, move, whatever.
But never, ever have I lost my head
cussing at them.
[Louis] She acts nice and everything,
and you see this sweet lady,
but she's got a side of her
you don't wanna mess with.
[soft music playing]
Oh, now you like me
after you think I'm such a bully.
Wow.
[Pamela] Louis' great and I love him.
Three months after meeting,
we were engaged.
Getting engaged in three months
was not aligned
with my personality
or something that anyone in my family
would have ever thought that I would do.
I didn't think I would do that.
It wasn't something like,
"Here she goes
doing something crazy."
No, I don't do things crazy.
I'm not a crazy person,
so I think getting engaged in three months
definitely, you know,
threw people for a loop, but here we are.
[Louis] When Pam and I met,
the first thing I told her
was that I had this awesome little man.
She immediately fell in love with him,
and she's been super supportive of Ames.
[Pamela] And now we're pregnant
with our first baby.
Things'll change
a little bit for me, mostly.
I don't think Louis' life
will change much.
- [Pamela chuckling]
- No, I think she's right.
Just a different chapter in my life,
I suppose.
Um, so I don't think I'll be playing
nearly as much as perhaps I once was.
Right now,
I think the things we balance most
are polo, work, and family.
When a newborn's in the picture,
I think you can kind of pick two.
Priorities will shift,
but that's, you know, natural.
[Louis] I think we'll do a good job.
It's not rocket science.
You ready to eat?
Where am I sitting?
You're gonna sit right here
in between me and Daddy.
[soft music playing]
[music fades]
[upbeat music playing]
[man] Good morning, everyone,
and welcome to the National Polo Center
here in Wellington, Florida.
We are ready to start the U.S. Open.
This is the final leg
of the Gauntlet of Polo
and the one everyone wants to win.
[music swelling]
[music fades]
[dramatic flourish]
[man] Park Place. Unbelievable.
That team has some really, really
super horses.
They're one of the favorites
and won last year.
Dutta Corp, they're an underdog team,
for sure.
You gotta respect a team like Dutta Corp
that maybe don't have the budget that some
of these other bigger organizations have.
They don't have the numbers of horses,
but the fact that they're right there
means a lot.
I put Chevy as the first spare.
Play on the first chukker.
And then comes back in the fifth.
- [Tim] You have to open the game.
- That's what I think and wanted.
Especially you're playing number one,
you have to have the push.
[Timmy] All gas, no brakes.
[Tim] We decided Timmy's
gonna play number one.
We were lacking attack,
so we'll see how it pans out.
[Susie] They act like
it was their idea. [chuckles]
Men.
[Tim] Today's the day.
We've waited a year for this.
Let's go play our best game.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] Love you, son.
Enjoy. Go do it.
[soft music playing]
- [music intensifies]
- [horse snorting]
[man] This is it.
The U.S. Open is underway.
First ball of the day in play.
Ulloa pounds that ball up.
He's looking for Vignoli here.
Picks it up on the near side.
Tries to swat it back to Borodin.
Couldn't get it.
Stolen away by Garcia Del Rio
for the team in white.
Accelerates, fires a pass forward.
He's looking for Joaquin.
It's gonna be stolen away again.
Let's go. Get that ball.
Come on, Nino. Hit.
[man] Hilario looking
to line up a shot on goal here.
Now winds up and shoots.
That ball is rolling. It's rolling.
It's looking like
it's gonna make it through.
[music stops]
[dramatic music plays]
[man] But look at that.
[Susie] I think this is gonna be
a close game.
[Tim] Hit it!
[man] Timmy Dutta, he's got
a little bit of space to work with.
He's gonna accelerate towards goal.
Andrey hurrying up
to try to put a stop to it.
- No!
- [Tim] Hit the ball, Timmy.
[man] The ball goes to the right.
Borodin gets a hold of it.
But Dutta gets back to it.
Timmy Dutta now in the red zone
for Dutta Corp. Shoots and scores.
First flood of the day
drawn by Timmy Dutta.
[Susie] There we go. [clapping]
Let's go.
It might take a minute
for him to get used to this,
but he's doing a good job.
[man] And ball's back in play.
Here comes Britos to win this throw.
Trying to get it around past Timmy Dutta.
[whistle blowing]
[man] We've got
a whistle stopping the play.
Penalty going against Dutta Corp.
[Tim] Take your time!
[man] Penalty two for Park Place.
Here comes Hilario.
Drawing first blood of the day
for Park Place.
[Tim] Unbelievable.
Hit the ball, Timmy. Hit the fucking ball.
The guy behind me tried to hook me.
What do you want?
Stop fucking fouling!
[Timmy] I won't lie to you
that my dad's a lot.
[dramatic music plays]
[Timmy] There's always something
to argue about.
I get the brunt of it all.
And I don't know
how much longer I can keep fighting.
[inaudible]
[music intensifies]
[man] Ball's put back into play.
Gonna be picked up by Timmy.
[Susie] There we go. Here we go.
Come on!
