Expect some Portland folks. 2 teams.
Desert Polo Invite IV - 2012 NAH Tour Qualifier #1
Saturday, January 28, 2012 - Sunday, January 29, 2012
Host club:
Arizona Hardcourt Bike Polo - Tempe
Contact info:
mtretter@cox.net
Court size:
4 courts, approximately 130ft x 58ft, surface is blacktop parking lot Please save the date and plan to join us Jan 28th and 29th for our 48 team qualifier tournament.
Registration for SW region teams will start Friday 12/16 at noon CDT (teams having 2 or more SW region players).
Registration for non-region teams will start Sunday 12/18 at noon CDT (teams having one or less SW region players).
Teams can register at http://www.hardcourtbikepolo.org
Login and Registration Instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18LbXGwg_zhSkiFEwlF6_BqhSLTGq8AFZZuKn...
Payment is expected within one week after registering. The registration fee for DPI IV is $75 per team. This includes the NAH $10 surcharge. Please click here to pay (a paypal account isn't required): https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NJL...
Location
Grace Community Church (North parking lot)
1200 E Southern Ave NW Corner of Southern and Dorsey
Tempe, AZ United States
See map: Google Maps
Signed up
-
polojoel
-
PHILTHY COURIER
-
balz deep
-
JoshLn
-
Robin C.
-
chrisaltman
-
raddison
-
duncantaylor
-
Tsunami
-
Jinxy
-
momo
-
Jeff Left
-
son...
-
Miss Jinna
-
Alex Dash
-
Pistolero
-
kryxtanicole
-
Davey_Carfax
-
Dejah Vudu
-
minibikepolo
-
Quaz Dawg
-
heyashley
-
sids
-
captain_morgan
-
N.O.D
-
Mailman-J
-
nptax
-
Crandall
-
apothecary_13
-
meg
-
timtim
-
pete
-
Slayla
-
pistol
-
Scan 6tlo
-
nedderweevil
-
Xian
-
Machine
-
deaddog
-
E_Bloomquist
-
Joey
-
drew
-
sonofagun
-
cody
-
schmangdon
- jfawls
Sounds good. Too bad no one from Como is coming...
a qualifier in january?!?!? i know this isn't the place to discuss this [here is] but seriously? many cities are barely playing pickup, let alone forming teams and traveling to tourneys. i thought NAH was trying to condense the qualifiers, not spread them out even more...
seems like we're putting the cart before the horse.
It was in January last year, and a qualifier. Sounds fun to me. It's -14 Celsius here right now.
I could be wrong, but the impression I get is that there's already a plan for 2012, it's just being tweaked and hasn't been released yet. Pretty sure they wouldn't be going ahead with it if they hadn't figured it out with NAH peeps first.
Dont trip Zach. We play polo year round in the Southwest.
yeah that's cool. we actually just got down playing pickup here in bloomington.
and i understand that DPI was both in january and a qualifier last year- i just thought we were moving towards a more condensed NAH schedule. many people seemed interested in separating "qualifiers" from "the majors". when we had the Jenny Cup here last May i thought even that was kinda early to be a playoff for NA's. that's just my opinion though.
this is why i really wish we could figure this stuff out further in advance; im eager to hear NAH's plan for 2012. even more im interested in the plan for 2013...
Stoked for this
.
Packing my shorts for this one.
Most importantly dont forget to pack your balls son..
Pretty sure the phoenix club can take care of that. we've been shattering balls up here in Seattle :(
Hopefully, it will start at least 30 days out.
new boss is a bigger dick than woadie elbowing a 14 year old, so i need to give lots of notice for time off
ouch! memories of almost a year ago. wonder if joe will make it too.
sounds like a blast... now just to figure out transpo :( .... anybody offering rides from the phoenix train station to a place to crash in tempe :)))))
Attention all out-of-town players attending, especially the ones who are flying in:
-I'm assuming there will probably be some kind of player-provided housing, but I just thought I'd let you know that there is a decent, reasonably-priced Days-Inn hotel about 1.5 miles away from the courts, and a hop/skip/jump from the light rail. It's $43 per night, for a double-bed room, and includes complimentary airport shuttle service (for those of you who are flying in). I think some of the Cascadian crew stayed at this hotel for DPI3 last year. It also has a hot tub, which I will be taking advantage of if you decide to stay at this hotel:
EDIT: The hotel would most likely provide extra cots for your room (think about $10/per), so you could have more people stay in the room and be able to split the cost more and save everyone a little money.
http://www.expedia.com/Phoenix-Hotels-Days-Inn-Tempe.h6502.Hotel-Informa...
Also, I need a team for this tourney, if anyone would like to play on a team with me. I am by no means a superstar, but I have a good attitude & love to play with new people. Let me know if you're interested.
Thanks to NAH we can announce registration:
Registration for SW region teams will start Friday at noon (teams having 2 or more SW region players).
Registration for non-region teams will start Sunday at noon (teams having one or less SW region players).
Because there are 12 additional in-region spots available for 2012, we don't expect in-region registration to fill up. However we can't guantee that it won't. Last year 24 SW region teams attended.
More detail coming soon. Spread the word.
Are you using Arizona as the time zone? Anyone have a link to that countdown widget?
Central time. Thanks to Zach we are using http://hardcourtbikepolo.org for registration. I'll be posting directions shortly.
How many out of region teams are ya'll allowing in?
I'm pumped. Got my floaties packed and ready to go.
A few quick questions:
What time zone is registration happening in? That is, which "noon" is being used.
Secondly, when will the registration form be up?
Thirdly...actually, that's all.
Rowdy
Teams can register at http://www.hardcourtbikepolo.org
For those registering who haven't used hardcourtbikepolo.org before, please read these instructions and create a login and team BEFORE registration begins.
Login and Registration Instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18LbXGwg_zhSkiFEwlF6_BqhSLTGq8AFZZuKn...
Payment is expected within one week after registering. The registration fee for DPI IV is $75 per team. This includes the NAH $10 surcharge. Please click here to pay (a paypal account isn't required): https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NJL...
If you have any questions or difficulties, let me know!
Thank you. We are excited to have you come visit and play some great polo.
The hcbp.org link is not working for me right now. Looks like pictures were intended for the google doc instructions...those are broken links as well.
We were doing a trial run and were updating the time, should be fine now.
yep I can confirm it resolved. so, we can't look at the team we want to submit until the timer has hit 0?
... Looks like pictures were intended for the google doc instructions...those are broken links as well.
We tested and multiple people have verified they can see the instructions. You might want to check the nut behind the wheel.
I'm not up to the paperwork right now. Tried and failed. Maybe devin or doug will be able to get it done.
Um, yea, there is Joel joel Polojoel Doug spelled wrong loef, Dougus etc. And none of those have a region showing up, so it seems like the site won't let me add our team to the tourney because we don't have 2 with in-region cities yet.
So anyway, go log in and change your shit and let me know and I'll add our team.
And I siged up for the controlled vocablary occupation of Technical Espionage Intelligence Agent. Oh how I love really long drop down lists with lots almost correct and would be fun if it was correct options. ;) Just being snarky. Thanks for the effort with this tournaments site ...
