The Nurse Was a Prop-Rugby Musings of an American Fan

What to Make of Dan Parks Calling it Quits?

2012-02-07T20:55:00.000-06:00

If any rugby parent wanted to use Dan Parks as an example of dusting yourself off and getting back into the fray after a bad match will be disappointed that the often maligned fly half for Scotland decided to put an end to his international career-effective immediately after Scotland's 13-6 loss to England. He helped put 11 points on the board in his last appearance for Scotland-6 for Scotland...

and 5 for England after his attempted clearance kick got charged down and scored by England's Charlie Hodgson.

I know I have given Parks some stick from time to time in this blog, but I have to admit that even I was surprised that he called it quits after the disappointing loss to the Auld Enemy at Murrayfield.

If you are a Cardiff Blues Fan, you have to have mixed feelings about the fact that Parks is concentrating all of his energy to playing for Cardiff.

Parks wore the Thistle-etched jumper for Scotland 67 times. An impressive number in the modern game. It's too bad that his last game for Scotland may be the one that people remember.
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Six Nations Nostalgia: Review of the France Jersey

2012-02-06T20:56:00.001-06:00

For those of you who have visited my blog with any level of frequency, you know that, in spite of my Swedish, German, English, Scottish and Irish ancestry, France and French rugby both have a very special place in my heart. The very first rugby game I ever saw on TV was Wales-France from the old Cardiff Arms Park. When I heard 50,000 Welshmen singing their national anthem-in Welsh-it gave me goose gumps. When I saw the ball movement and the physicality of the sport(As evidenced by this clip from that match of Serge Blanco's try), I was taken hook, line and sinker.

This Six Nations season marks 30 years ago that I was smitten by this sport. A lot has changed with the game: The players are professional, tries are worth 5 points, the players are much bigger, faster and stronger.(Compare the size of the players in this clip to those who played this past weekend.)

The rugby jersey has evolved a great deal too(Does ANYBODY wear a collar with their jersey anymore?). Of the Six Nations sides, France has probably changed their jersey style and sponsorship more than any of the other sides. Some teams might experiment with different colors of their secondary or third jersey.(Like England experimenting with purple a couple of years ago, and black in the last Rugby World Cup), but the French seem to change rugby jersey designs more than a model for Yves St-Laurent prepping for the runway.

I think the people at Nike have a winner with this design for the home French Rugby Jersey that people first saw at this past Rugby World Cup.

When you have a prop shaped physique like me, you are always a little nervous about how these new rugby jersey designs are going to look on you. ( I still have nightmares about Australian prop Matt Dunning wearing that form-fitting bright gold Wallaby jumper during the 2007 Rugby World Cup) The Jersey fit my shoulders perfectly, but was forgiving without being baggy in the middle. It's a strong, but really lightweight fabric. My wife-a blunt critic about what I wear-gave the jersey very high marks in it's style and how it looked on me.

The jersey has familiar red shield with Le Coq Gaullois and the FFR(The French Acronym for Fédération du Rugby Français, or French Rugby Federation) over the heart.

Here in the US, you can't find this jersey, but you can get it through http://www.idealo.co.uk/compare/2972564/nike-france-rwc-2011-home.html

I can hardly wait to wear this new shirt when I go back to Albuquerque to watch some 6 Nations rugby with some of my new friends with the Aardvarks and Brujos.

Six Nations: Of Brujos, Gecko's and Aardvarks

2012-02-05T02:38:00.001-06:00

Da Red-Head in front of Gecko's

As much as I have enjoyed living and working in the Northwest corner of New Mexico, rugby is a hard thing to come by. I contacted an Irish place in Farmington, and when I asked if they carried rugby or Soccer on Saturday mornings, I had a frosty negative response. With the Six Nations starting this weekend, I just had to find SOMEPLACE where I could get my oval ball fix.

I knew there were two rugby clubs in Albuquerque: The Brujos(Spanish for warlock, or Wizard)http://www.brujos-rugby.com/ and Aardvarks http://abqrugby.tripod.com/. I contacted the Brujos via their Facebook page and asked if they knew of a rugby friendly bar, and I got an immediate response with a couple of suggestions. More than a couple of people mentioned that "Gecko's" was owned by an ex-rugger and they showed matches frequently. http://www.geckosbar.com/

Since I was working during the day on Friday, my wife contacted Wally, the owner of Gecko's and verified that he was going to show the match carried in the US by BBC America.

We drove the 3 hours from Farmington to Albuquerque on Friday night. There are two Gecko's in Albuquerque, and as luck would have it, our hotel was less then 5 minutes from the one that was showing Scotland and England.

It never ceases to amaze me how many nice people are involved with the sport of rugby. Wally, the owner of Gecko's gave me and my wife a very warm New Mexico welcome and introduced me to his fellow Aardvark mates. While devouring excellent breakfast burritos, sucking down some micro-brews and watching England beat Scotland 13-6, I enjoyed the company and conversation of just a very congenial group of ex-ruggers who helped develop the game of rugby in New Mexico.

Flanked by Ray, Wally and Tony at Gecko's

I spent a great deal of time speaking with Marty, who was just an encyclopedic resource on rugby in New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, the West Coast and the Midwest.(This is a guy who travels more than even I do)

It was great to watch Scotland and England, but meeting people who are involved with this sport make me proud to be a rugby fan. Finding a place with a great beer selection that serves great food and supports rugby was just a treat. I cannot thank the Albuquerque rugby community enough for a very fun Saturday.

Six Nations 2012: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold...

2012-02-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

With the Six Nations starting this weekend, I know a lot of eyes will be looking at Scotland-England, but it's a pretty safe bet that more than a few French players have had Saturday's match with Italy at the Stade de France circled since France's stunning loss to Italy in Rome in the Six Nations. After the match, former French coach Marc Lievremont made an example out of more than a couple of players-it pretty much spelled the end of Sebastien Chabal's international career with France.

For France, this will be Phillippe St-Andre's first match in charge for a Six Nations match. A great player for France in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, it will be interesting to see how he handles the hot seat while in charge of Les Bleus. France will have a strong Clermont/Toulouse flavor: 13 of the 22 selected for Saturday's game ply their trade in Clermont or Toulouse. (No shock there, since those two clubs are France's two quarter-finalists in the Heineken Cup)

It has been said that revenge is a dish best served cold. Italy will find out in St-Denis this Saturday. Buon Appetito.

USA to Host the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in 2012

2012-01-29T21:01:00.001-06:00

As an American Rugby fan, you take any bit of good news that you can. The recent decision by the IRB to award the 2012 Junior World Rugby Trophy to the United States was a welcome bit of good news. The tournament is going to be in Salt Lake City, Utah from 18-30 June. For so much top-flight youth rugby talent to come to Salt Lake City will be great for the sport of rugby in this country.

Rugby is a pretty big deal in the Rocky Mountain region of the USA, but as good as it will be for the locals to have great young rugby talent from all over the world come to Salt Lake City, my follow up question is going to be who will be showing this on TV here in the US.

So How Do You Say Scrum, Ruck and Maul in Navajo?

2012-01-25T20:40:00.002-06:00

It's been a long time since I have been able to add an entry to my blog. We are almost on the verge of the Six Nations, we know the Quarter-finalists for the Heineken Cup...and I am working in New Mexico on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico-very close to the Four Corners. It was quite a road trip to get here: Wilmington, Delaware-Cleveland-Chicago-MInneapolis(Where I spent 8 days being able to see my kids, friends and grandson) to Kansas City-Dallas(where I saw my sister) to Santa Rosa to Farmington. (a 30 minute drive to Shiprock)

Along the way, my wife and I stopped in Amarillo, Texas. I had heard for years about an Amarillo institution called The Big Texan. They offer a 72 ounce steak(about 2.2kg) that is free-provided you finish the steak, baked potato and cole slaw in an hour-and keep it down. I was not so anxious to make myself sick while driving long distance. I settled for the mere 20 ounce T-Bone...it was a meal fit for a prop.

The other thing that was an unexpected treat was that they also had some very good locally made beers. The Pecan Porter was a revelation. You could taste the pecans, but it was a really good beer. Not a lot in the Texas Panhandle, but Amarillo was worth the stop.

When You drive into the New Mexico, the prairie gives way to scrub, then desert, then a mixture of mountains and Mesas...

The name sake of Shiprock is a rock formation that looks like a ship from the distance. It is a holy place to the local Navajo people. It is a striking site, regardless if it's sunny or if there is a storm blowing in from the west.

The one downer here in the 4 Corners region is that there is no rugby club. If I want to find a rugby bar or catch some live rugby, I am going to have to drive 3 hours to Albuquerque. One thing for sure: This part of the Southwest cannot be more different than the thousands of lakes and pine trees of my native Minnesota, but hey, at least it's not as bitter cold. Now if I can just find a place to watch some rugby...

The Road Warriors Hit Chicago...

2012-01-08T17:39:00.000-06:00

We left Delaware on Friday night. It's been an interesting 13 weeks in "The First State", but I am looking forward to getting to my native Minnesota to see my kids, grandson and friends, including some of my mates with the Metropolis Rugby Club.

On Friday, we made it to Virginia to visit my friends Mike and Norma. Yesterday, we passed through Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was my first time in "The Steel City", and I have to say my wife and I were impressed by the physical beauty of the city that is home to Baseball's Pirates, the Penguins Ice Hockey team, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. We were also impressed by the general friendliness of the citizens of Pittsburgh. After dinner, we made it near Cleveland, Ohio-the home of rock and roll according to more than a few music historians.

Today, my red-headed bride, my bulldog Buddha and I made it to Chicago. It's a town for which I have a great deal of affection. My wife is a token German Lutheran from a very Irish-Catholic part of the South Side of Chicago.(Lot's of cops, firemen and Irish pubs where my wife grew up) As a kid, I lived in suburban Chicago for 4 years, and my wife and I lived with my in-laws on the South Side for a year and a half. (If your marriage can survive living with your in-laws, you can get through almost anything this side of the Jerry Springer Show) We will spend a couple of days here so my wife can check up on her mom, and so we can catch up with some friends from the South Side...

On Tuesday, our road show will finally get us back to Minneapolis, which should cap this almost 1,200 mile road trip. I am still waiting to see where my next assignment will take me, hopefully I will have an idea over these next two weeks. We have had fun on our travels, but it's nice to be back in the Midwest.

2011: What a Long Strange Trip It's Been....

2011-12-31T01:24:00.000-06:00

2011 Has seen me in a variety of places: Phoenix, Dallas, Houston Minneapolis, Australia, New Zealand, Delware, Virginia, Washington DC, New Jersey, New York City, and Pennsylvania. I have seen NHL Hockey in Dallas, New York City, and Philadelphia. I saw 5 Texas Rangers Baseball games, I saw a couple of MLS soccer games in Dallas, I saw 3 Rugby World Cup games in New Zealand and I had a chance to see the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Madison Square Garden, two of the most Iconic sports venues in the World.

As far as playing rugby, I only had a chance to play one time in 2011, but at least I had a chance to strap it on for the Metropolis Old Boys against the Old Laurentian Old Boys from Rugby, England. In a sport that is full of really, really fantastic people, the players from the OL's are some of the nicest people you can ever have a chance to meet.

During my time in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup, I had a chance to actually speak with(and drink with) rugby fans from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Scotland
Argentina, France, England, Uruguay, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Romania, Canada South Africa, Canada, and Italy(Got to get my picture taken with guys from the Italian National team.) I actually had a chance to glad-hand USA Eagle Players after their game against Italy in Nelson. I was also able to meet friends of mine on the rugby blogosphere.

2011 was simply an amazing experience. As much fun as it all was, it does not matter much if you don't have somebody with whom to share it. I have been lucky to be married to a woman who loves travel and new experiences as much as I do. If 2012 is half as fun as 2011 was, it will be a great year...

Have Yourself a Rugby Little Christmas

2011-12-23T22:50:00.000-06:00

Well, my time in Wilmington Delaware working at the VA Medical center is winding to a close. My contract will be up on January 7th. I am looking forward to getting back to Minnesota for a couple of weeks to see my kids and my grandson, along with some of my friends and hopefully some of the guys with the Metropolis Rugby Club.

With Christmas coming, I hope that your Christmas is full of friends, family and a little rugby on the side. I am going to add some rugby images I took this year from playing with the Metropolis Old Boys in the Spring against the Old Laurentians, catching some Dallas Harlequins matches to Rugby World Cup matches, along with the video from the National Anthems before Australia-USA at the 2011 Rugby World Cup at "The Cake Tin" in in Wellington, New Zealand. To be honest, this trip I took in September to Australia and New Zealand was my main Christmas present to myself. Having a great wife with whom I could share the adventure was a cherry on the cake.

Merry Christmas to all...and to all, a good ruck....

Can the US Host the Rugby World Cup in 2023?

2011-12-02T15:32:00.001-06:00

Can USA Rugby Pull This Bid Out of Their Ass?

We know already that England will host the Rugby World Cup in 2015

And Japan will get the Oval Ball Orgy in 2019...

Japan Jersey from the 1930's

The question now will be, who where will Rugby World Cup 2023 take place?

It was announced that USA Rugby has thrown in their hat into the ring to host the tournament in 2023. (The plan would be to co-host some games with Canada) Another developing rugby nation, Russia has also thrown it's hat into the ring, as well. The third country who would like to host the RWC is the hosts from 1995, South Africa.

I think even the most vocal Eagles fan would have to say that South Africa is the clear favorite. They have a history with this game that goes way back...

An endangered species...a South Africa Jersey with a Springbok on the Chest.

South Africa is a bona fide power in the rugby world. Thanks to the FIFA World Cup in 2010, they have plenty of stadiums that would be all set to host matches. It is true that Russia will have stadiums, too, since they are hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2018, those stadiums built for that event will still have that new stadium-smell to them. Here in the US, we have no problems on the stadium front, either. I do think that the biggest road block to the Russian and American bids is the simple fact that the IRB will say that by letting Japan host in 2019, they have already thrown a bone to developing rugby nations, and that they will want to come back with the World Cup going to a traditional Rugby nation. By 2027(Shit, will I be old by then) I can see the IRB coming back to a developing rugby nation that also has economic clout. (Well, the US still might have some economic clout by then)

It's nice to see USA Rugby feeling confident enough to make such a bid, but I think that in the end, rugby fans will probably need their Afrikaans, Zulu or Xhosa phrase books and guides to the beaches near Durban, because at this point in the game, I think it's South Africa's bid to lose.

A Bok fan waving the RSA flag in Auckland in September before RSA-Samoa

USA Rugby Gets Some Love from the USOC

2011-12-01T10:39:00.001-06:00


USA Prop Mike MacDonald sharing some love at the Ruby World Cup after Italy-USA

When the IOC voted to make rugby sevens a part of the Olymics in Rio in 2016, the hope of a lot of American rugby fans was that where the Olympics are, financial funding is not too far away. First, the Network NBC started showing live action from the Las Vegas Sevens last year. This year they showed some matches from Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. They showed the USA-Ireland match on September 11th, and they showed the final between the All Blacks and France. For American rugby, this was huge just getting the sport on network TV.

Rugby sevens may not get a lot of respect in the rugby world, but it's a start for the sport as far as increasing the exposure of the sport. The other truism is that where there is TV and Sport, there is also money. Because rugby is now part of the Olympic movement, the US Olympic committee has just announced it will commence its first residency program commencing January, 2012. This will involve the placement of 15 men and 8 women into a full-time residency program at the Olympic Training Centre, Chula Vista, San Diego. Having a full time residency program for developing American players is an important step. American players like Todd Clever and Chris Wyles have been able to parlay their USA sevens experience to be able to play professionally overseas in the 15 man game.

USA-Australia: National Anthems at The Cake Tin in Wellington from RWC 2011

The US has some catch up work to do. In the last Pan-American Games in Mexico, the USA Sevens team took a Bronze medal, finishing behind the Gold-medal winning Canadians and the Silver-winning Argentinians.

No question that the best place for American players to develop is to be able to play professionally either in Europe, or in one of the SANZAR countries, but it's kind of a chicken and egg problem of which comes first, developing the skills to get noticed overseas, or getting American players good coaching and competition while they are young. The residency program care of the USOC will at least be a good start for American rugby.

MCG and MSG All in One Year....

2011-11-28T10:58:00.001-06:00

There is an old joke in the United States about a guy who went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out.

This past weekend, I had a chance to put another check mark on my Bucket List when I had a chance to catch an Ice Hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York City. MSG is an arena that has a great deal of history and has had to be remodeled and refurbished over the years, just like the MCG in Melbourne, Australia. The big difference is that I don't think there has been any rugby played at the MSG, and I don't think any Ice Hockey matches have been played at the MCG.

