Polo practice in Sacramento, CA

[polo_pro]

No one's going to be surprised when I say a group of gliders is getting together regularly in Sacramento...to play POLO! We've never had a user group here, so to be honest, not all of them play polo. I know a few just like to watch, and prefer the group glides afterwards. Maybe these folks will organize a local SEG.

But you know what my focus is. P O L O ! ! ! So if you're in the area and want to try something different, conact me. You can PM me, email me (via the forum) or just reply in this thread. I'll get you in contact with the person doing the organizing.

ps - So far it's been weekly, but I'd guess it'll end up being every 1st and 3rd Saturday to support Segway polo down in the Bay Area.

[Mr_Laurenzano]

I'm in. Crash:confused:

[SEGsby]

Hopefully they will allow Segways on the new Bullet Train...

SEGsby

[polo_pro]

Heading out right now for polo practice in Sac!

[David Long]

Heading out right now for polo practice in Sac!

I've been taking the ball-n-mallet to work, and practicing during lunch.

[David Long]

Segway Polo practice in Elk Grove, about 12 miles South of Sacramento, has lately been done on the Saturday before Sunday's Sunnyvale game, usually at 12:00 Noon.

This map indicates the route to take to reach the Segway Polo practice. X marks the approximate polo practice field location:

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc229/BlueD_01/eg-polo.jpg

This map indicates the way to enter the parking lot on Saturdays. There's only this one way in and out. X marks where to park, while the dashed line indicates the path to take to reach the field:

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc229/BlueD_01/eg-polo2.jpg

MONTEREY TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL
8661 Power Inn Road
Elk Grove, CA

[polo_pro]

Nice map David (and I like the avatar)! You might think about making one for the Sunnyvale polo match when they start using the new "regular" field later next month.

I've also put our practice on the Segway Chat calendar ( http://forums.segwaychat.com/calendar.php ) as a regularly scheduled event. Back in August I put the polo match down in Sunnyvale on the calendar, but I don't think anyone noticed it.

[polo_pro]

Looks like we'll have a few more people coming out to play polo at our next practice! The folks at Liberty Segway ( http://forums.segwaychat.com/showthread.php?t=17122 ) are interested in joining in. They've just started a tour company here in Sac, and of course I'll be pointing my fellow polo players to all the online resources I know that'll help make them a success.

ps - It was ironic hearing their lament about how hard it is to get in contact with other segway owners. Seems like a perfect topic to write some lyrics and build a song around, eh? I thought we had a few more musically inclined SC members...but they usually make joyful songs about their first ride. Not many folks make long mournful songs about how hard it is to find fellow gliders!

[David Long]

Looks like we'll have a few more people coming out to play polo at our next practice! The folks at Liberty Segway are interested in joining in. They've just started a tour company here in Sac, and of course I'll be pointing my fellow polo players to all the online resources I know that'll help make them a success.

Glad to hear!

[Mr_Laurenzano]

Steve: What time is the first chuck? I have a 4.5 hour drive.
If I have a HT from my area that needs service can you all help me out?
I need to borrow a malet, is that cool?
Is there anyone from SoCal comming, car pool?
Im working on that riff, "Not many folks make long mournful songs about how hard it is to find fellow gliders!", It's a transitional mix of Metallica, Social Distortion and the DMB.
It will be nice to meet the Liberty Crew. Fellow Gliders.
Red Key Right?
Crash
~Where did I put my helmet?...
Tony.

[polo_pro]

Steve: What time is the first chuck? I have a 4.5 hour drive.
If I have a HT from my area that needs service can you all help me out?
I need to borrow a malet, is that cool?
Is there anyone from SoCal comming, car pool?
Im working on that riff, "Not many folks make long mournful songs about how hard it is to find fellow gliders!", It's a transitional mix of Metallica, Social Distortion and the DMB.
It will be nice to meet the Liberty Crew. Fellow Gliders.
Red Key Right?
Crash
~Where did I put my helmet?...

Tony, all the info is on http://www.bayareaseg.com/Polo.htm and if you look at the SC calendar, you'll see I've listed all the upcoming matches (along with the above link). So if you find yourself in NorCal on the 1st or 3rd weekend of any month, come out and join us. On Saturday, we practice in Elk Grove at noon, and on Sunday, we play in the match down in Sunnyvale at 11AM. Don't worry about a mallet...we have plenty to spare! But just as you said, definitely bring your helmet.