Devin
Just create the team and add your teammates as 'New Player' (its the second option on the list) and select the correct city and we will figure them out later.
to anyone going to this or thinking of going to this please excuse the rushed nature of the registration for the tournament. As the tour was announced later then we had hoped it is the registration for this early tournament that is going to be confusing as it is totally different then last year.
please follow the steps and you will successfully register.
also note, that once you create a profile, you can click on any of the tournaments you attended that are listed and find your team and yourself and click "this is me", then you will be adding to your stats for the 2011 year [or whatever one is listed]. the stats are separated in your profile by year so don't worry about that.
this form of registration will eliminate questions of eligibility, time wasted by organizers in duplicate entries and manually monitoring in or out of region status, as well as provide a correct and accurate statistical view per player per team per region per tournament. all qualifiers will use this registration format to keep it cohesive.
it is better for the community and should not be viewed negatively in any way.
if you have questions just ask them.
Unfortunately this isn't the first year DPI has subjected registration stress on our participants. What can I say? We like to be on the bleeding edge.
Thanks everyone for enduring the learning curve. I can see this new flavor of registration staying around for quite a while. Thanks Zach!
is registration open now or do we have to wait til sunday ? i see a few teams already registered but can't figure out how to get my team in there as of yet :(
You had a blank team name, I changed it to 'sac city polo'. You should be good to go now. Just go to the tournament page, sign in and add your team.
thanks, it shows us as registered now :) jake is signing up soon and he is our third... see yall next month... thanks again
jake langdon signed up and got on as our third on the site but he also ended up on pistolero and jokers team and another team from abq... im sure you all can figure it out... its me, tsunami and jake... thanks again
Requesting help with registration.
I created an account and team.
But the google doc crap is not working.
But the team is called Bike Farmers.
It consists of me (Xian), Jacki, and TBA.
Please help enter that if possible. I've been registering over and over
for about the past 30 minutes or so. I give up for now.
You are in.
Thanx for your help! I think my troubles had to do w/ brand new Mac vs. no Google Chrome installed... but the
dropdown list wouldn't show any data and didn't react when clicked-upon... Also, my team-mate, Jacki is already in
the database of players--but categorized as a Male player. Can u change her info 2 Female?
Also, do any other big tourneys from 2011 count in travels or stats (the 2 SF tourneys that happened, or Ladies Army for example)?
I am posting an update to this right now. I reworked the add team area and now all of your teams and team members are listed in a table. Beside each team it read when it is eligible. Hopefully this makes this a little more clear.
Thanks Zach!
For those registering tomorrow, please login and take a quick look at the area where you will be registering for DPI IV and verify your team is present. If your team isn't there, please let Zach or I know ASAP. This will help us react to anything unexpected before registration occurs.
I've noticed the google doc instructions don't appear correctly on all mobile phones. Please try another brand phone or a computer if you can't see it.
Thanks, I was about to go postal!
Ok. My team has a 3rd now. How do I edit that on the registration page? or does it matter this early?
I guess hold off. I still want to see how people want to hande editing teams. I have a few things in place, but there are some regional things to consider. Once its fully opened, I will drop them in. BUT, if your 3rd signs up, they can just claim the TBD as themselves and that would be fine anytime.
This is coming together well! 10 of 12 non-region spots have been taken and 16 of 36 in-region spots are taken.
Zach did a lot of clever work behind the scenes to keep us from stepping on each other and taking the website down. Nice job Zach!
Vegas, looking forward to meeting you. Glad you will make it down.
Damn Zach... Thats a really nice site... Makes us look pretty damn sophisticated...
As of today I've not found anyone left from Portland ready to travel south... anyone need a team? I'm thirsty for some desert SUN! Cheers, Tom.
Smiling ear to ear at the incomers for this tournie. Just need another 20 teams. Come on Poloverse send your finest.
Ummm...help please! I keep trying to sign up on hardcourtbikepolo.org and every time it won't let me. The contact button on the site does not work. I am listed as a player from Minnesota, which isn't gonna help me trying to register an in-region team for this tourney. Why can't I sign up? I filled out the form completely, and several times! #annoyed
so, 29 out of 48 teams registered. let's see some more teams asap!
in or out of region peoples. Chris and I need a forward. someone whos got a shot and knows how to catch a pass.
email me yo!
ALSO
its obviously tournament time, so get at me if you need team wheel covers or just some new ones to start off the 2012 season!
i can take wheel cover orders until Jan 10th.
$40 for 2 individuals, $75 for 4, $100 for 6.
and remember kids, i make stickers too. 100 (2" decals) for $30
Turns out everything is in computer vision. Can only figure out how to register as an out of region team. Tried SF and LA but both come out as out of region. Where is Santa Cruz btw?! Anyways, want to make sure the last out of region slot is not taken by Beard Fear as we are definitely in region. ....Shitty
You show to have two players that are TDBs? TBD is out of region.
Either select an existing player from the list or select new player (top of the list). Chandel was really wanting no TBDs players, I don't know how feasible that is for any of us.
Another option is to select new player and type in TBD in the blank and select cities for the TDBs.
Thanks for doing your best to not be shitty, Shitty. We appreciate it.
If we reach limits, we'll have to be more strict. What is important is that you have enough info listed for us to determine if your team is classified as in or out of region. If you have two in-region or two out-of-region players, that is enough. However if you have one in-region player defined and one out of region player defined, that isn't enough info for us to determine the regional majority of your team.
WAHOO!! I get to play this year!!! so stoked...
Is there anywhere to pitch a tent near to the courts? Backyard or park or anything? I'm just budgeting for this trip and a couple others shortly after, camping would make things a little easier on me. We can cook dinner and breakfasts for whoevers backyard we end up in!
agreed - what's the word on camping at/near the courts or in someone's back yard?
I
Anyone from AZ? We're a month out here and trying to solidify some plans. Is backyard camping a possibility or no?
we were just talking about that today. we will get back to you as soon as we can. everybody has been doing things for the holidays. i will get with davey and see what he says.
Last year we had a house nearby but they are unable to host this year. Camping on the baseball field next to the court is not allowed. As it sits we don't have any camp space available nearby.
From what I know there isn't anywhere to camp save for Davey's backyard, and maybe another backyard somewhere else? Camping in other non-camp areas (including front yards) in illegal and enforced in AZ. Tempe is pretty suburban and filled with lots of concrete anyway. Also, it was really fucking cold at night sleeping in the yard last year; the year before that it pretty much poured the whole time...so expect sunny days but if you're thinking it's warm all the time down south, remember: This is the desert, and cactuses and concrete don't insulate the area at night. The temperature drop is pretty radical, but most of ya'll asking are from legitimately cold places...just bring a warm sleeping bag if you're gonna go this route (or pack bodies in your tent like a can of sardines).
I'm sure the AZ peeps will have a more defined answer for areas to camp and housing, but they're probably pretty busy at the moment and I know how impatient poloistas can get on the forums! ; p
Can't wait for DPI IV!
Sometimes it's better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission...
so... yes, last year some renegade campers set up tents in the field
next to the tournament... good luck and camp like ninja!
Please do not plan on camping in the field next to the court. We have been informed that is not allowed and will do our part to honor the wishes of the owner. Thank you.
also, any chance of live web streaming the tournament via webcam? I do have family that wants to try and watch me if they can.
who needs a 3rd?
