i don't think anyone would really have a problem with this.
Machine Politics vs Beaver Boys, May 2011. Photo by Bruce Carver
Unicycles?
Anybody playing polo on unicycles? We have one guy in our crew who plays almost every week in our pickup games. I'm guessing it would not be allowed in tournament play, but there are distinct advantages/disadvantages... he kills it in the corners but has a lower top speed. Running over the ball has also resulted in some pretty amazing falls. A bit like the free/fixed brakes/no brakes discussion, but different. By definition, a UNIcycle is not a BIcycle, so could he play in a BIke polo tournament?
August 14, 2008 - 10:48am
#2
August 14, 2008 - 12:18pm
#3
yeah, I'd say in an average game he dabs more than the average person on a bike and has to run with his unicycle to ring the bell and then re-mount so he is out of play for a bit. when he is on it, the ability to ride forward/back and turn on a dime can be pretty amazing. our crew is cool with it, but was not sure what would happen if we showed up to a tournament with one player on a unicycle...
August 14, 2008 - 12:59pm
#4
my guess is that any kind of minor contact he goes down, and that he would suck as a goalie. and his shot would suffer as he any kind of follow through or reach (ahem) would cause him to fall.
so let him continue to suffer on wheel if he wants to. just sayin...
August 14, 2008 - 1:29pm
#5
I can't imagine someone on a unicycle (regardless of how good they are) as being an extremely strong, fast, and well rounded player. I'd definitely let him play but if he got "serious" about polo he'd prolly wanna switch his steez
August 14, 2008 - 1:42pm
#6
yeah, the three unicyclists that have shown up in toronto and east van lasted a sum-total of about two minutes before they left the court *dragging* their unicycle so we wouldn't take them out any more. they were all nay-sayers but you just can't take a hit on a unicycle.
August 14, 2008 - 10:55pm
#8
I played in Toronto and there was a dude on a unicycle. It was stupid and a waste of time for those waiting to play! We play bike polo. 6 unicycles might work. I don't care if you play moped polo. Not my game. That's about as polite as I can get on this one.
August 15, 2008 - 3:29am
#9
ok, i created that monster. he showed up at the trinity big court and asked if he could play on his uni. i said sure, but didn't think he would be able to stay up, he was kind of arrogant about it. so he got on the court and i proceeded to cut him off and he actually started giving out some hits and some lame-o grabbing. unfortunately i think he figured that was what polo was all about and now he is apparently hooked and somewhat violent. whoops, you just never know what is going to happen, he continues to terrorise the courts.
August 15, 2008 - 11:56am
#10
There is a whole team that plays out here. i think they call themselves the "bastards of taintsore" or something like that... and its funny because they are totally arrogant. me and this polo player were there to practice on a thursday and uni-man was like "uh.. we play here on thursday's... you guys have wednesdays.... " well well well.... we played together for a while, but all they did was bitch about 2 wheels.. on this end.. keep the different polo separate.
Bicycle/cykel/自行車/das Fahrrad/polkupyörä/bicicletta/bicicleta/reiðhjól/fiets/يَرْكَبُ درّاجة هوائ
August 15, 2008 - 2:24pm
#11
like snowboarders and skiers ... there isn't anything inherently wrong with the two styles but they (apparently) don't combine well on the same court which leads to the primary rule: don't be a dick.
If they're just having fun then no problem but once attitudes creep in all best are off - now you're talking personality issues.
[
Hey meg: if you can help us wrangle up bikes jill & I will help you plow over some unicyclists in portland... we have a trip coming up.
]
August 16, 2008 - 11:54am
#12
there are plenty of bikes here to be had... we'll be ready for you guys... im sure we'll see you first though..
Bicycle/cykel/自行車/das Fahrrad/polkupyörä/bicicletta/bicicleta/reiðhjól/fiets/يَرْكَبُ درّاجة هوائ
August 18, 2008 - 12:21pm
#14
This kid kicked ass. He and two clown looking dudes challenged three drunken bicyclists to a match after the Shoreditch Invitational. The 13(?)-year-old scored almost all five goals. Ok, so the two-wheelers were drunk, and the one-wheelers were allowed to shuffle (the crowd screamed SHUFFLE! after every unicyclist goal), and woulda been useless with a mallet but still, i gotta say i was impressed.
August 18, 2008 - 2:44pm
#15
dude, i could stickhandle with a hockey stick around any polo player out there, it's not hard. it's why they use hockey sticks in hockey instead of mallets. canadians are born with hockey sticks in their hands, we know how to use them. it's like saying that one team can shuffle every goal and the other team can't, and on top of that you get to use hockey sticks and two hands. of course they beat them, eight year-olds could do it with hockey sticks. obviously living south of the border has erased some of your cultural hockey memory.
August 18, 2008 - 2:55pm
#16
canadians are born with hockey sticks in their hands, we know how to use them.
weird... so was my nephew:
my family is from upstate ny and his dad grew up on the st. lawrence, but he isn't quite a canadian.
slapdick bike polo - washington dc
August 19, 2008 - 3:37am
#17
relax! all i said was that i was impressed. and ya, with mallets they woulda been fucked. i used to use a mallet sloped 60 degrees, like a hockey stick, for better stick-handling, but that was before madison switched to "hardcore" polo so we could hang with the cool kids.
there was this kid Aidan from south london who uses a slightly sloped mallet like yours, pieter, and he can stick-handle better than anyone else on this side of the Atlantic. didn't see him put in any amazing shots, but his teammate brendan (ontario born) took care of that with his wicked backhand.