As to servicing your segway, Steve Steinberg of Segway of Oakland usually plays with us, and he's a whiz when it comes to diagnosing/fixing segways. He's seen it all and knows the inner workings of the segway intimately.

If you plan to make a trip up here, I suggest preparing. First, get contact information to/from the organizers (or just sign up for the Bay Area SEG mailing list on Yahoo). This way if weather forces us to cancel, you'll be in the loop. It is winter, and so far we've been lucky...it's only been raining during the week. Second, contact Steve Steinberg to make sure he's going to be at polo when you come. He's very busy with the Angel Island tours, and if you're going to come all this way I'd actually plan a couple extra hours to visit him up in Oakland and maybe take the ferry across to Angel Island for the tour. Lastly, explain to Steve over the phone what symptoms you're seeing. This way he might be able to bring some parts to quickly narrow the problem down to a particular component.

Miscellaneous stuff...looking forward to hearing your riff. Not many people commented on my suggestion...glad to see SOMEONE was paying attention. And yes, red key for polo (or at least red turn speed since turning at your expected rate is far more important than what speed you go).

ps - While there was alot of discussion about going to NorCal (for Woz World Cup or just a match) among SoCal players last year, I seem to be the only one that actually took the time to do it. Part of the reason I could do it was because of my move to Sac this year. I'd just time trips so that I went through the Bay Area on Sunday morning.

We have had NorCal gliders/players make the trip to SoCal, but that was for the mini-Segfest back in July in Long Beach.

[Mr_Laurenzano]

I got a hold of steve, he will bring the parts I need and if need be we will get 'Doc's' red fixed. If I have time after sundays game I would like to tour around with segofoak.
I will see you all at practice on Sat. It should be really cool.
Crash

[polo_pro]

Well, folks, we're getting one heck of a turn out up here in Sacramento. We'll definitely have the requisite 8 players for practice tomorrow (Sat noon). And we may have upwards of 10! About half the players are experienced, and at least 6 are planning to come down to Sunnyvale the next day for the match.

If you're a glider in the Sac area, now's a great time to stop on by and join the fun. We're friendly, patient and inclusive, so don't hesitate to join us!

ps - A big thank you to the folks driving literally hundreds of miles from Grover Beach and Redwood City to join us. It's dedication like that which makes this sport great!

[polo_pro]

Practice in Elk Grove went incredibly well! We had 11 people show up, 10 played (including many new players) AND 9 are going down to Sunnyvale tomorrow for the polo match (and live feed to the web). I really couldn't have hoped for more. We definitely reached critical mass today up in Sac, and I have no doubt many of the new players will return for the next practice. (I structured it more like our SoCal matches where experienced players work closely with new players in more of a mentoring environment.)

The folks from Liberty Segway tours (here in Sac) joined us along with Mr L! While we've spoken on the phone a few times, this is the first time Tony and I met in person. And I must say I was quite impressed...very friendly and skilled in gliding around on segways. Mr L missed the first few chukkers due to traffic, but with his arrival the intensity on the field increase once he got into play. Also, we went from being evenly matched at 2-3, to a complete blow out of 9-4 with Mr L's team trouncing the other team!

We ended up skipping drills instead opting for the free style play with lots of yelling of encouraging comments as new players spread their wi...I mean, swung their mallets and developed their style of play. Afterwards, Dave Yost set up an obstacle course race and over half the people who still had juice in their batteries raced through the slalom course. Everyone felt this was the best get together we've had since the parade in Fair Oaks when Bay Area SEG came up to Sac!

ps - So how'd things go on the "other" coast? I saw the other polo event on the calendar today.

[wwhopper]

ps - So how'd things go on the "other" coast? I saw the other polo event on the calendar today.

So we are going back to it when the weather breaks. GO Annapolis Crab Mallets, beat the Oyster Shooters!

We also had Brazilian TV following us, so they missed it too!

[segsurfer]

Will, please keep me posted on future polo meets. I have to try it once so at least I can say I have, if I'm good, who knows... If I'm bad, at least I'll have had some fun.:)

[wwhopper]

Will, please keep me posted on future polo meets. I have to try it once so at least I can say I have, if I'm good, who knows... If I'm bad, at least I'll have had some fun.:)

We have a number of folks who have shown a real interest in this here in the Mid-Atlantic. Now to get them all together in one place at one time.

