Jamie Thingelstad Profile Photo

Jamie Thingelstad

Writer of the Weekly Thing. Blogger. Explorer of tech, the open web, AI, and a good escape room. Maybe a podcast? CTO of SPS Commerce, Board Member of MnTech, Former Board Member Minnestar. Minneapolis is home.

Kubb

Tales of playing the Swedish lawn game Kubb with friends and colleagues. I share snapshots of pickup games, tournament stories and even how we incorporate Kubb into our TeamSPS events.

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    TeamSPS 2021 Kubb Tournament

    TeamSPS had a great time playing Kubb today, connecting with colleagues, and having a fun time. We weren’t able to have this event in 2020 due to COVID-19, but thanks to vaccines we were able to throw some batons together! Several people commented how much they loved this event. Here are some selected photos from Tim Van Cleave who was so generous to volunteer as official photographer! He has an entire album of additional shots as well.

    Groups of people playing Kubb on a grassy urban park lawn, holding wooden batons and preparing to throw, with city buildings and trees in the background. Group of six colleagues posing outdoors on grass, holding a wooden Kubb king trophy overhead and smiling, with trees and a building behind them. Man in black shirt and backwards cap throwing a wooden baton toward wooden blocks on a grass lawn outside an office building, spectators watching behind him Five colleagues smiling outdoors holding tournament medals, trees and a building visible behind them Group of people playing Kubb on a grass lawn surrounded by trees and office buildings, wooden kubbs scattered across the playing field.

    You can also see the official SPS Tech Blog post on the Kubb event, and looks back to our 2019 and 2018 events. This event got real momentum after we did Kubb at Tech Jam in 2016. The first introduction was a Kubb Class in 2014 that was part of our SPS Charity Auction. Kubb has some deep roots with Team SPS!

    See: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, and 2018 tournaments.

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    POAP 1273919 at SPS Kubb Tournament 2021.

    Wooden kubb game set on a grass lawn with trees in background, featuring the SPS logo in blue
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    Time to play some Kubb at Birchwood Acres! Lake Pepin in the background.

    Wooden Kubb game setup on a green lawn with stake targets arranged in the grass and tall trees near a lake behind.
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    2019 TeamSPS Kubb Tournament

    We had a great time with our 2019 #TeamSPS Kubb Tournament today! We had 20 teams having a lot of fun, getting to know their teammates better, and enjoying a gorgeous day outside!

    Group of people playing Kubb on a grass lawn between office buildings on a sunny day, with wooden blocks scattered across the field Groups of people playing Kubb on a sunny urban lawn, tossing wooden batons at upright wooden blocks near downtown buildings. Group of coworkers celebrating outdoors on a grass lawn during a Kubb tournament, with wooden game pieces scattered around them. Groups of people playing Kubb on a green urban lawn with wooden pins set up, deck chairs labeled Turf Club nearby, and city buildings in the background.

    After the round robin our #TeamSPS Kubb groups split into brackets with a winner in each bracket! We kept track old school, just like most tournaments do!

    Handwritten single-elimination tournament brackets on white paper spread across an outdoor folding table, labeled by division including Distinguished, Senior, Principal, Associate, and Staff.

    After the 2019 #TeamSPS Kubb tournament a bunch of folks hung out and played, you guessed it, more Kubb! Next year we might introduce Mölkky at the end!

    Seven smiling people posing together outdoors near a wooden Kubb king piece, with a parking garage in the background.

    See: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, and 2018 tournaments.

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    Flying the Planet Kubb banner while the kids play some Kubb! 👍

    Planet Kubb feather banner on a sunny lawn where children play Kubb, surrounded by tall evergreen trees.
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    Kubbchucks playing in our 8th annual Minnesota Kubb winter tournament, part of the Loppet! Largest winter Kubb tournament in the world!

    Three smiling men in winter gear take a selfie outdoors at a snowy Kubb tournament on a sunny day.

    Kubbchucks went 2-1 in this mornings Minnesota Kubb round robin! On to the Championship bracket!

    Players competing in the Minnesota Kubb winter tournament on snow, one player throwing a baton toward a row of wooden kubb blocks in the foreground.

    Throw off for entry into the Minnesota Kubb Championship bracket. INTENSE KUBB ACTION! Throw 3 Kubbs, then 6 batons. Whoever downs most Kubbs wins! 🔥

    Bearded player in black crouching to throw a baton during an outdoor Kubb tournament on a snowy field with spectators and multiple games in background

    These three Kubb professionals took the Kubbchucks down without even flinching. Brutal.

