New Website coming!
Aaron has been slaving away at building a new website for Seattle Bike Polo in the last few weeks! Although we haven’t switched to it full time just yet, you can check it out at http://aarongrant00.wix.com/seattlebikepolo
Soon we’ll have the Seattle Bench Minor League schedule there for your perusal, as well as player profiles, more pictures from Cody Riggs, and more.
We’re still working on ironing out the bugs, but we hope you’re as excited as we are to have this new, slick looking spot for Seattle Bike Polo on the web!
Northern Standard Bike Polo Equipment Review by Max
Hello and welcome back to the SBP Blog. I am updating the content today with an equipment review and hope to continue these reviews as time goes on. Stay tuned for more reviews, including the DZR Bike Polo Shoes and the Magic Bike Polo Mallet Head. Hopefully I can provide an in-depth review for you to make a good decision to what equipment you want on the court.
One of the things that I look forward to when tournaments happen is finding a vendor and buying stuff relatively cheaper than it would have cost ordering through the mail. So when Max(Feldman) from Northern Standard came down with most of East Vancouver Bike Polo Club for the ECO II, he wound up bringing the Northern Standard Supply to set up a Vendor stand. These pieces of bike polo specific equipment included the Northern Standard Gloves, the brutus 1.0mm Northern Standard Shaft and their brand new “hourglass” bike polo mallet head. From what I can tell, he sold a lot of this equipment and I also purchased my share in order to test/review it.
Now, after having about a full week and a half to test this equipment, I am reporting on what I felt were the advantages and disadvantages to the equipment. Today:
The Northern Standard Bike Polo Gloves:
Northern Standard created these gloves and became the first to market a purely bike polo related glove out of all of the companies out there. The price tag is currently at a sale (Max is ordering a second line of these gloves, with various improvements) but when you consider that some of the premium lacrosse gloves out there are 120 or more dollars, these are a great bargain. Here are some specs to the gloves.
The Full Grain leather Palm with reinforcing layers of microfiber and reinforced stitching meaning they will fit tight, but stretch as time goes by to fit your hands well.
The Durable and Stretchy nylon fabric that also helps maintain a solid fit and a longer lasting glove.
The Mesh Side Panels in the fingers for airing out the fingers during hot summer games.
The Cushioned palm pad, and a carbon crash pad, for comfort grabbing the bars and safety when falling on your palms.
The molded strap with Northern Standard’s logo on top and velcro, in order to tighten it around your wrist.
The fit of these gloves are designed to be tight for sensitivity, response and dexterity. They also provide ample safety to the tops of your hands and fingers.
After consulting with some players who have owned these gloves for a while, I decided on a Medium sized glove and found they fit nearly too tight to use at first. I put them on, stretched my fingers back and forth then continued to do this for a day or two in order to help stretch them better to my size. Now, they fit quite well and the glove is a little difficult to put on but are snug as soon as they go over my palms.
Handling the mallet is significantly better than my old lacrosse gloves. I used to put a lot of hockey tape followed by handlebar tape on my mallet but I have recently started putting a minimal amount of hockey tape on in order to feel more connected to the mallet. When the Northern Standard Bike Polo gloves are on, I don’t feel the coarseness of the hockey tape but have maintained a solid grip to the gloves. I feel confident that they will last me the majority of this year and am contemplating stitching some extra material to the finger tips to enhance their life.
I haven’t had a chance to test the carbon crash pad but have heard some conflicting opinions about it. First, when you fall, you don’t want a carbon piece making your hands fly out like a polar bear on the ice (ironically, they do have a polar bear as their mascot) as might happen when you are falling onto concrete. Second, when you fall, you probably do want something in between your palm and the ground, because that’s a really easy way to bruise your wrist. So, despite the conflicting goals of the crash pad, I honestly don’t see them as an advantage or disadvantage.
Overall, my final opinion on these gloves is that they are Solid. The grip is great and i have felt confident taking difficult passes/swings with the mallet and not losing control of the mallet mid-swing. Another plus: I feel that I can get into some mallet-to-mallet contact and maintain my grip better than my old lacrosse gloves. The protection to the top of my hand is great and the slim feeling of them means they can fit easily into a travel pack and better than my old lacrosse gloves.
A+ Gloves, Northern Standard!
Next post, I will discuss the new Hourglass Mallet head and shaft combination. Now go play polo!
Tapeworm Time Trials
Yesterday was the first Tapeworm Time Trial of the 2013 season and Seattle Bike Polo’s first fundraiser for the Tournament later this year.
The Tapeworm Time Trial.