We have the mallets, we have the balls - and there is a copy of the rules up on the DC SEG yahoo site.

And now with a bunch of the new guys with their segs, they are pumped for it.

[segsurfer]

Sounds good, I'm pumped to try my hand at some polo with the seg4vets recipients. Hoorah:D

-segsurfer

[Mr_Laurenzano]

Sounds good, I'm pumped to try my hand at some polo with the seg4vets recipients. Hoorah:D

-segsurfer

...Its real and fun
after 30 it's done
have ride in glide.

Hey california Hello????
Crash
...fopa.
:cool:

[t1perry]

I just "tuned back in" to SC and found this action in Sacto. W O W!!! Thanks for starting this local event.

I have Segway experience but no polo experience. Am willing to learn.

I see the 1st & 3rd weekend info.
How can I tell when 2nd or 4th Sat is happening? Is there a mailing list?

Ted

[polo_pro]

I just "tuned back in" to SC and found this action in Sacto. W O W!!! Thanks for starting this local event.

I have Segway experience but no polo experience. Am willing to learn.

I see the 1st & 3rd weekend info.
How can I tell when 2nd or 4th Sat is happening? Is there a mailing list?

We actually practiced yesterday. Being just before Xmas, the turnout wasn't that great, but everyone had a great time and we played till our batteries were drained!

We have two polo weekends coming up on Dec 29-30 and Jan 5-6 (and all of this is in the calendar if you click on the link on the above menu bar). On Saturday of each weekend, we practice at noon on Saturday up here in Sacramento. Then the next day, we play a match down in Sunnyvale. So there's plenty of opportunities to join us, and we do carpool down to Sunnyvale if you want to save on gas (plus you get to meet alot of folks in the segway community...it's like a mini segfest).

What do you need to do? Well, I just sent you my contact information in a private message here within Segway Chat. You can respond in kind, or just left click on my name over there on the left and send me an email (and you don't need my email address to do that). Finally, if you talk to your local dealer, Norris at Carmichael Honda, he'd instantly refer you to me if you express any interested in polo.

ps - We have someone interested in putting together a Sac SEG website and run the organization, so you'll see progress on that front early in the new year. I've sorta been holding off on encouraging folks to put time and effort into this until Segway INC comes out with their new format for local user groups. How long has it been since SEG America disbanded....4 months? Anyways, I would imagine this project would involve the creation of mailing lists.

[hellphish]

Sac SEG could also just be called SEG for Sacremento EPAMD Group!

[polo_pro]

Just like we were rained out this weekend, the weather forecast predicts a big storm moving through next weekend. Rain predicted Fri through Mon, so it doesn't look good.

Early indications were that we'd have a dozen polo players up here in Sac. But at this point, I have to ask that everyone keep an eye on the forecast and be prepared to cancel polo plans this coming weekend (especially the four people driving up for the practice in Sac and then down to the match in Sunnyvale on the next day). PM me if you need a phone number to call before you leave.

[Mr_Laurenzano]

hell
phish
flat feet, comonopenthre garage.
what????
see ya may or not.

[polo_pro]

I know it's last minute and all (given the threatening rain/storms all last week and this week too), but we're on for Sat Sac polo practice. If any polo players from the Bay Area can't wait till next weekend for their fix, we might be able to arrange a carpool up. I know some people are planning to come up already.

I expect at least 8 or 9 this Sat, and even more the following Sat when we'll likely have visitors from Central Coast (and possibly Oregon).

ps - No one's allowed to do rain dances anywhere in the Bay Area or Sac for the next 10 days!

[polo_pro]

This week's practice went pretty well. The field was certainly damp, and we had a few last minute cancellations (including one that involved a chainsaw to the hand?!) But we still had 7 people on the field and barely enough mallets.

A long time SC member, t1perry, stopped by to try polo out for the first time. He fences so he had some of the basic ball handling skills. He might not have been able to knock the ball across the field like me, but t1perry could really poke that ball away from you when you're dribbling down field.

Long term weather forecasts for NorCal say the slightest of chances of showers all week through Sat, and then possibly showers on Sunday. So hopefully it'll be a polo weekend next Sat/Sun, and I'm guessing we could have as many as 11 people practicing up in Sac just before the match down in Sunnyvale!

Now for the big question...will MacGeek come join the fun? (Mr L is already planning to come!)

