Portraits from the Battle II in Mankato

You know, i wasn't really planning on taking any photos at this event.  I've been overworked at my job, worn out from traveling so much, and plenty busy playing on my team and helping livestream the event.  Using just a 50mm prime lens meant i had to manually focus everything and had a fixed distance i could shoot from.. not ideal but surprisingly ended up with quite a few decent photos.  The lens kinda forced a bunch of closeups, and the lack of auto focus meant no action shots, so they all almost appear as portraits of sorts.  Interesting, though probably not even a tenth as good as the ones that one gent out in the lobby was taking.. can't wait for that album!  Big thanks to my boy Evan for getting the celebratory shots at the end too!  There's not many more but you can check out the full album link HERE.

There's really nothing i can write that would convey how amazing this tourney was.  The Mankato club was incredibly hospitable and the venue was one of the best i've ever seen.  The competition was top notch, the court was perfectly sized and responsive, and the whole world was able to watch along with us.  Plus the whole curling club was seemingly overrun by cute dogs, small children, smoked meats, and a bottomless barrel of PBR.. it really was polo heaven!

A huge, huge thanks to the Mankato club.  God damn you guys and gals killed it!  We in polo often talk about next level shit, but this tourney truly raised the bar.

Joe Rstom, you were right.  I tip my hat to you, good sir.

-W.

"Battle for the Midwest puts Mankato bike polo on the map"

By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — The hot spots for the emerging sport of bike polo are big cities like Seattle and Milwaukee, but if the members of the Blue Skunk Bike Polo Club have something to say about it, Mankato will be in the mix one day.

“I would love it to be,” club member Bruce Wahl said.

For one weekend, anyway, Mankato will be in the spotlight, as the Blue Skunks will host the Battle for the Midwest, a regional tournament involving teams from some of the country’s top clubs.

An eight-team tournament will take place at the Mankato Curling Club on Saturday and Sunday. Wahl and teammate Joe Rstom said teams are coming from Milwaukee, Chicago, Winnipeg and Minneapolis, as well as Missouri, Indiana and Michigan.

The Mankato team is definitely the underdog, they said.

“The players coming are highly skilled,” Wahl said. “They’re some of the best players in the world, real top-shelf. They are players who dedicate a big portion of their lives to polo.”

The sport is played just as one might expect, with players riding bicycles around a court while passing and shooting a small ball with specially designed mallets.

The Blue Skunks have been playing regularly on the outdoor rink on Stoltzman Road for about four years. Thursday nights are open to newcomers who want to learn the sport, while Sunday’s feature competitive matches between the veteran players.

“Growth has been pretty steady,” Rstom said, “We’ve gone from six people to over 20 showing up. Right now, there are about 12 consistent players.”

Wahl and Rstom are among a small group from Mankato that travels around the country to play in tournaments.

Last year, the Battle for the Midwest was held in Indiana. The Blue Skunk club bid to host this year’s event and have been planning the tournament for about six months, securing sponsors and building and installing boards at the curling club after the ice was out.

“The Midwest is one of the most competitive regions in the country,” Rstom said. “So it’s a bragging rights tournament. We’re all gunning for each other.”

Most tournaments feature teams of three players on outdoor rinks, but the Mankato group hopes it will be at the forefront of rising trend in the sport with its format.

Besides being indoors — no worries about the lingering winter weather! — teams will have seven players. While the action on the court remains 3 on 3, teams will be able to make line changes, just like hockey teams.

“This format is a big step toward validating the sport,” Wahl said. “If we want to grow into something larger, we’re going to have to evolve. ... This is a step in the right direction for the sport.”

The games, which are open to the public at no charge and also will be broadcast online at bikepolo.tv, will consist of two 25-minute halves until Sunday evening’s final, which will consist of three 20-minute periods.

“The difference between regular 3 vs. 3 and this is this is club-based,” Rstom said. “Teams are playing behnd the banner of a club or associated with a city. That gives you something to cheer for. People can show up and cheer for the Mankato team.”

Mankato’s team is scheduled to play at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday. Elimination play begins Sunday morning.

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Awesome article on the tournament this weekend! Check out the actual article here.

And don't forget to tune into bikepolo.tv and watch the broadcast!

Lane/Kremin/Williams win Riverside 3

Another amazing time in Lafayette. These gents narrowly defeated the Makers to win the trophy that Kremin already has but left at home. Hopefully a lot of y'all got to watch the matches at bikepolo.tv and it was enjoyable. I tried to call as many games as possible but splitting my time between the broadcast and playing turned out to be fairly difficult. Nevertheless we received a lot of positive feedback about the stream and are definitely gonna try to do more things like that in the future.