The game I saw on Saturday afternoon was between the New York Rangers, one of the Original Six teams in the NHL, and the Philadelphia Flyers. There is a two hour drive separating these east coast cities. Regardless of the sport, these two cities really don't like each other. I had my first hint when I went to a bar across the street from the Garden, which had been taken over by Philly fans. When I asked a group of them to pose for a shot, they were happy to oblige....

Getting Phlipped off by Philly fans.

Maybe it was because I was wearing a Ranger t-shirt...

The guy on the left was one of the few Ranger fans on the upper deck of this bar on an unseasonably warm (61 degrees, about 20 degrees C) and sunny day in New York City. He actually was yelling down at passers by that he would buy a beer for any more Ranger fans that would join him. (Which I enjoyed immensely) There were insults, obscenities and cat calls-and that was just from the female Flyer fans.

I had just settled into my seats at the MSG when they sang the National Anthem, the puck was dropped, and four seconds into the game, a fight broke out. Later in the first period, another fight, which I put on the top of this posting.

It's strange to people who are used to players getting red carded for fighting to find out that in professional ice hockey, fights ARE penalized (a 5 minute penalty), but the players are not always ejected. (That's usually reserved for a player leaving the bench or the 3rd man in a fight) Ice hockey traditionalists cry foul any time there is talk about getting rid of fighting-truth be told, the fans love it.

The thing I would say about professional ice hockey is that you have to see it live. Seeing it on TV just does not do justice to the speed and physicality of the game. I would tell any rugby fan visiting the US or Canada to try to take in an NHL game-it's a lot more fun than watching on TV, and if you can get seats for a rivalry game like the Rangers-Flyers, it really makes it a lot more fun.

The game just ended, the Rangers won, 2-0

Now that I have been to the MCG and MSG, I have got to make it to Twickenham and to the new Wembley.

A New Direction for USA Rugby...but where ?

2011-11-16T23:59:00.001-06:00

Well, along with John Kirwan of Japan, Nick Mallett of Italy, Martin Johnson of England, you can add Eddie O'Sullivan as a World Cup coach who has decided to move on to greener pastures.

Being an American fan of the oval ball can be an exercise in frustration. We have the athletes in this country, but it takes time to develop a rugby culture.

I guess in retrospect, USA rugby was lucky to get an experienced top-fight coach like Eddie O'Sullivan. I think that on the balance, the Irishman did a good job as USA manager. I felt that overall, the USA Eagles played better in New Zealand 2011 than they did in France 4 years ago. They beat Russia, which was to be expected, but the Eagles showed a great deal of heart against a very good Irish squad in an emotional match on 9/11. I was not able to see that game in New Plymouth, but I did see the Eagles play Australia in Wellington and Italy in Nelson.

I thought that O'Sullivan was pragmatic by emptying his bench and going with the young players against the Wallabies. He knew that the game was going to be a blow out-no sense in possibly injuring his best players for their last match against Italy. The young Americans showed some very bright play in the first half against the formidable Australians. True they got blown out in the second half, but I could not fault the effort. Against the Italians, the US had a rough day at the office in the scrum-but to be fair, it's not the first time the Italians formidable front row had made life difficult for a team. They have done it against even the All Blacks in international play.

So the question for USA Rugby is, who will replace Eddie O'Sullivan? I would love to see USA Rugby offer a position to John Kirwan, who recently stepped down as the Japanese Head Coach. I just don't think that USA Rugby has the funds to go after a really top flight coach like a John Kirwan or Nick Mallet. (Hell, if he decided against taking the England position, what chance to we have?)
I would love to see John Kirwan get a shot at the job-if he was interested. Japan, in my opinion, was one of the most improved nations in the past 4 years. I thought they played some great rugby in New Zealand. I just don't think USA Rugby has the funds to get a coach of his caliber.

As an American fan, I am very intrigued by who will be picked to replace Eddie O'Sullivan as USA coach-but given the vacancies at more top tier nations like England and Italy, it will be interesting to see who USA Rugby will pick to lead the Eagles for the Rugby World Cup in England, 2015.

11/11/11

2011-11-11T09:43:00.001-06:00

On this 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of this not-so-brand-new century, I share with you a sobering image that I took when I went to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It's the tombstone of an American Soldier who died and was buried near Verdun, France. In a place where reminders of WWI and death are all over, what struck me about this particular tombstone was that this soldier died on the 10th of November, 1918, the day before the armistice was signed. This tombstone of this soldier from Pennsylvania still sticks out at me, 4 years later.

Today, I try to remember those whose lives were changed because of war, and those who never came home. For me, it's easy because I work as a nurse in the VA Medical system. The one thing with travel, is that if you look carefully, you can appreciate the sacrifice so many other people have made, too. I found this while I was in Nelson, New Zealand-a small country that lost an inordinate amount of people in "the Great War", either on the Western Front in France and Belgium, or in Turkey, during the carnage that was Gallipoli.

On this 11/11/11, I salute those who served.

RIP Joe Frazier

2011-11-09T11:23:00.001-06:00

As a Kid, I really did not know about rugby. I followed Baseball, American football and Boxing. It's hard to believe now but back in the late 60's and through the 70's, Boxing was a huge sport in the US. I admired the courage of boxers and their skill.

When I was 10 years old and in fourth grade, boxing fans were treated to undefeated fighters going for the heavyweight title. Muhammad Ali had been the undefeated champ before he was stripped of his title as a fallout from refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam War. With Ali in exile, the power brokers of boxing held a sort of tournament, which was eventually won by Joe Frazier.

Unlike the photogenic, quotable Ali, Joe Frazier never seemed to have things easy- in life and in the ring. Even as an amateur, he was runner up to Buster Mathis for a spot on the 1964 Olympic Boxing Team. When Mathis got injured, Frazier shocked everybody by winning a Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Unlike Ali, Frazier bore in, willing to take incredible punishment in the process. Interestingly enough, Frazier never should have been allowed to box professionally, as he was effectively blind in one eye. What he would do during fight physicals was when he was asked to read the eye chart, he would read the chart with his good eye, but then when they asked him to use the other eye, Frazier would use the opposite hand to cover the same eye. Nobody ever caught on to it. Because he was fighting with one eye, Frazier constantly moved to his left. His left hook was simply a thing of beauty. I added tape from the 15th round from "The Fight of the Century", as Ali-Frazier I was called at the time. At around 30 seconds into the clip, Frazier floors Ali with a wicked left hook. This was an epic fight with both fighters needing to get medical treatment after all was said and done.

What was sad and unfair were the very personal insults Ali would call Frazier: Ugly, a gorilla, and most hateful of all, an "Uncle Tom", proclaiming himself as the hope for African Americans, whereas Frazier was the fighter that catered to the white establishment. It was a grossly unfair accusation on a very proud man. Frazier was nobody's fool. What made Ali's trash talk even more vile was the fact that when Ali was in exile and unable to make a living boxing, Frazier had actually given money to Ali. There was a very, very real hatred by Frazier over the years against Ali.

That hatred was on full view on a very steamy night in Manilla in October of 1975, Ali-Frazier III was the closest thing that I have ever seen to Mortal Combat. The visceral level of violence in this fight was both compelling and terrible. It was a play in 3 acts, where Ali toyed with Frazier for the first rounds, in the middle rounds, Frazier inflicted horrific punishment to Ali. In the end, Frazier was essentially fighting blind. Even in his fatigued and debilitated state, Ali was teeing off on Frazier's head. Eddie Futch, Frazier's longtime trainer, refused to send his fighter out for the 14th round. Ali barely had enough strength to lift his hand in triumph before collapsing in the ring.

You can make a pretty good argument that neither fighter was ever the same again after the mauling they inflicted upon each other. Both suffered neurological effects that afflicted them after they retired. Frazier, ever gracious with fans, was always somewhat bitter that Ali got more of the headlines and the love from sports fans. When he was diagnosed with the liver cancer that would kill him, Smokin' Joe was able to soften his stance towards his foe somewhat.

In this day and age, it's hard to believe that a man at 205 pounds could be a heavyweight champ. They say that you cannot measure heart in an athlete. Joe Frazier may not have had the speed, size or reach of other boxers-but his huge heart and formidable left hook had him at the top of the boxing world during a period in time where boxing was front page news in the US.

RIP Smokin' Joe.

Delaware Rugby Fundraiser, Johnny and New York City

2011-11-08T09:40:00.000-06:00

I have been here in Delaware since the 11th of October. I am working as a travel nurse at the VA Medical Center in Wilmington until early January.

The thing that never ceases to amaze me with this sport is that if you go to any good sized city, you can find a rugby club and affiliated community. My work schedule prevented me from getting a chance to see the Wilmington RFC play http://www.wilmingtonrugby.com/, but I had a chance to meet some of their players and old boys at their hangout in Wilmington( http://www.deadpresidentspub.com/ )

My wife and I got word about a rugby fundraiser that the Delaware Rugby Union was putting on in Newark-home to the University of Delaware. My wife and I had a great time

While here in Delaware, we had a chance to catch up with Johan, better known as Johnnie. My son Ian's South-African born, rugby playing room-mate during Ian's first year at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Johnnie actually played for the USA at the Under 19 World Cup. He still has been keeping in great shape-a good thing, because he is in Army Basic Training before he goes to Officers Candidate's School. I am glad that he had a chance to drive down to Delaware and see us before he took off for Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Just a really nice young man. He'll make a great Army Officer.

Delaware is the second smallest US State, after Rhode Island. It's located almost exactly half-way between New York City and Washington DC.(About two hours either way) An hour from Baltimore, about 40 minutes from Philadelphia, and an hour and a half from the South Jersey Shore or the Southern Delaware shore. My daughter Rachel came out for a visit, as she had never been to the East Coast before. It was great to see her. My daughter is a huge fan of the show, "Cake Boss", set at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. What we decided to do, was to drive to Hoboken, New Jersey-just across the river from Manhattan-then go to New York.

Carlo's Bakery did not disappoint. It was worth the drive through a rare October snowstorm on the Jersey Turnpike. They had the best Cannoli's and Lobster Tails that I had ever had. Rachel was in 7th heaven.

Hoboken, New Jersey is known as the birthplace of Frank Sinatra, but if you are looking to get a good picture of the Manhattan Skyline, Hoboken is a great place to start your trip to NYC.(You can take the Path subway train from the World Trade Center Station to get to Hoboken) I had no desire to drive or find parking in Manhattan. Leaving the car in Hoboken at a parking garage and then taking the PATH Subway to Manhattan was a lot less stressful.

In spite of the bad weather on Saturday, we made the most of our brief time in New York City: We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Times Square, had dinner in Chinatown and toured the area around the 9/11 site, and were two blocks away from the people protesting Wall Street greed.

Overall though, it was a good trip to New York City.

Contrasting Rugby With American Football

2011-10-27T10:59:00.001-05:00

I found this column from an American writer, Jack Bechta, who wrote an article on "Rugby vs The NFL". (Pics above from USA-Italy at the Rugby World Cup in Nelson, including USA captain Todd Clever)I thought some of the things each sport can learn from the other made some interesting reading:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Rugby-vs-The-NFL.html

The article also had video of a nice try Clever scored while playing sevens for the USA.

Bechta takes the IRB to task compared to how the NFL is managed. Rugby and the rugby culture are unique, but that does not mean that the two entities cannot learn from each other. The statistic that should make the NFL red-faced is the number of rugby players pursuing post graduate degrees.

Rugby fans have to be happy with the recent World Cup, but the long and short of it is, the sport can do better.

Rugby World Cup Final: Redemption at Eden Park

2011-10-25T10:36:00.001-05:00

There have been so many story lines at this 2011 Rugby World Cup: Injuries to key players, referee controversies, inspired play by Samoa and Wales, increased offense, the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history and the hopes of a nation of 4.5 million souls hoping to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy. I was lucky enough to have been in New Zealand for almost two weeks, and was able to see three games with my wife.(USA-Australia, USA-Italy and Scotland-Argentina) As I went from Wellington to Palmerston North, to the wine country of Martinborough, to Nelson, to Abel Tasman and Picton, I saw an entire nation behind it's national rugby team...

I think the word redemption is an appropriate one after the All Blacks ground out an 8-7 win over a gutty French side. France was in need of some serious redemption in they eyes of many rugby fans-this writer included. I have given them a lot of stick for their unimaginative play, their lack of leadership from their coach, losing to Tonga 19-14 in the preliminary rounds, and to being somewhat lucky to have defeated an inspired Welsh side playing 3/4 of the game a man down.

In an epic story, every hero has to have a nemesis. France, for whatever reason, almost always seem to come up big against the All Blacks in Rugby World Cup play. In most matches, if you can hold a side to 8 points, you should win the game most of the time. France simply played inspired rugby. They hit everything wearing a black jersey with all of their might. Dusautoir(just named IRB Player of the Year) was a tackling machine, just like he was in 2007's upset win Cardiff. Like the win in Wales, he also scored a try on Sunday, but it was not enough. François Trinh-Duc, in Lievremont's dog house this World Cup, had to come on for an injured Morgan Parra at Eden Park, and he played his best match of the tournament. France may have lost-but nobody will question their heart after almost breaking Kiwi hearts at Eden Park.

Stephen Donald was not even supposed to be on this All Black side on Sunday. Yet with All Black #10's being chewed up and spit out with injuries during the World Cup, Donald found himself replacing an injured Aaron Cruden in the World Cup final. The collective sense of dread at Eden Park had to be palpable as he trotted on the field. With Weepu misfiring his kicks at goal, Stephen Donald ended up with a battle-field promotion and hit the penalty in the 45th minute, which would end up being the difference in the game.

The All Blacks, by any yardstick, have been the best team in the World for the past 7 years in terms of winning percentage, Tri Nations trophies-but the NZRU headquarters in Wellington have been waiting for the return of the Webb Ellis Trophy. The All Blacks found redemption after coming up short in 1999,2003 and 2007. They were the best team of the tournament, and I think deserved their victory.

It was just a wonderful tournament. I am happy for New Zealand, the All Blacks and their fans. It's been a miserable year in the land of the Long White Cloud. Let the celebrations begin...

PS-I wonder if there are going to be a bunch of World Cup babies being born 9 months from now?

Final Cheap Shot Before New Zealand-France

2011-10-22T19:41:00.002-05:00

While we were in New Zealand, I grew to become a big fan of the "Yeah Right" add campaign that the New Zealand Brewer Tui Beer came up with. I must confess to enjoying a few cold Tui's( as well as Speights and Mac's) during my time in New Zealand.

Our hostess in Lower Hutt, Annette, alerted me to this latest of the Tui "Yeah Right" campaign. I loved it because it not only speaks about the somewhat star-crossed relationship New Zealand has had with France on the Rugby pitch, and also the political arena, for those who remember the French bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbor.

A little bit of fun before the All Blacks take on France for the Rugby World Cup title in about 7 hours.

Who says that Kiwis don't have a sense of humor.

Last Wallaby Standing....

2011-10-21T20:38:00.001-05:00

Well, the third place game at the Rugby World Cup between Wales and Australia was an entertaining affair, in my opinion.

The 21-18 victory by the Wallabies gives them a Bronze medal from this Rugby World Cup. Wales, once again will rue the number of missed kicks at post. It cost them against France, and it cost them again against Robbie Deans' men in gold.

It really was a battered Australian side that survived. They had to get through this game without Kurtley Beale, who re-injured his hamstring, and the Wallaby-Kiwis-Love-to Hate, Quade Cooper blew out his knee in the first half. Berrick Barnes was the man of the match for the Wallabies, he scored a drop goal, a try, and after Cooper had to leave the game, he was a calming influence in the Wallaby back line. James O'Connor had a very solid game at the wing, and Wales would love to have somebody who could be as dependable of a kicker as O'Connor has become for the Wallabies.

You knew that the Welsh were going to be up against it in this match. Wales just does not have a ton of depth, and it was clear they missed their captain, Warburton in this match. As a fan you had to admire Shane Williams being able to score a try in what will almost certainly be his last Rugby World Cup match. At the end of the game, it was evident that there was no way that Wales could win, but yet at the end of the game, the Welsh pushed hard for the try, they put over 30 phases of ball together before Leigh Halfpenny was able salvage some Welsh pride in what has been a very, very surprising World Cup for Warren Gatland's men in red. Wales may have lost this match, but they gained a lot of fans in this tournament. I also think that they have to be really looking forward to the Six Nations in February.