Messmann and Blazar managed to take reins over the event called the Tapeworm for this year and decided the proceeds would go to helping Seattle Bike Polo throw tournaments this year. The course was laid out with Messmann and Blazar’s guidance and the help of numerous Seattle Bike Polo players, including Medic Mike, Andre, Emmet, Cody, Sterling and even Koyo (who was sporting a nice boot because of a broken ankle three months ago) as well as Max. With a home-made chili and some grilling goodness, as well as a celebratory beer for everyone, the race was considered a success even in the foggiest, freezing, (but no rain!) weather we have seen in this region so far this year. Congratulations to all of the racers who participated and the polo players who managed to make such a great race happen.
Plenty of photos included below. Thanks for coming out!
A New Year for More Amazing Polo
Welcome to the year 2013 where polo is played on bikes more often and more seriously than ever!
Hope we didn’t leave you hanging without updating our holiday seasons. I (Max) was out of the country for most of December and didn’t have much time to update the blog including after I got back, things got crazy with the bike polo 8 days a week and an amazing New Years Eve that was totally dry (that’s right, it didn’t rain at all!) and chilly here in Capitol Hill, Seattle. So enjoy this expansive post that will answer all of your frequently asked questions.
So, what’s on the agenda for 2013 with Seattle Bike Polo?
Welp, if you haven’t heard, now you know; the Emerald City Open (2) is happening in Seattle this year. Save the date:
Saturday, March 16, 2013 - Sunday, March 17, 2013
Art by Jill N.
We haven’t hosted anything since Worlds 2011 and so we’re ending that streak and starting the 2013 year off with a seriously fun tournament that you will want to be at. It is planned to be a three day event with registration party, pickup, board decoration, bbq, and group ride on Friday. Saturday we plan to have a late start seeding and a night at a great local bar that has great specials. Finally, on Sunday, we’ll be playing the double elimination bracket and the winning team will be taking the rotating Space Needle trophy home as well as prizes for 2nd, 3rd, and DFL places. We take care of our out of towners well here in Seattle, so if you come hang out with us and the rest of Cascadia, you’re in the best polo company in the world.
So mark your calendars and plan your teams, then get your rides sorted. Cause Seattle Bike Polo is only getting started…
When can a new player at bike polo join you for pickup?
The fact is, we are going to have our Newbie Polo Day every Sunday possible this entire year.
That’s right, every Sunday (weather permitting) there will be Seattle Bike Polo regulars at the courts in Cal Andersen park with extra mallets and a focus on getting all the new players as much time playing possible. We do include new players at regular pickup throughout the week but you will get a lot more time on the court and have a lot more fun playing on Sunday than any other day so just put it down on your calendar and attend every chance you get! Not only that, there will be Mallet Building Sessions where new players can bring their ski poles, and whatever materials they have (we have plenty of stuff to help you finish the DIY process) and learn to do it for the first time and continue to build new mallets as it becomes necessary.
We also have a few loaner bikes (thanks to Messmann) and I have one that I can loan out as well so feel free to reach out to us about borrowing a bike for playing whether it is your 1st time or 15th time.
Are you going to have more tournaments in 2013?
Yes, Seattle is planning to host two more tournaments this year, 1 being the Qualifier for NAHBPC’13 and the other being the West Side Invite.
I personally am not sure about specifics for the dates but the rumor is correct that the 2013 Cascadian Bike Polo Qualifier is going to be held in Seattle around May(ish). This means if you want to qualify for the North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships in 2013 and you live in Cascadia, the path starts in Seattle. We haven’t nailed many specifics down, but we are going to let you know on the blog as soon as details become available as far as the major questions that arise from this.
And there are no specifics about the West Side Invite other than it’ll be sometime in Fall this year, presumably after the NAHBPC, we are planning to get the longest running cascadian bike polo tournament back here where it all started. The grand prize will include the belts, which are becoming legendary in their own right, and the field will be fierce.
As always, we can’t wait to see you in the Emerald City again, so come play polo!
Seattle Bike Polo’s Final League Game Summary!
Below is the scorekeeper’s notes and summary from the final league game! What an epic series we had this time and the next league is going to get better with 2 more teams, 6 captains of equal skill, and more stat keeping. This time around we let the stats kind of go in terms of shots and assists but the next league we are hoping to keep track of everything! that way we will be able to tell you who shot how many times, how many assists a player got, and the blocks (which are included below) and goals of course. Now…the summary!