[man] Going to the goal.
He's got nothing between him and the goal.
Can he get it done?
Dutta in the red zone. Timmy Dutta.
[Tim] Timmy!
[upbeat music playing]
[Diana] This year,
the big story is a father-son duo.
Adolfo Cambiaso and his son,
Poroto Cambiaso.
[man] Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Goal!
De La Urquina.
[Louis] Cambiasos have a huge target
on their back because they always win.
I want my dad playing in the final
against our team, La Dolfina.
It's about him now. I want to beat him.
I heard from Mom that you have
a friend coming in from Paris.
I decided to invite her and sometimes
you gotta do what you gotta do.
Hi, everybody!
Welcome to Pamela's bri baby shower.
[Pamela] The AC just went out. Holy hot.
[woman] What is wrong with you?
You don't understand women. You can't
do that when someone is pregnant.
What is this like?
[rider] I know that I can still compete
against these young,
great kids that are coming on.
It's easy to kinda second guess yourself.
[Adolfo in Spanish] They are screwing up.
[in English] Polo is what
I want to do my whole life.
The only plan I have.
[Louis] I'm late to play
the biggest game of the year.
[woman] Tensions
and pressures are pretty high.
Take your fucking mic off.
- They're filming you.
- Take it off.
[woman] The whole season has been hard.
Ending like this was a little sad.
- [man] Just what they need to have happen.
- Yes!
[man] Wow, you won't see that often.
This is truly anybody's game now.
[theme music playing]
[music continues]
[music continues]
[music fades]
[upbeat music playing]
[man 1] It all starts out really calm.
By game time,
you start hearing the noises.
[crowd cheering]
[man 1] People are everywhere.
The adrenaline
that goes through your body,
I've never experienced anything like that.
It's addicting.
To be the best,
You gotta beat the best ♪
I did that ♪
[man 2] Polo is one of the most
thrilling sports that you can imagine.
That's why I stand,
That's why I fight ♪
[man 2] Speed, horses,
the amazing athletes.
Polo is not just a sport.
Polo is a lifestyle.
I do what I wanna and I'm gonna ♪
We eat, we breathe, we sleep polo.
[woman 1] For sure, it's glamorous.
They put their Sunday hat on
and a cute outfit.
It's a sexy sport too.
Dirty, sweaty boys, riding.
[giggling]
It's not the easiest to date someone
who eats, sleeps, and breathes polo.
Polo can take a toll on your family.
That's no secret.
It'd be great to have you there
if you could make it.
Once we have the baby, things'll change
a little bit for me mostly.
I don't think
Louis' life will change much.
[upbeat music playing]
[man 3] Everyone is competitive.
Whether you're a pro
or whether you're a sponsor,
you're all hoping to do the best.
We have big expectations together,
so every day we have to move forward.
I'll do whatever I have to
because at the end of the day
I have to win.
[woman 1] The pressure is real.
These players really
have to work hard to make a living.
I've been struggling
a little bit this year with injuries.
I had a lower back injury, a disc hernia.
[man 5] There's a lot of competition.
Everybody is fighting
for themselves to get a job.
Our life is on the line
every time we get out there.
[man screaming]
I've put more at stake this season
than I ever have in the past.
[man 2] The best players in the world
come to Wellington
from February to the end of April
to compete in the U.S. Open.
It's the one that everybody wants to win.
Everybody wants to knock off the king.
[announcer] Adolfo Cambiaso seeking
his 10th U.S. Open title.
[man 1] The Michael Jordan of polo.
[woman 2] This is a father-son duo.
This year, they're playing
against each other.
- What's it like playing against your kid?
- It's difficult.
And worse when you lose. [laughing]
[man 6] I've seen a lot of careers ignited
by winning the U.S. Open.
[announcer]
It doesn't get any better than this.
[announcer 2]
Cambiaso! Cambiaso! Cambiaso! Goal!
[music ends]
[alarm ringing]
[upbeat music playing]
All right. So let's get this day started.
["Jungle Baby" by 5 Alarm playing]
I'm Timmy Dutta.
I'm born in Wellington, Florida.
I'm 22 years old.
I'm a professional polo player.
My family invested in me as a player.
Courses, trainers.
For me, it's it's
it's an incredible opportunity.
I take my season here very serious.
Don't go out. Don't party.
Champagne's only
for the podium-type vibes.
That ideology, right?
[music continues]
[Timmy] It's the U.S. Open. I'm American.
This for me as an American,
this is my cup that I'm gonna win.
[man] This is your first time
competing in the U.S. Open?
No, this is my fifth year.
It's a hard cup to win. It's not easy.
[horse neighing]
[Timmy] To compete at this top level,
it all starts at the barn.
[soft music playing]
Good girl, Monkey.
The game of polo.
The lifestyle, everything all has to do
with the horse at the end of the day.
Come here. [smacking lips]
He hears it. Yeah, you hear it.
Come on. [smacking lips] Come on.
I love the game of polo. I really do.