[polo_pro]

mhbungay contacted me via PM regarding polo in the Sacramento area. Mike, I replied back with a PM with my phone number, so check there if you can. If you can't get at your PM's because you're new, add an email address to your profile and I'll email my phone number to you. My email address is nmplo {A-T) h0t mai lnospam D0T} com...you'll need to unmunge that

[Five-Flags]

... My email address is xxxxxxxx...you'll need to unmunge that


Polo's been taking lessons from Crash.... Nearly incomprehensible!!:D:D

[Desert_Seg]

...My email address is nmplo {A-T) h0t mai lnospam D0T} com...you'll need to unmunge that

Even if I didn't know that Polo was a software guru, I would have guessed from his use of unmunge.

Not many people know what munging is...and he provided a good example with his e-mail addy.

Steven

[Five-Flags]

... Not many people know what munging is...and he provided a good example with his e-mail addy.

Steven


So true! It also reminded me of some ghastly memories of APL on an IBM 360!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Desert_Seg]

DP? CT? Not many sailors know code.

Steven

[Five-Flags]

DP? CT? Not many sailors know code.

Steven

Nope, AT. Mostly ECM. However, when working on my BS in Comp Sci, I (somewhat) learned to gargle some APL along with a few other off-the-wall slanguages.

[Desert_Seg]

Nope, AT. Mostly ECM. However, when working on my BS in Comp Sci, I (somewhat) learned to gargle some APL along with a few other off-the-wall slanguages.

I started out as an AE (H2 / P3), did just under 8 years before I cross-rated to IS.

I had the good fortune (?) of getting to learn Fortran, Cobol, Snobol, Assembly, APL, Pascal, and a few other strange languages that have long since faded away when I was getting my Comp. Sys. degree.

Steven

[Five-Flags]

Been there, done them. The joys of taking FORTRAN and COBOL the same semester, on punch cards. A COBOL "Hello, World!" program took 300 cards.

Not that anyone would stick out a foot & trip someone carrying a box....

[Desert_Seg]

Been there, done them. The joys of taking FORTRAN and COBOL the same semester, on punch cards. A COBOL "Hello, World!" program took 300 cards.

Not that anyone would stick out a foot & trip someone carrying a box....

We had to write the same "Hello World" cards...and, nope, I don't know anything about tripping a freshman carrying hundreds of non-banded punch cards (though I bet he won't do it again!). :rolleyes:

Those were the days...working days, nights in the computer lab writing code, never seeing daylight. But loving every minute of it!

Steven

[Five-Flags]

... Those were the days...working days, nights in the computer lab writing code, never seeing daylight. But loving every minute of it!

Steven

And, sadly, these youngsters have never seen the incredulous looks when a six-foot-tall Burroughs high-speed printer shoots an entire box of 11x14 greenbar paper over 8 feet out the front in less than 5 seconds,

But, of course, I never knew anything about THAT command string... :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Desert_Seg]

And, sadly, these youngsters have never seen the incredulous looks when a six-foot-tall Burroughs high-speed printer shoots an entire box of 11x14 greenbar paper over 8 feet out the front in less than 5 seconds,

But, of course, I never knew anything about THAT command string... :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Muahahahaha, I was the person who got to experience THAT event. It scared the bejesus out of me 'cause I was expecting a small 3 or 4 page printout, not a forest of paper attacking me!

My favorite was waiting for the guy printing his code and making the printer print one word per page...each and every time he printed it. He (or she) would cancel the print after about 100 hi-speed pages. Go back, look at their code. Print again. Same results. Repeat. We could do this for hours, or until they moved to a terminal that we couldn't capture.

I went to RPI (upstate NY) for Engineering, Nebraska for Business (yes, there are Navy in Nebraska!). Where di you go?

Steven

[polo_pro]

Hmph...my polo thread has been hijacked!

ps - I could have rot13'ed it if you wanted. Then no one but an old school software guy would have known how to unmunge it, eh?

[hellphish]

the new school kids would just look up rot13 on google, now that you said something.

[Desert_Seg]

Hmph...my polo thread has been hijacked!

ps - I could have rot13'ed it if you wanted. Then no one but an old school software guy would have known how to unmunge it, eh?

Why not just really confuse folks and rot13 then munge it. That will make things pretty interesting...but then you probably wouldn't ever get an e-mail.