Galactic Decay versus Waste Management
(GD)
It is a chilly early December night, and the weather had ranged from clear to misty, rain to torrential downpour and by the joust at 8:30pm, there was no more precipitation falling on the court. As a result of the rain falling a hour before the joust, the court was slick and a hazard by itself. Despite the conditions, both teams take their sides for the first half. Galactic Decay’s bench is on the south side and Waste Mgmt settles in at the north side. The opening lineups for GD are Medic, Andre and Jeremy whereas WM is Cody, Langdon, and Suzy.
This game kicks off with Langdon winning the joust then working the passes with Cody in order to come off to a strong start. When Andre and Medic break up their plays, Suzy ends up getting the key blocks against the heavy hitters of GD. The game seems stuck in stalemate as Jeremy blocks most of the WM shots for the first few minutes. Finally, Cody and Langdon start to connect, and it’s 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 Waste Mgmt with Jake scoring two and Cody slipping one in too. WM makes a rotation and pulls out Cody/Suzy for F-off and Tony. Galactic Decay starts the rotation after play has started while they are down 0-3, and in an amazing turn of momentum, Drew G comes in at the most opportune time possible when he blocks an amazing half-court/open goal shot by the Mgmt with his bike. Dustin comes in after that and GD has the first pick along with two heavy hitters (Dustin, Dre, Drew) as their line to build a comeback.
And come back they do, with Dustin nailing 3 straight goals and tying the game at 3-3. They end up forcing WM to rotate to their solid line of Langdon, Jake the Snake, and Cody. Jake the Snake records 5 blocks in this shift and effectively holds the score at 3-3 while Cody puts in the full effort of stealing the ball, passing it, and ripping a ton of shots and finally burying one. The score is 4-3 Waste Mgmt with a little over 10 minutes to go in the first half. At this point GD is operating off a line of Kiersten, Rowdy and Blazar while WM rotates to Wade, Mark and Cody. Blazar makes crucial blocks (3 total) in this shift while Kiersten ends up scoring an extremely clean goal in order to bring the score back to 4-4. At this point, time is down to 5 minutes and F-off has rotated in as well as Dustin. Through some chain of events, F-off manages to sneak one more goal in for WM before the half finishes, 5-4, in favor of Waste Mgmt.
After a 10 minute break the second half begins. Waste Management lines up on the south side and Galactic Decay takes the north.
For WM, the line at the joust is the very good one of Jake the Snake, Langdon, and Cody and for the deep GD, it is Medic, Jeremy and Andre. Langdon finds the open hole in this shift and smashes a goal in quickly to bring the score to 6-4 and WM leading by two goals. At this point, we begin to see a long stretch of time (til about 17 minutes remaining) where there are shifts by both teams with no goals and the score hasn’t changed for a long time, despite the blocks made by key players on both teams (Dustin, Jake the Snake and Andre are all recorded with big blocks in this period of time). For this reason, I’m not going to try and guess who shifted when, it was cold, that’s all I remember! Also, it is slippery so this long period of time entails a lot of dabs, injuries, and just difficult ball handling in the harsh environment.
But finally life comes back to the cold Decay when the line of Drew, Andre and Dustin crack open Mark (4 recorded blocks in the shift), Drew G cuts his way across to score a goal and brings the score to 5-6 with WM in the lead. The next goal is an own-goal by Mark, who had been doing well to keep the ball out until then, and the game is tied 6-6 and could be anyone’s game with less than 15 minutes to go. WM changes the line quickly to Langdon, Wade, and Suzy while Blazar, Ari and Rowdy are out for GD. In short time, Rowdy ends up cutting a goal of his own out despite two blocks by Wade and the score goes up to 7-6 for the Decay.
Could they do it? Their first lead of the game at 12:30 to go in the second half and Galactic Decay decides on putting Kiersten in for Ari while Cody, Jake the Snake and Wade are out working it. Key blocks by Blazar (1), Wade (2), and Cody (1) are part of this next shift until Cody finally scores something for his team in order to bring the score to 7-7. GD makes a full line change to Dustin, Medic, and Rowdy while WM falls on their jousting line of Langdon, Jake the Snake, and Cody.
The game starts to move into a hectic mode, time is ticking and both teams want to score another goal despite the elements. Galactic Decay pulls Rowdy out for Drew who finally breaks the stalemate and scores at the 5:30 mark of the second half. At this point, The lineup of WM had to change and looked like Farthing, Langdon, and Cody in the last few minutes while Medic, Dre and Dustin are out for GD. Medic logs two great blocks, and Jake the snake and Langdon both record one block in the frantic back and forth as time falls under 2 minutes. Despite a few amazing one-timer attempts from Cody to Farthing, WM simply cannot bring the one ring into mordor– I mean, tie the game up, and thus the game ends 8-7 to the Galactic Decay captained by Blazar.