But it's the horses for me
that I really enjoy
because without them,
the sport's not possible.
I understand the care
that needs to go into these horses.
Physios, vets, everything, you name it.
It's all about how we can make
the horse better as an athlete.
[upbeat music playing]
[woman] My son is a beautiful rider.
The minute Timmy
hit a polo ball [chuckles]
my husband was like,
"Oh my gosh, this is gonna be our thing."
My husband Tim and I are horse crazy,
and that's one thing we brought to Timmy.
I was, like, the primary parent
until Timmy was 12.
His father traveled a lot
while he was a baby,
so he was really my baby.
Tim is the driving force in this family.
Sometimes we don't agree on his style,
but he's for sure
the elevation behind both of us.
[Tim] Come on, boys, 20 minutes.
[Timmy] My father is the team owner,
and he helps us
and supports us and fields us, um,
and coaches us sometimes.
It can be interesting.
He's not such a soft guy.
[Tim] I am the president and the CEO
of the Dutta Corporation.
We ship horses around the world.
I only believe in hard work.
I drive the team.
I drive the company. I drive my family.
It's very important that I play that role
to make sure these guys
mentally and physically are ready to go
on the field.
There's Gatorade in the red cooler.
Growing up in India, I played polo.
I was born to two army officers.
I had the privilege
to have access to army horses.
Like every kid who goes to a fair,
you ride a pony, and the kid gets hooked,
and I was immediately hooked on polo.
[soft music playing]
[Tim] You're cleared, no?
Timmy has that passion from me,
and to see Timmy improve
is all I can do for as a father.
Shine. This is your day.
Good luck.
[announcer] Good morning.
We are here for the second leg
of the Gauntlet of Polo.
This is the 2024 USPA Gold Cup.
[man] The Gauntlet of Polo,
that's the three major tournaments
that we have in America.
It's the CV Whitney Cup,
the Gold Cup, and the U.S. Open.
And the U.S. Open has been
and always will be
the number one
most sought-after trophy to win.
Since all three tournaments
are played back-to-back,
teams often use
the CV Whitney Cup and the Gold Cup
in order to fine-tune their team
to get ready to try to win the U.S. Open.
Today, we've got
La Fe taking on Dutta Corp.
Here comes Timmy.
He's got this one. Looking good.
Taking this one towards the goal.
He winds up,
fires at the goal, off the post.
Still in play.
Oh, man, what a terrible luck play there.
[Tim] Can't have these fucking miss hits.
I look at it,
I'm investing in Timmy's future
and giving him the opportunity
that he well deserves.
This is his dream,
and I'm definitely living it.
It's my dream as well,
but it puts a lot of pressure.
If I fail at this,
I'm not just failing for me.
I'm also failing in his eyes,
and obviously no son wants to feel that.
Stupid play.
[Timmy] He wants me
to be a better player,
which I try to be.
Go back, Timmy, go.
[Timmy] But he has his ideas
of how to do it, and I have my ideas.
[Tim] He needs
to get rid of Louis' blocks.
[Timmy] One thing we see eye-to-eye on,
I'm playing against
the best guys in the world,
and I gotta go beat them.
[upbeat music playing]
[woman] Polo is a sport
that includes four players on each team.
[woman 2] They're on horseback.
[woman] You play on a field
that is nine football fields large.
[woman 2] And the goal is to put the ball
between the goal posts.
[man] Goal!
[Tim] The goal posts are 24 feet apart.
[Timmy] There's no net.
The ball can go as high as you want.
It just has to go through the goal posts.
[man 2] A period in polo
is called a chukker.
We have six chukkers in a game.
They last seven and a half minutes.
[woman 2] You'll change horses
mid-chukker, kinda like an F1 pit stop.
Your horse loses steam,
you run over to the sidelines,
jump on a fresh horse and continue.
They don't stop the game for it.
[Timmy] The strategy is to let
the horse recover,
then I have my good horse back again
to compete again.
[man 1] Dutta Corp
is looking confident.
Three-goal lead back on the board.
Now, Timmy wins the throw
and takes off running right here
and then loses the play momentarily.
The play, here's a back shot.
It's gonna be Lucas Alberdi
by himself coming in.
Right to left and sink it.
That's just what La Fe needs
to start a comeback right here and now.
Taken here by Lucas.
He shoots and scores
and that's a goal.
[dramatic music playing]
[man 1] And for the first time today,
we've got a tie ball game.
Hit the ball, man.
[man 1] Unbelievable.
Dutta Corp is starting to lose their grip
on what should have been
a certain win for them.
La Fe has the lead.
[Tim] Stop fucking fouling.
[man 2] They gotta go pretty quickly.
[man 1] Dutta doesn't have time here.
You gotta go for it.
Here we go. Is it over?
[whistle blowing]
[man 1] No, that's gonna be
a penalty shot.
Dutta will get a chance to tie this game
with five seconds left to go on the clock.
- [dramatic music playing]
- [clock ticking]
- [man 1] Right down the middle.
- [Tim] Yes!
