Black Key Bulls

Black Key Bulls Cycling Team (BKB) is a highly ranked cycling team which competes in the Little 500 series the IUSF events. The team has been rebuilt as a Little 500 team by David Choinacky a former rider for the Black Key Bulls Bike-A-Thon race of Ball State University.

Founded in Ball State. “It was a joke,” Bob Otalski said. “A joke between my brother and I.” Richard Otalski was a member of the Blue Key Honorary Fraternity, and Bob came up with the idea to start a group called the Black Key Dishonorary. Later someone thought of using the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull as the group's mascot and emblem, and thus, the Black Key Bulls were born.

Tradition

Ten poles, 14 top-10 finishes and eight championships in just 35 years of racing.

Cycling fans in Bloomington might think those impressive statistics belong to one of the traditional Little 500 powerhouses such as Cutters, Phi Gamma Delta or Phi Kappa Psi. Those fans would be wrong.

Those accomplishments belong to the Black Key Bulls cycling team at Ball State's annual cycling race, the Bike-a-Thon, from 1961 to 1995. BKB was the most successful team in the Bike-a-Thon's history.

"If you think of a team doing that to Little 5, what they did to Ball State's Bike-a-Thon," senior BKB rider Ryan Knapp said. "Our coach tore up ITTs every year -- they were just awesome. It's hard for us to comprehend because it's not Little 5. But if someone did that down here, people would be like, "Holy [...]. That's amazing."

Knapp and teammates C. T. Blackwell and Isaac Neff are looking to bring the Black Key Bull tradition to IU and the Little 500.

While BKB members at Ball State were likely asked what brought about their success, Knapp, Blackwell and Neff are asked by some where the name BKB comes from.

"I wouldn't say we know a lot about it (the Ball State history)," Knapp said. "We know where the name came from, which is the question we get all the time, which sort of sucks. We field that question a lot."

Brothers Bob and Richard Otalski were the genesis of the team. Richard was a member of the Blue Key Honorary Fraternity, which caused brother Bob to start the Black Key Dishonorary as a joke. Another member thought to make the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull for the group's mascot, and so the Black Key Bulls were formed.

Former rider Dave Choinacky helped form the team last year with the help of Blackwell and Neff. Starting a team from scratch is quite a difficult process, Blackwell said.

"It takes a lot of effort from everyone, especially the first year," he said. "One of the worst things is money, because it pretty much came from our own pockets."

Thankfully for BKB a sponsor contacted the team this year, making the financial aspect easier for the team.

"Last year was begging, but this (year) our sponsor contacted our coach about sponsoring a team," Knapp said. "We got lucky. He said he wanted to dump a bunch of money on our team."

The team also experienced learning pains on the track. Finding a fourth rider was difficult for BKB as the team qualified 22nd for last year's Little 500. The team had a good showing with a seventh-place finish.

"I think you would almost expect that being a first year for a team, things not going as smoothly as hoped," Knapp said. "We were just trying to find anyone literally who could make an exchange. It is a lot better this year because we learned a lot last year."

This spring, with a year of experience, BKB came in as one of the favorites to take the checkered flag. The team qualified sixth and finished fourth in the spring series.

"It's nice to be considered on of those teams all year, because last year people were like, 'Oh, who are these (guys)'," Knapp said.

While success in this year's race is important, Blackwell said the team wants to have long-term success and sustainability like many successful Greek teams.

"There are those staple frat teams that, even if they don't have a star rider, like FIJI, Acacia or a team like that, they are always there," Blackwell said. "They always do well."

The original BKB members were described as "just a bunch of guys who had a hell of a good time," a tradition the current members live up to today.

"We've got to make sure we have this right so they can quote us properly," Knapp said. "We have all the desirable aspects of having fun, a la a frat team, but we're still serious at the track. This is going to come out bad; we need to be careful here. We can frat like Phi Psi and race like Dodds."

The team hopes the balance between fun and racing translates to success on race day.

"We have a chance," Neff said. "Winning Little 5 is so crazy; it's so lucky. There are too many little things than can happen."

|| ===Story by Chris Engel===

History

How it all got started

The Beatles had yet to visit America and John Kennedy was still president when Bob Otoski and his brother Richard started a joke in 1961 that would turn into one of the most successful independent Bike-A-Thon teams and intramural athletic groups Ball State has ever seen.

“It was a joke,” Bob Otalski said. “A joke between my brother and I.” Richard Otalski was a member of the Blue Key Honorary Fraternity, and Bob came up with the idea to start a group called the Black Key Dishonorary. Later someone thought of using the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull as the group's mascot and emblem, and thus, the Black Key Bulls were born.