Thus, the epic battle of the first league championship has concluded. On this cold evening, pickup was held immediately after but as both teams walked off the court, a single bench team stood above all others. That team is Galactic Decay. While Waste MGMT wonders if they let something slip through the trash receptacles, that’s it for 2012 bench league. My score keeping is almost as bad as my handwriting, but that didn’t stop me from keeping scoring or writing it all down. It also didn’t stop me from trying to tell the story of a cold night in Cal Anderson park for Seattle Bike Polo, so I hope you enjoyed it, didn’t take it too seriously, and laughed because we all love each other. I hope that everyone is looking forward to a more statistically rich league coming up with 6 new team captains and 2 more teams than the first season.
Now turn off your computer and go play polo!
Max
Game #3 – Galactic Decay VS Dire Sharks
Game #3 (notes taken, synopsis written by Mrk Dvs)
Galactic Decay VS Dire Sharks
[G](Blazar, Rowdy, Dustin, Drew, Medic, Ari, Kiersten)
[D](Scooter, Sterling, Warrior, Leslie, Max, Julian, Keith, Mckenzie, Paul)
Rowdy, Dustin and Drew stare down Sterling, Warrior and Leslie off the starting line. At the call, Dustin and Sterling jump off the line, with Dustin swooping on the joust just before Sterling could make it. Dusty immediately scores the first goal at 0:09.
Both teams spend the first five minutes or so getting their jitters out, with Drew scoring off a pass from Dusty in the fray at 2:12. After that, Scooter swaps Warrior out for himself and Leslie for Max, while Aaron switches Medic for Rowdy and Drew for Kiersten. Dustin cracks another one in at 5:00 bringing the score to 3-0. for Galactic Decay.
With the new lineups in place, Scooter takes advantage and scores from the key at 8:25 (3-1), while Sterling knocks one in a little later at 9:02 (3-2). Aaron swaps himself in for Medic and gets a flat during a crash with Scooter, bringing Ari in to replace him, while Julian comes in for Max.
With both teams hitting their stride, the game is heating up. Everyone is taking shots on point, and playing great defense. The next few minutes are a hodgepodge of plays and swaps, with Galactic Decay bringing Ari in for Aaron, Aaron in for Dustin, Medic for Ari, Kiersten for Aaron, Rowdy for Drew, Dusty for Rowdy, and Drew for Kiersten *whew*
Meanwhile, on the Dire Sharks, Keith comes in for Sterling, Mac for Scooter, and Paul for Jules. Mackenzie gets a strong breakaway and sends the ball out of the court off of a tire on defense.
The ball comes back on in Galactic Decay’s possession. After another breakaway, Drew walks it in at 15:45. A couple of minutes later, Dustin scores through Paul’s BB at 17:22, and then just for good measure, slam dunks it again twenty seconds later. Dire Sharks decide to put their A-line in, with Jules, Sterling and Scooter replacing Mac, Paul, and Keith during a 6-2 deficit. Dustin gets swapped for Aaron, and Drew scores again at the 20:20 mark, bringing it to 7-2.
The Dire Sharks are getting pressed hard and Scooter sends a pass from the corner to the key for Sterling to shoot behind Drew’s wheel and into the goal at 23:35. Shortly after, Medic gets dropped for Rowdy and Ari comes in for Drew. Rowdy scores a goal from half court at 24:34, making it 8-3.
Another line change comes after that, with Max, Warrior and Mac coming in. It’s getting close to the half, and Dire Sharks put the heat on. Mckenzie smangs it in at 26:00, and Max stuffs two in, a top shelf zinger at 26:49 followed by a good measure goal at 27:54, making it a competitive game once again by the time the half ends. The score at halftime is 8-6 for Galactic Decay.
The starting second half lineup for Dire Sharks is Paul, Sterling and Keith, with Dustin, Medic and Rowdy on Galactic Decay.
The second half is on fire. Dustin gets the joust again and scores at 2:11 and again at 3:03. Dire sharks bust a line change. Jules Erik and Warrior come in to play it hot. Eric scores off of a cross court pass from Julian at 5:46, and Jules scores two himself after that at 8:41 and 11:22. The score is now 9-10 for Galactic Decay as Dire Sharks close the gap. Drew comes in for Dustin, Aaron for Rowdy and Kiersten for Medic, which Leslie, Scooter and Mckenzie take over for the Dire Sharks.
