The Greeks ruin polo; again

Hey guys, it's paniyiri time this weekend (may 21/22). For those who don't know they hold a Greek culture festival in musgrave park. It is the 1 week of the year we can't play at the west end courts as it is taken up as a car park.

We can play at another court or carpark but I'm thinking the southbank underground carpark will probably be full due to paniyiri, so another court might need to be found. There are some nice courts at northey park herston, and Dan was saying there are a few on the southside.

Alternatively we can try new farm powerhouse again; I know they aren't particularly keen on having us around (we got kicked last year for drinking/ruckus making if I recall), but if we behave we might be alright.

I know it's kind of geeky; but there are a bunch of guys who do jugging in newfarm park on sunday afternoons from 1. according to their website "Jugging is game that has been described as 'Medieval Footbal' it is played by two teams of five players armed with and assortment of padded 'weapons'. The aim of the game is to get a foam 'dogskull' or 'jug' onto a spike at the opposing end of the field while preventing the opposing team from doing the same."

Their website is http://www.jugger.org.au/What_is_Jugging.html.

Me and Kristine went and watched them last year; it is actually really fun to watch and the guys are really friendly.

Open to suggestions though, spread the word that west end is off this weekend.

Australian Hardcourt Bike Polo Nationals.

Just one week back from the Nationals and the hype around the event is huge. The third nationals held in Adelaide was a massive success and a huge turn out from all over the country. With two massive days of polo and other non polo events taking place over the weekend it was by far the best nationals yet. With the degree of skill and ability getting better and better each yeah it shows no resembles from the polo that I saw and played when first starting years ago. Congratulations to the "Storm Boys" and all the other teams. Brisbane cleaned up at the award ceremony taking most valuable male and female competitors (Ranga Dave and Ali McLatchie), the Majestic Pink Shafts receiving favorite team, Domenico Broonsas received best new player and the high acclaimed best drunk award went to a player who work extremely hard working Ollie Wykeham.



These events gets better each year and my praises go out to all the Adelaide people who put in a huge amount of hard work to pull it off. All the best photo's can be found here http://studiocrossbow.blogspot.com/ . I had the best weekend of polo but all good things must come to an end and with the ever looming departure of Mr Jeremy "Rootbeer" Miller who left us to move back home. I and many others were left with a sad bitter sweet emotion, I'm going to miss you Rooties. Thanks you again Adelaide and I'll see you all at the Gold Coast 2012 (hopefully).

Wednesday night.

Wednesday nights are starting up at the Power House in New Farm. The court is big enough for 2 on 2 and the area has some lights so we can play for a while after dark. I'll be down there around 4, tell everyone you know and I'll see you down there.

get old school

Today saw an awesome turnout, with line ups for every game. Highlights of the day were the debut of Andrew from Archive and Steve on the Giant. Today also saw cameo appearances by Luka and Pirate Dave as well as a insane first game by Lindsay "tough sticker" Shaw on his new and improved rig. We decided to revert to old school Brisbane rules for the day, which was accompanied by increased liquor consumption. Its good to see things aren't getting too serious in the lead up to nationals and everyone is staying safe. Sunset is coming earlier every week, we are going to trial a 1pm start next Sunday.

The Hobo Tournament and playing times

Sunday the 27th of March was a bittersweet day for Brisbane bike polo, the day of the "Polo or Bust" tournament and the departure of our dear friend Erin Giuliani to London. Some excellent photos and recaps can be found on the gold coast and Sydney polo websites; sydneybikepolo.org and fixiegc.com Autumn in Brisbane is one of the best occaisions for polo, players will be at the Musgrave park courts from 2pm, with games playing until sunset. We have amassed quited the arsenal of mallets that can be borrowed, so if you are a prospective player, there is no excuse to get down there. If you dont have a bike, someone will lend you one. Currently we do not have the facilities for night games, there will occaisionally be the odd spontaneous tap around at the New Farm powerhouse, but nothing set in stone. Meeting new people and having fun is what polo is all about, thus we are going to start a local recruitment drive using posters and flyers in local bike shops and bike parking areas to get some new blood into Brisbane bike polo and encourage rookie games during pickup on sundays.

Karl

I got some sad news on the weekend, our friend and fellow polo player Karl is no longer with us. It is believed that he passed away sometime on Friday night. On behalf of the bike polo community I want to extend our deepest sympathy to Karl’s family and friends.

Personally, I first met Karl when I relocated to Brisbane a bit over a year ago. Karl organised two Alleycat races, the “4 hour rush” and “Missing Lanes” which were my first introduction to the Brisbane bicycle scene. This rag-tag community of bicycle messengers, bicycle lovers and fixed gear riders are now some of my closest friends in Brisbane. I remember nervously approaching Karl at the start of the 4 hour rush as he was taking down names and him slipping me a map on the sly because I was new to Brisbane and he didn’t want me to get lost.

My fondest memory of Karl though was an intense afternoon of polo at Musgrave Park in November 2008. It was Karl’s first try at Polo, and he put on a show for everyone by spending more time on the ground then on two wheels. It was on that afternoon that Karl invented his trademark call: “Karl’s ball”. At that stage Brisbane Polo was still about scraping together 6 people for a game. But soon after we were being overrun by mates of Karl who had heard about this crazy game.

I have put together a few photos of that one day in November. Rest in Peace Karl, you will be missed.

Tournament

As the flyer mentions, this is Shifty's last game in Brisbane. Also there is the Greek festival on the same weekend. I'll be bringing down the BBQ so bring some stuff to chuck on it. Newbs welcome!