..and wasn't saturday night fun?? Thank god we weren't on the other side of the river (where the university is) otherwise we all would've ended up in jail. Every year riverside gets better and better.. can't even imagine how good next year will be!

-W.

PS - sorry for the delay on the photos.. my digital camera broke during the tourney and i ended up using a disposable camera and my fuji instax to get the final photos.. if anyone knows of a good deal on a Nikon DSLR hit me up!

Photos from the Wingman 2 in COMO

Ya know it's really a shame that Sunday got snowed out.  This year featured even better teams than last year and the play was much more calculated.  Obviously the Kruse/Hill/Hammersly/Quinn crew was killing it, but there were a solid 8 teams competing for the podium... oh well i guess we'll never know!  At least we had a helluva good time on Saturday night!  It's always a good time in Columbia, Missouri, and guys like Aaron, Christian, Nick, Charlie, Maglio, and Johnathon always leave me with a smile on my face.  Now the nine hour white knuckle drive home i could've done without, but all in all it was worth it.  Next year in March??

Full album link HERE.

-W.

There and Back Again

The original name for The Hobbit was There and Back Again.  It was an epic journey by an unassuming fellow who saw great things.  I know that title sounds a bit ostentatious for this mediocre blog, but my trip to Seattle was quite the adventure.  Not the jaw dropping, dragon slaying type of adventure, but the honest, refreshing journey where you see new things and meet new people and learn something new about yourself.  My trip out Seattle was also a homecoming of sorts- i spent my childhood on Phinney Ridge across from the zoo before moving north to Greenwood- but it was also a look towards the future.  The last time I was in Seattle I was living with my aunt during a self-imposed exile after personal life turmoil in Indiana.  But one of the last things I discovered before returning east was bike polo.  Quite fortuitous to say the least!  The past four years bicycle polo has offered me both stability and escape while bringing me closer to both new friends and old.  Going out to Seattle brought all these sentiments together.  Not only did i learn new tricks and strategies on the court, but it's helped me make sense of my life off the court.  I never thought a silly game such as this would turn into a life-long journey, but it has.  Polo means a lot to me.  All of you, my friends who read this, mean a lot to me.  Without getting too sappy i'll just say i'm more optimistic about polo than ever!

And now that i'm back in the shire of southern Indiana i have a whole lot of posting to do!

-W.

Time for the Emerald City Open!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, i've been working overtime in order to take off work this next week.  I'm about to leave for my childhood home of Seattle to play in what's turning out to be the most highly competitive major of the year so far.  Bringing my camera and computer, so hopefully i'll finally have some time to do a bit of reflection and writing.  There's so much going on in polo and my personal life that it's nice they'll finally get to coincide for a bit.

Now i should probably start packing my bags...

-W.

Billiards rack repurposed for polo

Works pretty well doesn't it?  $5 at Kmart and 5 minutes with a screwdriver and now this guy is holding some of my gear.  We've used gun racks in the past (and they work pretty well) but i especially like that the billiards rack has spots for all your oranges and reds.  I couldn't figure out what the little protruding rod at the top was for at first, but after hanging my helmet on it (hats in this picture) i don't really care!  $5 well spent.

-W.

North American Hardcourt - it is what YOU make it!

How your club reacts when the NAH club rep elections are announced

I love this little ditty from Hipster Hockey.  It underscores a sentiment that is pervasive in all society- not just bike polo.  When there's a job to be done, even if everyone recognizes what needs to be done, no one wants to be the one to do it.  It was true when i was young and my mum told us kids the house needed cleaned, and it's painfully true when you read the newspapers and hear whatever it is our federal government is not doing today.  But i speak of our fair sport.  Specifically that- as this new season starts and the NAH election approaches- it's more important than ever to underscore that volunteers are the heart of this sport.

Organizing tourneys is hard work.  It take times, money, connections, volunteers, promotion, and of course the dreaded court construction.  But aren't they fun as hell once they get going?!?  You wanna play in an awesome tourney- then YOU are gonna have to help make it happen.  While 100% of players enjoy playing a tourney, much fewer are willing to put in the work to make them happen. That's not a criticism, just a reality.  In my opinion the people involved in bike polo are more helpful, friendly, and hard working than any other athletic group i've ever been involved with.  It's rooted in the DIY ethic that has built this sport from the ground up.  

But it's not as simple as throwing a tourney anymore.

Organizing at the regional level is even harder.  You have to coordinate clubs, schedules, weather, players, rules, refs, and an ever increasing number of duties.  One person, or even two or three, cannot possibly do it all.  And when you start talking about national and international organization??  Forgetaboutit!  It's not just a few messengers hitting a ball around with croquet mallets anymore- there are hundreds of clubs, thousands of players, and each year the number of tourneys and skill of players increases at an exponential rate.  It takes more than just a few good men (and women) to make things happen.  That's where North American Hardcourt comes in.  Initially it was just a small group that coordinated dates, but as the sport has grown, so has the need for greater organization.  It needs volunteers to grow and thrive, and it will only be as good as those who are willing to step up and help.  Are YOU willing to make a difference?