Scooter cracks a backhander across the court for another goal at 12:47, eliciting cheers from all around and tying the game. Drew comes back to score at 13:07, and Scoot scores in the middle of a melee in the key at 13:28. Max comes in for Les.
Drew backhands a goal in at 14:40, after which Dustin steps in for Aaron and scores a soft seatbelt shot at 16:52. Sterling then comes in for Mckenzie and Ari comes out for Kiersten. Dustin scores from all the way downtown at 17:52, and then gets a slow roller at 20:30 with Keith chasing hard, but unable to catch it. The score is now 15-11 for Galactic Decay, prompting a line change on the Dire Sharks. Paul, Jules and Warrior roll out to face off, but Rowdy gets a cross court shot off at 22:33. Aaron comes on for Rowdy, and Warrior scores on him at 24:21. Jules then comes in for the slam dunk at 25:15 and then nails another one at 25:42. Scoot comes on for paul and dustin comes out for Aaron. The score is 14-16 for the last four minutes until Dustin puts the nail in the Dire Shark’s coffin at 29:47.
Final Score: Dire Sharks – 14, Galactic Decay – 17
Game #4 – Waste Mgmt versus Polovers
Game #4
Waste Mgmt versus Polovers
<Koyo Maeda was fire, scoring 9 goals for Waste Mgmt from wherever he wanted on the court. Joe Panizzo used his ample court time to power sot after shot into the goal, he scored 5 points for Waste. Cody Riggs (Capt) jumped in at some opportune moments to consistently score, racking up 4 goals. Jake Langdon, Anthony H and Mark Davis also contributed, 2 for Jake, 1 for Anthony and Mark. Waste Mgmt ended the hour with 23 points. Messman’s Polovers were playing their line more, consistently changing the players in short intervals, with lots of line changes it seemed the flow of scoring was a bit interrupted. Messy himself in classic form, 5 goals, aided by Leon Ettleson, 2 goals and Emmet, 2, kept the Polovers in the game, Koos Klevin had a strong showing with 2 solid shots. The Polovers fought well but in the end could not overcome the two snipers from Waste Mgmt, final score 23/11 [W]>
Polovers set Koos, Emmet and Birdseye up for the joust. Waste Mgmt begins with Snake, Tony and Koyo.
And they’re off! Koyo begins to dominate the first two minutes with 3 goals, one in forty seconds and a fancy shot through the wheels, 2/0 [W] Polovers answer quickly with a full line change, Sean Marsh, Leon and Garth L’Esperance. Garth is meditating on what it means to be a wall as he comes in as a solid goalkeeper in the face of Koyo’s onslaught, 3/0 [W] Cody trades out Tony for Langdon as Garth’s wheels block shot after shot from Koyo, Cody then puts in Joe Panizzo which gives him Joe, Koyo and Jake against Sean, Leon and Garth. Joe’s in the game, so you know that he’s shootin’ and two go in, one through Garth’s five-hole, 5/0 [W] then Leon whacks the ball from half court and it sails in, past the goalie, 5/1 [W] Waste puts Suzy and Tony in for Koyo and Langdon while Polovers have rotated for Spencer, Jessie and Messman who begin to founder as Messy works through his warm up routine. Quickly Emmet and Birdseye trade Jessie and Spencer while Mess knocks one in 5/2, [W] Cody jumps in for Suzy and answers the latest goal, 6/2 [W] then gets right back out along with Tony to make room for Joe and Mark Davis. Koyo and Emmet are really after each other, both hard and fast styles coming to a head as they play each other man on man. Messman gets the kinks out and scores 3 goals, there’s about 12 minutes left in the first half, 6/4 [W] At the ten minute mark a half court banger from Koyo goes in, 7/4 [W] Leon, Koos and Garth are in for Polovers facing Koyo, Langdon and Jake the Snake. The Polovers are fighting here to close that points gap before halftime but Langdon gets one, 8/4 [W] as Emmet comes in for Koos and Garth holds the line against Koyo’s power. You can’t hold the Juke King forever though and Koyo gets another goal, despite Garth’s tending 9/4 [W] Sean and Spencer come in for Garth and Leon while Cody subs in for his team to score then hops out again for Suzy and Panizzo is in somehow and hitting it through the goalie from half court within twenty seconds to go, 12/4 [W]
There are, like, only five minutes for half time while teams switch sides. We were racing against the timer for the lights and had an unfortunate outage of lighting so the street side court was dimmer than usual and much dimmer than the other.