[Timmy] We were winning most of the game,
all the way to the end.
They came back, and Fucking annoying.
[man 2] We are tied up
with ten goals apiece.
That means we are going
into sudden death overtime.
The next goal scored
is gonna win this polo game.
[Tim] She's done. Who you want for spare?
I focus on all our horses.
I count how many minutes they're playing,
when it's time for them to change.
I'm regulating
which horses he's getting on,
but of course he overrides.
If he wants to play a horse
more than the other, it's his choice.
[man 2] Timmy Dutta, Dutta Corp.
They've got all the cards
to make magic happen.
Let's see if they can pull this off.
[Timmy] My horse, Chevy, he was tired.
He already played twice that game.
I made a crucial mistake.
I jumped on an unknown horse that
I've never really played in the States.
It's not the same connection.
[dramatic music playing]
[Timmy] When I went to hit this next shot,
she kinda just, like, got a little uneasy.
And I hit it two yards too short.
[man 2] That's gonna come up short.
The horse just stumbled,
and it's gonna be picked off right here.
Nicely done by Lucas Alberdi
for the win right here.
And he got it!
What a goal by Lucas Alberdi
to win the game here.
[rider] Let's go!
Let's go!
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] He didn't play
three other horses sitting here.
[music continues]
[indistinct chatter]
It's a dumb move.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
[music ends]
[man 2] What a massive win for La Fe
and for their patron, Louis Devaleix.
Let's fucking go!
[man 2] They're gonna have
great momentum going into the U.S. Open.
["Grinding All My Life"
by Nipsey Hussle playing]
[man] I own a healthcare software company
in the behavioral health space.
We're a fast-growing company
and proud of it.
Fuck yeah, baby.
She helped close an account
we've been trying to get.
With the rest of my time, I play polo.
Love to play polo.
All my life, been grindin' all my life ♪
Sacrificed, hustle paid the price ♪
[Louis] Most polo players start
at a really young age.
I was almost 40 years old.
I took a lesson, and I just fell in love
with every part of the sport.
And from then on,
it took off pretty quick.
It's the best thing
that's ever happened in my life.
Louis is super competitive
and super athletic
and comes from playing professional golf.
[Louis] My father was a big golfer
and provided me with all the support
necessary to accomplish my dream,
which at the time
was to be a professional golfer.
I played mini tour golf for two years.
It's nice when
you make it to the PGA Tour,
but if you're not making it,
it can be a pretty tough and lonely life,
and he was there with me
every step of the way.
[soft music playing]
[Louis] He worked his ass off.
I remember he'd fly from from China
and different regions of the world
just to to watch me play one hole,
and then off he went again.
My father passed when I was mid-20s.
Losing him was fucking terrible.
I mean, it was horrible.
It just didn't feel right
to try to continue the dream,
and so it was time
for me to get a real job.
[upbeat music playing]
- [man] How often are you in the office?
- [Louis] Three, four days a week.
Ideally, it would just be
the family and and and polo forever.
Like today, I spent,
you know, most of my day on calls.
Polo kind of gives me hope
that I can accomplish something
that I didn't get to accomplish
in other sports.
But I have to work to play polo.
Most teams spend,
like, five million dollars
just for these few months.
We spend a tiny fraction of that,
which still to us is monumental.
My wife and I sold our dream home
so that we could take the profits
from that house
in order to play the season.
We're making financial sacrifices
that most people wouldn't make,
and they probably think it's crazy,
I still think it's crazy sometimes,
but at the same time,
you've got to give it a fucking shot.
Three or four months in from when
I really started sticking balling
and playing some small matches,
I said I wanna play in the U.S. Open.
I started the La Fe team
and became patron.
[upbeat music plays]
[man] The way professional polo works,
there's an owner of the team
that we call the patron,
which loves polo, loves horses,
and facilitates the, uh,
funds for the team.
[Louis] So they pay for the pros,
they buy horses,
they pay for travel, for the vets.
[man] And they get to play with us.
Think of, uh, like,
Mark Cuban, uh, owning the Mavericks,
but actually playing inside the game.
Generally, it is one person
paying for the whole team.
I've heard rumors of people
spending in excess of ten million dollars.
It depends upon the level
in which you're playing.
[Louis] How do I fit in
in the polo world? [chuckling softly]
I'm not too sure I fit in really well.
I don't really care actually.
[dramatic flourish playing]
Oh, Louis is definitely not
the typical "polo sponsor."
[upbeat music playing]
For most teams,
you can kind of spot who the patron is.
And the La Fe, you can't.
Louis is the biggest one on there. Madman.
Definitely lets his temper
get in the way of some of his game.
[Louis] Fuck!
He's intimidating. [laughs]
[screaming]
[exhaling sharply]
Let's just call it what it is.
He's just all muscle.
[Louis] Ah, shit!
I fuckin' lost it! Goddamn it!
Growing up, you know,
my father kind of pushed really hard.
It always felt
like you weren't achieving enough.
That mentality to try to win
and just be better was projected into me.