Everyone needs a 3rd........................Well maybe not Warrior Mike chugging a beer on the sidelines whilst Drew and Leon hold down the fort ;–)
The countdown has started, 21 Days till I land in Phoenix.
Filbertos Mexican food, In And Out Burger, and t-shirt weather all weekend long.
The high in Philly today will be 29degrees . I do miss Phoenix for weather this time of year
and we have a 3rd!
Oh yeah. Bring lots of sunscreen! The sun is fierce in the Southwest. The temps were in the 70s during the day last year and cool at night.
Most people got some good sun the first day last year and then thought about sunscreen on the second day. Lobster-fest!
Seattle was still bragging about having tan lines from DPI-III in May.
And it rained hard 2 years ago. So bring some wet gear too.
Robin C.
So were is Tucson and Prescott Polo teams for this tournament?
Thought poeple played in those citys.
Most of SF will be staying at the Ramada on Apache. They were really good to us last year. The grill, pool and hot tub were exactly what the doctor ordered for Saturday night.
Awesome! That's less than a mile from my place and only a couple of blocks from a couple of decent bars. I would recommend Long Wong's (Wings, beer, free live music) and right across the street from the hotel is Tempe Tavern (beer, free live music). I may be hopping around to those bars on Saturday night for my birthday as well:)
I believe Vegas will be there also
We will make the pool-parties very much times! In my country, of San Francisco, we say very much very much!
Which bar accomodated us all so well last year?
Boulders on Broadway
with Scano and Machine rolling back to the Ramada from Boulders last year ... had to paste two together for the painted firehydrant to turn out ...
lookin' forward!
.
con safos, oh snap!
with Capital Letters Please..
CALIFORNIA BABY!
Can I ask on behalf of most of the people flying in if there will be rides from/to the airport?
I land on the 27th and fly out on the 30th, instead of paying a taxi I'd rather pay a poloist for the favor of being shuttled to and from the airport. I can be more specific with my landing times too at a later point, not sure if anyone else is catching the same flight as me.
Send me your itinerary and we'll do what we can.
Also the light rail can be taken from the airport and comes within a couple miles of the courts:
If you're staying at Ramada or anywhere else on Apache Blvd you can take the light rial straight from PHX to your hotel. Light rail is only $1.75 one way or $3.50 for all day unlimited transfers on both the Metro Light Rail and Metro Transit local bus routes. The light rail stations take cash or card. There is a free connecting bus at from airport terminals to the light rail.
Since we are within the window of 3 weeks before the tourney start, there is no longer a regional restriction. So the remaining 10 or so spots are up for grabs.
Those currently on the waiting list should consider themselves registered!
hell yeah! DPI 4 FTW!
Howdy partnahs. Lou and I from Las Vegas need a 3rd now. 702
821 6635
Come to LA this weekend!
DUS DUS DUS ,
Oh hey, I'll be coming with pickles again ; )
I'm 90% in, just need a place to crash.
Poster is up! Nice work and thanks for your help, Jinxy.
I just tried to remove myself from a registration spot, unsuccessfully. Can someone hold my hand, and walk me through the process for unregistering(or just do it for me). I am registered on 2 teams. I will be playing on Riders on the Storm. I will NOT be playing on TBD, with Eric Bloomquist, and Morgan Allen.
Thanks PHX.
Miah
Wow, I cant wait 4 more sleeps till all my polo peeps!
So...I am aware that there will be food at the courts, but for those of you who would like to try a little taste of local eateries, I have decided to make a list for you of what I have deemed "the best" of different types of food in the area. This list, of course, is subject to personal opinion:
Fast food Mexican:
-Filiberto's (Broadway & Beck in Tempe)
-Riva's (Southern & Kyrene in Tempe) (Uses vegetable oil-better veg/vegan option)
-Amado's (Rural & Guadalupe in Tempe)
Sit down Mexican:
-El Penasco (Mill & Broadway in Tempe)
-Unknown name (sorry) (on Mill just South of Southern Ave. in Tempe, next to the Circle K)
Sit down Italian:
-Red Devil (Southern and Kyrene in Tempe)
Chinese:
-Golden Palace (Baseline at HWY 101 on the Tempe/Mesa border)
Pizza:
-Mellow Mushroom (Mill and 7th in downtown Tempe) (also serves beer)
-Gus's (Rural & University in Tempe)
-Tessio's (University & Farmer in Tempe)
Barbecue:
-The Chuckbox (University and College in Tempe)
-Joe's "Real Pit BBQ" (Gilbert Road & Elliot in Gilbert). About a 20 minute drive from Tempe, it is IMO the best BBQ spot in the East Valley, hands down. They also make their own root beer on-site.
Burgers/dogs/subs/sandwiches:
-Ted's Hot Dogs (Broadway and McClintock in Tempe)
-Boston's Burgers (University and Farmer in Tempe)
-Bisonwitches (on University in Tempe)
-Chompies (University east of College ave in Tempe)
-Cornish Pasty (Hardy and 7th st in Tempe)
-Dilly's Deli (University and Wilson in Tempe)
-Jimmy John's (multiple Tempe locations) (fast delivery, cheap & fresh)
Ethnic:
-Blue Nile Ethiopian food (University and Rural in Tempe)
Sushi:
-Sushi 101 (Rural and University in Tempe)
Greek/Mediterranean:
-Haji Baba (Apache and Forest in Tempe)
Coffee:
-Coffee Cartel (University and Ash in Tempe)
-Xtreme Bean (Southern & McClintock in Tempe) (1 block away from the polo courts)
Breakfast:
-Harlow's Cafe (University and Hardy in Tempe)
Cheese Curds (for the Northerners):
-Milk & More (Hardy and Broadway in Tempe) (Made fresh on-site.)
Dive Bars:
-Palo Verde (Broadway & Beck in Tempe) (The divi-est of the dives)
-Rogue (Scottsdale Blvd North of McKellips on the Tempe/Scottsdale border)
-Casey Moore's (9th st and Ash in Tempe). Not really a dive bar, but a fun place for sure.
Liquor/Beer (Takeout)
-Tops Liquor (University and Farmer in Tempe) (Voted Tempe's best like 5 years in a row).
I hope this is informative to some or all of the out-of-towners. See you this weekend!
I would like to add:
Fast Mexican: Someburros on Mill Ave and Baseline, Tempe
sit down newMexican: Los Dos Molinos - best atmosphere 8684 S Central Ave, Phoenix. Closest to tournament - 260 S Alma School Rd # 137, Mesa.
Pizza: Spinato's pizza 227 South Smith Road, Tempe (bring your own booze) spinach calzone!
Local beer: Four Peaks Brewery 1340 E 8th St, Tempe (Kiltlifter very good)
Local beer: Santan brewing. 8 San Marcos Place, Chandler (Devil Ale very good haven't had many others)
Vegan/Vegetarian: Green Restaurant New American Vegetarian -2240 North Scottsdale Rd #8, Tempe. (everything awesome! even non-Vegan/Vegetarians seem to enjoy)
Also, as a past longtime Tempe resident I would like to make a call for all local coffee aficionados to avoid Xtreme Bean Coffee; the only thing extreme about them is their lack of ethics. Instead go to the NE corner of Southern and McClintock to Gold Bar espresso. Basically the Gold Bar was originally housed at the site of xtreme bean and operated successfully there for 10+ years. Around 2001 or so the owner of the building refused to renew the Gold bar lease and kicked them out, a few months later the son of the building's owner opened Xtreme Bean. Fuck that.