April 5, 2010 - 6:06pm
#18
hockey stick?? none of those goals counted....last time I was in TO we played some roller hockey dudes, just for fun....4 bike poloists vs 3 roller hockey guys....they won, but we made them work for it. I think they were a bit surprised.
August 19, 2008 - 2:02pm
#19
to be fair.. i was toasted! as were my team mates.. and the unicyclists when elbowed slapped us in the head!
August 19, 2008 - 3:30pm
#20
Unicyclists and Bicyclists don't mix. Whew!
I haven't thought of banning any type of bicycle from a tournament but a unicycle would be rough to have in a game. I think they would get hurt while on top of that having zero turning radius is a pretty big advantage.
What Kevin didn't mention was how silly that kid (he was 15) looked when trying to get to a decent speed, I wanted to just tell him to get off and run.
I guess having a unicycle team in a tournament as an experiment would be interesting, but I wouldn't want to be the team/s that has to play them.
There is a big Unicyle hockey contingent here and at Shoreditch Festival,they also had a tournament the same time as ours. I think best kept separate.
August 21, 2008 - 8:58am
#21
if you're just having a bit of a hit and giggle then I don't see the problem.
Tournaments would be less appropriate though because using different tools means it's not an equal playing field.
September 22, 2008 - 9:38am
#22
just stumbled upon this thread. i think this might be my first post (long time lurker, yadda yadda).
anyway, i play with liam and said unicycler every week. he's getting better and better and it's at the point that i think his benefits outweigh anything we can possibly muster on two wheels.
i'm torn if that means we shouldn't allow uni's or not. i mean, i can't stay upright on one, let alone swing a mallet and avoid us two wheelers.
but he's just so damn maneuverable. until we can all do stationary keo-spins (to turn literally on a dime like he can) and ride backwards all the way down the court whilst dribbling i think his advantages are somewhat paramount.
i gotta find some pictures of that guy in a full on sprint at 45 degrees mad pinwheeling that mallet.
September 23, 2008 - 2:40pm
#23
so... me and the unicycle dudes really dont get along.. they put some art on our court that... someone happened to hand me a sharpie and now... its war. (stencil is on website) I added hulla hoops and a thought bubble thats says "im sad... my penis is so small"
check out this sit.....
not to mention they got a half page spread on the Oregonian the following week.. boo....
since they dont know is me... and they think its a dude... eric and i were thinking of making a stencil with me with a huge strap on.... my strap on is bigger than your real penis! sucka!
or a poem...
i have 2 wheels
you have 1
i have 2 boobs
you have none
Bicycle/cykel/自行車/das Fahrrad/polkupyörä/bicicletta/bicicleta/reiðhjól/fiets/يَرْكَبُ درّاجة هوائ
October 1, 2008 - 7:46am
#24
Those unicycle guys seem rude. Our unicycle guy is friendly and awesome. Except when hes on the other team and near the cones with the ball.
He definitely has an advantage around the goal. But he cant sprint for the ball and is too slow to break away. Court size definitely plays a role in how effective he is. We could call offsides on hime if he hangs around the opposing goal. And we shouldnt be afraid of making contact with him the way we normally would.
Lets get Uni Walt in on this conversation.
April 2, 2010 - 11:40am
#27
Bike Polo Season Opener from Liam Griffin on Vimeo.
If you mute it you don't have to listen to Pennywise. Cool rink, dude playing on a unicycle, use the nets!
April 3, 2010 - 5:28pm
#28
oh come on, don't hate on Pennywise... old school snowboard video soundtrack FTW.
unicycle guy had not been on that thing all winter, so he was not really killing it. None of us were, actually...
April 3, 2010 - 7:31pm
#29
I wasn't hating on anything but the music. You guys are rocking it. Cool video and that court is wicked.
April 9, 2010 - 1:31pm
#30
I love our court.
Super smooth and fast, nice curbs and an epic location right on the waterfront bike path...
Right next to the skatepark and the lake.
I'd say half our players discovered polo by just riding by on the path and getting heckled into playing.
April 5, 2010 - 6:16pm
#31
I'd let him play....I'd say any advantages he may have in manouverability would be far outweighed by his lack of speed, and I'm pretty sure a little bit of shoulder would put him down just about everytime. (we play on a pretty big court here...I think he'd hate it. )
- sweet court by the way.
April 6, 2010 - 1:42am
#32
Meanwhile in Adelaide...
http://bikepoloadelaide.blogspot.com/2010/04/aftermath.html
The Sunday Tournament has come and gone. The victors were victorious and the losers were bruised and battered.
We managed to scrape together 11 players for 3 teams.
The Teams were:
Pissed Off: Dan, Stephen and Andrew
The Vampire Bunnies: Sam, Tom, Ben and Scott (unicycle)
The Mallet Mullets: Steph, Suede (unicycle), Colin and Neil.
and
http://bikepoloadelaide.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-for-one-welcome-our-new-s...
Who's new
- polophil - Hamburg
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Recently added polo bikes
Shrug; I'd let him play. A tricycle I'd argue against but dabbing has to be as much of a problem for a unicycle as it is for a bicycle -- and he can't be as effective in goal. There are advantages/disadvantages to all sorts of bike configurations.
If it turns out that the style is all wrong (like mixing ski's and snowboards on a small hill) then maybe they should start a unicycle polo league but wait until there is a problem before banning anything.