And now, I want to kill every single team
that that's playing out there right now.
[birds chirping]
That's one of those things.
I'm like, I couldn't look.
I had him first. I had him in the bump.
And then he came through on the bump.
[man] It's gonna be picked off.
And he went to the near side,
and I went down to hook him.
He slid it under,
and he just touched the ball.
- [crowd applauding]
- [soft music playing]
[Tim] That was really stupid of him.
I think my dad's home. [chuckles]
[Susie] There's nobody
harder on Timmy than Tim.
I go toe-to-toe
with Tim on it all the time.
If there was one thing that I could tweak,
it would be the
the criticism.
[music fades]
[Tim] Today was very important to win,
and we didn't.
We were up by two.
We had him for most of the sixth.
They just came back
in the last three minutes.
Yeah, that's all it takes.
- [Susie] Don't be negative, Tim.
- Not negative, Susie. Just the reality.
[Susie] The whole goal
is to make this kid better
and to make his handicap rise
and to get him experienced.
Too many handoffs didn't go well.
The transitions were not right.
Placings, fouling, late to the play.
We all have to wake up. But
[Susie] A young athlete like him,
that kind of money being spent on you,
it's real.
The the pressure is real.
[mysterious music playing]
I live in pressure,
running my business for 37 years,
and it's just deliver.
- That's how winners do it.
- [Susie] Yeah.
[Tim] I'm his biggest cheerleader
and his biggest critic.
We don't sugarcoat each other,
and he only gets the truth.
We're not creating flower childs
who needs a therapist
and a 1-800 number
to tell him how great he is.
No, that's not how you win.
We're here for one thing, to win.
I think he should focus
on the first game of the Open.
That's my opinion.
[music ends]
[upbeat music playing]
[birds chirping]
[inaudible]
[Timmy] U.S. Open draw
just looks like some cocktail party.
But at the end of the day,
it's where
the tournament bracket's decided.
All the teams are there.
It's where you find out
which teams you gotta beat to win.
[inaudible]
- [Timmy] Do you feel lucky today?
- No.
[laughs] I'm not drawing.
No, tonight he is. No.
Tim is coming or?
No, he's in Ocala.
- [man] Nice.
- Susie's here. Bro.
He'd drop you in the drawing
and start saying fuck
You fucking piece of shit.
You disappointment!
You're a disappointment to this family.
- Because you lose the draw?
- Yeah!
[upbeat music playing]
For all these major tournaments,
we have a draw.
It's a placement in the tournament.
Nobody has made a schedule
and pitted Team A against B.
The names are pulled out of a hat.
A plays B
only because of the luck of the draw.
This year, we have nine teams.
So they've come up
with this nine-star draw.
Each team is gonna play four games.
After that, then the top four teams
are gonna advance to the semifinals.
The winner of the semifinals
play against each other in the finals.
[music fades]
- They said this one's gonna be different.
- Why?
- I don't know. My mom was telling me
- Your mom?
- What the fuck does she know?
- That's what I would say.
There's like balloon popping.
I was like, "What?"
They're gonna do it
like the U.S. Women's Open.
- They had to pop the balloon.
- Oh, yeah?
[Louis] This year, for some reason,
they decided to do something different.
Every team chooses a balloon, pops it,
and inside there's a number that tells you
where you fall in the bracket.
So very strange.
- I'm not doing it. You're doing it.
- No, I'm not popping it.
[dramatic music playing]
[Timmy] We knew that we needed
a good draw to have a chance.
We knew it was going to be difficult.
It's all nine super tough teams.
We were trying to have a drink
and relax a little bit.
But it's difficult
because you're all like,
"What's gonna happen in the next
five minutes? Who are we gonna play?"
[man] Good evening.
Welcome to the 2024 U.S. Open draw.
We're gonna draw teams alphabetical order.
You'll come up.
There's an envelope in the balloons.
We'll pop the balloon.
I'm not popping the balloon.
You're gonna pop the balloon.
[Gus] Without any further ado,
we'll jump into it.
Clearwater, you're on the top
of the list here.
Whoa!
Number one.
Coca-Cola, we're looking for you next.
[Gus grunts]
[Gus] Good call.
Dutta.
[Susie] Dear God,
what balloon do you want?
[music continues]
[Gus] Whoa. A fake out. I thought
she was going for it. That was it.
[crowd applauding]
[Gus] Let's see what you got.
What is it?
- [Susie] Four.
- [Gus] Number four. Now La Fe.
Oh man, that man knew exactly what to do.
[crowd applauding]
I wanna play against
these motherfuckers too.
- [Gus] Eight.
- Do we play against them? Fuck.
[balloon popping]
[Timmy] This year,
all the teams are incredibly difficult.
There's not one team you say,
"I wanna play because it's gonna be easy."
[laughs]
- [in Spanish] It is what is!
- [in Spanish] It is what is!
It is what is.
[Timmy in English] We had an okay draw.
At the end of the day, pretty much
all the teams had an okay draw.
