The scene

Hammer time Scruffy sportsmen (and sportswomen) swarmed a decommissioned tennis court last Wednesday, gearing up for the 2008 North American Cycle Courier Championships and the NACCC Bike Polo Tournament, taking place Labor Day weekend. Other highlights will be a trick-riding contest, a labor forum and the Messenger Prom Saturday 30 at the Bottom Lounge (1375 W Lake St, 312-929-2022). Polo organizer Ben Schultz expects the tourney to draw around 30 teams. Played on turf since 1891, traditional bike polo has recently been overtaken by the faster-paced “hardcourt” polo, he says. “Grass is more of a galloping game; this is more like hockey than horses,” Schultz says. Couriers pioneered the hardcourt craze, but nowadays most people who play on Wednesdays at 6:30pm and Sundays at 2pm (best for newbies) are “civilians,” Schultz says. Kalvin Williams, 13, a member of a roller-hockey team that shares the courts, recently took up polo and is still learning to pilot a polo pony. “Last week I flipped over my bike and smacked my elbow,” he admits. The finals for both the courier championship and polo tournament are Sunday 31 in Garfield Park.