Australia had to take some serious stick in this tournament for losing to Ireland in the preliminary round and the antipathy of Kiwi fans against Quade Cooper. The Wallabies also have a bright future, I think. A Bronze medal from the Wallabies-including a win over the defending champion Springboks-is a bit of a salve for any wounds left over from the semi-final loss to the All Blacks.

This match was a bit of an appetizer for Sunday's final between France and New Zealand. I know my appetite is very keen after this.

The IRB Got One Right: Craig Joubert to Ref the Final

2011-10-20T14:36:00.002-05:00

The IRB can be the whipping post for rugby fans the world over for a variety of perceived offenses. When the word came out that the South African whistle-blower will ref this Sunday's Rugby World Cup final between France and New Zealand, I cannot think of too many people who can complain about his body of work in this RWC. I thought he showed a steady hand in the All Blacks-Wallabies semi-final, and I also felt that his work in preliminary round games was quite good.

International rugby is very different from almost any other sport that I can think of. First of all, rugby is a very, very difficult came to officiate: You have 30 players on the field, there is all kinds of activity going on at the breakdown and mauls, you have to keep track of who is onside and offisde-which is very fluid during the game, you have to be conscious of player safety in tackles( Alain Rolland got roasted over the coals over the game-changing red card he showed Welsh Captain Warburton) and in scrums. You have a very physical game played by players who are increasingly bigger, faster and stronger than what they were even compared players from the 1999 Rugby World Cup.(Don't believe me? Take a look at video from 1999, and compare it to what you see now)

The other thing that makes international rugby different is that the match officials are known by name, face and reputation even to the most casual fan. I don't think you see that in any other sport. One thing about the Rugby World Cup is that the IRB does not try to be politically correct and have referees from lesser rugby nations referee top-flight matches at the World Cup-unlike what you see at the FIFA World Cup.(How somebody from Mali or Uzbekistan not refereeing in a top league is given the right to call a World Cup game escapes me.) At least the referees picked for the RWC ply their trade in a Super 15, Top 14, Magner's League or Guinness Premiership Rugby competition.

I have refereed high school soccer and wrestling, so I have more than a little familiarity with the second-guessing that goes on the minute you go out to midfield/the middle of a mat and place a whistle around your neck. Like any tough job, I can appreciate when somebody does the job well. I was afraid that the IRB would balk at having Joubert referee two games in a row involving the All Blacks, but I think they got this one right.(Joubert becomes the second South African to referee a RWC Final. André Watson officiated two finals)

For those who are curious about such things, here is how the rest of the line-up looks for this weekend's Bronze Medal and Championship matches at this Rugby World Cup 2011:

Wales-Australia
Wayne Barnes-Head Official
Touch Judges: Romain Poite and George Clancy

New Zealand-France
Criag Joubert-Head Offical
Touch Judges-Alain Rolland(Also the alternate official should Joubert be incapacitated) and Nigel Owens.

Television Match Official-Guilio de Santis

Let's hope that on Monday morning, rugby fans will be talking about the play of the All Blacks or the French, and not about the competence of the referee.

51

2011-10-18T00:29:00.000-05:00

Settling into the routine here in Delaware, where I will be working for the next 3 months. Just me, the Missus and Buddha the Bulldog.

The Calendar says that I am 51 today. I keep asking myself when I will start acting like an adult? When I look in the mirror and see the increasing amount of grey on my head, I should feel older-but I don't. I cannot help but think back that 30 years ago today, I turned 21 in Montpellier, France, where I was spending my Junior year abroad. That year in France was a watershed moment in my life. It's also where I saw my first ever rugby game on TV: France playing Wales at the old Cardiff Arms Park. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. It planted a seed in the back of my mind that would not come to fruition until many years later, but getting involved with rugby and the rugby blogosphere back in 2006 has been just a blessing.

I do know this: I have a wonderful wife, two great kids, an amazing grandson, a fantastic daughter-in-law, and fantastic people I have been able to meet thanks to rugby and the blogosphere. Being able to meet Slugso and Scotty in NZ(along with Slugso's very fun wife, Fiona) was just a wonderful thing. I could not have imagined it when I started my original nursedude blog site back in 2006.

I just got done with a fantastic trip to Australia and New Zealand-a real adventure for me and the Red-Head. I have now been to two Rugby World Cups-I took the entire family to France back in 2007- and I am planning on making it to England for 2015.

One of the downers for this past year has been that doing my travel nurse gig has made it hard for me to play rugby. I am glad I was able to get a run in for the Metropolis Old Boys against the Old Laurentians from Rugby, England back in April.

At any rate, I am thankful to still be vertical and in good health, and look forward to blogging another year.

All Black and Blue

2011-10-16T14:00:00.001-05:00

At the time I took this picture of a French painter working on an All Black mural in Wellington, most people were thinking that New Zealand would make the final of this 2011 Rugby World Cup. Not many people would have fancied the painter's compatriots making it to the final against the hosts, given their dodgy form in the preliminary round. Well, in sport, just as in life, truth can be stranger than fiction; given that Les Bleus will play the All Blacks, in a re-play of the 1987 final. (Australia will play Wales for 3rd place, just like in 1987, as well)

As for Sunday's semi-final between the Wallabies and All Blacks, the game started with Quade Cooper putting the opening kick-off straight into touch, giving the All Black pack a chance to send a message to the sometimes maligned Wallaby scrum. The All Blacks opened the game with a physicality and focus that was amazing. They put the Wallabies on their back foot for the first 20 minutes-the game was played almost entirely in the Wallaby defensive zone.

All Black Fullback Israel Dagg and wing Cory Jane were fantastic. They were flawless in fielding anything that Quade Cooper and his mates kicked at them. Australia is a place where they have a reputation of being great at fielding balls in the air, but I have to say that in watching Dagg and Jane operate, they looked almost like Aussie rules football players with the way they were able to take the high ball.

Dagg was also a blistering runner. It was actually a run by Dagg down the right tryline and deft dish to Ma'a Nonu that gave the All Blacks the only try of the game.

Piri Weepu had a good game in the field at scrum-half for the Kiwis-but his gun sites were off as he missed some penalties that could have had the game all but buried in the first half. Aaron Cruden, the young fly half added a drop goal and did what the All Blacks needed-they did not need Cruden to create magic like Dan Carter, but all they needed for him was to NOT make any mistakes-and he fit the bill perfectly, making his tackles stick and making the good strategic kicks when he had to.

For me, the most dangerous Wallaby was Digby Ioane. The Queensland wing ran hard, and on more than one occasion, was able to penetrate deep with some physical runs.

This was a game that was not for the faint of heart. The hitting and physicality of this semi-final was formidable, to say the least. South African referee Joubert(Who I felt did a great job-I hope the IRB assigns him to ref the final) was sending people off the pitch to the blood bin with great regularity. The close-ups of the banged up, bloodied players made them look almost like Mixed Martial Arts fighters.

In the end, a 20-6 win for New Zealand was probably more relief than joy for the players and nerve-wracked Kiwis at Eden Park and watching on their TV's, but the All Blacks are THIS close to accomplishing what they set out to do. It has to be a tough thing to carry the expectations, hopes and desires of your countrymen, but Graham Henry's players seem more than up to the task

Rendez-vous with Les Bleus next Sunday at Eden Park in Auckland. Let the build-up begin. It now becomes a battle of nerves between the All Blacks and France. The All Blacks looking to get a gorilla sized monkey off their back. France looking to see if the 3rd time will be the charm for a team searching to lift their first-ever Webb Ellis trophy.

Wales: Seeing Red

2011-10-15T11:26:00.002-05:00

The moment that changed France-Wales

Like some of my sleep deprived compatriots in the USA, I was up at 4 AM EDT to watch Wales and France in the first Semi-final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Wales was looking for a first-ever trip to the Final. France was looking to overcome internal dissension and poor pool play to book a place in the finals for the first time since 1999, after their epic, enthralling win against the All Blacks in the Semis.

In this first Semi, Wales looked the better of the two teams early on, as both teams were having a helluva time with the wet ball. It affected the handling and even the kicking game-James Hook missed a penalty when his plant foot slipped under him, and the kick would sail just wide right. He did convert an earlier penalty that had Wales up 3-0.

In the 18th minute, the young Welsh Captain Sam Warburton followed through on a tackle of French wing Vincent Clerc by picking the French wing up in the air and off his feet and Clerc's head hit the ground first. In judo it would have been a match-winning ippon. In rugby, it's a very dangerous tackle-the perfect marriage of the speedy Clerc running into the bigger and stronger Welsh flanker. Irish referee Alain Rolland did not hesitate for a second. A red card to Warburton at this early stage of the game changed it: Gone was the Welsh leader, a very good player, and a forward. This would have affect the Welsh scrum against the French.

I thought at this point that the rout would be on. No way would Wales be able to stay close to the French. I was wrong.

To have called the Welsh heroic for their play while being a man down for 62 minutes against a talent-laden French side would be an understatement. France put themselves into position late in the first half to threaten with tries, and yet, the Welsh went into the locker-room at half-time down only 6-3, courtesy of the boot of Morgan Parra-who would add one more penalty in the second half to make it 9-3.

The French seemed content to kick the ball for territory. Some of their kicking seemed aimless. With a man advantage, the French seemed like they were playing not to lose rather than playing to win. I cannot think of the last time I saw a XV de France play that way. It almost bit France in the ass.

Welsh scrum half Mike Phillips took advantage of some rare possession in French territory to score a cheeky try. The conversion failed, but Wales was, incredibly, very much in the game.

Late in the game, a penalty(I thought a harsh one) against Nicolas Mas gave Leigh Halfpenny( who was simply brave and adroit fielding all of the high balls lobbed at him) a chance to hit a penalty from midfield. The gutsy fullback's kick came just under the bar. From another 1-2 meters in, it would have made it.

I think people watching this game have to be thinking a couple of things. Wales showed incredible heart by playing 3/4 of a semifinal a man down against a talented side, and coming THIS close to still winning. France, on the other hand, now becomes the first team with two losses in group play to ever make a RWC final. The French seemed unusually afraid to take the game by the scruff of the neck and make it their game. If Australia won ugly against the Springboks last weekend, this game was an even uglier win for France-but they are still going to the final to play the winner of Sunday's All-Blacks-Wallabies game.

Part of the reason that a sport like rugby is such a great game is that it does mirror life: you have to deal with setbacks, and that sometime, life is just not fair. The Welsh were gallant losers. The French unsympathetic winners. I think that's the shortest way you can paraphrase this semi-final.

A Maori reaction to France's ugly win against Wales?

All Eyes on Auckland....

2011-10-14T18:59:00.001-05:00

Less than 8 hours to go before France and Wales get it on for the first Semi-Final at Eden Park in Auckland.

The entire rugby world now will cast it's attention to New Zealand's largest city. I will be up in the middle of the night here in the US watching it-luckily I am off work this weekend and a little sleep deprivation won't create any problems.

Eden Park should just be magic. I can hardly wait.

Crunching Numbers: Putting on My Thinking Cap...

2011-10-12T19:36:00.000-05:00

Buddha the Bulldog with his RWC Cap....

The Great thing about a tournament like the Rugby World Cup is that gives some us who not ordinarily numbers crunchers the chance to have some fun-maybe not as much fun as rugby songs, but still fun....

My good friend Lu-and Ferdy's partner in crime on the blogosphere over at http://ruggerblogger.blogspot.com/ had put out an interesting colored graph showing the nations from quarterfinals to champs. It gave me an idea to try to figure out who has been the most "Successful" team in Rugby World Cup history. The obvious way is to count trophies, which give the Wallabies and Springboks the lead with two apiece. But what I decided to do was backtrack from 1987-2007. I gave each team who was a losing quarter-finalist 1 point, losing Semifinalists 4 points, losing finalist 8 points, and the RWC champ 12 points. One thing that should be remembered, is that South Africa was not invited to the competitions in 1987 and 1991 because of it's Apartheid policies....

With that in mind, here is what my numbers came up with:
1. Australia-38 points
2. England-34
3. New Zealand -33
4. A draw with South Africa and France both with 29 points.
6. Scotland-9
7.Wales-6
8. Argentina-5
9. Ireland-4
10. Tie, Fiji and Samoa-2
12. Canada-1

With Wales, France, New Zealand and Australia all still playing at this RWC 2011, Wales will leap-frog past Scotland, and France will at a minimum take sole possession of 4th place. If the All Blacks can beat Australia this weekend, they will pass England, and if they can win it all, they will lead the hit parade at the RWC- and equal their Tri-Nations partners by winning the Webb Ellis Trophy for the second time-and adding some more memorabilia at the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North.

Four Teams Looking for Bill...

2011-10-11T19:11:00.001-05:00

We are now down to the last four in this orgy of the oval ball known as the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

"Bill" out for all to see at Argentina-Scotland in Wellington

Wales, France, Australia and New Zealand are all looking to lift the William Webb Ellis Trophy, otherwise known as "Bill". This weekend they will play the Semifinals at Eden Park, where the memories of players past and Maori culture all come together.

Auckland will be hopping with hopeful Welsh, French, Aussie and Kiwi fans. I was glad to have a chance to see Auckland and Eden Park before leaving New Zealand to come back to the US. My only regret is that I won't be able to soak in the ambiance in person.

A view of the Wellington Skyline

Given how lousy I was with my predictions for the quarterfinals( 1 out 4), I think that any of four remaining teams would NOT want me to pick them. But since I cannot tackle, pass, ruck, maul or scrum, logically it would seem that I have no power to hurt anybody, so I am going to go through with my picks. I think both games will be tight. I just don't see France playing two good games in a row. I think even if the All Blacks have their 3rd or 4th choice fly half, the rest of the team is pretty bloody strong-and Piri Weepu has been kicking great-21 points from his boot against the Pumas.

I see a New Zealand final against Wales. Now that Wellington is done with it's games at this Rugby World Cup, I would like to give a shout out to the city of Wellington. It's a beautiful capital city that has some of the most helpful citizens I have ever met. A tip of the cap to kind-hearted Wellingtonians who helped me have such a great stay while I was there.

Wellington, New Zealand has a natural beauty that is breath-taking

1987 Revisited...

2011-10-09T20:02:00.000-05:00

1987 was a watershed year in my life. My son Ian was born in 1987, the Minnesota Twins won their first ever World Series Title in baseball...and the All Blacks won the very first Rugby World Cup at Eden Park.

Eden Park-New Zealand's Mecca of Rugby

In this 2011 Rugby World Cup, my quarterfinal picks were not very accurate-just 1/4 out of my picks. were correct. I only had the All Blacks win against Argentina as being accurate. What this means is that the final four for 2011 is identical to that in 1987: Wales, France, New Zealand and Australia. The difference is that this time the semifinal match ups will be different: New Zealand will play Australia and France will play Wales.

The thing that sticks out of this year's final four is that they have all played much of this tournament with ball in hand. Back in 1987, the game that sticks out most in my mind is that semi-final between France and Australia, won by by the French in the dying minutes on Serge Blanco's wonder-try.

An Official RWC Ball signed by the Pumas.

Australia was outplayed by South Africa, France lost not one, but two preliminary round games, Wales lost a game to South Africa in the preliminary round, and the All Blacks are playing without Dan Carter. Each team going into the semi-finals seems to have an issue.

I still think that whoever wins the semi-final between the Wallabies and the All Blacks will win this World Cup. I also think that Wales will beat France-not because they are the better side, it's just that in past World Cups, whenever France has played a good game, they follow it up with a mediocre performance. I think that bodes well for Wales. That said, given that France has been the bogeyman a couple of times in stopping the All Blacks, there would be a certain symmetry if the All Blacks would play France in this year's final.

I still think the All Blacks will get by Australia-who have not had a ton of success against New Zealand on Kiwi soil. There are just so many sub-plots going into the semifinals, the rugby press will have a field day this week. All I know is that France has never won the RWC title, in spite of two finals appearances. Wales has never been in the final-indeed, this year marks the first time Wales has made the semi-finals since that first RWC in 1987. at this point, I am picking the All Blacks to play Wales in the final at Eden Park.

The Statue of David Gallaher at Eden Park

Let the build-up begin. The ghosts of prior All Blacks like David Gallaher will be watching...

Hair Raising Quarterfinal Picks...

2011-10-07T09:07:00.000-05:00

I am back in the USA since Saturday. On my Air New Zealand flight coming back to the States, my fellow passengers got the shocking news about France losing 19-14 to Tonga, and England Scraping by Scotland to run the table and win their group.(By the way, I give Air New Zealand REALLY high marks on customer service-it was a great flight)

My wife, my Bulldog and I are in route on an almost 1,500 mile drive from Dallas, Texas to Wilmington, Delaware. This means that somewhere along our trip, we have to find a rugby-friendly bar or pub that is showing the quarterfinals of this orgy of rugby known as Rugby World Cup 2011. With the quarterfinals, all eyes will be on Eden Park in Auckland, and "The Cake Tin" in Wellington.