I would like to add:
Also, as a past longtime Tempe resident I would like to make a call for all local coffee aficionados to avoid Xtreme Bean Coffee; the only thing extreme about them is their lack of ethics. Instead go to the NE corner of Southern and McClintock to Gold Bar espresso. Basically the Gold Bar was originally housed at the site of xtreme bean and operated successfully there for 10+ years. Around 2001 or so the owner of the building refused to renew the Gold bar lease and kicked them out, a few months later the son of the building's owner opened Xtreme Bean. Fuck that.
I love this local drama. let's start a flash polo mob in front of the store! just kidding.
see ya'll fri. any plans for parties on friday night? boulders?
any plans for parties on friday night? boulders?
I'll be hanging out with a few old cronies Friday night, drinking etc. You're welcome to join us if you'd like.
..
Dude Dus, you forgot to mention IN AND OUT BURGER
Best burger for the price.
Dude Dus, you forgot to mention IN AND OUT BURGER
Best burger for the price.
Good call Marco, In-N-Out is indeed tasty, but be prepared to wait in line indefinitely.
I was waiting with bated breath to see my favorite, "Beaver Choice" on the list for best Scandanavian, Polish and Canadian fare. Tops the list of places you dine at because the name caught your eye. It's also Tempe's leader in strange oversized window graphics and general odd flair. However the cuisine is very refined.
Lobby's Beef Burgers Dogs: Southern & McClintock right around the corner from the tourney spot. My favorite burger in Tempe/Phoenix so far.
B- e - a - utee - full
Queries....
Will the courts be set-up on Friday for us to play on? If no, is there an alternate location where we can get some pick-up in?
What time are we supposed to be at the courts on Sat/Sun?
What's the word on drinking at the event space?
Thanks....
there will be pick up friday on that same lot. just ignore the screws and saw dust.
AZ runs a tight ship, usually 9am call time.
and drinks really aren't allowed as usual, so you know what to do.
Arriving at 130pm Hotel by 230 , Out the door at 3, AZ do you need help with anything? I am available until 2pm Monday
Arriving at 130pm Hotel by 230 , Out the door at 3, AZ do you need help with anything? I am available until 2pm Monday
I need your help with bacon dogs. And I need you to get drunk with me.
Any help is most welcome Steve. Tomorrow Thur. we will be constructing courts, all day. Fri should be ready for pick up after noon.
Crandall, Last word is 9 am Sat.
As far as "drinking",remember this is "Grace Community Church" property. Be respectfull. It's our regular spot too. We don't want to lose it.
JB
Hi Jeff..will you by any chance have some of those Awesome Mallets you make for sale?
well thank goodness im bringing 100 sac polo beer coozies to sell so we have enough gas to make it home :)
looks like tall can covers are in order!
Hey Y'all Sarah (LAX) and I (SF) need a third....We're pretty good so hit us up asap...
Can't wait to see everyone SOON. So excited. We will have at least one pick-up court finished by Friday morning, so please show up as soon as you can, hang out, visit, play some pick-up. & have fun! RE
Last minute details:
If you haven't paid your registration fee, you can do so here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NJL...
(A paypal account isn't required. Click on "Don't have a paypal account?")
Weekend itinerary:
Friday 9-6: Pickup and finish courts at tourney location
Friday 6pm-?: Registration check-in and pre-party: Boulders on Broadway
Friday 8pm: Ref's meeting/briefing: Boulders on Broadway
Saturday 9am - 6pm: Seeding Tourney. Swiss rounds
Saturday 6pm - ?: Boulders on Broadway
Sunday 9am - 6pm: 24-team double elim tourney
Monday 9am - 6pm: Teardown
Tuesday 9am - 6pm: Teardown (if necessary)
Maps:
Boulders on Broadway: View Larger Map
Courts: View Larger Map
Directions from closest light rail stop (Apache and Dorsey): View Larger Map
Directions from Sky Harbor airport: View Larger Map
Tips: If taking light rail from Airport catch the shuttle from the North curb (South curb adds 15 min)
Anything else: Mike - 6O2*3I8*4OI4
just talked with julio on facebook.
you guys don't have lights?
whuuuuuut.
hahahaha.
seriously. im not gonna get there until like 8ish tonight. sad about not being able to get in any pick up :(((((((((((
X2!
Flying in at 945pm myself.
The sunset is apparently around 5:50 PM! let's hope there's time for pickup.
Follow along tomorrow! http://followpodium.at/dpi4
prediction.. portland united vs guardians in the final! any takers?
im sure jokers team will be strong as well as thing 1 and thing 2 and whoever is their 3rd but well see tomorrow
its polo... any given sunday!
man lots of blowout games- on the first two tiers there are 2 maybe 3 close games ... so many doughnuts and 5-1's WTF?
I THINK THE PODIUM'S BROKEN! somebody please tell the internet what's happening!
YES PLEASE! PODIUM IS FROZEN. (*I know who I'm, blaming.) SOMEONE UPDATE US!!!
nothing was broken, the organizers were focused on getting the last games in before the sun faded, and didn't enter the scores until it was all finished...
Podium worked great. Thank you Vince for all of your help this weekend!
dark horse vs COn in finals...my prediction.
Good work Cons! Won it again guys!
Well done Guardians!
So proud of Dark Horse! EAST VAN!
(I figured out my own updates.)
More better polo. Thank you AZ for making it happen!
THAAAAAANK YOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU !!!!!!!!!!!
So neat to see all these amazing players from all over in one place.
Food was the bomb.
It was a splendid weekend.
#1 to #4.... yawn
Congrats Grass Assault on your 5th place finish!
Never been on a *yawn* team before, I'm taking this as a compliment.
I'm with Henry on this one. The Gardners got 4th place and have never even played in a tournament together.YAWN!
Thanks to NOD and Machine for taking those (damn fine) boards down today.
Also, thanks to Jacob for producing that top-shelf buzzer shot, contra Rebeldes... great game on both sides ... amAZing finish!
Devin
(who will shut the f' up for a while now)
On behalf of AZ Bike Polo,thanks to everyone who made this tournament a success and congratulations to the Guardians, Con Safos, and Dark Horse on your podium finish.
Here are the top twelve teams. Places 1-8 qualify for the 2012 NA's
1: The Guardians
2: Con Safos
3: Dark Horse
4. Gardeners
5: Portland Doug Firs
6: Grass Assault
7: Los Rebelde
8: Portland United
9: Heavy Hitters
10: Beard Fear
11: Two and a Half Men
12: Space Raiders
6179! 6179! 6179! 6179! 6179! 6179! 6179! 6179!
More cartwheels in 2012! 6179!
Thank you Phoenix for an amazing time!
Much love from the No Manor!
Whoever called out for me to a do a cartwheel last night - see what you started there? It's not going to end any time soon. 6179! 6179! 6179!
And more importantly, very many thank you's to the AZ polo crew for a fantastically run tournament and a killer polo weekend!