    People playing Kubb on snow at an outdoor winter tournament, wooden kubbs standing upright on the field, crowd and tents visible in background.
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    Minnesota Kubb 2019 Winter Tournament

    The Kubbchucks played our 8th annual Minnesota Kubb Winter Tournament this weekend. After a week of record cold temperatures we were treated to a fabulous day in the mid-30’s, nice sunshine and no wind. Perfect for winter Kubb!

    Round Robin

    We opened the round robin versus Team Dondante. This was their first tournament and we helped them with tournament rules. They were good players, but needed to work on their drilling technique. We took the match 2-0 and it went on way too long because we were able to close it out. We went very cold on our 8m and that makes for a long game, if you don’t lose.

    We played the Free Agents next, serious Kubb talent here. We had an epic fail in our first game and left a field Kubb on our very first turn, throwing 4 batons at 2 Kubbs. The Free Agents then kindly put us out of our misery. We drug out the 2nd game for a good long time. We got to 8 Kubbs in play and went back and forth for about 20 minutes. Sadly we broke first and left a line, which resulted in the expected immediate loss. 0-2 on that match.

    We finished the round robin versus The Four Old Guys, however there were only three of them. They had a good game, just lacked some consistency. We were never really at risk in these games, and closed out the match 0-2.

    Bracket

    With a 2-1 record out of the round robin we went into the difficult end of the Round of 16.

    We had to play Skol in the round of 16. Three monster Kubb players including Evan Fitzgerald. We didn’t stand a chance. On top of that, we played horribly. I don’t mind to lose, but our play was really sub-par. It took about 10 mins for them to put us away.

    Free Agents, the team that we lost to in the round robin ended up winning the whole tournament.

    We had a great day of Winter Kubb! 👍🏻

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    This Mini Kubb set is a kick, although pretty impossible to play, but still fun!

    Mini Kubb tabletop game branded with Smartsheet logo, wooden field with green felt and small wooden block pieces on a gray table
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    Fun (and chilly!) day playing Kubb and Mölkky at the Olson Family Weekend!

    Person in black clothing throwing a baton toward wooden kubb blocks arranged across a grassy field on a sunny autumn day Molkky numbered wooden skittles standing upright in grass with fallen autumn leaves, throwing log in foreground

    Kubb, king of lawn games. Still love this painted set I won at the US National Kubb Championship!

    Painted red white and blue Kubb king piece with wooden batons arranged around it on a grass field
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    2018 SPS Kubb Tournament

    Great day for our #TeamSPS Technology Kubb Tournament! Good luck to all the teams!

    Groups of people playing kubb on a green lawn beside a city building, throwing wooden batons at cylindrical wooden targets Dozens of people playing kubb on a grass lawn in an urban plaza, with wooden blocks scattered across the field and a parking garage in the background. Group of people playing kubb on a grass lawn beneath an elevated walkway in an urban setting, one player mid-throw with a wooden baton aimed at standing wooden blocks Six people playing kubb on a grass lawn in an urban park, wooden blocks scattered across the field, city street and yellow school bus visible in background.

    Results after round 1 of #TeamSPS Technology Kubb Tournament! Skubby Doo v King Kubbas in the lead!

    Tournament bracket printouts and handwritten match results on a table alongside a wireless microphone, pen, and open laptop.

    Teams that Kubb together, win together! #TeamSPS

    Group of people playing kubb on a grassy lawn between urban buildings, with blue-and-white wooden blocks scattered across the field and a player mid-throw.

    Winners from #TeamSPS Technology Kubb Tournament…

    1. Skubby Doo
    2. King Kubbas
    3. Kubbernetes

    Best team name winner… Bring Back Kubbicles Plz!

    Six people posing outdoors, one holding a small trophy with a red crown, one wearing a purple Vikings jersey numbered 19 Three men stand outdoors in a park plaza, one holding a small blue trophy, another holding a drink, with kubb game pieces visible on the grass behind them. Two players lean toward each other passing a wooden baton during an outdoor kubb tournament, onlookers watching from a grassy plaza behind them. Three colleagues posing together outdoors in a plaza with green lawn and flower beds behind them during a daytime event.

    See: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, and 2018 tournaments.

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