WILLIAMSBURG -- Even a drizzle couldn't dampen the spirits of more than 2,000 spectators who turned out Friday evening to watch a rarity in the Grand Traverse region -- a polo match.
Michigan and Michigan State played to a 10-10 draw -- the Wolverines scored twice in the final minute -- in an exhibition match at Horse Shows by the Bay.
The score was irrelevant, though, for those in attendance, many of whom were watching polo for the first time.
"This is outstanding," said Traverse City's Jim Emerich, a 1978 Michigan graduate. "I hope they continue doing it. You look around at all the people here -- it's fantastic.
"With everything going on in town with the Film Festival, and with everything going on in Elk Rapids (Harbor Days), that's a lot of competition. They have done very, very well here."
Ionia's Loren Adgate, sporting a Michigan State hat, was sitting just a few chairs down from Emerich. Like many others, he was trying to figure out the rules as the game went along.
What brought him out to the match?
"The competition -- Michigan-Michigan State," the 1958 Spartan graduate said. "But, honestly, I didn't even know we had a polo team."
Traverse City's Ken Zacks, a former hockey manager at Michigan State, was one spectator who understood what he was watching.
"When I was growng up in New Haven, Connecticut, I used to work the Yale Bowl football games on Saturdays and after that I would go to the polo ring," he said. "Polo was a varsity sport at Yale. It was big. There were kids that came to Yale with their polo ponies. That's how I learned about the game.
"To me, it's like hockey. You have to have more than one skill. These people have to know how to ride, and they have to know how to use the mallet to make that ball get to the goal. I've always enjoyed the sport.
"When you see it played professionally, it's at a whole different level. But this is pretty good."
Paul Knapp, a rider on the Michigan team, said the Wolverines participate in a few exhibitions in the region every year.
He said what made this match different was that it was played in a shorter ring -- with no walls to keep the ball in play.
"That makes the game a little different," he said. "Still, it was pretty enjoyable."
Knapp said the ability to ride is the key to success.
"Riding is 80 percent of the game," he said. "To be good you need that (riding) experience and knowledge. That's what gets you ahead in the game.
"If you're not a good rider when you start, that's the first thing you'll realize -- that you had better improve if you want to play and be competitive."
Michigan State senior Nicole Wozniak, now in her fourth year playing the sport, called it a "fun" evening.
"I've never played in front of that many people before," she said. "It was really cool. I look forward to doing it again."
By the way, the Spartans and Wolverines next meet Sept. 11 at Michigan State.
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