In 1926, the Biscayne Fronton opened its doors to jai alai, and thousands of fans began to wager on the complex, racquetball-like game imported from the Basque region of northern Spain. It is a game in which the players use cestas -- long, hooked wicker baskets -- to catch and hurl pelotas, which are rock-hard rubber balls layered in goat skin, against the front wall of a three-sided court.

Carnival-like pamphlets at the time trumpeted jai alai as the Game of Dodging Death, accessible only to the breed of athlete that might possess the combined endurance of a championship prize fighter, the training of a thoroughbred and the cannon arm of a major league baseball pitcher.

During one early performance, Babe Ruth put on a cesta and tried to throw. He reportedly could not hit the front wall.

playing professional jai alai has lost its sheen, and the fast-paced game, once an attraction to aspiring athletes and thousands of fans across the country, is flirting with extinction.

During peak hours, these facilities feel like out-of-the-way bus stations, sprinkled with a few dozen committed gamblers, a handful of aging jai alai loyalists and teenage couples looking to sneak kisses in dark corners.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/12/sports/jai-alai-a-sport-fighting-for-survival.html?pagewanted=all