How?  Be a rep for your club, join a committee, run for regional representative , or hell, at least keep those who do hold a position honest and active.  That doesn't just mean bitching on the internet (yes i realize the irony of saying that while i'm bitching on the internet) but actually having real life discussions about the issues facing polo and finding ways to solve them.  For instance- reffing is a big issue facing our sport.  Right now they're just glorified time keepers, but if we want polo to be about skill (and not just aggression) we need refs have real teeth.  And for that to happen we're gonna need people with resolve to step up and say "i'll do it".  Don't whine about a cheap shot if you yourself are unwilling to help call a game or two.  I'm not saying we all need to trade in our mallets for whistles, but occasionally focusing on something other than play! play! play! will benefit us all.  The same is true for NAH- you don't like the direction it's going?  Then get on board and help steer the ship another direction.  You see problems that need solutions?  Then be the one who takes on that task.  Even if you like the way things are going, don't you want to assure they keep improving?

I realize not everyone takes polo as seriously as i do.  That's ok.  For many polo is just a way to get some exercise and blow of steam a couple times a week.  That will always be a part of polo and never change.  But competitive polo- that highly skilled, rough and tumble, trophy-raising, tear-jerking, globe-trotting, awe-inspiring sport that we know and love- it needs YOU to make it happen.  Not that guy next to you, not that one slayer who's lead you follow, not that one guy in your club who spends too much time on the internet- YOU.

-W.

One season's worth of cleat wear

Not the best shots but you can see how extreme the difference is..  Just got my new Time ATAC pedals and new cleats in the mail this week and i had almost forgotten what they were supposed to look.  At this point those bottom edges are so sharp they double as a razor!  Playing clipped in is awesome, but boy does brass wear fast.  This isn't even a full year's worth of riding, just about 7 months of hard polo-only use.  Luckily the recessed plate on my DZR's helps keep them fresh a bit longer, but i'm already thinking about buying a backup set to switch to about halfway through the season.

And by the way- clipped in?  clipless?  I've always hated the confusing terminology surrounding this tech.  Apparently clips refers to what i've always called cages, but apparently cages are the platform housing of the pedal?  Fuck it, i don't really care that much.  All i know is that being attached to my pedals is definitely preferable to not.

-W.

Bench Minor 4 draft selections!

Damn saturday night was fun!  Even with the rise in livestreams there's still something awesome (aka nerdy) about pouring over a spreadsheet all night.  More than once i scared the shit out of my cat by jumping to my feet and cheering at what was merely a name appearing on a screen.  Fun times, fun times.  Anyway, let's break this down a bit.

I've already seen some chatter on LoBP about how these are "the same old faces".  Well damn right they are!  It's been said and alluded to many times before so i'll say it again- this is bike polo's version of the All-Star game.  Of course the same great players are still great.  Add in the fact that it's in Los Angeles so travel concerns slant the pool of potential players towards the west coast.  That's all reasonable and expected.  And of course Seattle dominates the picks- their club really is that deep.  I will say i'm a bit surprised that only one female was selected (Erica will definitely bring the ruckus) but it's worth noting that Maija and Birdie weren't signed up.

The top six picks did not surprise anyone.  Whenever the discussion of "who's the best player in the world" comes up, all those names are mentioned.  Though instantly friendships and regional alliances take precedent- Pistolero took Joker, Cody took Julian, Ngaihon took Alexsis- then the teams were built from there.  Pistolero's team draws heavily from the SouthWest while Ngaihon's team is mostly Canadian's and east coasters.  Crandall assembled his Portland team before filling out the bench with slayers from all across the board.  Then Schultz apparently decided to just draft all of Seattle!  I also like that Kremin turned the All-Star game into a truly international affair by not only drafting the only European, but two Japanese players are well!  That's pretty awesome and i'll definitely be interested in how they all mesh.

And after a great year last year all three of the "Jagwolves" all went really high in the draft.  Same with Nick Kruse going #11 overall.  Proof that people are taking notice.  Hell i just made a post about Kruse and Joey winning DP5 with overall draft pick #1 Brian Dillman.  Though i was a bit surprised to not see Greg Valentine or Tall George pop up on the list, but i guess there are only so many slots to go around.  And why didn't Charlie Hill sign up??  Still it looks like this year is gonna be epic as always- i'm just hoping they livestream it so i can enjoy it from the comfort of my own home just like i did this draft!

Congrats to all the players and good luck to all the GM's!

-W.