Magner's League Quarterfinal: Wales-Ireland

Ireland's physical win against the Wallabies turned this World Cup on it's head, insuring that one group is all Southern Hemisphere and other quarterfinal group is a Four Nations, Northern Hemisphere group. Wales had only one one loss in group play, a very tight, if not controversial loss to the Springboks. Wales got some serious revenge against Fiji knocking them out of France 2007 with a 66-0 beat-down of a very disappointing Fiji side in Hamilton.

Unlike some of the other surviving teams, neither Wales or Ireland have any major health issues or losses going into this weekend.(Something that South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England sure cannot say) Wales has been running and gunning and gunning in a way that would make a French rugby fan salivate. The trouble is, I think they are going to be playing on a wet track in Wellington. I give the advantage to Ireland's front row and loose forwards. Add to that the senior leadership of O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara's boot, I just think Ireland will grind out a 15-6 win.

The Soap Opera Quarterfinal: England-France
England and France will actually step out of the back page of the newspaper and try to play some rugby for a spot in the Semifinals. England and France flat out don't like each other. They have met 4 times in World Cup play, with England winning 3 times, something that elicits all kinds of sour grapes from French players about how they were still the better team. At this tournament, Marc Lievremont, the French coach, has not hesitated at all in throwing his players under the bus after they huffed and puffed to wins against Japan and Canada(Don't let that final score against Canada fool you-the Canadians were well in that game until after 60 minutes, and the French Front row looked like they had been worked over with hockey sticks after the game). France is melting down in a way similar to their soccer brethren in South Africa last year. If Marc Lievremont had been on the Shackleton Expedition, nobody would have come back alive.

England has been getting some serious stick in the Kiwi and British press for the poor conduct of some of their players off the pitch, and with unconvincing wins against Argentina and Scotland. Never has a team with a perfect record in RWC qualifying had so many barbs thrown their way. Wilkinson has not had a great RWC with the boot, and they will miss Delon Armitrage to suspension. Their forwards have been wracked by injuries on this World Cup. I know in every RWC, France always has one game where they just play swashbuckling, great rugby, like in 1999 and 2007 Against the All Blacks. This time around, I just don't see it happen. England 18-10.

The Southern Hemisphere Caged match Quarterfinal:South Africa-Australia
These teams have been hit really, really hard by the injury bug. Drew Mitchell is out of the tournament for the Wallabies, François Steyn and Bakkies Botha are both out for the Springboks. For group winners, the Springboks are really nicked up. They beat Samoa last Friday night in Albany, but the Samoans put them through the wringer in a really, really physical contest. The key for both of these teams is that their talented fly halves are both OK. Quade Cooper, the Wallaby Kiwis love to hate and Morné Steyn bring talent and an x-factor. Both have lead their club teams to Super Rugby titles. A lot of people gave Cooper some stick after the loss to Ireland, but I saw him live in Wellington, when he ran wild against the USA-you would have to be nuts to not want to have this guy on your team. With a very strong chance of rain in Wellington, you would have to think that South Africa's stronger front row should have the advantage against the Wallabies. We know that Steyn is a great guy with the boot-but it's a whole different thing kicking in the complicated winds in Wellington's Cake Tin compared to those bombs he hits at Loftus Versfeld in the altitude back in South Africa. The Wallabies have the horses with their backs to be creative if they can get the ball wide. I think Springbok physicality will carry the day over the Wallabies. 17-6 Springboks.

The what-are-we-going-to-do-without Dan-Carter Quarterfinal: New Zealand-Argentina

Argentina has looked a shadow of itself from their form in 2007. They should have won against England and should have lost against Scotland. They have qualified on nerve and guts, if not panaché . They also have had thousands of their compatriots make the trip from Argentina to New Zealand. There will be sky blue striped shirts in a sea of black-clad fans at Eden Park, giving a nice added ambiance to the game.

All Black fans have been in major funk when their star fly half Dan Carter got injured and will keep him from playing anymore at this World Cup in front of the adoring Kiwi masses. I don't think fans in New Zealand are worried about getting past Argentina. The All Blacks are just too bloody strong and good for an aging Puma side. They are worried about getting by the Springbok-Wallaby winner-I think for them, they feel like without Carter, they can beat any of the European sides, but question if they can get past either of their Tri-Nations rivals without their Charismatic number 10. Of all of the quarterfinals, this is the only one that I see as a rout: New Zealand 30-3 over the Pumas.

My only regret is that I am having to now follow the World Cup from afar, after being able to be assaulted on a daily basis by rugby coverage on TV and newsprint in New Zealand.

Parting Shots From Kiwi-Land

2011-09-30T19:40:00.001-05:00

It has been a fantastic trip and a great adventure for me and my wife here in New Zealand. We get on a plane in a couple of hours. I have so much on my mind, that it is difficult to put it into words. This brings to mind the old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words.

With that in mind, here are some random pics from these last two weeks in New Zealand:

Thanks New Zealand. You put on a great show.

Photo Opps From USA-Italy

2011-09-27T05:00:00.001-05:00

My wife and I had only been in Nelson, New Zealand for all of 3 hours when, while walking down Trafalgar Street, we came across some young, fit, young men wearing Italian Rugby clothes. I asked them in Italian if they were part of "La Squadra Italiana" the said that they were, and they were nice enough to have a picture taken with a 50 year old American Prop...They could not have been nicer.

Eddie O'Sullivan, the USA Coach, went with a first choice team against Italy. That said, even the most ardent USA fan was going to know that the Eagles were going to be in for a tough time against Italy.

The Good news for the USA was that they were more than competitive in this match. They scored a try...

but the Italian scrum gave the USA fits all night, even scoring a penalty try after persistent Eagle Infringement on the scrum. My wife and I had seats 3 rows from the field in the end zone, so we had a very good look at that penalty try....

The 27-10 win by Nick Mallet's men in blue was a fair result. After the game, the Eagles were able to do a lap of honor, as this was their last game. It was cool to be able to shake hand with all of the players, like USA captain Todd Clever, and to be able to get my picture with the USA Wing, Ngwenya-who did not score a try in this World Cup, but at least has his day job in Biarritz to go back to.

It was a nice crowd at Nelson(14,977 shoe-horned into Trafalgar Park), and it's hard to believe that this was the last match my wife and I will see here at RWC 2011 in New Zealand, but we have had such a great time. Meeting players and getting my pictures taken with some of these rugby players was the cherry on top of what has been a great trip.


Hanging with La Squadra...

Scots, Pumas, and Low Altitude Flying

2011-09-26T04:49:00.000-05:00

I knew that going into Sunday nights Argentina-Scotland game that it was going to be a tight game-and that there was going to be some passionate support. I had a chance to meet up with Scotty, a fellow blogger from rugby tips and some of his friends before the game. The number of people wearing kilts and dressed in the sky blue of Argentina was mind-boggling. It made for great viewing before the game even started....

It was a tight contest the whole way. It was raining for most of the game. Neither defense was giving much ground to the other. Contempomi was having an off night for Argentina with the boot. When Dan Parks hit a drop goal late in the game to put the Scots up 12-6, I thought that Scotland might have just stamped their ticket for a probable quarterfinal with the All Blacks...that was before Gonzalez Amorisino got a ball out wide, and blew past Patterson and Lamont to plant the ball for the try with about 7 minutes left. Contemponi re-adjusted his gun sites to slot home the conversion, putting the Argentines up by a point. Argentina had to defend doggedly as Scotland got deep into Pumas territory-only to have Parks miss a last-gasp, left footed drop goal effort to doom the Scots to a must-win game against England-and even if they beat England, that might not be enough to see them into the quarterfinals. Argentina dodged a bullet and celebrated when Wayne Barnes blew his whistle to end the game...

On Monday, my wife and I took the puddle-jumper otherwise known as Soundsair and flew from Wellington to Nelson, on the South Island. While in the air on a pristine day, we not only saw mountains and blue sea...

I was able to get overhead shots of "The Cake Tin" in Wellington, where I saw USA-Australia and the Pumas-Scotland game, but also Trafalgar Park, in Nelson, where I will see the USA take on Italy on Tuesday, in what will be the Eagles' last match at this Rugby World Cup.

Nelson is nice and sunny-and also has a very large Italian community, so this should be a home game for the Azzurri on Tuesday night. Until then, Ciao...

As Much Fun You Can Have When Your Team Loses 67-5

2011-09-24T03:05:00.003-05:00

USA-Australia was going to be a tough day at the office, no matter what. When Eagles Head Coach Eddie O'Sullivan decided to have 14 new starters to his line up to face the Wallabies, even the most ardent USA supporter knew that an ass-whuppin' was in the offering-particulary in view of the fact that the Wallabies were going to be smarting after last Saturday's loss to Ireland.

The USA showed some heart in the first half. They had several minutes of advantage in the Wallaby end, and were showing a lot of heart. It's true that Australia was nicked up, but with players like Adam Ashley-Cooper, Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale(Got a Pic of his try) in the Wallaby backline, the Wallabies got out wide with frequency and with devastating results.

JJ Gagiano scored a nice try with a quick move off a 5 meter scrum in the Wallaby zone, but that would be the only time the Yanks would cross the try line.

In spite of the thumping, my wife and I had a great time at the Wellington Stadium, which had very few empty seats. It was a nice ambiance with a lot of fans made up for the occasion:

As much fan as the pre-game festivities were and the energy at the stadium, I think that Sunday's game with Argentina and Scotland is going to be louder and more passionate, given the number of supporters here in Wellington, and with the stakes of the game-the winner will go to the quarterfinals and the loser probably going home. That means no prisoners will be taken on Sunday.

RWC 2011: United Nations Under an Oval Ball...

2011-09-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

When the IRB awarded the 2011 Rugby World Cup to New Zealand, there were more than a few rugby fans who complained that by choosing the home of the All Blacks as the RWC venue, that it would be such an expensive plane ticket, that very few rugby fans would be able, or willing to make the trip. I guess it was understandable when you look at France 2007, geography played a big role in a record number of ticket sales for a Rugby World Cup. France was next to Italy, close to fans from the UK and Ireland, and a common destination for American, Canadian and Japanese Tourists.

On this current trip to Australia and New Zealand, I have spoken to rugby fans from the US, Canada, France, Argentina( A TON of Argies), Italy, Romania, Uruguay, Ireland, Australia, South Africa and the UK. Add to that, there are a great many people living in New Zealand of Polynesian origin. In walking around Wellington, I have seen a good number of cars flying Fijian, Tongan and Samoan flags.

It has been great talking about rugby with fans from all over the world. Many of whom are very, very curious about the development of rugby in the US, where the participation numbers among high school aged kids and young woman have simply exploded. We are a long way yet from being able to seriously challenge the Tri Nations and Six Nations sides, but improvement is not impossible-just look at how Georgia and Japan have improved in the last 4 years. That said, I do think the Eagles are in for a serious beat-down at the hand of the Wallabies on Friday night.

This trip has had many highlights, but another great thing about this trip has been to finally meet some of my fellow rugby bloggers here in Kiwi-Land. On Thursday night, I was able to meet "Slugso", part of the writing duo with Ferdy at http://ruggerblogger.blogspot.com/

It was great to have a few beers with him. Tonight, I am going to meet another Kiwi, Scotty, who does http://www.superrugbytips.com/ I am highly looking forward to meeting him, and Tom, a Canadian I have met via Facebook.

I should also add, that every tourist I have spoken with has had a story to underline just how wonderful of hosts the Kiwis are. At Mac's Bar on Taranaki Wharf, I spoke to a French rugby fan from Paris who spoke of how when he had run out of gas, a helpful Kiwi put him in his car, drove him to the nearest petrol station and drove him back to his car, and waited until the car restarted."That type of thing would never happen in Paris", he said.

The rest of the world might be going to hell in a handcart, but at least among rugby fans here in New Zealand, people seem to be showing what we can be capable of doing, as human beings.

Kiwi Hospitality and the Petone RFC...

2011-09-21T06:44:00.001-05:00

My wife and I are staying at a Bed and Breakfast in Lower Hut, near Wellington, New Zealand.

During our short time here in New Zealand, we have both been blown away at what wonderful hosts the Kiwis have been. On Tuesday, any time my wife and I stopped to check our map, there was a helpful Kiwi asking if they could help us out. It is very apparent that the good people of New Zealand are happy that people from far and wide have come to their country to take in this orgy of rugby known as the Rugby World Cup.

As luck would have it, I noticed that the World Masters Rugby Group on Yahoo groups had an invitation from Wayne Smith of the Petone RFC for rugby players and fans to come to their club house to watch Rugby World Cup matches on their cinema sized screen, share friendship and have some beers-well, roughly in that order.

I told my wife about the hosting, and she was fine with checking it out.

I was given a tour of the facility by a club member, where I discovered that the club has an entire museum, which contained an impressive number of pictures of club members who would wear-or are wearing- the iconic All Black Jersey, as well as a treasure trove of memorabilia...

One team photo of a championship teams from the turn of the 20th century was one with a four-legged member of the club at the lower part of the picture.

My wife and I had a great time with the Petone RFC. It was nice to share some Tui Beers and talk about rugby with the members and other guests-one of whom was from Uruguay visiting New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup. In speaking with a senior member of the club, Barry, he found out that where my wife and I are staying in Lower Hutt was literally only a block away from where he grew up. He was kind enough to give my wife and I a lift from the club to our Bed and Breakfast. It was a kind gesture which did not totally surprise me-this sport and this country are loaded with a ton of class people.

Thanks Petone. You guys are a credit to the sport and your country.

The Art of Rugby in Wellington, New Zealand....

2011-09-20T06:14:00.000-05:00

My wife and I made it to New Zealand on Monday. We are settled in with our hosts Annette and Lex at their charming house in Lower Hutt, a 15 minute train ride from Wellingon, where the train station is very conveniently close to "The Cake Tin", Wellington's stadium where I will see USA-Australia on Friday, and Argentina-Scotland's key match on Sunday.

The thing that struck me today was the amount of rugby-related art here in Wellington. It went from a photo display by David Match, a photographer who shot pictures of rugby players, from amateur to pro, all over New Zealand...

From there, my wife and I went to the New Zealand Institute of Art, where they had several interesting pieces, including a likeness of Ritchie McCaw done up in toast...

There were other paintings that I liked, as well...

The Wellington Museum City and Sea has an entire display of iconic pictures from Kiwi photographer Peter Bush's over 40 years of shooting the sport of rugby...

Another place in town had French Artist doing a large team caricature of the All Blacks...

And in the park near the Wellington City Library, my wife and I found this statue with symbolism that goes beyond rugby, and gets into the forces of nature and humans that make up New Zealand....

It was all enough to make even the most hardened rugby fan smile...

Goodbye Australia

2011-09-18T07:19:00.000-05:00

I probably should be commenting on Saturday night's defeat of the Wallabies at the hand of an inspired Irish side. The Wallaby front row had a really rough night at the office against Ireland, and Australia never could get it's running game on track at an Eden Park that sounded more like Croke Park in Dublin. The 15-6 Irish victory made things very interesting for the World Cup brackets and organizers. As things stand, it looks like Ireland will win the group and likely face either Wales or Fiji in the quarterfinals.

The Wallaby loss means that if things go according to plan with the rest of group play, the Aussies should play South Africa in the quarterfinals-with the winner of that match getting a semi-final date with the host All Blacks. All of the sudden, the other side of the bracket looks like it has parted like the Red Sea for England-and Ireland.

As for this rugby fan, my time in Australia has come to a close. My wife and I leave on Monday morning to fly from Melbourne to Wellington.

It has been an amazing last 20 days here in Australia. My wife and I have enjoyed the sights in Melbourne, Sydney and the Alpine area of northern Victoria. We also had a chance to see the Penguin parade at Phillip Island, about an hour from Melbourne. I had never heard of Phillip Island prior to my arrival in Australia, and it was worth the trip. You cannot take pictures of the penguins(park rules), but I can just say the experience was something that I will never forget.

On my last day here in Australia, my wife and I had a chance to take the tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, known to most sport fans as the MCG. One thing people don't know, is that you can get a great view of downtown Melbourne(and the Rod Laver Arena) from the MCG....

For me, the MCG is one of those iconic stadiums, like Yankee Stadium in New York, Wembley Stadium in London and Maracana in Rio. The MCG has been re-done and re-invented many, many times over the years, and has seen events from Aussie Football Finals, top-flight rugby, test cricket, the 1956 Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. To have had a chance to not only see the MCG, but walk on the field, was pretty amazing....

