The legend of the split top. Oh my! I heard it from so many people, from so many places. But never witnessed . . . until it happened!
For La Calle competition, the organizers provided the trompos so everybody played with the same top. They were made by Roberto Castiblanco, 6 inch tall, with a large steel point inserted in a drilled hole. The one on the right was an extra one and you can see that it was nicely made. I wouldn't have expected a top like this to split, even though they were thrown with force. You can see that the one split had a rough short life against the concrete of the parking lot. I'm pretty sure this was the striking top and not the target top, and my guess is that it split by hitting the concrete on the side. Actually, two tops split during the competition! We couldn't find the tips of either one, which must have flown far away. According to Roberto, when he went to pick up the wood, they only had an old beam taken from a construction. He believes the wood was "too dry".
Anyway, I have now witnessed a clean split of a top during battle. I feel my life is complete!
Both Rayuela and La Calle were played outside in the parking lot of the shopping center. This is the judges table, but we actually stood among the players during the competition (I gota bad sunburn in my neck).
Before the actual competition, there was an informal contest of "calculadora" (calculator), which is the name they give to a very high trapeze (what Mexicans call suicide). I think the name is because you need to calculate very carefully where to place the string to catch the top. I was the judge and I just compared the heights by eye, but I wished I had timed them so we could figure out the height attained. Herney also won this one, with a really high throw. You had to catch it when it came down to count.