As the second half begins, you can see the change in Polovers as Emmet and Messman work together for two very fast goals in under a minute, 12/6 [W] Jesse L, goalkeeping for Polovers stands down an incredibly fast run from Koyo, all the way up the court to within inches of Jesse’s bike, who without wavering maintains the goal. Tony H scores a goal for Waste Mgmt 13/6 [W] and then during a botched change by Polovers, Koyo hits an easy one, 14/6 [W] Leon comes in for Polovers and begins doing it all, goalkeeping, making a few runs and taking the long shots, he gets a goal 14/7 [W] and then his teamie Koos makes two strong moves getting the block support from Leon and Sean, 14/9 [W] There’s twenty minutes left in the game, Waste begins to show it’s muscle and scores six goals in eight minutes, the two snipers Koyo and Joe were a force to be reckoned with, two goals each and Cody and Mark each got one, 20/9 [W] Emmet has jumped in for Polovers responding to a full-court-press-to-sneaker-shot from Koyo and turns it up, getting a fast banger shot…that is immediately followed by one form Koyo! 21/10 [W]
It all gets blurry here because there is so much fierce action I can barely take notes. Ten minutes to go, Messman gets a backhander to go in, 21/11 [W] Joe Panizzo and Emmet are having it out on the court, both players were anchors for their teams and both wanted to win, some heated words are exchanged and the play speed ratchets up. Panizzo has a half court missed shot that he follows up with a good one from close in, 22/11 [W] Sean from Polovers cuts one over hard, just missing and Cody taps the last goal in before the buzzer, 23/11 [W]
| Scoring for Waste Mgmt, 23 | Scoring for Polovers, 11 |
| Koyo M, 9 | Messman, 5 |
| Joe P, 5 + 1 | Leon, 2 |
| Cody, 4 | Emmet, 2 |
| Jake L, 2 | Koos, 2 |
| Anthony H, 1 | |
| Mark D, 1 |
Bench League Photos and Games tonight!
Welcome back to where it all started…
If you haven’t been reading along, Seattle has started a bench league! We have 4 teams in a unique and different format from what we normally play in the world of hardcourt bike polo. Our four captains got together to draft their ideal hardcourt bench teams of 7 or more players and with a mix of both competitive and casual players, we are heading into the second series of games for each team!
Tonight we have 2 games planned, all four teams to playing their second games of the season: Galactic Decay (Captain – Blazar) vs Dire Sharks (Captain – Scooter) for the first game of the night and in the next game it’s Polovers (Captain – Messmann) vs Waste Mgmt (Captain – Cody). There has been a lot of interest in some photos/video of our games so check out Cody Riggs’ awesome photos below. Keep checking in to stay up to date: otherwise you’ll miss out on the awesome.
If you have any questions about the bench minor format, ask your local polo player! Our rules are very similar to North American Hardcourt Bike Polo’s rules, with changes to the time (we play hour long games) and rotation requirements. We have big teams and bigger, better games being played right now! It’s an exciting time for us and we’re pleased to share our photos and videos.
These are from the most recent match which was Polovers (Captain – Messmann) vs Galactic Decay (Captain – Blazar). For more information read the write up of that game!
Is this league play?!
We started a bench league!
What does that mean? It means that instead of your standard three vs three games to five points, there are eight to ten players standing along the court ready to switch out for their teamies at any time. Usually the captain will call for the switch, and games go for one hour with two thirty minute halves: no score limit.
Right now we’re in the midst of a four game series, games are at Cal Anderson park. The next one is tonight, 10/25 and first game starts @ 830pm
We’ll post some videos as soon as we can edit them, because (I think) it’s more fun to watch. Check out the write up below and come out to watch and ask questions.
Below is a synopsis of the first game, if you come out to watch you may begin to recognize some of these guys and their style of play. These are world class players of the sport and when you’ve got ten players to cycle through and keep fresh, the speed and intensity go up, the heckles get louder and it’s good cheap fun.
hope to see you there,
blazar
GAME ONE: Waste Mgmt vs Dire Sharks:
Notes taken by Blazar.
Teams and Players:
Dire Sharks [D]: Scooter(C), Julian(c), Sterling, Paul D, Mckenzie, Max, Eric (Warrior, Keith, Leslie)
Waste Mgmt [W]: Cody(C), Jake Langdon, Lefty Joe, Jake the Snake, Suzy, Jason, Mark Davis, Anthony H (Wade)
Points Scored
1st Half
Joe Panizzo was formidable with 3 fast goals. Scooter Sackerson worked hard to score 2, Paul Danos also with 2 firing in a couple burners right after he subbed in with 5 minutes left in the first half.The first half ended with the score 10 to 7 for Waste Mgmt, Lefty Joe with 3 goals, Cody and Koyo with 2 and Tony, Jason, Snake and Langdon all contributing one. Dire Sharks were in good hands with Scooter and Paul each scoring 2, Julian, Mckenzie, Sterling, Jason and Max all scoring one.