I miss ya'll already! When's the next tourney!?!??!
p.s. Cascadia I love ya'll so much thanks for coming out and bringing all the Cascadia polo magic into the desert for a weekend!
Did anyone notice how many women L.A. brought to compete? 5 of the 10 were No Manners alumni.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sdbikepolo
Some coverage of the weekend
First: Phoenix Bike Polo, great tournament and organization, thanks for being so consistently great with your hospitality, all manners even with a crowd of young'ins with little or no manners.
Second: to all of the players from: SF, LA, AZ, LV, and ABQ; well met friends. All of you were a pleasure to play with, and against. Las Vegas, your club seems to get bigger every time I see y'all, next winter I'm gonna move out there and teach you some real polo.
Congrats to the Guardians. After they pulled off another classic Guardians finale.
Machine, I won't ever forget how incredibly excited you were to get 12th place!
to everyone who knows about the hot tub at the ramada limited, we slam dunked the funk into that hot tub. I think they shut it down sunday night. good job.
I love you cats from SF, Devin, don't give up on the LOBP, but I feel you, we'll have to lurk until things get a bit more straightened out.
Another high end smoothly run shindig from y'all southerners. How about the talent level this year!! Thanks for everything, AZ/PHX! Props to bike polo organizers, jesters spoilers and looky-loos.
And ABQ- touche. Until we meet again ;)
anyone got pics from this weekend?
I will pay 1 million polo bux for a video of my award winning crash
thanks to lefty David for the assist!
It might be etched into Arlyn's lookie lou banks ... (?) I was riveted by Los Rebelde vs Grass Assault on C when you flew into the court from peripheral vision / court B. I'd guess 10mph over the top as a bird flys ... Unfortunately I didn't see anyone filming in that spot where we were standing. All I could do was look at Arlyn and say 'how the hell did that happen?' and be grateful that there wasn't any play happening where you landed!
instant classic
Thank you to Phoenix bike polo, my teammates, and Passport Canada for making this weekend possible.
Guardians, always a pleasure. "Henry, I'm going to take you out." Haha. Thanks to the gardeners as well for some next level shit.
Another great polo weekend. AZ/Phx thanks for all the hard work. Mike T and Altman thanks for all the behind the scenes stuff. Food was damn good as well. Much love AZ.
To all the SW region and Duncan its nice seeing everybody year after year, stay tuned for ABQ friendliest.
Cascadia, Austin, etc hope I can make it to one of your tournaments if not see you next year. Scooter, Max, would be awesome to see you at our tournie again this year. Bring some of that Seattle swagger back home to the Rockies.
Grass Assault, early prediction for next year ABQ:3 Grass Assault: 2 I'm working on a piranha proof suit guaranteed to stop vicious swarming attacks and able to block shots up to mach 1.
I can't resist talking more about this ... Rebeldes and Grass Assault ... not a single goal in that game was anything less than a fatty goalazo. In the last couple of minutes ( around the time of Pete's flight ) it went 2-1, AJ 2-2, 3-2, then Jacob's buzzer shot to make it 3-3. Very well officiated by ABQ who had everyone aware of the time and no bullshit crowd heckling countdowns. So reset for a joust and Jason or Rob won it and some miraculous defense/luck stopped at least two goals at least one from Pelon who was out. A minute or so later papa Mike snuck the last one into a back door on the floor keyhole smaller than the ball but lots on it to score and win in suddend death. Am a-z ing game! HDTV sucks. Go to tourneys like this one, son!
What a laff, peeps.I was smiling from the minute I got to SFO until I crashed out on the plane home. A million thanks to AZBikepolo and their amAZing network of friends and family. Sorry to have disappeared for 1/2 day saturday to get my steel steed fed and watered.I know i missed out but I did get to hang with my knight in shining armour , Duncan , whom I am in debted to for saving my weekends polo.Cheers mate.
To all that came to the SW to "take" our spots , I sincerely thank you coz you make us all step up and play as hard as we can and then party with us and show us polo love."Polo to the People".Without the traveling peeps of polo The Worlds would be won by the same peeps every time coz nobody would know what was about to hit them with the likes of Dark Horse , The Gardners , Los Rebeldes ,coming at us. It was the first qualifier of the year and we all see already how fast we have to ride up to the joust just to stay level.
Can I just say what a laff it was catchin up with you all and meeting the likes of Marco and Davis ,and feck I'm laffin now, Shane and Megan. Say no more ha aha aha hahhhaaaa.
San Francisco...... so proud of you all for being the perfect peeps on and off the court and being so hospitable to everyone when you are so far from home. We are 3.
Gotta sign off but
Jouche you are one hell of a playa when you need to be and I was more than happy to be screaming for the pass all day as you nailed the goals home time after time.Thanks bro . The shirts your friend Max made are my new favourites.
Maxxx . What can i say about you that you havent said already............................LOL Just playing to the crowd. Great seeing you out there smiling your head off and telling me to relax and enjoy myself was priceless . Thanks for keeping it real and slaying like a MODddda FokkKKa. New favourite Wheel Covers are fecking awesome.
...............and 12th fecccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkk yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh.
I know i havent mentioned everyone but ya know I luv yez
Like last year, thanks Machine for help with tear down. The un glam part. With two tons of material to work with, it is a monumental task.
Thanks everyone for another great tourney. Arizona Bike Polo is honored to have you all. The talent and skill level this year was un believable.
See you on the polo road.
JB
I'm going to go ahead and bear the cross and say what many of us are already thinking... this tournament, as a qualifier, was completely unacceptable in a few major ways:
1. The finals were in the dark and I heard that it was the same thing last year. Either get lights or figure out the timing of the games better. There is no excuse for playing in the dark, it's simply a result of poor planning and not doing a good enough job getting teams on the courts in time. Were there any forfeits due to a team not being on the court in time? I doubt it. Were any games started with 2 players because the 3rd was MIA? I doubt it. You can't be afraid of forfeiting teams who don't show up in time because if you don't, the ones that are getting harmed are the best teams, the games at the very end of the tournament will have less daylight. This is tournament planning 101, people.
2. The vast majority of games started with a 3-2-1 polo. Read this (extremely old) thread: http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/rules/2011/05/24/can-we-get-rid-of-the... ... "For the longest time, we've said "3, 2, 1 polo!" to start a game. And we all know that everyone goes on 2. Much of the time the winner of the joust is just whoever jumps the gun more. It's also hard for the ref to watch both teams at opposite ends of the court at the same time to determine if there are any false starts (which wouldn't get called anyway...)." I don't care what NAH rules happens to be right now, but the whistle is obviously the better way of starting a game.
