Hord and Rozzi take 2 on 2 tournament

Coolavin Park
Saturday October 25

With a sudden death joust 2-1 victory over Andy Stith and Ben Wood in a thrilling championship game, Kyle Hord and Mike Rozzi completed their improbable run through the loser's bracket to capture the Lexington 2 vs. 2 Inter-City Bike Polo Tournament and Velo Swap this past Sunday at Coolavin Park.

Acting Bluegrass State Games Commissioner of Bike Polo Brian Turner described the day's action best when he stated, “"You couldn't have asked for a prettier Fall day to hold a polo tournament and velo swap. Hearts were broken, blood was shed, names were called and many bike parts were swapped." All in all, the tournament proved to be one king hell of an event.

After the fevered excitement of the early afternoon velo swap subsided, tournament play began in earnest around 1:30 P.M. The 2 vs. 2 tourney format represented a slight departure from standard bike polo rules and regulations. Rather than play to a fixed score and pit teams of three against each other, the Inter-City format developed by Dogtown operator Chris Simpson featured randomly-drawn teams of two playing fixed 10 minute games. (Commissioner Turner reportedly OK'd the changes.)

In effect, the changes made for a competitive tournament filled with plenty of offensive fireworks. As Brad Flowers commented between sobs over a Game 1 loss to teammates Shane Tedder and Katie Jo, the randomly drawn teams created parity. “The format mixes the best and the newest of players together, so it has a middling or evening effect, in a good sense, and so you have to re-adjust what you know about the game.”

Nowhere was this re-adjustment more evident than with Hord and Rozzi, affectionately known as Murder Town. The future champions were bested 4-3 in their first match and effectively began the tournament in the loser's bracket, but they learned quickly and peeled off six consecutive victories en route to the championship..

Their only loss came in a first round blood match, turned instant classic, that pitted Murder Town against Blood Brothers, comprised of the Commish Brian Turner and Boyd Shearer. Hord took the opening joust and first zigged around a fast-closing Turner before then zagging around a lifeless Shearer for a breakaway shot and score. Shearer evened the score less than a minute later for Blood Brothers when he flipped a backhand shot past Hord to the delight of the crowd.

From there, each team went on 2-goal mini-runs to bring the score to a 3-3 tie with approximately 1:48 left in regulation game play. From here, the two teams battled to a bloody draw until the closing seconds of the match. Then, with ten seconds to play a visibly bloodied Shearer shook free in front of the goal where Rozzi stood guard. The ball went into Shearer, who collided with Rozzi, sending both players flying from their bikes and Shearer blood splatter on a six foot north by northwestward trajectory. Before collapsing to the ground on top of Rozzi in a bloody mass, though, Shearer managed to stay aloft long enough to send a dribbler through the cones for a 4-3 Blood Brothers victory.

Hord and Rozzi would rise from the ashes of the disappointing and messy defeat, though, and win their next six games enroute to their well-deserved championship trophies.

Notes:
Tedder's return to action
Shane Tedder returned to the court after a month-long absence, but you wouldn't know it from the box score.
Tedder, who recently became a proud pappa, finished second in tournament goals scored with a staggering 16 points before retreating back home before the tournament championship game, reportedly to help feed or re-diaper his child. To keep this number in perspective, tournament points leader Kyle Hord of the championship winning Murder Town scored 17 points in 7 tournament matches; Tedder's furious 16 goal eruption came in only 4 tournament games.
One thing seems evident: the former Tripple Lexx member still retains his characteristic burst of speed.

Chris Simpson: King of the reach-around
In game 7 action, Chris Simpson pulled off a fairly rare feat: the triple reach-around. The reach-around, where a player from behind the goal reaches his mallet around only to jab the ball back through the cones for a score, is one of the more difficult shots in bike polo. To pull off a reach-around, one must be equal parts cunning, quick, lucky, firm, and precise.

Simpson's first reach-around came at the 1:40 mark on an assist from teammate Andy Stith. Less than a minute later, Simpson scored again on another reach-around, this time giving it to his competitor, Shane Tedder while Stith looked on intently from two feet away. By the time Simpson had his third reach-around, at the 4:00 minute mark after a Tedder footdown near the goal, the player seemed clearly spent—and frankly, disinterested.

It takes a certain amount of stamina to pull out two reach-arounds in one match, but to pull it a third time is just about unheard of. To have the stamina for three in an incredibly short 4 minute time-span brings Simpson to near cult hero status.

Garnett and Rozzi create trophies
Trophies for the first, second, and third place teams were reportedly donated by players Patrick Garnett and Mike Rozzi. Garnett, who welds, created the trophies from various bike parts. Though players commended his welding, some questioned its effects on Garnett's bike polo game. One player, who requested anonymity for fear of on-court reprisal, observed, “As soon as Pat started his welding job, his offense just died.”
Garnett finished in last place with teammate Matt Burton, losing both their games in unspectacular fashion.

Rozzi a new force on the scene
Tournament co-champion Mike Rozzi is a recent transplant to Lexington. Rozzi moved this past summer from West Virginia and met up with some bike polo fellows through Bike Lexington and Alley Cats channels. “It's great. It's nice to enter a city and right off meet a community like this,” Rozzi noted.
Still a rookie, Rozzi came into the day as a wildcard. His August arrival—after this past summer's Bluegrass Games State Tournament—meant that he was relatively untested in harsh tournament conditions where he would go up against bruisers like Alex Brooks. While he's still learning the nuances of the game, this much is evident: the rookie has exhibited a quick pedal and a feathery brake hand.

Long live Bill
The velo swap, essentially a flea market for buying or trading bike supplies and parts, preceded the tournament by several hours. The small-time vendors simply displayed their wares starting around 11:00 A.M. in the bike pit separating courts 1 and 2. Throughout the day players and spectators swapped and bought well-priced things such as seven speeds with Shimano breaks, sprocket-less frames, handlebars, frameless sprockets,and various chrome-colored biking trinkets and gadgets. Tripple Lexxx member and reach-around expert Chris Simpson hawked bike polo t-shirts.

The biggest uproar of the day occurred when Bill arrived packing some serious bicycle heat. His appearance, with all manner of bikes and spokes and sprockets, with two different plastic pullout drawers of bike parts—some even having “Italian shit” in them—mesmerized both the crowd and players. The courts emptied; the grill was left un-womaned. One vendor, who espied Bill, started bouncing up and down against the plywood walls of the bike pit, screaming at the top of his lungs for Bill to drive his truck and trailer of bike goodies right up to the gate.

Everything stopped, even the tournament, which was postponed thirty minutes to allow the frenzy at Bill's to subside.