Polo News!

Video from the Oregon Bike Polo Championships pre-party at the Polo Haus in Portland a few Fridays ago. Via bikepolo.ca. And in case you missed it, BikePortland did the best job EVER in the history of bike polo feature stories.

But back the the video: Eugene local Danye blocks a goal right at the beginning. Garrett can also be seen sporting his Fudd duds on the court. Skip to 2:40 and see Udelai killing it with what one spectator called an "around and through," lending cred to his Tokyo-style BMX bars. I'm in there, too, losing possession like four times, starting at 1:25. At least my wheel cover looked good. For some reason, at 1:44, someone says, "Cops drink beer, too."

Speaking of polo, beer and police, we had a bit of a run-in with the law last Thursday night. I'll offer a broad narrative, but for those who are into dirty details, a friend recounted his specific experience in a Facebook note.

Polo in Eugene has involved beer, on some level, since it started. A little over a year ago there were fewer than a dozen of us under the bridge. For the three or four people not in play, it was nice to have an adult beverage while spectating to keep the blood flowing close to the skin.

Over time, as more people came, there were more spectators. Some seemed to come just to hang out. With little else to do, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes seemed to be the obvious choice for many.

At some point, I think the beer may have become more important to some than polo. I, for one, can stand to play without Pabst, and intend to do so tonight. Not because I'm afraid of getting busted, but because I love to play polo and want to show everybody that that's enough for me to ride all the way downtown on a low gear, rain or shine, 52 Thursdays a year.

Cheers, and I hope to see more hands holding mallets than Millers this evening. See you under the bridge at eight.