3a. Reffing was, again, completely unacceptable for an NAH qualifier. The fact that one of my swiss games ended at a 4-4 tie without a countdown when the ref said "okay that's game" while I was dribbling the ball backwards to set up a play is laughable. I asked the ref why we didn't have a countdown and he said "I wasn't paying attention" as if that was some sort of exonerating reason. That was exactly the problem, ABQ guy! I saw many, many games where time wasn't called enough or at all. I saw a game where someone asked the ref the time and he said "uh I dunno" because he didn't want to do the math. If there isn't a visible clock, it's the responsibility of the ref to call time at regular intervals as well as counting down from 10, then blowing the whistle. I do not understand why someone would volunteer to be a ref and not understand these things. If you're reffing, you call out time several times a game. That should be obvious, right? And I hate to pick someone out, but Joel from SF did exactly the wrong thing when I contested a call during a game he was reffing. My back wheel was hooked and dragged by a mallet while I had the ball, I footed down, and the other team went to go score a goal. When I was just about to cross half to restart play, he said "hold on, do you want to talk about it?" This is the exact opposite of the approach the ref should have. The ref has the final say, it's not a discussion, period. If, as a ref, you make a bad call, you CANNOT stop the game later on and give the players an opportunity to get even more dissatisfied with your reffing. What are you going to do, call the goal back? Well, that'll just piss off the other team. I don't know how else to say this, but if you don't have an A-type, love-to-speak-in-front-of-crowds, dominant personality, you should NOT be reffing. If you're the kind of person who wants everyone to be your friend and doesn't want to upset anyone, you should NOT be reffing. I saw several instances of refs pausing the game and saying "wait, what happened? Was that the right call?" and things like that cannot happen, especially at a qualifier.
3b. Goal judges were non-committal and swayed by the crowd. Most of the time they just plain didn't say or do anything the entire game.
4. Chanting "cheaters!" at Portland United.... if they were actually doing things outside of the rules, the ref would have been calling it, right? If the ref isn't calling it, shouldn't you be upset at the ref rather than the players? As a player, I routinely push the limits of the rules because it gives me a better chance of winning the game and any sufficiently competitive player will be doing the same. And if I happen to break a rule that I'm trying to bend, I expect the ref to call it. The ref doesn't call it, that's on him. Not to mention how unsportsmanlike this is.
5. Warm and sticky balls. No ball coolers on the first day of a tournament in AZ.... playing bike polo with gumballs isn't fun. The solution to this problem is so easy that it should never be a problem to begin with!
6. Not updating podium for the final games. There were thousands of people on the internet who were watching and thought that the tournament came to a screeching halt. One of the primary goals of podium is giving those not at the tournament a way to receive live updates without having to text someone who is physically there. It can't achieve that goal if the organizers aren't updating it.
7. It looked like the vast majority of PHX people left way before the final 4. Someone told me that several cars full of non-players showed up exclusively to watch the 5th/6th place game between my team and the PHX youngins but left immediately after the game was over. Lack of enthusiasm much?
I think my expectations must be too high despite how easy it is to remedy these problems. I want polo to become a real/pro sport and the things I've mentioned would never be a problem in any pro sport. Imagine an NHL game where someone is controlling the puck, looking for the best shot at a game-winning goal, and then the ref blurts out "okay that's game". Imagine the kind of uproar that would happen both from the players and the crowd. It would be a disaster. It would go down in history. But for polo, things like this happen regularly, most folks don't seem to care, and I seem to care too much. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to ref a major tournament at some point in time, but I doubt that I'll be willing to not play in it.
Now that I'm done being grumpy, here are the things that were awesome about the tournament:
1. THE COURTS! Great surface, boards, and goals. Top-notch, no complaints at all about the courts.
2. The food! Lunch/breakfast were abundant and delicious.
3. The weather! Minus how dry it was. I was breathing through a soaked bandana for several hours a day and I still wasn't making boogers. I upped my water-to-beer ratio two-fold and it still didn't seem to help. I couldn't even tell that I was sweating! It was a blessing and a curse.
It's good to get this stuff out. Serously.
Somebody bring in the sponsors!
1. I understand that extra games were played so that not-quite-podium ranks could be unambiguous. There are trade offs that come with taking it seriously right?
2. I still think that bmx gates are the answer. People can jump a whistle too.
3. Pay refs. Give them a disticnt whistle tone for each court and a megaphone. Pay a big guy to get the ref's back and put a beat down on the loudest of asshole heclkers in the mob if it gets ugly. And proxy apologies if Joel missed seeing something in your game.
4. Viz heckle bouncer.
5. Agreed and great point. Talcum powder is your friend.
6. Pay a non player to do the data entry
7. This will always happen and is another argument for bench team play. Imagine you're in a battle of 40 bands. The best slot is 5th from the last.
For me, overall, this whole tournament was a blast. And like you said any complaints are totally forgivable growing pain style deals.
cheers,
Devin
And like you said any complaints are totally forgivable growing pain style deals.
I never said this and I thoroughly disagree. Polo isn't a growing sport, it's a grown sport. These are problems that we already know the solutions for and just aren't solving.
Let's talk at a tournament in the future ... apologies for my mistake. I should have said that / I / think they're all forgivable and minor relative to things like Machine trying to use a beer can shim instead of a tap and helicoil to stick his left side pedal back in. I thought forgivable was what you were getting at in the post grump part anyway. ;)
Professionalism is definitely in a growth phase though. It's hard to bump up the professionalism when the most knowledgable/experienced are not only volunteers but they're also playing in the tournament.
Let's talk at a tournament in the future ... apologies for my mistake. I should have said that / I / think they're all forgivable and minor relative to things like Machine trying to use a beer can shim instead of a tap and helicoil to stick his left side pedal back in. I thought forgivable was what you were getting at in the post grump part anyway. ;)
Professionalism is definitely in a growth phase though. It's hard to bump up the professionalism when the most knowledgable/experienced are not only volunteers but they're also playing in the tournament.
Amen
I think a possible solution for the organizers in the future is to play out the 5th through 12th place games AFTER the finals.
Talcum powder... made me laugh Devin.
Just for the record on point #1, the Space Invaders had to sub someone in for Machine when he was not there at start. It was either that or start minus one.
Pete,
I don't comment on here much, but I feel the need to let my opinion known just as you have. I do appreciate and respect your input to our tournament as well as the sport as s whole, I hope you appreciate and respect my responses.
1.We had a lot of games played on Sunday and did what we could. Having to play out to 12th place added significant time due to the fact that it doesn't allow for many simultaneous games. Lunch was a respective 15-20 minutes before the next games started. To dispute your "start the game shorthanded" reference, I would actually like to commend all the players for really being on spot. We did not have any significant time delays waiting on players. The occasional minute here and there are annoying, but this tournament was far better than last year's as well as others I've attended as far as player readiness. With that said, if we intend to have a qualifier next year, lights will be a necessity and we will invest accordingly.
2. This is still in discussion as far as ref's are concerned. See 3 for more reffing comments.
3a. Reffing won't get better until we have dedicated, paid, trained refs. Until the national body is ready for that kind of investment, we will be resigned to what is available at each tourney with volunteers. If I limited refs to those who have truly reff'd successfully before we would have had WAY more game delays just due to ref unavailability.
3b. See above.
4.If you can't handle the chanting of the spectators, get off the court. Go to ANY professional game and see if everyone is congenial and cordial to the teams. People will yell, chant, tease, accuse at any match. The ref (see above) will control the game according to the rules and that is the only voice you should be swayed by.
5. Balls. I have two comments:
A: we did have coolers, and we did cool them. People either complained that they were too bouncy or too spongy nearly the whole weekend. With outdoor courts temperature changes will always have an affect on the ball. I know it is annoying but it is the same for both teams, so offers no advantage or disadvantage.