So on Monday, the great adventure continues...the Missus and I go to Wellington for 7 days, then 3 days in Nelson, back to Welly, then to Auckland....to be continued...

Baa! Ram! Ewe!

2011-09-14T19:28:00.001-05:00

While it is true that rugby was the catalyst for this trip to Australia and New Zealand, a tourist cannot live on rugby alone...well, at least a rugby tourist's wife would not be happy if we lived just on rugby alone on this trip.

We went to Sydney for 4 days and 3 nights, where we actually were able to see a performance of the opera, La Boheme.

We went back to my Aunt Kay's place in Myrtleford. She has a friend named Judy nearby who needed a hand sorting out sheep at here place near Milawa. Now for me, some of the earliest documentary films I remember about Australia were documentaries showing the big sheep stations in the outback, where burly guys would sheer sheep in outrageously hot conditions.

Well, yesterday was my chance to do something completely different. I got to help my aunt's friend round up all of her sheep, then sort them out: Rams, female lambs, then the rest. Judy doesn't have any Border Collies, so we had to use ATV's to round the sheep up into the pens and then sort them out. It was a lot of work, and I had to learn on the fly how not to spook the sheep so that they would go the right way.

Of all of the things I had thought I was going to do on this trip, herding sheep was one thing that I had not thought I was going to do, but we had a good time. I will say that I have a lot of respect for people who do this sort of thing on a regular basis.

Let the sheep jokes begin.

USA-Russia: The Cold War Revisited in New Plymouth

2011-09-13T18:15:00.001-05:00

On Thursday's Rugby World Cup fixture list, the USA Eagles will take on the Bears from Russia. The Russians are making their first-ever appearance at a Rugby World Cup, and with Ireland, Australia and Italy in the group, the Russians have to have this match circled as the one that they can win. It's a pretty safe bet that Eagles Head Coach, Eddie O'Sullivan, has also circled this fixture as the one that HE thinks he has a shot at winning.

The USA and the former Soviet Union have had some memorable meetings in the past, with sport being the back drop to Cold War Politics-particualrly in the 60's and 70's. The meetings have gone from the controversial men's basketball final at the Munich Olympics in 1972 to the iconic photo of Mike Eurozione scoring the winning goal as the USA shocked the formidable Soviet ice hockey team at the 1980 Olympics.

Thursday's preliminary round rugby game will probably be a tight contest, but in rugby, these two nuclear and geo-political heavyweights are going to be classified as minnows. The USA's lone spot in the rugby spotlight was winning gold medals at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, when they beat France in the finals. With the advent of professionalism in rugby, the gulf between USA Rugby and the top rugby nations only continues to grow, in fact, teams like Japan and Georgia have passed the US by in the world rankings, with the vastly improving Russians looking to pass the Americans by, as well.

The Americans showed a great deal of heart in their loss to Ireland in the first game, in game that was also played out with the memories and emotions of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 maybe helping the Yanks keep the score down against a much more talented Irish side. For the Russians, Thursday's match will be t heir first match in ANY Rugby World Cup. Look for them to come out fast. It seems like a lot of the underdog teams played with a lot of heart in their first matches: Namibia, Japan and Romania gave fits to Fiji, France and Scotland, respectively. The Amricans have won their last 3 matches against the Russians-but all 3 matches were very close, and were played on American soil.

Thursday's match may not have the marquee value of athletic contests in the past between the former Soviet Union and the USA, but for two nations fighting for respect and wins on the rugby pitch, the game at New Plymouth should have a lot of hard-hitting and passion from both sides.

Wallabies Go From Fiat to Lamborghini Against Italy

2011-09-11T18:06:00.002-05:00

For their opening match in World Cup 2011, the Wallabies got to kick things off against Nick Mallet's Italian Squad. Not as much marquee value as England-Argentina, or South Africa-Wales, but Italy's formidable front row was going to be a stern test for Robbie Deans' Wallaby front row in Auckland.

The first half saw the Italians play with a great deal of heart and physicality. They were tackling hard and Quade Cooper and Wil Genia were not getting the time to work their magic. The halftime score was a very suprising 6-6. The neutral Kiwis in the crowd had to be wondering if the Italians could add a Wallaby pelt to the French scalp that they took in Rome back in the Six Nations. The Wallabies looked like a Fiat stuck in mud in the first half.

In the second half, the Wallabies looked like they were driving a Lamborhini opening it up on an open road in West Australia. Italy was just not going to be able to match the wicked pace the Australians posessed in the second half.

As tough as the Italians could be in the scrum, the Wallabies reigned supreme in the line outs. Secondly, when Deans brough in young James O'Connor, that injected some more speed to what the Wallaby back line already posessed. Thirdly, Quade Cooper got his mojo working at fly half.

O'Connor, it should be noted, started the game on the bench. He was in the doghouse for oversleeping the photo shoot and press conference back in Australia as it was to be the Wallaby send-off. O'Connor did not whine to the press, he knew he messed up in a big, big way and took his punishment like a man. He would end up scoring a try and hitting 3 conversions for the Wallabies.

Quade Cooper's impeccable timing on 3 different passes set up 3 Wallaby tries. Ben Alexander did us props proud by touching down after some nice work by the Wallaby forwards. In the end, the 32-6 bonus point win was a nice warm up for the Aussies as their next match will be against the Irish, who will be looking to improve upon their game against the USA Eagles. I think the Wallabies have to be the second favorites in this tournament after the hosts. Their forwards are quick, their 3rd row has the physicality to match with the All Blacks at the breakdown to cause headaches for almost any time in the tournament-Pocock and Elsom were a major pain for Sergio Parisse and his mates in the second half.

The good news for Austrlia is that their two toughest games will be done first, so they can rest people as needed against the Russians and Americans to finish up group play.

England-Argentina: Winning in SPITE OF Johnny...

2011-09-10T22:06:00.002-05:00

I had a chance to watch England-Argentina's tense opening match for RWC 2011 last night. OK, it was on a 4 hour time delay, but at least the WIN Network showed it in Australia, and I did not have to watch it at 330AM if I had been back home in the States.

Right off the opening whistle, It was apparent that this was going to be a really physical, tense match. The Pumas sublime fly half, Felipe Contempomi was an early casualty. He was in the game long enough to score the first points for the Pumas, but his beat-up ribs just did not permit him to continue. You have to wonder how many games the former Leinster star is going to miss.

The crowd at the New Otago Stadium in Dunedin were protected from the elements in New Zealand's first covered rugby stadium. You would have thought that the pristine conditions would have favored kicks at goal from the likes of Johnny Wilkinson and Martin Rodriguez-and you would have been mistaken, as both sides were missing their targets like a 14 year old on his first hunting trip.

Argentina will have to rue the fact that they could not punish England's multiple transgressions in the first half to cash in on points-particularly with England playing a man down for 10 minutes. I think Argentina had a chance to really put England in a hole by going for posts instead of going for the line out at the end of the first half-opting for another missed penalty. In the end, the Argentines were able to only put 3 points on the board with a man advantage.

When Ben Youngs was brought into the game at fly half, that was the spark that Martin Johnsson's men needed. He would score the key try under the posts that Wilko convervted for a 10-9 lead. He would also score on a penalty late in the game that meant that the Pumas would need to score a try to win.

After some very, very tense moments, England hung on to win a game in which I felt they were outplayed for vast stretches. I think that if you are an England fan, you have to take heart in beating a very good opponent without your A game. Both teams will have tense games with Scotland-who huffed and puffed to a difficult win over Romania on Saturday.

This game had a playoff round feel to it-indeed, whoever finishes second in this group, will more than likely have to face the All Blacks in the Quarterfinals, with the group winner likely to face France

WTF Australia? NO Live Rugby World Cup Coverage??

2011-09-09T05:02:00.000-05:00

As an American Rugby fan here in Australia before going to New Zealand on September, 19th,I would have thought that I would be able to catch lots of live rugby action this opening weekend.

I have discovered, much to my horror, that on today, the opening day of Rugby World Cup 2011, that I am going to have to catch the All Blacks-Tonga game...on a 3 hour delay. The WIN Network had advertised that they were going to be Australia's "Network of Rugby World Cup 2011". What the advertisement failed to mention is that games were going to be tape delayed-if shown at all. There are 3 games scheduled for Saturday. The only game that WIN will show on Saturday is Argentina-England...again, with a 3 hour delay.

As I write this, I should be watching the All Blacks put Tonga to the sword...instead, I can watch an NRL playoff game. If there is any doubt on where rugby union ranks with the Australian sports fan, this weekend is becoming a very painful lesson to this American rugby fan.

For my compatriots back in the states, looking at spending a small fortune in either pay-per-view costs or bar tabs watching RWC games at bars showing matches, I can tell you that if you were here in Australia, the only difference is that you can at least get a little more print coverage in The Sydney Morning News or the Australian. American Newspapers will have next to nothing about the Rugby World Cup.

I have been having a wonderful time here in Australia, but I have to confess that the lack of live coverage of the Rugby World Cup on Aussie TV has been a major dissapointment.

Victoria, Australia: Great Wine, Beer, But NOT Much Rugby Union...

2011-09-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

My wife and I made it to Australia. Our flights took us from Dallas, to San Francisco(where my wife and I enjoyed a nice long layover to see the city) Auckland, and then Melbourne. We had a great flight on Air New Zealand. Normally I cannot sleep on planes, but I slept a good 8 hours on the flight.

My Aunt lives in Myrtleford, Victoria-about 3 hours by car from Melbourne. I did not realize that I was going to be landing in the middle of "Foody Central": Vineyards, olive trees, orchards, specialty food shops, and micro-breweries.(In this case, Bright Beer-they make a great stout) The topography and attention to fine food reminds me a lot of the area between Lyon and Aix-en-Provence in France. My French friends will be pleased to know that I am eating and drinking just about as well as I did 4 years ago when my family and I were in France for the Rugby World Cup.

With less than two weeks away from the kick-off of Rugby World Cup 2011, and home to the new Tri-Nations champs, the Wallabies, you would think that people in Victoria would be talking about the upcoming World Cup and the chances of their boys in Green and Gold in New Zealand....At least here in Victoria, you would be wrong. I had to look through 3 different news vendors to even find a World Cup Guide. The local papers have a lot of coverage of Cricket, Aussie Rules Football, and some Rugby League Coverage. The only paper I have found with any Rugby World Cup coverage was "The Australian", and even that coverage was scant. I could almost swear that I was back in the USA with the lack of mainstream rugby coverage. If there is any doubt where Rugby Union stands for the Aussie sports fan, it would seem that Rugby ranks behind Cricket, Footby, Rugby League, and even the US Open Tennis has had more coverage with a lot of attention to Samantha Stosur.

At least there will be a lot of live TV coverage, which is more than we can say back in the US. http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/rugby-world-cup/

At any rate, I am enjoying discovering a new area of Australia-when I was here 5 years ago, I was in Darwin-and it is even better to be away from the heat in Texas. Now if I can just find some rugby coverage in the Australian press....

Happy Trails To You, Dallas

2011-08-23T07:55:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that my travel nurse job is almost over here in Dallas. I finish on the 26th, and my wife and I leave for Australia and New Zealand on 8/28. When we get back to the USA on October 1st, I will pick up 4 more shifts here in Dallas, then my wife and I (With Buddha the Bulldog in tow) will drive the 1,500 miles from Dallas to Wilmington, Delaware, in the Mid-Atlantic area of the US-almost exactly halfway between Washington DC and New York City.

It's been tough work, at times on the Spinal Cord Unit here at the Dallas VA Medical Center, but I will miss my co-workers on the night shift, and I will really miss the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I found the people in this area to be very friendly. There is just an unbelievable amount of good places to eat and drink in this place. For people looking for a place to visit during their stay in the US, I would give this area high marks.(But you have to visit my native Minnesota in the summer and fall, first!) This summer has been memorable in North Texas with an almost biblical drought and heat wave. (We had 41 straight days of 100 degree weather-37.7 degrees C) It's actually going to feel good to go from the heat of Dallas to the Southern Hemisphere winter and spring. (Bringing lots of layers-Under Armour is NOT just for rugby)

My wife and I have very much enjoyed our stay here in Dallas. But we are ready for the next adventures, as we take on another "trip of a lifetime" and look forward to discovering another area of the US.

Happy Trails, Dallas. It's been fun.

Leaving for Australia/New Zealand Two Weeks for Today...

2011-08-14T08:46:00.001-05:00

It It is hard to believe after all of the saving and planning that my wife and I leave for Australia and New Zealand two weeks from today. In honor of that, I found this clip from Australian Aboriginal group Yothu Yindi....

Tri-Nations 2011: Sharp Dress Rehearsal for the All Blacks

2011-08-06T19:47:00.001-05:00

For the All Blacks, the Tri-Nations is a no-win proposition. Win, and the attitude is "So What?" They were expected to win, and they all ready have a bunch of these Tri Nations trophies gathering dust somewhere at NZRU Headquarters. The All Blacks have pretty much owned the Tri Nations series, yet any Kiwi rugby fan worth their salt is also very mindful of another scoreline: Rugby World Cup Trophies Won:

Australia-2
South Africa-2
England-1
New Zealand-1

The ghosts of 1987 hang heavy over All Black players and fans alike. I don't know if the New Zealand decision to emulate the white collars worn on the '87 team's jersey is a good one or not. To be honest, with these new type of high-tech rugby jerseys, I don't know how great they look. I think the basic Black design was just fine.(Hey, even England is going with a black second Jersey at RWC 2011)

After yesterday's beat-down at Eden Park, the All Blacks have looked very good-but we have seen this scenario numerous times in World Cup years.

The other thing that cannot be ruled out, with matches to play in Australia and South Africa, can the the All Blacks avoid any major injuries? We have already seen Welsh Fullback Morgan Stoddard break his leg against England on Saturday, dashing his Rugby World Cup dreams.

With 33 days before the start of Rugby World Cup 2011, I don't know if today's win over the Auld Enemy from across the Tasman really will calm the nerves of All Black fans, but at least it's a good dress rehearsal before these games really count.

Zero Hour: 4 Weeks From Today...

2011-07-31T05:10:00.000-05:00

It will be exactly 4 weeks from today when my wife and I leave Dallas for our trip "Down Under" to Australia and then New Zealand. That's the good news.

The bad news is that I have been watching exchange rates with the type of nervousness that Morne` Steyn would have trying to tackle Sonny Bill Williams. I am glad that most of my major purchases while I am in-country in New Zealand are already paid for, like the flight from Wellington to Nelson, the bus ride from Nelson to Picton , the ferry from Picton to Wellington and my housing in Wellington and Auckland. The reason for my happiness has nothing to do with being organized, it's just that with the US Dollar getting hammered by every major currency(And the game of chicken going on between Republicans, Democrats and President Obama is not helping to fuel confidence in the US Dollar), I am breathing a sigh of relief that those purchases were done before the US dollar has lost even MORE value. What should worry Americans is that if the European Union has bailed out Greece, Portugal and Ireland, and the Euro is STILL gaining value against the greenback, what does that say about confidence in the US and our economy?

I know more than a few of my fellow American rugby tourists going to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup have been watching the shrinking value of the American Dollar with visions of having to re-think purchases in New Zealand. I know for me and my wife, it's going to mean maybe fewer restaurant meals and going to the grocery store to prepare food at the homes where we will be staying.

The saying goes that you cannot worry about things over which you have no control. In spite of the shrinking value of the US dollar compared to it's Aussie and Kiwi counterparts, I still plan on having a great time on this trip.

Reds v Crusaders - Brilliance and Heartbreak...

2011-07-16T11:27:00.001-05:00

&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;MoMost years I probably would have been rooting for the Queensland Reds in a Super Rugby Final. The Crusaders are royalty in this competition after having won it more than a few times, and year in, year out seem to be among the top clubs in Southern Hemisphere Rugby.

It remained to be seen if the Crusaders could get just one more win on the road to cap off and incredible season in Brisbane. It turned out to be a compelling match. The Crusaders were dominant in the first half. Dan Carter, the fly half scored a really great try off a perfectly placed grubber kick that he touched down. The Reds were tackling with all of their collective heart to stay in the game. In the second half, two tries of individual brilliance-particularly the 70 meter scamper by Reds Scrumhalf Wil Genia gave the Reds their first-ever Super Rugby title in the professional era.

It was a great final with more than a few overtones for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in September, as the Crusaders will supply more than a few players to the All Blacks, and Reds like Genia and Cooper will be wearing the gold of the Wallabies.

