NYC Bike Polo

(reported by johnny midwest):

IMPORTANT POLO SURVIVAL TECHNIQUE: Be good to your neighbors and they will return the favor. AND: Keep your house looking good and you will look good, too.

We have an excellent opportunity to be good to our neighbors and to keep our house smelling pretty and looking tight on Saturday. It’s My Park Day ( http://www.partnershipforparks.org/impd/index.html ) is happening all over the city and that includes our polo home in SDR park. We’ve been asked to participate by helping neighborhood kids paint a mural @ the Hester St. Playground. All YOU need to do is show up for 4 measly hours on Saturday the 17th and that’s it!

Doing things like this will bring us allies next time Dog Walkers, Militant Tai-Chi-ers, The Coalition of Scarily Huge Dads Against Bihawks who Verbally Abuse Others’ Children, or any other group tries to take the Pit away…

Seriously though, participating in this event will really benefit all of us polo-ers in the long term.

Please email me ( johnnymidwest@gmail.com ) if you can help or if you have questions. Dave knows what’s up too, you can give him a holler if you like…

Soon, a NYC polo player will be in Zurich, Switzerland and wanting to play bike polo.
If anyone has info about bike polo, preferably hardcourt style, in the area or near by, please leave a comment or e-mail info@nycbikepolo.com
Also Milan or Florence, is any bike polo happening there?

Thank you in advance,
Doug D

”First you have to get over the fact that you could split your skull open at any second,“ Huffines tells me.

When play begins, I don’t worry about the skull. I’m moving slower than anything on the court, as stationary as a sandbag. Riding isn’t the problem. Braking to a halt without relying on your feet for balance is.

I ”dab out“ often, making repeated trips to mid-court. My rare contact with the ball is meek. The ball doesn’t zip from my mallet like it does from others’. It wanders away to a more capable handler. Even during the beginners’ game, when the elusive, red speedster is subbed out for a heftier soccer ball, I blindly swipe at the target.

http://www.kentucky.com/141/story/397377.html

Over on hardcourtbikepolo.com I have a question. It’s regarding rough play. All players in all cities are welcome to put their 2 cents in.
http://www.hardcourtbikepolo.com/?p=256


Photo © Doug D 2007

At team night at The Pit this Thursday, 8.May, we’re going to play the first all-in polo match. If you ever played ice hockey you’ll know exactly how this works, if not, don’t get all scared and itchy in the vagina, I’ll explain it briefly:

Each team has some number of players, likely between 6 and 10, depending on how many players show up in all. Each team has a bench, one on each ramp at the south side of the pit. Game play on the court is -identical- to the game we’ve been playing for years. 3-on-3, same rules. The difference is that each team has a larger number of players, and will be making player substitutions on the fly, as the game is being played. Put simply, three players from each team will start the game just like normal, and the remaining players will be ready on their ramp for their shift to begin. When a player’s shift ends, s/he goes to the bench and calls for a change. As that player is leaving the court, his/her replacement rolls onto the court and jumps into the play without interruption. Players can take shifts as long or short as they like, it’s completely up to the players and the team, but shifts should probably be kept to between 60 and 120 seconds. You should play hard your entire shift, and go to the bench for a change before you get tired (otherwise the opposition, which should have fresh players on, will roll over your tired ass and score goals against you). Teams can change one, two, or all three of their players out at once, just as long as there are only three players on the court at any given time.

This might sound a little complicated, but once we run through it a couple of times it will be simple. This is how it’s done in ice hockey games, and I know some real meathead hockey players, so if they can manage this I know we can too. If you have any questions about it just ask me.

The reason we’re trying this out, other than because it should be a lot of fun, is that we are hoping to arrange some matches of this type between different polo cities. For example, New York vs. Ottawa, nine players to a side, playing for your friends and for your city. I know everyone in New York wants to think we’re the best, so let’s see if we can prove it.

PS: (and by “P”, I mean “pre”) This applies to New York teams as well! In fact, it especially applies to New York teams, because there will probably be more of us than any other city.

We really need to know who’s going to come to the New York Pre Worlds Round Robin Polo Tournament & Barbecue Classic Memorial Day Extravaganza on May 25. Since it’s going to be a Round-Robin tournament, the number of teams determines how long each of the matches is going to be. And we need to know that number before the tournament begins on Sunday morning. If you’re bringing a team, please email our registration coordinator, Quinn.
Email her at quinnsham@aol.com. No matter who you’ve already told you’re coming, she needs to have this list. Let her know where you’re from, who’s on your team, and a contact number for at least one person so we can track you down if you wander off when you’re supposed to play.

Polo was played atop a Giant Yellow Iguana. No Joke. Similar but not the same.

Great games people.

I recently came across this on the Madison Bike Polo site:

Hey y’all,

This is a recent myspace bulletin from Jared at Seattle Bike Polo. Here in Chicago, the planning for the NACCC National Polo Tourney has taught us that big, sanctioned events are easier to organize (cheaper, more easily insured) if the organizers are well… organized. Getting 501c3 (Non-Profit) status halves the park district fees associated with the two-day NACCC.

However, getting 501c3 status is a long and complicated process. Only worthwhile for the biggest of events. If there were a national, or several regional, organizations that held status, we could turn to them for support with big events and sanctioned tourneys when we wanted to throw them.

Urban Bike Polo Association
Looking for players/organizers in other cities to talk to about starting a national/international Bike Polo non-profit.
The main goal would be to organize tournaments and get a more transparent communication line between the individual clubs.
Please let me know your interest level and ideas on this.

We should probably weigh in on this, else we find ourselves out in the cold. I know some of us would be for this while other would be against, but as this thing called bike polo grows it will very likely happen. Rules become standardized, equipment etc.. We’re fast becoming a sport, not just a game.

That’s right, that’s Cameron Diaz on that Redline 29er, swinging a mallet for some grass polo. And behind her? That’s Terra and Dave. I’d love to say “yeah, you know, it’s cool. us & Cam. We hang out and play polo in McCarren Park.” But that’s not true. We don’t hang out. We’re only going to be in a movie with her. And that was in the Hamptons. Ashton Kutcher’s going to be in the movie, too.

This photo is a still from What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.

Set in Sin City, story revolves around two people who discover they’ve gotten married following a night of debauchery, with one of them winning a huge jackpot after playing the other’s quarter. Unhappy pair try to undermine each other and get their hands on the money — falling in love along the way. - IMDB

The production company approached Trackstar last fall for a few genuine bike polo players. And while grass polo isn’t our forté, who would give up an opportunity to get paid to play polo all day long and be in a blockbuster movie with two marquee stars? Plus, with that credit, we’re all 1/3 of our way to a SAG membership! The movie opens on May 9th, and we are THERE! Romantic comedies are our FAVORITE!

It’s easy to argue that New York City’s Doug Dalrymple, Paul Rauen and Zach Blackburn are the best team in Bike Polo. Their win at DC’s East Side Polo Invitational marks three wins in a row for them: The North Side Polo Invite, Los Marcos Mayhem, and ESPI3. Of course, there’s a whole world of polo out there that’s definitely up to the challenge, but Philadelphia and Ottawa (to name two great competitors) are nothing to sniff at. It’s a few months until the Polo Tournament at CMWC, so only time will tell. Until then, feel free to challenge us and sharpen your skills at the New York Pre World’s Round Robin Polo Tournament & Barbecue Classic Memorial Day Extravaganza