2nd Half
Julian powered up with 3 goals, Scooter had 2 fast ones, Paul and Sterling both scored one goal. The Mgmt had Joe for 2, Koyo, Langdon, JFar all had one goal. 1 own goal scored by Dire Sharks, 14 to 16 Waste Mgmt.
For the joust, Dire Sharks lined up Mckenzie, Julian and Sterling. Waste Mgmt faced off with Lefty, Langdon and Suzy.
The scoring from Waste Mgmt was fierce, 3 points in 10 minutes, answered by the Sharks with only 1 from Scooter. 5-1 Waste, with 15 minutes to go.
Then the Sharks pop some in, Max and Sterling score and then sub out for Scooter and Mckenzie. Scooter slams one home with 10 minutes to go and Mckenzie scores in the next minute, Dire Sharks 4, Waste Mgmt 7. Waste Mgmt methodically racked up the goals throughout, Anthony H, Jake the Snake, Cody, Koyo and Lefty Joe all had goals, as well as Jake Langdon scoring and then getting pulled for Cody within seconds of Mckenzie’s lazer shot.
The clock is ticking towards 5 minutes left and Cody dishes a sweet back pass to Joe who smacks it in, then scores himself, 8 to 4, Waste Mgmt. As the 25 minute mark ticks past, Paul Danos has two banger shots from near the half court mark, 8 to 6 Waste Mgmt. Jason Farthing scores for Waste as Jake the Snake is subbed out for Koyo, who then scores with 1 minute remaining, 10/6[W]. Julian hits one in with seconds left in the half, Mark Davis goes in for Tony and there are a few offensive moves but the half ends, 10/7[W]
Then a 5 minute break where I am yelled at and told to officiate.
By this point I have to say, I am having a great time with this bench thing and I know my compatriot, The First Official Official, would concur. Thirty minutes has blown by, it’s pretty cold out, the clouds coming in low and we switched to teams standing on the wall inside the fence instead of outside the court the door changes were just not fast enough. Okay, it’s the second half and the Dire Sharks start with some quick hitters Julian, Scooter and Sterling. Waste Mgmt answers with Cody, Jake Langdon and Lefty Joe starting. One for Joe, right away, 11/7[W] Julian and Scooter answer quickly 1 for Julian and 2 for Scooter, 11/10[W] Dire Sharks switch their whole line, Paul, Mckenzie and Max are in, Waste Mgmt subs Suzy in for Cody and Koyo for Langdon, 20 minutes left.
Max hits an incredible poster shot that doesn’t go in, Koyo hits one that does, 12/10[W] Jake the Snake goes in for Lefty Joe and Anthony H for Koyo. Paulie D hits another one in bringing his points to 3 and Dire Sharks to 11. Lefty Joe hammers one home, he’s up to 4, don’t give that guy a lane! 13/11[W]
With 15 minutes to go, Eric Ackerman, Scooter and Sterling go in for Paul, Mckenzie and Max, Waste Mgmt has Lefty Joe and Mark Davis in for Suzy and Jake the Snake. Tony, Joe, Mark against Eric, Scoot and Sterl. Lefty scores again, F-Off subs in for Tony.
10 minutes left. Lil’ Man shmangs one in, he sails around the goal kawing and flapping, 13/12[W] Waste puts Langdon in for Mark and he scores, 14/12[W] then is pulled for Cody almost immediately. Julian scores, it’s 14/13[W] and then an unfortunate shot ricochets off Max’s wheel, an own goal for Dire Sharks, 15/13[W] Some crazy official makes a miss call here because the own goal thing was confusing, that gets cleared up and everything is fine!
5 minutes to go. Julian hits one in for the Sharks, 15/14[W] Jason Farthing puts one in the net for Waste Mgmt, 16/14[W] With just a couple minutes left in the game, Dire Sharks put in Scooter, Paul and Sterling who have all been scoring well. Waste has got F-off, Snake and Koyo on the court, play is fierce! With 15 seconds left, a Dire Shark throws up a hail mary shot that is totally caught and screwed in Koyo’s spokes (Can anyone say, anti-climax? After such a great game I was hoping for something a little more exciting than a dead ball) Waste Mgmt wins! Everyone is excited because the whole thing is over.
