NAME CHANGE! presenting topshelfpolo.com

Laugh if you want, but I'm happy this site exists. It's become a journal for my life with polo. And hear you me, my life has been much better since i discovered polo. In '08 when i ditched Bloomington and moved back to Seattle it was a dark time in my life, but right before coming back to Indiana to finish my degree i discovered something wonderful- bike polo. It's not just an random hobby to occupy my time- it's an amazing sport with an amazing community that's allowed me to travel all over America, meet incredible unique people, keeps me in shape, and didn't just get me back in the saddle, but keeps me there. It's a way of life. The good life.

Now, why TOP SHELF POLO? Cause there's nothing as great as that feeling when your shot lifts off the ground, goes over the goalie's wheel, and finds the top shelf. To hit the top shelf means to aim high and shoot right. The top shelf isn't for open goal tap-in's, it's for hard fought, well shot, game changing goals. That's what we all strive for, right? Top shelf so refers, as you probably know, to good whiskey. Not that bottom shelf bullshit (though lord knows i love me some Old Crow) but the good stuff... Woodford Reserve, Johnny Walker Blue, Bulleit Rye. Here in Indiana we love our our whiskey and we love our polo- a suitable name, don't ya think? Thanks to my teammate and best friend Travis for coming up with that one!

The name change has been a long time comin'. I initially started this site as a blog for our Bloomington club, but another fellow had the same idea at the same time and we kept bloomingtonbikepolo.com as our club blog, while this site descended into my own ramble-fest. Ironically this site has survived while the club blog languishes, but that's mostly cause everyone uses facebook nowadays. This site still has a purpose, for me anyways. Blogging gives me an outlet for all the random thoughts and interests i have relating to polo. When all my friends are sick of me talking about polo i can at least talk to myself. Or make a post about it anyhow.

Hell, if you start from the beginning this site reads like a history of the bloomington club. From our first shitty mallets and bikes to our first real tournament you can see how we've progressed over the years. There's serious stuff like my first real injury and the first polo tourney ever in Indiana... and then there's silly stuff like that old polo video i found in the Monroe Library basement.

Where will this site go from here? I'm not totally sure, but as long as i can ride a bike i'll always take a few photos, write a few thoughts, and keep this train moving. Thanks to all y'all who actually read this, and a million more thanks to my true friends who have made this journey possible.

-Zachary