With all of the joy the Reds' victory gave to Queensland-let's not forget the horrific flooding they had last year with loss of life and millions of dollars in damage, the win would have been a shot in the arm to the people in Canterbury in New Zealand, who have been going through their own rough year with not one, but two earthquakes and a badly damaged downtown in Christchurch.

In the end, the Crusaders and Reds served up a great match for rugby fans all over the world to enjoy.

One Last Road Game for the Crusaders

2011-07-04T02:51:00.001-05:00

The earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand on February 22nd of this year killed 181 people and caused destruction on a huge scale in the center of Christchurch and the eastern suburbs. It caused enough structural damage to AMI Stadium where Rugby World Cup organizers had no choice but to move the matches originally slated for Christchurch to other venues.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Crusaders-never-contemplated-withdrawing-from-Super-15/tabid/317/articleID/217437/Default.aspx
The result for the Canterbury Crusaders was that this 2011 Super Rugby season was going to put them as the rugby version of the Harlem Globetrotters. All of the Crusaders games this year have been on the road. It's been figured that the Crusaders have covered over 113,000 km(enough to circle the earth 3 times) and have played games as far away as England.

With all of that in mind, the Crusaders' emphatic 29-10 semi-final win against the Stormers in Cape Town was almost like a walk to the corner market. Their victory gives the Crusaders a chance to put some last frequent-flyer miles to their credit when they travel to Brisbane to take on the Queensland Reds to see if they can boost morale back in Canterubury with a win.

I have been wracking my brain, and I cannot think of a single sports team in any sport who has had to overcome so much and play every game away from home. It's one thing to be on the road for a World Cup or World Championship, but to belong to a league and play every game on the road, and still make it to the final is pretty incredible stuff.

As great as Queensland's turn-around has been this year, I have to say that even their rise to the top of Southern Hemisphere club rugby from door-mat status pales in comparison to what the Crusaders have been able to do. It's really a testament to the resiliency and leadership of the coaching staff and players to have even gotten to this point.

After the way they dismantled a pretty good Stormers side(Loaded with players who will be wearing Springbok colors at the Rugby World Cup) in Cape Town, I would not bet against McCaw and his mates against the Queenslanders this coming Saturday.

And USA-Australia Makes Three....

2011-07-01T22:42:00.000-05:00

In spite of the grim statistics about slow ticket sales for the RWC 2011 in New Zealand, this middle-aged, American prop is doing my part to try to help out the Kiwi economy: Today I just got my third set of match tickets, for USA-Australia in Wellington on September 23rd.

There is a certain amount of symmetry to all of this, as 4 years ago, my son and I saw 3 games at France 2007.

I feel bad that the earthquake that hit Christchurch hit the hotel infrastructure in Canterbury so hard that it just did not seem practical to go there. As it is, my wife and I will spend a week in Wellington and 3 nights in Nelson.

One of the things I stumbled onto via the internet is a site called http://www.crashpadder.com/
It's a site where you can rent out apartments or rent a room in house from a home-owner. Thanks to that site, I have been able to take care of lodging for me and my wife during our stay in New Zealand. We will stay in one house in Lower Hutt, near Wellington and then in a house in Nelson-as luck turns out, the house in Nelson is a 5 minute walk from Trafalgar Park, where I will see USA-Italy.

I am just so pysched up about this trip to Australia and New Zealand. My hope is that with my next pay check, I will actually be able to get my plane tickets to Australia and New Zealand. As luck would have it, Qantas just started flying from Dallas to Australia. I had a really good experience flying on Qantas 5 years ago when I went to Australia. If you are going to spend 14+ hours in a plane, it's really not a bad way to fly.

I am hoping that now that the last of the tickets have been released for sale, that more rugby fans will snap them up. I have my tickets-do you have yours?

National Champs and World Cup Preparations....

2011-06-26T01:24:00.000-05:00

It HAS been awhile since I have been able to write. A lot has gone down in the past three weeks.

For starters, the Metropolis DIII side defeated Syracuse, NY in the final of USA Rugby DIII National Championships in Glendale, Colorado.http://www.rugbymag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1147:big-second-half-makes-metropolis-champs&catid=61:mens-dii-clubs&Itemid=234

I remember back in 2007 when Metropolis decided that we should commit to having our second side play a full DIII schedule. As hard as it might be to believe, there were more than a few people with the club who had serious doubts that we could pull it off-that enough players would show up to fill out two full rosters. There were enough votes among club members who were able to see the bigger picture, that having a committed second side would help get people out to practice and retain members. With a DIII title-a first national title for the club-and the DI side making it to the National Sweet 16, this season has been a good sending off for Chad "Augie" Augeson, the head coach, who is stepping down to spend more time with his family. Aussie-born Nate Osborne, who was the player coach for the DIII side, is my bet to take over the top spot from Augie.

The thing that made the DIII victory even sweeter has been the fact that I have actually had a chance to play with quite a few of the guys who played in Colorado. A good number of the squad are guys who have played with the Metropolis A side, but have had to cut back related to work and family commitments. It was great news for my club, and I think it will only help the club recruit more players and attract more sponsorships.

One of the things I stumbled onto in preparation for my trip to Australia and New Zealand in September was a site called http://www.crashpadder.com/ It's a site that helps hook travelers up to rent rooms or apartments while traveling. In my case, I was able to take care of my lodging in Nelson and Wellington, New Zealand. The fact that I can actually "go native" while doing the New Zealand portion of this trip has me really psyched up.

The other things I have been able to do with the trip is that I have been able to get plane tickets for my wife and I to fly from Wellington to Nelson. I wanted to have the experience of taking a ferry from the South to North Island, so I got tickets for my wife and I to take a bus from Nelson to Picton, and then from Picton we will take the ferry across the Cook Strait to Wellington for our last night in New Zealand before we fly back to the USA.

I am also going to look at trying to score tickets to see the Australia-USA game in Wellington. What can I say? I saw 3 games in France 4 years ago, I might as well take in 3 games while we are in Kiwi-Land.

While we are in Australia, we will stay with my aunt in Myrtleford, Victoria. While there, I am planning on taking in a couple of days in Melbourne and at least a couple of days in the area around Sydney. There is so much to see, and we will be working on a limited budget, but I am really excited about getting back to Oz. I was last there 5 years ago, and I was up in Darwin for 10 days. Victoria and New South Wales is just going to be a very different experience.

It's hard to believe that it is almost 2 months before we leave Dallas to start our trip...to be continued.

Metropolis Through to the DIII final....

2011-06-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

This report came in from Colorado, care of Metropolis President Dave Heebner. Metropolis won it's semifinal match against South Bay and will play in the DIII final on Sunday. Great stuff for Metropolis.
http://presidentspiehole.blogspot.com/2011/06/metropolis-diii-national-semi-final_04.htm

To say I am happy and proud to be associated with these guys would be an understatement.

Go Metropolis!

2011-06-03T22:47:00.000-05:00

As I sit here about to go to work, my thoughts are in Colorado, where theetropolis D III side will play in it"s first ever national semi final. A great feat for my club. I wish them all the best this weekend.

Got 'EM!

2011-06-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

I had a great time with my wife down in Galveston, Texas. We had some sun, great food(Maybe the best Italian food I have ever had in the USA-the veal pictured below was sublime) and it was great to play in the ocean.

As much fun as it was, it pales in comparison to my joy in getting my tickets in the mail for USA-Italy in Nelson, New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup. It's one thing to make the internet purchase, but somehow when you have Rugby World Cup tickets in hand, it changes things and makes it seem just a bit more real.

Galveston

2011-05-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

I will be away from Dallas for some much needed time off after a brutal weekend at work. My wife and I are driving the six hours down to Galveston, on the Gulf of Mexico coast for some sea, rest and relaxation....

Over the weekend, I took care of my lodging in Nelson, New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup and am in the process of bidding on a place in Wellington. I have almost 3 month of work to finish here in Texas before I head to Oz and Kiwiland.

Goodbye Christchurch, Hello Wellington

2011-05-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

One of the results of the earthquake that slammed Christchurch, New Zealand was that ALL of the matches for Rugby World Cup 2011 that were to be played at the home of the Crusaders were moved to other venues due to damage to hotels and the stadium in Christchurch.

I had initially bought tickets for Australia-Russia in Christchurch. Since all of the games in Christchurch got cancelled, what the New Zealand organizers decided to do was to refund ALL of the ticketholders for games in Christchurch, and then have the holders be given first priority to purchase tickets at other venues.

I already had tickets to see USA-Italy in Nelson. As luck would have it, the Australia-Russia game was to be played...also in Nelson. I thought long and hard about it. On the one hand, I could have stayed in Nelson for both matches, but who knows when I will get a chance to get to Kiwi-land again? I decided that in terms of costs and logistics, to not get the Austrlalia-Russia match in Nelson. Instead, I decided to get tickets for Argentina-Scotland in Wellington. This works for me on a couple of different levels: It will allow my wife and I to take the ferry from Wellington to the South Island. Argentina-Scotland is going to be a key match in deciding who goes to the quarterfinals out of their group. The game is just a couple of days before USA-Italy in Nelson, so travel logistics should not be that bad.

Back in 2007, when I went to the Rugby World Cup in France, I had a chance to see Argentina-Namibia at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. The Argentine fans were just great, and I think a match pitting the passionate South Americans against the Scots, with their kilt-clad army of travelling supporters should have a great ambiance.

Now it's back to the not so-small matter of saving money for the cost of a plane ticket to get me to Australia to visit my Aunt Kay, and then to New Zealand to catch some rugby and soak up the culture.

RIP Harmon Killebrew

2011-05-18T12:38:00.002-05:00

It's really rare when I write about baseball, or baseball players in the blog-after all, the intent is for it to by rugby-centric. That said, it was with great sadness that I learned yesterday that Harmon Killebrew passed away from Esophageal cancer at the age of 74.

As a small kid growing up in Minnesota during the 1960's, baseball was my first love. My paternal grandmother took me and my brother Bill to Minnesota Twins games at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, south of Minneapolis, and the current site of the Mall of America.(In the mall there is actually a bronzed home plate for where home plate really was at the old Met)

My first sporting hero was Harmon Killebrew. I loved how his compact swing could make a baseball fly. The man could just hit bombs. Over his career, he hit balls out Tiger Stadium, Fenway Park, and Comisky Park. By today's standards, he would be considered small. His burly physique for the time was God-given with some help from meat and dairy products. His nickname was "Killer", but when you saw him on TV, he came across as a very gentle, soft-spoken man. In an era when baseball pitchers were not afraid to come inside with the high, hard one to brush him off the plate, you would see him get off the ground, dust himself off-no eyeballing the pitcher, no gestures, no yelling-he would just get back up to hit, and invariably deposit the next pitch into the left field pavilion. His 573 home runs is now 11th all time among MLB players. He hit 40 or more home runs for 8 seasons. Only Babe Ruth had more than Killebrew.

I had a chance to see his last at-bat as a Minnesota Twin. He teased us on a cold September afternoon with only about 5,000 people watching the Twins play the Texas Rangers. He hit a ball a mile-only for it to be foul.He later struck out, but for a fleeting moment, he had everybody at the old Met on their feet. The Twins did not re-sign him and he finished out his last season wearing the blue of the Kansas City Royals. I once saw him hit the longest single I had ever seen at a baseball game. He hit a line drive so hard, that it bounced hard off the center field wall-missing a home run by about a foot-the ball came back with such force that the Red Sox center fielder was able to play it like a jai-alai player and quickly get it back to the infield, holding the slow-footed slugger to a single.

When I was in my mid thirties, I had heard that he was going to be signing autographs along with former Twins players Tony Oliva and Jim Perry at the Mall of America. I just had to get his autograph. I waited in line, got my autograph, and was walking away when I remembered "Oh Shit! My camera!" I went back to the line and asked Harmon Killebrew if I could please get my picture with him, that I just gotten his autograph, but did not have the camera. He simply could not have been nicer. I cannot tell you what a cool thing it is to meet somebody whom you have admired for so many years, then when you meet him, you find out he is just as nice...maybe nicer than I ever imagined. I felt like a little kid in a 35 year old body when I had a chance to meet him. My only regret right now is that the framed picture of me with Harmon Killebrew, along with his autograph is back in New Hope, Minnesota, where it is boxed away while I am working as a travel nurse.

I am very sad that my first sports hero has passed away. He had lived a good life, and 74 is hardly premature... I guess with Killebrew's passing, it's a sign that I'm growing older, too. I think it's too bad that in this cynical era of huge salaries, bigger egos-to say nothing of the sorry, sad chapter of the whole steroid era of the 1990's, it's too bad that kids don't have that many baseball players who are role models. I know that there is a school of thought that parents should be role models, and that's true-but I felt that I was lucky to grow up in the era when I did where you could try to emulate somebody like a Harmon Killebrew-I may not have had that wonderful swing, or power at bat-but at least I could be a good sportsman and a decent person. I think that still counts for something.

RIP Killer.

Montpellier: Who ARE those guys?

2011-05-17T06:33:00.002-05:00

In the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", as Butch and Sundance are being tracked by a persistent posse, Paul Newman's character mutters several times "Who ARE those guys?"

For people who follow French Rugby, they must saying "Qui sont ces mecs?" regarding Montpellier. It's a nice town that I know very well from studying there almost 30 years ago, and where I saw a couple of Rugby World Cup games with my son back in 2007. (USA-Tonga and Tonga-Samoa)

Back when I was studying in Languedoc, Montpellier was not even a blip on the rugby scene in France. Their neighbors down the road in Béziers were THE dominant force in French Rugby in the 80's. At that time, most rugby supporters in Montpellier were fans of Toulouse, Béziers or Narbonne.

Well, 30 years later, Béziers now sits in the 3rd tier of French rugby, and Montpellier now finds itself in the French Semi-finals for the very first time, after dumping Castres on the road over the weekend. François Trinh-Duc and his mates now face a road trip to Paris to play Racing Metro for a shot to play for Le Bouclier de Brennus (Brennus' Shield) at the Stade de France against the winner of Toulouse-Clermont Auvergne in the other Semi-final. Perhaps even more importantly for Montpellier is that by finishing in the top six, they qualified for the first time ever for the Heineken Cup-ahead of some French Clubs with deeper wallets and better pedigrees like Perpignan and Stade Français.

Racing, the runners-up in the regular season of Top 14 Rugby, have an international line-up with a lot of familiar names like Chabal and Steyn. Racing have to be the clear favorites, but in a one-off match, anything can happen. Can Montpellier continue it's magical run this weekend? Rugby fans there will make the road trip to see if the party will continue on in June in St. Denis at the Stade de France...

Live Rugby

2011-05-15T02:23:00.000-05:00

There Will Be No Caveman for France@ RWC 2011

2011-05-11T15:41:00.000-05:00

When French Coach Marc Lievremont announced France's World Cup squad to play at in New Zealand this coming September and October, there were some notable omissions: Yannick Jauzion (77caps), Clément Poitrenaud (44 caps) and the face of French rugby from the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Sebastien Chabal (62 caps) His pace, strength and athleticism helped France make the Semi-finals. His stare down of the All Black Haka before France's upset win against New Zealand was one of the iconic moments from the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

It really should not come as a shock for anybody who has had a chance to watch Chabal play this spring for France in the Six Nations Tournament. He had a nightmare game against England, and was a starter in France's famous loss to Italy in Rome. In some ways, Chabal is like a great boxer who has stayed on a bit too long. Chabal can still play at the club level, but in terms of top-flight, international rugby, he just doesn't have it anymore. Credit to Lievremont for doing the right thing in this case.

According the Lievremont, it was still a very tough decsion-in the tape of the press conference, he was very emotional and did his best to keep his "Sang Froid", but in the end, he wanted to add some young legs(Biarritz's Lafakia and Picamoles from Toulouse) to his French side, which should not have any trouble making it out of group play(After New Zealand, the group has Togo, Canada and Japan), but to advance past the quarterfinals, they are going to need to improve in a big way from their form that they showed in the Six Nations. People talk about pressure on New Zealand, but people also forget that France, in spite of all of it's success in the Six Nations and a couple of famous wins against New Zealand in the 1999 and 2007 World Cups and Australia in 1987, France has never won a Rugby World Cup title. One can argue that among the rugby nations, France is probably the best rugby nation to have not lifted the Webb Ellis trophy.