Congratulations Waste Mgmt! And great playing by Dire Sharks.
| Scoring for Dire Sharks: | Scoring for Waste Mgmt: |
|---|---|
| Scooter: 4 | Lefty Joe: 5 |
| Julian: 4 | Koyo: 3 |
| Paul: 3 | Jason F: 2 |
| Sterling: 2 | Langdon: 2 |
| Mckenzie: 1 | Cody: 2 |
| Max: 1 (-1) | Tony: 1 |
| Snake: 1 |
Game #2 Galactic Decay versus Polovers
Galactic Decay versus Polovers!
Notes taken by Dad (Paul D)
Synopsis edited by Blazar
Final Score: Galactic Decay 19, Polovers 17
[G] Galactic Decay: Blazar(C), Dustin (c), Rowdy, Andre, Drew G, Ari, Jeremy, Medic Mike (Kiersten, Troy)
[P] Polovers: Leon(c), Evan, Emmet, Spencer, Garth, Sean M, Koos (Messman(C), Birdseye, Jesse L)
Welcome Koos to the Polovers! Koos is taking Jill’s spot for now due to a broken arm
Decay lined up The Heavy Hitters, Drew, Andre and Rowdy for the joust and Polovers set out Emmet, Evan and Spencer. One minute into the game, Emmet nails a half court shot for a quick goal for the Polovers, 1/0 [P] Two minutes later, Andre has a breakaway and executes a sick “seatbelt” shot (over the bars shooting from his left side) that results in a goal to tie it up, 1/1.
Seven minutes into the game, Evan sinks a half court shot to take the lead, 2/1 [P] After a few minutes, Dusty pops a hard-angled shot from the strong side, which sneaks in behind the goalie’s wheel, 2/2 Sean Marsh walks one in with 16 minutes to go, 3/2 [P] Then a minute later, Leon shoots between two of Decay’s bottom brackets adding to his lead, 4/2 [P] Goals are getting racked up quick, Drew G taps in a weak side sneaker goal 4/3 [P] and Dusty sinks a half court heater to even it out, 4/4 Now Emmet, seconds later, retaliates with two goals in two minutes, the first a hard angle shot from the strong side then stuffs an open front door goal, 6/4 [P] Then some bad luck shortly after Emmet’s streak, Spencer of Polovers makes the mistake of shuffling the ball into his own goal, 6/5 [P]With three minutes left in the half Dustin intercepts a pass mid court and walks one in, 6/6 Evan completes a sweet pass to Leon for an exciting Polovers goal 7/6 [P] Dusty makes a cleanup goal moments later, tied at 7/7 Sixty seconds later, Leon scores a goal and Andre quickly retaliates, 8/8 Then Leon turns it on, two minutes to go in the first half, scores twice, a nice cleanup goal then a quarter court shot to give the Polovers the lead going into half time, 10/8 [P]
Then a five minute half time where strategy is discussed and sides are switched
Beginning the second half, Galactic comes out swinging with Dusty making a nice weak side goal 10/9 [P] Drew passes to Dustin for a 5-hole goal after three minutes of second half play, 10/10 Emmet retaliates with a weak side tap-in goal, 11/10 [P] Drew responds with a strong side goal, keeping it even 11/11 Then Rowdy sinks a solid quarter court shot for Decay’s first lead, 12/11 [G] Six minutes into the half, Aaron makes a weak side goal then Sean from Polovers takes and makes a nice seatbelt shot 13/12 [G]Rowdy pulls the score apart with a strong side goal, 14/12 [G]
With thirteen minutes remaining, Leon connects with Evan, who then takes a seatbelt shot to complete a beautiful play, 14/13 [G] A minute later, Leon follows up Evan’s last goal with a half court backhand shot that sails in, 14/14 Andre makes a connection with Dustin for a great play, 15/14 [G]Dustin then scratches Andre’s back with a pass assist 16/14 [G] There are ten minutes left in the game, Emmet sinks a weak side goal, then a minute later Drew taps in a weak side sneaker shot, 17/15 [G] Emmet and Leon are working hard, Emmet hits one in close to the net and Leon taps one in with his last momentum before a dab, close to net, that just barely rolls in under Andre’s bottom bracket, 17/17 Jeremy W completes a great cross court pass to Dusty who pops it in close, 18/17 [G] It’s been back and forth all game but in the final moments Dustin flips the switch and hammers the nail in, Decay for the win 19/18 [G]
| Scoring for Galactic Decay: | Scoring for Polovers |
|---|---|
| Dustin 9 | Leon 7 |
| Andre 3 | Emmet 6 |
| Drew 3 | Evan 2 |
| Rowdy 2 | Sean 2 |
| Blazar 1 | Spencer -1 |