Steven

[Mr_Laurenzano]

5th degree.
Senior Resistance, just sitting on the side lines wondering what feels right. Hotel well, lasting a night? Well nice, eh. Stabiscope15dc-fuginon and will trade for TRS80.
What are you talking about?
Steve and Mr. Long : Largest outcome?; should I bring more punch cards?
After a long 300 mile ride in a sit down vehicle I wonder what a fiber shaft will snap like.

[polo_pro]

5th degree.
Senior Resistance, just sitting on the side lines wondering what feels right. Hotel well, lasting a night? Well nice, eh. Stabiscope15dc-fuginon and will trade for TRS80.
What are you talking about?
Steve and Mr. Long : Largest outcome?; should I bring more punch cards?
After a long 300 mile ride in a sit down vehicle I wonder what a fiber shaft will snap like.

Well, we may have a spare carbon fiber shaft for you, but they're a bit more than the usual $26 standard mallet. If you want to snap it, hey, it's your money. We only take cash...no returns! 8^) 8^) 8^)

ps - For the rest of you, I've never seen a standard polo mallet snap. Ever. They bend. They bend ALOT. They may even be bent for a little while. But that bamboo does the job!

[polo_pro]

The practice went very well today. We had a few last minute cancellations, but we still had 10 people out there (plus a few spectators including the local Segway dealer) on a VERY nice day.

We tried a new approach of splitting up people onto teams based on squads, and it went quite well. Even with three strong players on one team, having squads let us refine parts of our game that can't be addressed with drills. Obviously passing skills improve, but we got some nice bonuses too. This approach caused certain players to get double teamed alot, so they didn't have the option to dribble around and then swing when they felt comfortable. They had no choice but to swing FAST or they got swarmed and stripped. Also other player's leadership style came forth making their squad that much better. I heard alot more talk on the field (rather than just following along), and these folks were making good decisions independently. Finally, I noticed certain players were able to anticipate where their fellow squad members wanted them as plays unfolded. So scoring opportunities were increased significantly.

I'm intrigued by the strategies that develop using this approach. We're learning alot while having mucho fun. I'd suggested this "squad" concept a few months back at the Sunnyvale match, but the idea was shot down. Oh well...too bad for them.

ps - Mr L came up to play with us...that's always exciting. Though putting him on an X2 ended up giving us all a surprise! I'm looking forward to seeing his interpretative narrative about that small episode (especially since some of the other players read SC and might give us their view points)! BTW, Mr L...thx for the offer of the hypertronics handlebars!

[Mr_Laurenzano]

So, George, he lives down at the market from my house asked me: ‘where your voice went?’
Hoarsely as a dry onion I chucked out the following mixed whisper chuckles.

“I was playing polo on my ‘segwahh’ in Sacramento.”
‘Ya’
“Do you~even know what that is?”
‘No’
Ol’boy is watching tattooing show.
It’s hard to laugh after polo with the best, but I gave it my best.

“Dude I have a Monday though Friday just like you, where I can’t yell a “+x(embolysis)-x”, that’s what I did this weekend, knocked one out. You know my ride.”

This post is a reflection of rushing home, scoring a goal, finding the crew that do.

I would like to give the highest regarded kudos, blink and stairs, undertones, early is and not, show and lie, hand shakers, nod and winkers, put uppers, marvelous teeth and smiles, cookies and goals, dogs and kids, learners and gliders, onlookers and wonder, If.

This scab on my face will reflect a revolving door demo.


The only pedestrian is one who stands still, “Im just gliding by Page 81. Z, you grotto see this.


George did you see that?
‘Ya’
Crash in rare form

[pam]

Hey, Polo, I see you got another convert! :)
Pam

[Mr_Laurenzano]

Hey, Polo, I see you got another convert! :)
Pam

Im the converter.
I post at will, stand in awe, and smile when my back is turned.
that is a itch that needed to be scratched.
Drop word!
taber's cyclopedia

vasorelaxationversion- The post status of vas differance, in a morphosis ways.

inside joke. :)
:D

[polo_pro]

After being rained out far too many weekends this year, we finally got some good weather and plan to make the most of it! So, polo practice at the usual time (noon) on the usual day (Saturday) at the usual place (Monterey Trails HS in Elk Grove, CA)!!

ps - We'll be doing a polo practice on Sunday too...check the San Jose parade thread for more details.