Can we get the fuck outta here now or no?
Let's go get drunk.
[Timmy] Except for Coca-Cola,
they drew the toughest teams.
Clearwater, Pilot, Valiente,
just Adolfo Cambiaso himself,
and Dolfina with his son, Poroto.
[dramatic music playing]
To play against Adolfo Cambiaso
is a is a pleasure.
I'd be lying
if I say I don't want to beat him.
[man1] Here goes Cambiaso. Another goal!
[Tony] There's a rivalry
with everyone against Adolfo.
[crowd cheering]
Everybody wants to knock off the king.
[Nacho] He is so fast.
[Timmy] So intense.
[Louis] That motherfucker wants to win
more than I do.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] He's won the U.S. Open
nine times throughout his career.
Adolfo Cambiaso is
the greatest player of all time.
[music intensifies]
[man] Goal!
I'm Adolfo Cambiaso,
polo player from Argentina.
[music continues]
[Adolfo] I wake up every morning
liking what I do.
I like to be around horses,
and I love to compete.
I don't know if I like to win or
or the answer would be I hate losing.
[man] Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Goal!
[indistinct chatter in Spanish]
[Nacho] If you put together the Argentina,
English, and American season,
he won more than anybody
in the world by a mile.
[man] Cambiaso shoots. He scores.
That's another win at the U.S. Open
for the master Adolfo Cambiaso.
[man 2] He was handmade
by God to play polo.
He thinks so much faster
than everyone else.
His hand-eye coordination,
he's got all those
natural physical abilities.
[Nacho] Adolfo, he was one of the first,
you know, young, amazing polo freaks.
He is a chess player.
[Louis] Two years ago,
Cambiaso comes to watch our practice.
I get out of a horse, her name was Opeta.
He's like,
"Opeta did really good for you."
And then I get off the next one, Misica.
He goes,
"Misica's doing well
for you too this season, huh?"
He knew every single one
of my motherfucking horses.
I don't even know
what my fucking horses' names are.
Some of them.
But I don't know all of them.
He's got your fucking beat
before you even get on the field.
[music continues]
[Danny] He is the Michael Jordan
of our game.
There's no question about it.
On top of that, he has a son,
so you've got two of them.
[Nacho] Poroto, he's the son
of the best player in the history of polo.
Those are big shoes to fill, right?
He is, I think,
even more talented than the father.
He is remarkable.
I started playing because of my dad.
I went to all the games,
and he always wins.
I had more pressure
because I was the son
of one of the greatest of the sport.
But I don't think too much on that.
I, uh I want to be better all the time
and to win at everything.
[man] What's the secret
to beating the Cambiasos?
[grunts]
Uh, I don't think there's no secret.
You need luck.
You need a lot of luck.
[violin music playing]
[clerk] I love those aviators,
they're frameless on the bottom.
[Susie] They're comfortable.
[clerk] They're a very nice, light weight.
[Susie] What do you think?
- Looks like the same ones you have
- Ten pairs of them.
[both chuckling]
She's more than my mom.
She's my friend. So that's a big thing.
She's a really good friend of mine.
- [Susie] Do you have a list?
- Yeah, I need to buy gloves.
We're super bonded.
You know, he's a Mommy's boy.
Really.
This is a size seven for you. Try 'em on.
Can't get my hand in there.
It doesn't feel like it'd be sticky.
No. And the crazy part is that softness.
Yeah, it feels soft, right?
It feels, like, slick.
You grab the reins
and it automatically grips on.
- Oh, that's nice.
- [soft music playing]
[Timmy] They just came out
with a schedule,
and it looks like
we are the first game of the U.S. Open.
[Susie] We're the first game?
You guys gonna try my lineup?
We will try it in the practice, yeah.
- If it works or not works.
- Cool.
Timmy's doing a great job at four,
but I'm thinking that maybe
he could be better off up front.
[upbeat music playing]
[Susie] In a game, every player has
a different position on the field.
You have number one,
number two, number three, number four.
And those numbers
are on the back of the jersey.
Four is the most defense-oriented.
Three would be the quarterback.
Two is kind of the warrior
who helps make plays happen.
Number one is the person
that goes to goal.
I mean,
definitely I've done well in the back
and I've proven myself in the back, um
It's the polar opposite.
Number four,
I gotta be in a defensive posture.
And one's
an optimistic ideology of the game.
Scoring goals
and pulling the team forward.
You go from one program in your head
to completely another.
- It's different.
- [Susie] To put you in one?
It's
It's different.
I haven't played one in a few years.
It's gonna bring
a whole different dynamic to the team.
[Susie] I'm not the polo coach,
but I see a lot,
and I feel like my opinion is valuable.
I still want you to try it. Just
- Well, it doesn't hurt.
- No.
It might be good
for his confidence to score the goals.
To, like, be able to raise your mallet,
"Yes, I got another one."
This is a big tournament.
I mean, it's a lot of money for us.
We are choosing to spend it on our son.
The patron is really Tim,
but we're giving Timmy the job.
