A very Japanese polo mallet

What the fuck Japan!

The head looks kinda interesting, but your choice between carbon and bamboo shafts?!?! I've broken enough of both to know that aluminum is far superior.

And 8190 yen = $98 US dollars!!!

My brain hurts... but oh how i love you Japan!

Thanks to Riki for the heads up on the League.
-W.

Two Surprises

Look what showed up in the mail yesterday! Sweet, eh? Thanks McKellar!

I also found out that Dekalb finally has a polo blog going...
http://barbcitydandies.blogspot.com/

...and this was the second surprise. Last night at pickup a few hockey players showed up!

I can see why they'd want to play at Wright since we've built a decent board setup, but i really hope they don't start trying to presume use of the space over us. I told 'em the exact times we play and they seemed pretty cool about it. If anything hopefully we can work together with IU Club Hockey in the future when petitioning the city for a roller court... and recruit 'em for polo, of course.

-W.

PS - Riverside in Lafayette this weekend!!!!

Fun times in Little Rock??

Check out that note next to the number 43! Sounds like the weather got interesting during the double elimination. Fortunately i was following the spreadsheet and got to read humorous updates like that one.

1. Barry White Supremacy (super-team)
2. Los Cuatreous (ATX)
3. Hide yo kids, Hide yo wife (COMO)
4. Bluegrass Blazers (LEX)

5. Minute Men (COMO)
5. 1x1 (MPLS)

7. Krispy Kreamers (NOLA)
7. Scary Larry (Lawrence)

Also, ZachRob from Louisville took a brutal hit and had to sit a few games out. I saw a picture that looks pretty gnarly- hope you're better dude!

-W.

ESPI 6 in Philidelphia - NAH Qualifier

I haven't played with too many eastcoasters, so i'm thinking about heading to this. It's a NAH qualifier too so another chance to try and make it to Calgary.

Anyone else interested? If Louisville goes maybe we can all pile in their van and turn this into a polo-tour! Summertime, road trippin', polo- what's not to love?

-W.

Rawbie Boards Episode #3

Rawbie Boardz - Episode 3 from Ken Regehr on Vimeo.

This guy is just awesome. 'nuff said.

-W.

Good night sweet prince

I can't take it anymore.

I've pushed the my old Nishiki to the limits, and short of it being stolen by a cyclops and reforged by Vulcan himself in the fires beneath Mount Etna... well, you get the idea. It's not a polo bike no matter how much i want it to be one.

Call it frustration, call it anticipation, but after Riverside next weekend I'm retiring this thing for good. Even if that means i don't have a polo bike for a while. It's becoming a crutch- I need a sword.

One last ride into battle and she'll finally be put out to pasture.

It's time.

-W.

A very european polo bike

More photos at http://www.cycleexif.com/focale-44-polo-bike.

Set back seat posts (along with curved seat tubes) are one thing that translates well from grass polo. But an all black brakeless fixed gear with gold hubs... meh.

I love polo bikes, i love 48 spoke wheels, and i love short stems, but i'm just not into this bike for some reason. While I do like that EXIF writeup though, i think this bike may be a bit too European for my tastes-- give me a Joust any day.

-W.

Sideshow Bob goes on Spring Break!

Single Front Brakes Suck. from Travis Davies on Vimeo.

Travis is gettin' around to editing his footage from the weekend. So far there's the above contested goal and the 2v2 match below. He also got the two final matches so stay tuned for that too!

Take It To The Camera (for you, Rob) from Travis Davies on Vimeo.

Travis/Nick vs Trunks/Charlie from Travis Davies on Vimeo.

-W.

Permanant court location for Fort Wayne?

Amazing! The FTW boys found a rundown tennis court that looks perfect for renovation.

Check out more photos at the FTW blog.

Best of luck guys!


-W.

The rush to registration...

Travis and I were sitting at our computers, eagerly awaiting registration for Midwesterns. Now, the problem was we had to register three teams (our own plus two others for people who couldn't be online at the time). Stupidly i used my own super old computer to register Tree City...

No one could have anticipated the rush to register. Out-of-region spots for the South Central regional went in under one minute, but in-region spots took a few days to fill up.

22 seconds. That's how long it took for Midwesterns to fill up for Midwesterners. And who was that last team to make it in? Tree City Polo. *facepalm*

To quote one of the Winnepeg boys- "Bike polo is officially stressful now."

-W.

Slayerfest Cancelled!

Well, here's the updated flyer, but it doesn't mean much anymore. A hectic polo schedule has forced the cancellation of the much-anticipated Slayerfest. Francis, Stas, and I were gonna try our hand at taking down the best but sadly it is not to be...

The plus side, though, is that Milwaukee is gonna host the Midwestern Open this fall!!!! No date set yet, but late October seems likely. Can't wait!

-W.

Dutch Knifefight court

I ran across this somewhere on the League. I can't find the link at the moment, but I'm pretty sure this is at an indoor warehouse in Eindhoven where they're also building a full court.

Pretty damn cool if you ask me! I bet in the future there'll be one of these at every polo park. Yeah, you heard that right, polo parks. The future.

-W.

Spring Break in Lexington!

Absolute proof that spring is here to stay!

Louisville got a party van!

Don't ask.

The tweed ride arrives!

Nate from NYC's rig.

Damn i loved playing with this guy! So good, so nice!

Nate's custom Squarebuilt bars.
You might've seen these before at Doug D's site.

Clay flask for "Best Goalie", handmade by....

...one of my favorite people in all the poloverse!

Charlie's rig (Buffalo, et al.)

Spring break!

Gotta love these prizes!
There were plenty more that i didn't get to photograph, but believe me they were pretty damn awesome!

Mike's bike (LEX).

On the left is THE ENTIRE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA!

Ace (NYC) cornering like a champ.
This guy just won't go down...

Check out that mallet!
The sidecut alone is larger than most mallets!

Trials-bike-Rob and I did pretty well, knocking both Schultz and Simpson's teams out of the tournament! Almost made a run for the podium, but too bad Ace is... well, fuckin' ace!

Louisville keeps polo fun.

I noticed when i got home that these photos are super saturated from all the daylight. I'm not a real photographer anyway so i don't care, but damn my neck hurts from the sunburn.

Tacos anyone?

Tumbleweed!

Best wheelcover at the tournament!

Simpson's steed in the background and a canine squire.

Matt Grand Rapid's beautiful All City.

Interesting discussion about the legality of these mallets going on at the LoBP.

Rob G's Fleetvelo. I hear there will be another black Joust in Chicago soon.

Favorite shot (from the weekend) of one of my favorite players!

Travis and Nick (TOR) did really well all day long.

Earning 3rd place after going down to eventual 2nds Charlie/Pat.
First guy from Bloomington to ever podium!!!
Congrats dude.

"Cute people with glasses."

Pat's rig (LEX)

Beautiful hubs on Toronto Nick's bike.
In normal polo fashion they're dirty as hell!

Championship game, take one. Pat and Charlie over Rob and Lou.

Halftime!

Hug it out boys, hug it out!

Another amazing weekend in Lexington.
I cannot reiterate enough how much i love their club!
They blend high skill with ceaseless fun,
topped off with the best courts in the Midwest.

Thank you everyone, really, thank you.

-W.



P.S. - "SPRING BREAK!"