Cecil Smith
Although the game of polo was dominated by the affluent crowd, Cecil Smith, a cowboy from Llano County, Texas, went East and took permanent possession of the game. It was his defeat of Tommy Hitchcock in the East-West match in Chicago that brought him national fame. For three decades, he played in every high-goal national and international competition. In 1938, his team, called the Texas Rangers, swept England off its feet by winning every major polo title in the country, including the King's Coronation Cup. From 1938 to 1962, Smith had a 10-goal rating, the highest honor a player can achieve. As a result of his amazing victories, Smith became known as the king of "The Sport of Kings". He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1956.