The Story Behind “Pickup Polka”
In the mid eighties, when I was a student at the University of Wisconsin, I played a lot of pickup basketball. There was an unwritten rule in the gym that the person who had the largest boom box got to choose the music. One day someone set down an enormous boom box and turned it on. It had a repetitive rap song that included the lyrics “s,su,s,su,suck my d*#!” in various patterns and cadences. People in the gym were more than a little startled, but could do nothing about it, because, well, he had the biggest box, and you didn’t dare turn off someone else’s boom box. For some reason that memory stayed in my head for years.

In the early nineties, my brother worked for a German shoe company. During his time there I had hatched the idea of a team of players weaving up and down the court to accordion music, then leaving. When the other players asked them questions about who they were and where they came from, they said only the name of their shoes.

When the shoe company released my brother for no apparent reason, I shelved the idea.

After moving to Madison four years ago, I wanted to make my own short film. My parents stopped by my house one day and put on a cd by Steve Meisner. The first song I heard was "Achtung", from "Meisner Magic". It revived interest in my little accordion basketball idea.

I wrote Pickup Polka in December of 2000. I then sent the six page script to Steve Meisner to see if he would be interested in playing for me. He was hesitant at first, but when I explained that the idea would not make fun of polka music, he was good to go.

I then sent a copy to my friend John Moriarty, highlighting his part. He and I used to play “H-O-R-S-E” in Chicago quite a bit. John had a half court shot that he used almost every time we played. John was one of the more experienced Gaffers in Chicago and I knew he could help me shoot the film as well as (hopefully) make the dramatic, game-winning half-court shot. With John signed on I had a director of photography and two fifths of my polka team.

I posted flyers at the YMCA to try and draw more players. After getting no calls, I began to scour the morning and noon games to see who would be interested. Pete Benton, a computer programmer who I played with in the mornings, became a polka player and was very helpful in lobbying players to join up. Dave Milke joined on as another polka player. At this point I was about two months away from shooting.

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I had driven to Whitewater about three times to run back and forth in a gym while Steve Meisner played to try and work out some of the timing. I'll never forget the first night I was there. I had reserved the local National Guard Armory, but something got confused so it wasn't available. Steve and I drove around town until we found a school yard that had basketball hoops outside. It was a warm clear night. I ran back and forth while Steve played his accordion. I remember wondering what the people who live next to the school must have been thinking, a guy running back and forth alone, and live accordion music drifting through the night.

Next I tapped Joe Brady, another Camera Assistant I had worked with for years in Chicago. Joe is a quality basketball player, and used to be a child actor, so I knew he’d be perfect for the part. With Joe on board, I had my five Pickup Polka players.

About three weeks before the shoot date, John and Joe drove up from Chicago. They met Pete, Dave and myself at an elementary school in Whitewater. Steve brought his accordion and we spent about two hours working out some plays and setups. The first time all five of us were backpedaling to the accordion music, I knew I had created something funny.

The next three weeks were spent acquiring insurance, buying shoes, renting camera and of course, trying to round up more players.

The night before the shoot, I met Eric Nelson, our gaffer at the gym to do a load in of gear. When I headed back home, Joe, John, Pete Biagi (one of my operators) and myself broke down my ninety-eight shot list. Joe volunteered to be my Assistant Director for the day. Joe and John had the brilliant idea of breaking the list down into wide, medium, and tight shots for each game. It was a great system and gave us a battle plan to work from the next day. We all turned in at about one in the morning, and woke up at six thirty to head to the gym.

The shoot occurred on October 27th, 2001, and went off without a hitch. I had taken great pains to give good directions, bought parking passes for people who needed them, and even sorted out quarters for meters. We filmed from seven in the morning until six at night.

All in all it was a great shoot. Accomplishing over ninety shots in one eleven hour day rivals any shoot I’ve ever been on. At one point we almost ran out of players, but luckily some people showed up later in the day. My sister Caren and my wife Joan helped with food and logistics. My mom made cupcakes, muffins and cheese trays for everyone.

I could not have completed this project without the help of so many people. I take this and every other opportunity to thank them for their time and hard work.

Looking back, I have only two regrets. I would’ve loved to have video assist on each camera and another two days.

That being said, the way it turned out, and the response I’ve gotten, I wouldn’t do it any other way.

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