B: We announced at the beginning that we would be playing with Canadians and only Canadians, yet I found reds and even an orange in games throughout the day. This is an issue with the refs, but is also an issue with the players. I know everyone might have a favorite ball, but we play with tourney balls only. I can't point fingers, but those that feel they can make up their own rules at a tournament should know they will be thrown out next time if caught.
6. Podium. I love it!! It is a great tool that makes a certain aspect of running the tourney easier and more enjoyable. As it is a tool, my and Mike's job was to run a tournament, not be continuous Podium updaters. You know as well as I that at the end of a weekend there are a lot of things that must happen and we had some more issues on our hands with the fading light. I, as always, will prioritize tasks when needed and at the end of this tournament Podium was at the bottom of the list. I'm sorry for all the people who had to wait another few minutes to know who won, but Mike and I were busy running a tourney and had to get to that later.
7. I don't know of many PHX guys who left before the awards ceremony. If they had family come up to watch them play, then by all means those fans can leave whenever they want. I know other teams had to leave before the end of the tournament, so please do not point fingers at PHX, we were at those courts from Thursday morning at 9am to Monday night at 7pm. I don't mean to offend, but please don't throw accusations without stats, it looks bad for all of us. Also, please do not ever question the commitment of the PHX player and their families, without them none of this would have been possible.
I think your enthusiasm about and insight into the growing sport (and it is still growing) is great. Turning this enthusiasm into results and positive movement for the sport is the hard part. The governing body is working as it should towards a more stable and professional organization, and we support that. I am glad to see that these tourneys are becoming more professional and less drunk/smoke-a-thons with a little polo on the side. In my opinion, the sport needs more money and more stability, which will come in time with more experience. Getting a major sponsor would help too ... maybe I need to work on a few proposals...
This was a fantastic tournament with a lot of great games and friends. I look forward to seeing everyone again throughout the year all over the country.
Thank you to all the locals and their families who helped out with set up, tear down, operations, food, and moral support. This program only runs smoothly with your approval and support.
Oh, and glad you came out, Pete. It's always good to see you, even if you have problems playing in only one court.
I really hate the "refs won't get better until they're paid" attitude. It's tacitly accepting that reffing is no good while at the same time serving as a blanket excuse for being a lazy ref. Refs can and should be better. As organizers, there's only so much you can do, I understand that and obvious agree that poor reffing isn't the organizer's fault for the most part. It's the fault of the people who volunteer to be refs.
How's this- reffing won't be uniform until the refs are paid. There are few ways to improve (not perfect) this within a volunteer structure, but I would say that the onus of that responsibility is on NAH, not on the organizers of an individual tournament. They can't be expected to train refs from the ground up in the midst of all the other practical requirements of a tournament.
I know there's a different culture up in the northwest, but for the most part, down here we have a stronger adherence to an individual city's discretion in running their own tournament. If that didn't make sense- Phoenix allows NAH to use their longstanding tournament as a qualifier because none of the other cities in our region are able to put together a tournament of the appropriate caliber. And since the refs have to come from somewhere- why not train them at one of the most relaxed tournaments of the official season? I know the rookies from Vegas who stepped up to the plate when no one else was at the court learned a thing or two about making calls, and hopefully they'll now be confident enough in their ability to judge a game to do some good work as goal judges or time keepers at the later tournaments they attend.
Until the NAH organizing body provides a framework for referees, we're all just stumbling in the dark here. We're not yet at a point where we can be too discriminating about who refs our games, at least not at this tournament, where only a fraction of the people who signed on as refs were actual willing to sit a judge a game.
I would agree the onus is on NAH, yes. Progress on this has been made, but too slowly, in my opinion. The rules don't have names for infractions that incur penalties, which makes them very hard to enforce (and understand), especially with refs sitting on the sidelines without a mic. So everything ends up being subjective, or at least feeling to the players like it's subjective, because the communication between ref and players is different for every ref.
I'd also say there's onus on players, especially top level players, to show that they're OK with BEING reffed. Most of us who have gone to tournaments where refs have done their best to enforce the rules have witnessed moments where players have been really disrespectful of these volunteers, way worse than in most sports, including soccer. In baseball you have the theatrics with the coach, which can be hilarious, but it's extremely rare for baseball players (who are probably closest to bike polo players in terms of being substance abusers) to tell the umpires to fuck off.
I'm hoping there will a lot of progress this year on rules. 2011 was the first year for an NAH tour, 2012 will hopefully be the year for more standardization.
This isn't really responding to your comment per se, but more of a general comment.
1. I did not ref, but would like to point out that none of Vegas wanted to ref at all. I heard a couple of comments at the tourney about how Vegas should not be reffing, fine, but I would like to point out that the Vegas crew that did ref were aware of their limitations, expressed them, and were asked to ref anyway. This only occurred because no one else would volunteer. Those of us that volunteered were willing to make the sacrifice of not being able to enjoy the rest of the tournament, talking to friends, and watching other games. This is something that others were unwilling or unable to do. I am only writing this comment I think it was unfair for some to be pointing the finger at Vegas. I also do not think that this was the fault of the organizers, but rather the community who failed to offer assistance when it was needed. One of the great things about polo is the community, I think it failed AZ in a big way at this tourney when it came to reffing.
2. I don't understand the hate towards the organizers regarding the closure of Court A and playing out the middle places on Court B. Yes the closure of A allowed for the bench minor to happen, but I don't think that the bench minor is why Court A was closed. I was obviously not part of the decision making, but if I had to guess I would put my money on the bench minor not happening if more tourney games could have been played. I think it was absolutely done at the right time. From what I observed there were so few teams still in at that point that games were waiting on each other to finish. I do not recall a bracket game which had to wait on a non-bracket game to finish. What I mean by this is the following, and correct me if I am wrong. While the 5th and 6th game was being played on Court B and the Bench Minor was happening on Court A, on Court C was Gardners v. the Dark hourse. That game had to finish before the next because the winner had to play the Guardians to see who would go to the finals. Garners v. Dark Horse was still going well after the Bench Minor and Game on B finished because it went into a crazy 20 min. sudden death. After that Dark Horse asked for a few minutes because they just played an over 30 min game. They were not given much time, less than 5-10 I would say and even at that the organizers were telling them that they had to start right then despite the fact that Dark Horse wanted more time because of the light issue. Needless to say, I just don't see how any more games could have been played. Courts A and B would have just been empty or used for pickup. Then after the final people would have to have really been playing in the dark to figure out what place they got. I admit this does not negate the light issue, but if it had not been for a crazy 20 min sudden death the games would have finished before dark and this was not something the organizers had control over.
3. I would just like to point out, I had a ton of fun, it was an awesome tourney, thank you Tempe and Phoenix, you did an awesome job and Vegas is thankful we were able to take a part in it.
How about making arguing with a ref a penalty? It seems to work in other sports. I'd like to think that the players can have a respect for the reffing calls on their own, but some people just aren't to that maturity level. Giving the ref actual power over players is a fine line, but must be walked in order to get the respect needed. This is something that would have to be trained as we don't want the refs to determine the game based on a questionable call followed by an adrenaline-induced back talk.