This is a list of the 32 that made Lievremont's list:
Front Row : Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), William Servat (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Sylvain Marconnet (Biarritz)
Second Row : Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Métro 92)
Flankers/8 Man : Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse/Cap), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Raphaël Lakafia (Biarritz), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse)
Scrum Half : Morgan Parra (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz)
Fly Half : David Skrela (Toulouse), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier)
Centers : Fabrice Estebanez (Brive), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), David Marty (Perpignan), Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont)
Wings/Fullbacks : Maxime Médard (Toulouse), Alexis Palisson (Brive), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Yoann Huget (Bayonne), Cédric Heymans (Toulouse), Damien Traille (Biarritz)

Nice to Share a Wedding Anniversary with a Future King and Queen...

2011-04-29T00:30:00.000-05:00

On this day, I celebrate 27 years of Marriage to my lovely Red-Headed bride. She was a great sport when I decided to start playing rugby 5 years ago, and was supportive last weekend when I was able to play with the Metropolis Old Boys against the OL's from Rugby, England.

I thought it was very sporting of the future King and Queen of the United Kingdom to get married on our anniversary. I would like to wish them a happy future together from my exile deep from the heart of Texas.

Word is that Prince William and his soon-to-be bride are big time rugby supporters, with wedding guests including the likes of Gareth Thomas, Sir Clive Woodward and Mike Tindall to sit on the groom's side of the Aisle...I wonder if there will be any good rugby songs at the wedding reception?

I'm just a 50 Year Old Kid...

2011-04-26T13:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I am now back in Texas after a week back in Minnesota, where the weather was cold, wet and gray most of the week. (Except for Sunday, the day I left-it was 60 degrees and sunshine) I had bought tickets for my wife and I to see the Minnesota Twins-Cleveland Indians baseball game for Friday, and that ended up being a no-go...

That left Saturday's rugby to be played in cool, moist conditions between Metropolis and the Old Laurentians. The first game was Metropolis Old Boys/seconds against the OL's Veterans and seconds. This would end up being my first "international" match against our English visitors. One factor in our favor was that we had a deeper bench and could do more substitutions. We also had a bit more speed and skill in the back line. Metropolis old boys Pedro and Super Joe played great matches. The last try of the game was scored with great back and forth ball between Super Joe and Dave Heebner.

The game was played with great sportsmanship-after a few days of partying together, that probably did not hurt. Plus Metropolis and the OL's have a special relationship. There certainly were some good hits and intensity, but no chippy or dirty play.

The other thing that made the day special that is was my dad's first chance to see his now 50 year old son play rugby. My brother Bill and my friend Jacques were at the game, as well. That was pretty cool. My dad just could not believe all of us gray-beards out there playing this game. One thing that my dad noticed was even though we were busy beating each other up, there was nothing mean-spirited going on off the ball. Usually you think of playing a sport in front of your dad, it's usually when you are a kid in high school, but veteran's rugby has allowed a middle aged kid to show my dad just why I love this sport.

Do You Want a Chianti and Fava Beans With That Cheek?

2011-04-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

My good friend Jean-Paul Sirat shared the following story involving an altercation between two French Rugby players, which I translated-A story that Sir Anthony Hopkins just might appreciate:

"Three Thousand Euro Fine For Biting Off Didier Lacroix's Cheek"

Yesterday, a Tribunal condemned a rugby player from Blagnac Sporting Club, Elvis Tekassala, a fine of 3,000 Euros for having bitten off and ripped out with his teeth, the cheek of former Stade Toulousain player Didier Lacroix, 41 years of age in front of a bar at the beginning of November, 2010 in Toulouse "Justice considered there to be a definite aggressor and victim in this case, Didier Lacroix is clearly the victim", according to the ex-Stade player's lawyer and a sponsor for the red and black, Monsieur Frédéric David. The fine was much less than the prosecutor had asked for on behalf of Lacroix when the tribunal convened on March 22nd, initially asking for a year in prison for the ex-Blagnac prop. In it's decision, the tribunal found that Lacroix was the initial aggressor, but the counter to the aggression was found to be "disproportionate and excessive", according to the defense lawyer, Monsieur Pierre Dunac, who added that he was appealing the decision on behalf of his client "My client was only defending himself against an assault". On the night of November 6th-7th, Didier Lacroix and Franck Belot, ex-second row for Toulouse, were celebrating the birth of Belot's son at the Grand Zinc, a bar in downtown Toulouse. During the night of partying, an altercation broke out between Tekassala and Lacroix in front of the bar. The burly prop from Blagnac bit the left cheek off the former Toulouse player and spit it out on the street. Elvis Tekassala had explained that he had been first attacked by Lacroix while he was in the middle of urinating-a version that was contested by the ex-Stade player, who stated that he has had to have several surgical interventions to correct the damage done to his face.

And people thought eye-gouging was a problem in French Rugby....

Minneapolis: It's Cold and Wet...but It's Home.

2011-04-18T07:45:00.000-05:00

I have been back in Minneapolis for a couple of days now. I missed Metropolis RFC's game with Palmer.(They lost 34-17) and the DIII side winning against Dubuque. It's over 30 degrees cooler here in Minneapolis compared to Dallas. There is a weather forecast for snow in a couple of days. That said, it's been nice to see my kids and my grandson. Tonight, my friend Jacques and his family will be over to the house for supper, as another family friend insisted on grilling steaks and cooking for us tonight.

This week-long homecoming has been making me think a lot about about a song called "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-particularly of the line "Home is wherever I'm with you."

Back to Minneapolis, Metropolis and the Old Laurentians...

2011-04-16T03:30:00.000-05:00

I am leaving a place where the weather has been in the 70's and 80's, and I am heading home to Minneapolis-just in time for some snow and sleet. (As if I needed reminding about how lousy the weather is back in Minnesota)

On top of being able to catch up with friends and family, my timing worked out well for a couple of reasons: Metropolis is going to welcome the Old Laurentians of Rugby, England. Every two years we take turns touring. The OL's were here 4 years ago. We hosted a couple of players at our house who were just wonderful guests. It was great rugby, but they are just a super group of people. One of the joys of being at Aspen was being able to play with and party(like Dean-O above) some of the OL's who made it out to Aspen.

As luck would have it, the OL's are bringing some veterans so that means that before the main Metropolis-OL match, the Metropolis Old Boys will take on the OL's seconds/Old boys. Since I am already going to be on vacation, I can take the chance and play-nicks and nocks be damned. It's been killing me not to play any old boy rugby here in Dallas, so to have a chance to strap it on and get a run in next Saturday makes this week's trip back home to Minnesota even that much more enjoyable-even if the weather is going to be cool and wet.

Dave Heebner, the President of the Metropolis Rugby Club wrote the following to the OL's in anticipation of next Saturday's matches: http://presidentspiehole.blogspot.com/

13 Weeks in Dallas Already?

2011-04-12T01:37:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that my first 13 week contract here in Dallas is almost up. When I first got here, there was a bad winter storm that hit Dallas with all kinds of problems for people who had come here for the Super Bowl. Now, we have had some days where it has gotten to be over 30 degrees celsius, or in the high 80's.

I have been able to sample more than a few sporting events: Dallas Stars ice hockey, Dallas Harlequins Rugby, and Texas Rangers Baseball...

When I work as a nurse on the Spinal Cord Unit at the Dallas VA Medical Center, I work hard. It's physically and mentally draining work, but I have to say that on my days off, my wife and I have been enjoying our time here in Dallas-so much so that I extended my contract to work here in Dallas until the last week in August. I am hoping that I will have saved enough money so that my wife and I can go to both Australia and New Zealand for the month of September. (I know I have match tickets for two games in Nelson...I just have not financed the entire trip yet...it's a work in progress)

Since my wife and I are staying at an apartment in downtown Dallas on the West End, we have been enjoying the bars and restaurants that are within walking distance to our place. Our apartment has a pool and a hot tub. The only thing that will make it complete is bringing my Bulldog Buddha down here to Dallas.

I will be going back to Minneapolis later the week. I am looking forward to seeing my friends, my kids and my grandson. I am also looking forward to a chance to maybe play with the Metropolis RFC Old Boys against the seconds from the Old Laurentians http://www.oldlaurentianrfc.co.uk/newwversion/intro.htm of Rugby, England as they do their 2011 tour to Minneapolis, with a game planned on April 23rd.

A Plug for Japan Aid...

2011-03-28T18:00:00.001-05:00

http://www.looseleafapparel.com/Goodness knows that a lot of people are opening up their wallets to try to help the people of North East Honshu in their post-tsunami/earthquake/radiation threat time of need.

I try to keep this site more rugby centric, but Japan and Japanese culture have touched our family in a big way, as we hosted an AFS exchange student from Nagoya years ago, my son was an exchange student in Niigata for a year(Ian also graduated with his degree in Asian Studies/Japanese this past year) and my family has all done a Japanese Martial art called Aikido. The images of the destruction and stoic endurance of the Japanese touch me a great deal.

My son Ian came up with a design for a shirt that he wants sell with proceeds going to Japanese relief...

Here is his web site:
http://www.looseleafapparel.com/product/japan-aid-t-shirt

A Rugby Player Dies. They Remove the Goalposts...WTF??

2011-03-27T20:51:00.000-05:00

A recent tragic story to strike the rugby community in the United States took a very strange turn after 17 year old Matthew Hammerdorfer collapsed and died during a rugby match in Colorado. I submit Exhibit A to you, dear reader. Read this article, and then ask yourself if this type of thing could happen in ANY other country but the USA, where lawsuits, and fear of lawsuits have a chilling effect on our quality of life.

Goal Posts To Go After Player's Death


Written by Tyler Lopez, 7News Reporter
POSTED: March 16, 2011


TIMNATH, Colo. -- Officials in Timnath don't want anyone else playing 
rugby on the field where a teen player collapsed and later died. Town 
council members have voted to remove the field's goal posts.

The mayor told 7NEWS the move was partly motivated by liability concerns 
and slow emergency response times.

The small but growing northern Colorado town only has a volunteer 
firefighting station that's usually unstaffed.

Matthew Hammerdorfer, a 17-year-old junior at Poudre High School, 
collapsed during a rugby game in Timnath on March 5.
Witnesses said he took a hit on the field, fell down and didn't get up.

"We got reports that the victim was in seizure at some point before and 
during our response," said Patrick Love, spokesman for the Poudre Fire 
Authority.

Hammerdorfer was flown to Medical Center of the Rockies, where he later 
died.

Larimer County Deputy Coroner Kari Jones said Hammerdorfer died from 
complications of a congenital heart condition.

The autopsy listed the cause of death as sudden cardiac arrest due to 
cardiomegaly and biventricular hypertrophy. The coroner’s office 
explained to ABC News that cardiomegaly refers to an enlarged heart and 
biventricular hypertrophy refers to enlarged ventricles.

Hammerdorfer suffered from both as a result of being born with a heart 
defect called tetralogy of fallot, for which he had surgery at age 8, 
the coroner's office said.

Interim town manager Sherri Wagner said the rugby league that uses the 
field never signed an insurance waiver to use it.
She said officials didn't even know a game was happening, the day the 
teen collapsed.

"It's typical of our litigious society. To a degree it dishonors his 
(Matt's) memory. The timing is pretty disingenuous," said Matthew's 
father Carl Hammerdorfer."Nothing frustrates me more than when managers 
let lawyers run things. A good manager knows how to make decisions in 
the gray area. That's where this is."

"I'm not happy about it," said Coach Greg Chvatal of Ft. Collins Youth 
Rugby. "I definitely think it's an over-reaction by the city. I mean, I 
think this is ridiculous that they want to tear everything down."

Chvatal vowed to find a place for Matthew's teammates to keep playing, 
but said he wasn't sure where that would be.
He also admitted he did not turn in the paperwork, including the 
liability waiver, requested by Timnath leaders.

"The medical situation was not a result of playing out there. It just 
brought it to our attention," said Mayor Jill Grossman-Belisle. "We just 
don't have the manpower to monitor that field on a regular basis."

The mayor said that while the developer gave the town the field, and the 
goal posts in 2009, administrators didn't expect to get stuck paying to 
maintain and water it.

"Nobody knows what activities are taking place out there. And for us to 
sponsor that with $43,000 a year just doesn't seem very fiduciarily 
responsible," Grossman-Belisle said, adding that the town is closing in 
on a master development plan. "Anything to do with that park probably 
would not even take place for the next 3-5 years."

RWC 2011: It's Official-No Games in Christchurch

2011-03-21T20:33:00.000-05:00

It has been too long since my last posting. So much has happened in the past month...Christchurch has been burying its dead, US/French/British planes have been strafing Colonel Khadaffi's strongholds in Libya, continued strife and protests in the Arab world, and the horrific tsunami that struck the northeast part of the Japanese Island of Honshu on March 11th...

To be really honest, it has been tough to put myself in a mood to talk about rugby. It has not been for lack of effort on my part. I watched the Six Nations on TV and have been to numerous Dallas Harlequins games here in the Dallas area. The great thing about rugby is that even if you come to a new town, if you find rugby players and fans, you have an instant group of people with whom one can socialize.

Last week, the organizers for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand announced that it's official: All of the games in Christchurch will have to be moved. They are not sure where the games will go, but between damage to hotels, roads, and stadium, it is just too much to ask that things would be ready in Christchurch to welcome all of the visitors who had been anticipated.

I am really, really sad about this development. I think this just rubs salt into the wounds of the people of Christchurch-I respect that the decision had to be made, but for the Canterbury region to miss out is just a crying shame.

I have tickets to Australia-Russia, which was to have been played in Christchurch. I am very curious which city will get the match now. I still have not made my travel plans yet-I am still trying to put together money for airfare for my wife and I to go. I would still like to make it to Christchurch, if nothing on the principle that the best foreign aid that I can give to New Zealand is to make it to Christchurch and have a few meals and beers.

As tough as it is to watch what is going on in the world, I thank God that I can still watch rugby and hang out with people who enjoy the sport. It never ceases to amaze me of what a well-read, well-traveled and interesting group of people it is. Rugby is a balm for the soul even in the worst of times.

Christchurch: Rugby is No Longer a Priority

2011-02-22T14:13:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you know that I am planning a trip to New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I have bought tickets to see matches in Nelson and Christchurch. It is with heavy heart that I have found out that the city of Christchurch got nailed by another earthquake.

Like many in the USA rugby community, my prayers and thoughts are with the citizens of Christchurch, who are dealing with a second earthquake in a 6 month span. The previous earthquake hit late at night, deeper in the earth and not as close to Christchurch. This one hit just after lunch hour, closer to Christchurch and a mere two miles below the ground's surface-and the buildings in Christchurch surely had to be weakened from the previous earthquake, so a 6.3 quake would be strong enough to send structures toppling. The amount of video that you can see on news sites and You Tube is sobering, to say the least.

There have already been dozens of people who have lost their lives, and the death toll will only increase as rescuers are working at warp speed to try to save people trapped in the rubble.

To think about rugby at a time like this is just inappropriate as so many lives have affected by this tragedy.

Keep on keeping on, Christchurch.

Six Nations: England is in a New York State Of Mind

2011-02-11T12:40:00.001-06:00

Here in the US, we are getting used to losing American-born talent to the land of their ancestors. In football( Soccer) New Jersey-born and raised striker Giusseppe Rossi decided to play for Italy in matches leading up to the FIFA World Cup. In an interesting bit of Karma, the Villareal striker was not picked to play for the Azzurri in last year's World Cup.(That does not diminish the fact that Rossi is a helluva player with Villareal)

Well, rugby is the latest sport where an American born player is playing for the land of his ancestors.

England prop Andrew Sheridan's back injury means that London Irish loose-head Alex Corbisiero gets a battlefield promotion to start in England's Six Nations match tomorrow against Italy at Twickenham. For his first international, Corbisiero, New York born with with an English mum and Italian grandparents on his father's side, has the unenviable task of going head to head against another bearded prop with Italian roots playing for a country not listed on his birth certificate: Argentine-born Martin Castrogiovanni is a formidable opponent in the scrum. That said, it won't be a first-time meeting of the props with Italian roots, as both ply their trade in England, with Castrogiovanni playing at Leicester.

To be fair, Corbisiero moved to England as a very young child. He also seems to have a bright head on his massive shoulders, as he also studied at the London School of Economics. He could have chosen to represent Italy, the USA or England. I cannot blame him for chosing to wear the England shirt. He will have much greater competition to keep his England shirt than if he had decided to play for the Eagles, but he in my opinion, it had to be a no-brainer to decide to play for England-look at the top flight opponents England play in the June and November internationals, as well as the Six Nations. Still, as an American rugby fan, you have to wonder "what if..."

As far as the predictions for the weekend: I pick Corbiseiro and his English mates to beat Italy-who almost had a famous victory over Ireland last weekend in Rome. Scotland will rebound at Murrayfield against Wales, and France will be the one road team that wins this weekend when they travel to Dublin to play Ireland.