I mean, there's pressure on that part too.
The first game's gonna be difficult, but
- Maybe with you at one.
- We'll see.
We'll definitely put on a show.
From the outside, it's gonna look good.
- [Susie chuckling]
- So that's all that matters.
[Timmy] We need to win to set the tone
for the rest of the tournament.
[music ends]
[upbeat music playing]
[music fades]
[Louis] My dad was super military,
uh, so
- [man] Your dad was
- Oh, yeah.
My dad was the equivalent
to the Navy SEALs in the French Army,
and, you know,
everything had to be pretty strict.
[soft music playing]
[Louis] It was tough
to get close to my father, yeah.
[clears throat] I wasn't his friend,
you know, so.
[woman] Yeah. Yeah. Oh.
- [Louis in French] How are you, my son?
- Hello. Good.
[in English] See you next week?
I think you have a duty as a parent to do
whatever is necessary to make sure
that, you know, you give your child
the best chance possible
at making something of themselves.
- How was school today?
- Good.
I colored and I made clay.
[Louis] What did you color?
[boy] Um, I colored Iron Man.
Iron Man.
That's the
It's the hero of the month, Iron Man.
[man] Your dad,
does he remind you of any superheroes?
Um
Hulk.
I just think he's super strong.
[Louis] Oh. I'll take the Hulk.
My pops, he was tough,
and he pushed me a great deal.
I do raise Ames so that he understands
that losing is
is not preferable over winning.
Although, I'm a little bit more subtle
than my father was. [chuckles]
[music continues]
[crows cawing]
- [beeping]
- [door creaking]
[indistinct chatter]
[Pamela] My love?
- [Ames] Hello.
- [Pamela] Hi, boys, how are you?
Come here, give me a kiss.
- How was your day at school?
- [Ames] Good.
Can I see your cape?
Which superhero are you today?
Uh, you're Ryan?
That's cool.
- [Ames] And Iron Man.
- Yeah?
And Iron Man.
- [water running]
- How was practice?
Uh, it was good.
Some of the horses are a little heavy,
we'll see how they
[Pamela] Why heavy?
- Why?
- 'Cause they haven't been playing?
Yeah, just like shit.
[soft music playing]
[Pamela] I'm a polo player,
and I'm also an attorney.
It's very tempting to want to jump into
the polo world right out of school.
But I wanted to kind of secure
my career first.
So, I went to law school, passed the bar,
and then I went on to work
in Chicago at a law firm.
And while working in Chicago, I realized,
"Okay, I need to have horses in my life."
[Louis] Pam is awesome at polo.
She's won four U.S. Women's Opens.
She loves polo.
[Pamela] When I was a kid,
my siblings
and my neighbors would joke
that once in a blue moon
when I got grumpy, they'd call me Map.
[man] Who is on the polo field?
Pam or Map?
Oh, Pam, for sure.
Bullshit.
Louis! I don't do any
While I'm on the field, I never cuss
or yell at girls or get angry.
I get aggressive.
I stood by the sidelines
when you won the U.S. Open last year.
Whenever you didn't have your way,
you were cursing, pissed off.
- Who are you talking about?
- My wife.
[Pamela] Never, ever in my life have
I cussed on the field at another girl.
Ever. Ever. Ever.
He's making me sound like a monster.
No, you're not a monster.
You're just a determined athlete.
No, but not a classless athlete.
I don't yell at people.
Never in my life
have I screamed at the girls.
Yes, of course,
get out of my way, move, whatever.
But never, ever have I lost my head
cussing at them.
[Louis] She acts nice and everything,
and you see this sweet lady,
but she's got a side of her
you don't wanna mess with.
[soft music playing]
Oh, now you like me
after you think I'm such a bully.
Wow.
[Pamela] Louis' great and I love him.
Three months after meeting,
we were engaged.
Getting engaged in three months
was not aligned
with my personality
or something that anyone in my family
would have ever thought that I would do.
I didn't think I would do that.
It wasn't something like,
"Here she goes
doing something crazy."
No, I don't do things crazy.
I'm not a crazy person,
so I think getting engaged in three months
definitely, you know,
threw people for a loop, but here we are.
[Louis] When Pam and I met,
the first thing I told her
was that I had this awesome little man.
She immediately fell in love with him,
and she's been super supportive of Ames.
[Pamela] And now we're pregnant
with our first baby.
Things'll change
a little bit for me, mostly.
I don't think Louis' life
will change much.
- [Pamela chuckling]
- No, I think she's right.
Just a different chapter in my life,
I suppose.
Um, so I don't think I'll be playing
nearly as much as perhaps I once was.
Right now,
I think the things we balance most
are polo, work, and family.
When a newborn's in the picture,
I think you can kind of pick two.
Priorities will shift,
but that's, you know, natural.
[Louis] I think we'll do a good job.
It's not rocket science.
You ready to eat?
Where am I sitting?
You're gonna sit right here
in between me and Daddy.