We had about 19 people show up for the ref meeting, 7 of which actually reffed. I thought those that attended would understand that they would then be expected to ref and to offer themselves up for the task. I can point fingers here, but won't (I just hope they read this and know that I know). This, as pointed out in another post, is a failure of the community. People need to step up before hand rather than bitch about it afterwards. I know I could have had a list of refs and called on them personally at each game, but we have a hard enough time rounding up players for their game, we don't need to be waiting for refs as well.
Dedicated, non-playing refs would be a solution to this. Let's do that.
People need to step up before hand rather than bitch about it afterwards.
I can't speak for other vets who didn't want to ref, but I didn't want to ref because I knew that my style of reffing would be drastically different than the other refs. I didn't want people asking me to ref later games because I expected to be playing in them...
Dedicated, non-playing refs would be a solution to this. Let's do that.
Agreed.
Thank you Jesus 'tis a heavy cross indeed.
First of all you kind of shot your self in the foot when in one paragraph you profess your aspirations for polo becoming a professional sport, then in the next you bring up your water-to-beer ratio. I'm not to sure how many professional sports include a water-to-beer ratio.
#1. obviously the lights are a major issue, unfortunately the SW region is not Polo heaven (read cascadia) Phx is the best tournament we have and is the hub of our region, the courts ain't moving anytime soon. I'm not happy about it but am willing to accept it; you should to. Solution: starting games minus a player or 2 and less codling of players playing back to back games.
#3. Since this tournament was totally unacceptable for an NAH qualifier the only acceptable thing you can do is to decline your 5th place finish and donate your team's spot at Nationals to my team. thanks in advance.
#4. I agree, hecklers from now on should not chant "cheaters" at Portland but "whiners"
over all I agree, this was a totally horrible tournament and you shouldn't bother coming next year.
p.s. I'm not the "ABQ" guy you mention but at least he tried to ref. you and I were too damn lazy.
It's just plain obvious that REAL professional athletes never drink or use drugs before or during games! David Wells, Chris Andersen, Dock Ellis, John Daly, Len Bias, Theo Fleury, and John Kordic aren't REAL professional athletes.
I think I will come next year since it was nice to get qualifying out of the way early in the year. I think I'm going to keep my spot, sorry pal!
Inigo Montoya: I'm going to duel him left-handed.
Vizzini: You know what a hurry we're in!
Inigo Montoya: Well, is only way I can be satisfied. If I use my right... over too quickly.
oh awesome. PLEASE tell me of the time that Len Bias drank or used drugs before or during a game.
He was a coke fiend, dude.
He was a coke fiend, dude.
so you can't name one time, then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance
my only assertion was that you couldn't back up yours, which so far seems to be correct.
i'll make one more, then let you have the last reply. if you want to be taken seriously, you're much better off stating facts than arguing something that you suppose may have happened.
I think he probably did drugs before or during games and I have some evidence (he died of an OD, it was the 80s, etc) and I don't really feel the need to convince you otherwise. If you think I'm wrong, go right ahead, it's completely tangential. Even if I agreed with you that Len Bias never did drugs in his entire life before his OD, it wouldn't change the fact that I'm right in claiming that drug use by professional athletes is not unheard of. The other guy's claim that I shot myself in the foot by mentioning that I drank beer during polo tournaments while wanting these same tournaments to be more professional is misguided because it already happens in other major sports.
I mean, I'm just sayin...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/memories/bias/launc...
Leonard Kevin "Len" Bias (November 8, 1963 – June 19, 1986) was a first team All-American college basketball forward at the University of Maryland. He was selected by the Boston Celtics as the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft on June 17, but died two days later from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose. He is considered by some sportswriters to be one of the greatest players not to play at the professional level.
LMAO>.@ #4
RE: running out of sunlight...
This almost happened in Seattle at Worlds too... In both cases, the number of courts being used was narrowed down earlier than required. As fun as it is for people to play pickup or have a mini losers tourney, if the there are games lined up, we should use all the courts that are available. The last part of a bracket always takes longer than you would imagine, with teams taking a rest between back to back games, etc...
Great observation!
why were all the places played out? i thought this was only needed for the new displacement rule? which is 9-12 and not applicable here anyways, right?
Chandel (NAH Tournament Committee) asked that we play out ties up to 9th place regardless of the fact that the displacement rule can't affect the first qualifier. I can only speculate but since there isn't a wildcard for 2012 and only 56 teams will qualify this year, this leaves NAH an out to invite more if the 56 qualified teams choose to not attend NA's.
Same with the midwest open. People should definitely remember this point for tournaments in the future!
If a player does something that they know is wrong that the ref didn't see for whatever reason, they should still hold themself responsible for it.
Feb 2012:
if I happen to break a rule that I'm trying to bend, I expect the ref to call it. The ref doesn't call it, that's on him.
Change of heart? Or am i missing some subtle logic that makes these statements congruous? I'm sure you'll let us know. I agree with your more recent statement on a theoretical level, but your arrogant approach needs a reality check, as usual.
this is how i moderate the forum after a few beers.
Change of heart. Back then I thought that refs making the call wasn't realistic. Now I think it is realistic and the onus should be on the ref to make the call. Expecting players to ref themselves at a sufficiently competitive level is silly.
OK.
I hope you had a blast digging through my comment history after drinking a few beers. Happy Thursday, Kevin.
here are the links to the photos from the weekend as posted on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150643901358125.447149.612253...
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150643804158125.447138.612253...
and
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150643146763125.447075.612253...
as soon as i have a link for the photos on my own website, i will post it here.
it was a great time, seriously. who'd have thunk a year ago that i would have even played in this tournament, let alone score a few goals?
Thank you Az for an AWESOME weekened of Polo!! Thank you Mike T, Chris Altman, Davey Carfax, Jeff and to every one else who was part of organizing this tournament, u guys made it happen and we all had a blast!! It was alot of fun to be part of. A big Thank you to all the sponcers, and what can i say about the food... it was delishhhhhh. Thanks to my teammates. Fun times, great polo!!! Lets stay Positive!!
In everyones defense THAT WAS AN AWESOME WEEKEND OF POLO.
Thanks to all of Phoenix for keeping it together and to the volounteer refs Notably Joel (you are a legend reffing that many times in a row ) , Sarah for staying strong ,The whole of Vegas for stepping up to the Challenge when everyone else took a step back,et al . Thanks to Seatilites Rowdy Drew and Andre for being gentleman and allowing Quasi (a far superior player than me) sub for me when i was AWOL and I apologize for not being available for reffing when I had volounteered and for not holding the sun up in the skyfor longer when I had promised to do so. I goal judged , played and fixed my bike.
So, give us our desert back- SW Qualifier in Honolulu 2013!
ok -- another link (this time, not facebook) of the photos from tempe: http://www.dadanation.com/Various-and-sundry/desert-polo-invitational-4/21301409_2c2tnL#!i=1696180092&k=kr9KZkZ
500 photos. that's all.
and if it hasn't been said enough, you all threw one hell of a geat tournament. full stop.
Thanx to Mike and the whole AZ crew for rolling up for the joust on this one and making DPI IV such a massive tournament. Noon on a High Desert Plain is where I'll see y'all for this one. Last year was epic. Sign me up for lights out 5am to 6am every morning, tear down on Monday and everything in between.
"So this is how it ends"MACHINE