The Black Key organization never had a permanent hangout. It didn’t require dues and its members didn’t go through initiation. They were, in the words of one former Bull, a “disorganized organization.” Former sponsor [...] Stucky came to know may of the members through what is termed a “Godfather” relationship. He’d help them out when they had problems and sponsored many of their teams. “They were just guys who were ex-athletes. Guys that came to college to be varsity athletes and decided not to”, Stucky said. “Guys that got disenchanted with Greek life, but I knew couple of them who pledged and then found out it wasn’t for them. It was just a bunch of guys who had a hell of a good time. They were serious about their cycling though.”

It wasn't all about the bikes though, the Black Key members who weren’t as serious about their cycling were known to party. The party and the cycling team continues as the Black Key Bulls enter a new chapter in their illustrious history with their inaugural Little 500 team in 2006.

Bike-a-thon-Ball States version of the Little 500. The race is similar in many ways, some of the main differences being teams of five and a half mile track.

IT WASN'T ALL ABOUT CYCLING

BK Bulls football team, all university champions 1970

BK wrestling team, all university champions 1969,1970

BK track team, all university champions, 1970

2006 season

The Race

Starting in 22nd position Isaac looked to get to the front of the pack as soon as possible and within the first 6 laps he had moved his way up just as we had planned. The team stayed within the top 10 for the early parts of the race, thanks to great sets and smooth exchanges. After a few crashes by other teams and a break away by ATO it looked to be a race for second as ATO lapped the field. Knowing anything could happen the team remained confident continued to ride strong, however on lap 120 a rider from Delta Upsilon veered in front of Torrey and took him down. Luckily Tori was able to make back on the bike, but time was lost and The Black Keys went down 2 laps to ATO and 1 lap to the rest of the leading teams. The men pressed on as a top 10 finish was still a possibility. Riding mostly with the pack the rest of the way the guys sprinted in at 7th place. The team really did race well and their 7th place finish is outstanding, but you just wonder what would have happened if they weren't in that wreck. But that is the Little 500 for you and the team will be back next year to improve on this years race.

Qualifications

The plan: Neff to Knapp to Blackwell to Neff, "Lets go for pole!" On a cold day filled with wind rain and snow, things looked good as the BKB's took to the track for their first qualification attempt. The sun started to shine as Isaac sped around for the first lap, unfortunately the speed was too great, the timing was off on the exchange and a foul was called. Minutes later the team was back on the track for there second attempt, Isaac did his job on the first lap and Ryan rode his best lap of the year, but during his exchange to CT there was trouble leading to a mishandle of the bike and Ryan falling and injuring himself. A second foul was called and the team was forced to wait until the end of the day for their third and final attempt. With Ryan's injury forcing him to the hospital the uncertainty of their teammates health added to an already tense situation. On the third attempt the goal was just to get in, nervous team supporters sat watching and praying that the third time would be a charm for the team. Isaac and CT both rode 2 laps each, the exchanges were safe and they successfully qualified for the Little 500. The team will be starting in 22nd position, on the inside of row 8. While the team hoped to be starting farther up the main goal was to make the race. It's not where you start its where you finish!

Individual Time Trials

Congratulations to all the Black Keys that competed in the ITT (one mile race against the clock). CT Blackwell - 22nd place Isaac Neff - 25th place Scott Mueller - 94th place Junha Kem - 118th place Torrey Kittle - 142nd place Brian Goodspeed - 152nd place

Miss-n-out

Black Key Bulls make a statement. Awesome job! Isaac made it to the finals finishing 6th, CT made it to the semifinals and Scott made it out of the first round. Perhaps people will begin to take notice.

Team Pursuit

Rained Out

2007 season

The Race

Starting in 6nd position BKB, Phi Si, TMT, Cutters and Dodds stayed together till the end. Sprint finish BKB finished 3rd. More to come

Qualifications

Early in the morning 1st attempt was good Ryan to Isaac to C.T. to Andy. 2:23.88:....More to come

Individual Time Trials

Congratulations to all the Black Keys that competed in the ITT (one mile race against the clock). Isaac Neff - 4th place CT Blackwell - 11nd place Ryan Knapp - 17th place Mike Richardson - 43rd place Scott Mueller - 54th place Mark Miller - 71st place Valentin Todorow - 98th place Andy Roberts - 100th place Junha Kem - 122th place

153 contestants

Miss-n-out

BKB puts two in the finals.

Team Pursuit

A solid team effort is good for 4th place

Riders

Coaches

Alumni

Sponsors

BKB's primary sponsor is Toby Cole of Cole-Chem Corporation. Link: http://www.colechem.us/

See also

• Little 500
• Indiana University
• Track cycling

External links

1, official website 2, concept site

References

Indiana University Student Foundation - http://www.iusf.org

http://www.blackkeybulls.com

Tradition: Photo by Jay Seawell || Story by Chris Engel http://www.idsnews.com/news/featurecontent/little500/spotlight.html