[soft music playing]
[music fades]
[upbeat music playing]
[man] Good morning, everyone,
and welcome to the National Polo Center
here in Wellington, Florida.
We are ready to start the U.S. Open.
This is the final leg
of the Gauntlet of Polo
and the one everyone wants to win.
[music swelling]
[music fades]
[dramatic flourish]
[man] Park Place. Unbelievable.
That team has some really, really
super horses.
They're one of the favorites
and won last year.
Dutta Corp, they're an underdog team,
for sure.
You gotta respect a team like Dutta Corp
that maybe don't have the budget that some
of these other bigger organizations have.
They don't have the numbers of horses,
but the fact that they're right there
means a lot.
I put Chevy as the first spare.
Play on the first chukker.
And then comes back in the fifth.
- [Tim] You have to open the game.
- That's what I think and wanted.
Especially you're playing number one,
you have to have the push.
[Timmy] All gas, no brakes.
[Tim] We decided Timmy's
gonna play number one.
We were lacking attack,
so we'll see how it pans out.
[Susie] They act like
it was their idea. [chuckles]
Men.
[Tim] Today's the day.
We've waited a year for this.
Let's go play our best game.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] Love you, son.
Enjoy. Go do it.
[soft music playing]
- [music intensifies]
- [horse snorting]
[man] This is it.
The U.S. Open is underway.
First ball of the day in play.
Ulloa pounds that ball up.
He's looking for Vignoli here.
Picks it up on the near side.
Tries to swat it back to Borodin.
Couldn't get it.
Stolen away by Garcia Del Rio
for the team in white.
Accelerates, fires a pass forward.
He's looking for Joaquin.
It's gonna be stolen away again.
Let's go. Get that ball.
Come on, Nino. Hit.
[man] Hilario looking
to line up a shot on goal here.
Now winds up and shoots.
That ball is rolling. It's rolling.
It's looking like
it's gonna make it through.
[music stops]
[dramatic music plays]
[man] But look at that.
[Susie] I think this is gonna be
a close game.
[Tim] Hit it!
[man] Timmy Dutta, he's got
a little bit of space to work with.
He's gonna accelerate towards goal.
Andrey hurrying up
to try to put a stop to it.
- No!
- [Tim] Hit the ball, Timmy.
[man] The ball goes to the right.
Borodin gets a hold of it.
But Dutta gets back to it.
Timmy Dutta now in the red zone
for Dutta Corp. Shoots and scores.
First flood of the day
drawn by Timmy Dutta.
[Susie] There we go. [clapping]
Let's go.
It might take a minute
for him to get used to this,
but he's doing a good job.
[man] And ball's back in play.
Here comes Britos to win this throw.
Trying to get it around past Timmy Dutta.
[whistle blowing]
[man] We've got
a whistle stopping the play.
Penalty going against Dutta Corp.
[Tim] Take your time!
[man] Penalty two for Park Place.
Here comes Hilario.
Drawing first blood of the day
for Park Place.
[Tim] Unbelievable.
Hit the ball, Timmy. Hit the fucking ball.
The guy behind me tried to hook me.
What do you want?
Stop fucking fouling!
[Timmy] I won't lie to you
that my dad's a lot.
[dramatic music plays]
[Timmy] There's always something
to argue about.
I get the brunt of it all.
And I don't know
how much longer I can keep fighting.
[inaudible]
[music intensifies]
[man] Ball's put back into play.
Gonna be picked up by Timmy.
[Susie] There we go. Here we go.
Come on!
[man] Going to the goal.
He's got nothing between him and the goal.
Can he get it done?
Dutta in the red zone. Timmy Dutta.
[Tim] Timmy!
[upbeat music playing]
[Diana] This year,
the big story is a father-son duo.
Adolfo Cambiaso and his son,
Poroto Cambiaso.
[man] Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Cambiaso. Goal!
De La Urquina.
[Louis] Cambiasos have a huge target
on their back because they always win.
I want my dad playing in the final
against our team, La Dolfina.
It's about him now. I want to beat him.
I heard from Mom that you have
a friend coming in from Paris.
I decided to invite her and sometimes
you gotta do what you gotta do.
Hi, everybody!
Welcome to Pamela's bri baby shower.
[Pamela] The AC just went out. Holy hot.
[woman] What is wrong with you?
You don't understand women. You can't
do that when someone is pregnant.
What is this like?
[rider] I know that I can still compete
against these young,
great kids that are coming on.
It's easy to kinda second guess yourself.
[Adolfo in Spanish] They are screwing up.
[in English] Polo is what
I want to do my whole life.
The only plan I have.
[Louis] I'm late to play
the biggest game of the year.
[woman] Tensions
and pressures are pretty high.
Take your fucking mic off.
- They're filming you.
- Take it off.
[woman] The whole season has been hard.
Ending like this was a little sad.
- [man] Just what they need to have happen.
- Yes!
[man] Wow, you won't see that often.
This is truly anybody's game now.
[theme music playing]
[music continues]
[music continues]
[music fades]