Six Nations: France wins on Muscle and Style Points...

2011-02-06T23:38:00.001-06:00

The last Six Nations Game of the weekend gave us Scotland making a road trip to the Stade de France to take on Marc Lievremont's XV de France.

The match was played in front of a full house in nearly perfect conditions for Paris in early February.

Scotland had the early ball possession after the kick-off, but after some runs at the French, the Scots lost their patience, the ball, and he lead when Rougerie got the ball and made a really nice chip that Medard touched down for the first try of the game. The French did not sit back on their lead, they transformed several phases in the Scottish end for François Trinh-Duc to slot over an easy drop goal. The Montpellier fly-half would end up having a gem of a game-but for him later.

In the 18th minute, sustained Scottish drive and ball control was rewarded when captain Allister Kellock slid low to touch the ball down for the Scot's first try.

Scotland just could not get back into the game, as they continued to shoot themselves in the foot with a poor kicking game, but their most glaring deficiency on the night in St. Denis was their scrum. France-in spite of being out-weighed by a good 10-12 pounds per forward, was having their way with the Scottish Scrum. The Front row of Mas, Servat and Domingo made life miserable for the Scots all night.(Scottish tight head Murray had a really rough time against Domingo) The French pack scored a try of their own when prolonged Scottish infractions in the scrum led to France (on the 4th re-set on the scrum) powering the Scottish front row to where they were standing up. English referee Wayne Barnes awarded the penalty try.

In spite of being outplayed, Scotland still could have been only 3 points down at half time. They were deep in French territory, but again they became impatient and lost possession again just before half time.

In the 54th Minute, France scored the try of the game when they got control of a loose ball from the Scots, François Trinh-Duc made a blind, between the legs pass out to the wing, and Biarritz's Imanol Harinordiquy finished off this glorious movement by putting the ball down for the try.

With the French crowd singing La Marseillaise, the Scots could have just rolled up and died. They showed a great deal of heart by battling on. Kelly Brown made some hard runs that were capped off with a try to try to make it closer, but Damian Traille created a try out of lose play that would put the Scots away.

France's 34-21 win over the Scots was certainly a tonic for Marc Lievremont and his men, who have had a rough go since winning last years Six Nations in Grand Slam fashion.

It will be interesting to see what the French Pack can do against England. In Morgan Parra and François Trinh-Duc, they get great play out of the fly half and scrum half position. Medard is just a lethal finisher.

Scotland ran hard at the French. They broke several tackles and they are going to give the other Six Nations sides a tough outing. They are really going to have to sort out their tactical kicking issues and their scrum to finish in the top half of this year's Six Nations. All in all though, it was a very, very entertaining game.

Six Nations Predictions

2011-02-04T11:18:00.000-06:00

In this World Cup year, the Six Nations Rugby Tournament will serve as a dress rehearsal for the big Northern Hemisphere teams as they prepare to go to New Zealand in September and October.

England fans have to be really looking forward to this year's competition. England has not lifted the Six Nations trophy since 2003, when England also were crowned World Cup champs in that epic final against the Wallabies. In the past 8 months, England counts two wins over Australia, and they played some really great rugby in the November internationals. England kicks off the competition today in Cardiff against Wales, where flanker Martyn Williams finds himself on the outside looking in. Hopefully it will be a better game than last year's miserable game at Twickenham. Wales, grand slam winners back in 2008 will try to bring out their A game against the auld enemy, but I think England win this in a close one.

With France's less than impressive results in the last 8 months, including some major drubbings at the hands of the Spingboks, Pumas and Wallabies (The last one at the Stade de France), it's easy to forget that France were actually Grand Slam winners of this competition last year, but Marc Lievremont is going to have to do some heavy massaging of some bruised egos. The one thing also easy to forget is that French clubs have done very well at the club level in the Amlin Challenge Cup and the Heineken Cup. Scotland, France's opponent tomorrow at the Stade de France, has not won this competition since the old 5 Nations competition in 1999. In the past year, Scotland have defeated both Australia and South Africa. It should be added that both of those wins were in Murrayfield. If Scotland were to beat France in St. Denis, that would the biggest road win for Scottish rugby in quite some time. I think France huffs and puff it's way to a difficult win against the plucky Scots.

Italy gets to host a really banged up Irish side in Rome. The Irish, Grand Slam winners two years ago, are going to be facing an Italian side who will probably be smelling blood. There will probably be at least a third of the crowd wearing green at the Stadio Faminio, but I think Nick Mallet's men in blue can take advantage of this situation and beat Ireland. This one is my upset special for the weekend.

Enjoy the weekend. I plan on enjoying France-Scotland on TV tomorrow.

Between a Ruck and a Hard Place...

2011-01-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

The good news about being here in the Dallas area is that it is a WHOLE lot warmer than Minneapolis.

Any thought about playing some rugby down here in Big D has to be weighed very carefully. There are pros and cons to working as a travel nurse-and I won't bore you with the details. One quirk of this 3 month posting in Texas is that I won't be accruing any sick leave hours. (I do, at least, have health insurance)

So what does all of this mean to a middle-aged prop who would not mind getting a run in an Old Boys game here? I have never been badly injured playing rugby-a few cuts, scrapes and the odd sore neck. When I had my pulmonary embolism almost two years ago, that had nothing to do with playing rugby-it's just one of those odd things that just happened. That said, it is a physical game. People do get hurt. (All you have to do is read some of the rugby-centric message boards out there) A significant injury could cost me more than a couple of days working, which could cost me anywhere from a couple of hundred to over a thousand bucks, depending on how many days I miss. That's money I can use not just for paying bills, but also putting into my "Kiwi Fund" for going to the RWC in New Zealand later this year.

What can I say? I miss the well-educated, diverse and interesting people who seem to be drawn to Rugby...

It's a tough call. If I was really that concerned about my health, I never would have started playing 5 years ago at the age of 45. I know I had a great time playing last fall with the Metropolis Old Boys against the East Side Banshees and playing at the Ruggerfest in Aspen. It's something that I have not totally decided on, but I have been giving it a great deal of thought.

Fly Like An Eagle

2011-01-12T13:03:00.000-06:00

It's been a very hectic last couple of weeks. In an attempt to get away from our brutal winters in Minnesota, I took a job with the VA Travel Nurse Corps. It was a tough decision to go on the road, but I think it's a good point in my life as well as my wife's life to try spreading our wings and checking out other parts of the country.

Through all of this air travel and some of the sights I have seen in Phoenix and Dallas, I cannot help but to think of the Steve Miller song "Fly Like an Eagle"(A Dallas native, by the way).

Last week, I was in Phoenix, Arizona doing some training at the VA Medical Center. It was my first time in The Valley of the Sun. Phoenix is a very spread out metropolitan area with an interesting mix of Mexicans, Native Americans, retirees, yuppies, and Military people. The Medical Center was about a 40 minute walk from my hotel, so when classes were done, I enjoyed exploring the neighborhoods around Indian School Road to 20th street. On one of my walkabouts, I stumbled onto some cool murals with some Segauro cacti near them. The Seguaro Cactus is native to the Desert Southwest, and they are huge. The well in this shot is about 4 feet tall, and you can see how the cactus towers over it. I really liked the painting of the eagle shadow on the wall....

After a week in Phoenix, where I had a chance to enjoy some great Southwestern style cuisine and take in some other downtown sites,
I am now here in Dallas, Texas; where I am going to be working at the VA Medical Center in South Dallas until mid April on their Spinal Cord Unit. Normally, they don't get much snow in North Texas, but this past weekend, my sister's neighborhood got about 3-4 inches of the white stuff. The kids in her neighborhood took advantage of this rare snowfall and I was able to watch them playing and frolicking like deranged ferrets in the snow having a good time building snowmen and having snow fights with the wet snow.

You don't appreciate how spread out the Dallas/Fort Worth area is until you get down here and either drive in it, or use the DART system(Dallas Area Rapid Transit). It's an almost 1 hour ride (with transfer) from my hotel in North Dallas to the VA Medical Center in South Dallas. I would have liked to be able to bike to and from work with the public transport system like I did up in Minneapolis, but the VA Medical Center is what can be called a "Great hospital-BAD neighborhood". I start work there next Tuesday. This week I have been going around Dallas and getting a feel for where things are located and how long it will take me to get from point A to point B. I have enjoyed taking in the sites in downtown Dallas.

My wife will be joining me down here in a couple of weeks. I am hoping that she can find some work down here, but I do know that she will be a lot happier to get out of that bitter cold in Minnesota.

I also have on my to-do list looking up the Dallas Harlequins to see if I can catch some games and some socials. That is on my to-do list for the next week.

Leaving Minneapolis....

2011-01-03T20:48:00.000-06:00

The Holiday season is not always an easy time to blog. There's work, parties, and in my case packing-but more on that later.

Adam Dilley has been a hooker on the Metropolis Rugby Club even before I joined the club in 2006. Along with being a helluva rugby player, Adam is just a really, really nice guy. We were a little sad to hear that he is leaving Minneapolis to move to the Los Angeles area, where he plans on continuing to play rugby out west. As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade out of it. So we had a huge pub crawl through northeast Minneapolis (or the Nord East, as we say here) for him. It was a good excuse for Metropolis guys to get together and have a good time. One of our favorites is a place called Nye's Polonaise Room. The Polish bar and restaurant is one of the more fun places in Minneapolis to hang out.-and not too many places left that do live polka music in the Twin Cities...

Adam is not the only one leaving the Twin Cities.

I write this blog from Phoenix, Arizona, where I am doing some training for the VA Travel Nurse Corps. I am going to be here for a week, and then I will head to the VA in Dallas, where I will work on the Spinal Cord Unit there for about 3 months.

Minneapolis is, and always will be home for me; but the long cold winters do kind of get to you...

The great thing about rugby, is that even when you move some place, there is always another rugby club where you can meet new friends and socialize. As luck would have it, the Dallas Harlequins Rugby club is a couple of stops away on the DART(Dallas Area Rapid Transit) line from where I will be staying in North Dallas, near Richardson. I don't know if I can get in on some old boy games with the Harlequins, but just to find a rugby crowd with whom to party will be fine for me.

I am really going to miss the patients and my co-workers at the VA in Minneapolis...

I am really going to miss my kids and my grandson...

But I think getting out of Minneapolis for the winter will do both my wife and me, a world of good.

Out of the Dome and Into the Snow...

2010-12-20T15:54:00.003-06:00

Living in Minnesota, people may not always know where we are in the USA, but as of last week, they know Minneapolis as being the home of the collapsed dome stadium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuxNLf87_Y

Believe it or not, once upon a time, The Minnesota Vikings played American Football at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington-a suburb south of Minneapolis. Today, the Mall of America sits on the former site of "The Met".

Since 1982, the Minnesota Vikings have called the Metrodome home. It's a sterile, unappealing white mushroom in downtown Minneapolis. When it's full of 65,000 purple-clad, intoxicated fans, it is one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL, but it's a different experience than what I experienced growing up and going to games at the Met. It was an era where the bitterly cold conditions meant that you dressed for the cold-fashion be damned. (The snowmobilie suit worked the best)

I found the above clip which does a nice job of showing how football used to be here in Minneapolis for the Vikings from 1961-81.

Tonight's Vikings-Bears game will be outside at the University of Minnesota's new TCF Stadium(Also called "The Bank" here in the Twin Cities)http://stadium.gophersports.com/ Already, there has been a lot of whining about playing outside by the players. The temperatures should be well into the single-digits Farenheit, about -12 Celsius at kickoff time. Oh yeah, we are in the midst of another snowstorm which stands to drop 8 more inches of the fluffy white stuff on Minneapolis-this on the heels of last weeks 18 inch (43 cm)

snowfall. This clip shows the job of removing all of this snow from the stadium.... http://www.minnpost.com/minnclips/2010/12/20/24375/timelapse_of_tcf_bank_stadium_snow_removal

My favorite Met Stadium memory was my brother Bill and I watching with thermometer just above zero Farenheit, as the Vikings beat the Los Angeles (now St. Louis) Rams for the NFC title in 1976. The ended up losing to the Oakland Raiders in that Super Bowl...the last time the men in purple have been the Super Bowl.

Tonight's game with the woeful Vikings(Huge disappointment after the team made it to the NFC title game last year before losing to eventual Super Bowl Champs, the New Orleans Saints) and the Chicago Bears will be a throwback to a bygone era. I know I have been feeling very nostalgic. For younger fans, this game will show younger fans how the game was meant to be played-outdoors, conditions be damned.

Rugby Making Better Fathers

2010-12-11T11:55:00.000-06:00

On a very snowy Saturday here in Minneapolis, I had a little time before trying to evacuate the foot of drifting snow on my driveway. While catching up on some rugby news, I followed this link from a blogger's guest writer, who wrote about how rugby gave him a lot of practical application to be a better father. (By the way, I think the applications work well for mom's too) Here is the link for the article: http://artofmanliness.com/2010/12/09/5-lessons-rugby-taught-me-about-fatherhood/ .

My kids were older when I started to play rugby. My son was 18, my daughter was 15. My parenting was formed a lot of what NOT to do from my parent's divorce and also lessons I learned from wrestling, American Football and my maternal grandfather-a man who had a great deal of impact in my life when I did not get to see my own father on a regular basis. That said, I think the author of the above article makes some very valid comparisons on how rugby lessons learned are valid ones for anybody who calls themselves "Dad".

Got My RWC Tickets for USA-Italy!

2010-12-01T03:15:00.000-06:00

Knowing that the folks in charge of selling tickets for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand were going to release more tickets today for purchase, I just had to try to get tickets to see a USA Eagles Match.

I already had purchased tickets for Australia-Russia to be played in Christchurch on 10/1, so I had my eyes on either Australia-USA in Wellington, or USA-Italy in Nelson. The few tickets left for the match against the Wallabies were just a bit more expensive than I wanted to spend, whereas there were some General Admission tickets left for the Italy game, so I just pulled the trigger and bought two tickets for the match to be played on Tuesday, September 27th at Trafalgar Park.

My wife is looking forward to the trip. Now I really have to start saving money and planning in earnest..but like Romania from this past weekend, I just punched my ticket for RWC 2011.

Last Ticket for RWC 2011: Uruguay, or Romania?

2010-11-27T01:03:00.002-06:00

Like the proverbial Golden Ticket from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, there is one last ticket left for the Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand next year.

It will all come down to Romania or Uruguay to figure out who will join the 19 other teams in New Zealand. The winner of this playoff will be in the same group as England, Argentina, Scotland and The Republic of Georgia.

A couple of weeks ago, they played out a tense, 20-20 draw in sunny Montevideo(highlights above). This means that today's match in Bucharest will amount to a winner-take-all affair. Both teams have had to play a lot of rugby to get to this point-particularly the Romanians, who at first did not look like they would be able to get out of qualifying out of Europe, but qualify they did, and then they beat Tunisia to have a shot at Uruguay, who dispatched Kazakhstan to get to this point.

Romania has been to every Rugby World Cup since 1987. They are bigger and more physical than Uruguay, and also have more players playing professionally in Europe-Uruguay only has one, all of the rest of the Teros play on clubs in Argentina. Like Georgia, the Romanians play is dominated by their forwards. Uruguay is going to have to depend on pace and kicking to have a shot at upsetting Romania today. The Romanians probably were hoping for poor weather conditions that would favor their big pack, but the forecast for today is for 12 degrees Celsius, or 54 degrees with partly cloudy skies and minimal wind at kickoff time.

Romania has to be the favorite, but you have to admire the plucky Uruguayans. Can their rugby team shock the rugby world like Diego Forlan and his Uruguayan team mates did at this past summer's FIFA World Cup in South Africa? Much to the shock of everyone, Uruguay won it's group, then made it to the semi-finals-the ONLY South American team to make it to the final four (Much to the chagrin of one Diego Maradona) Romania had plenty of chances to put the Teros away in Montevideo, but Uruguay was able to hang on for the draw. Will Uruguay make the Romanian's pay for a lack of killer instinct? A final, Golden Ticket awaits the winner that will allow them join the party at Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.

England v Australia Ashton try

2010-11-26T11:08:00.001-06:00

Of the November Internationals played so far, Chris Ashton's try against the Wallabies was the most impressive. Great work by England stealing the ball when it looked like Australia was going to score...then England, instead of kicking the ball deep out of harm's way, showed a swashbuckling flair getting the ball out wide to Chris Ashton, who showed blistering pace in outrunning several Wallabies...simply great stuff.

6 Nações B - Portugal v Georgia (2009-2010) Steve Adams

2010-11-22T11:46:00.000-06:00

Rugby World Cup 2011: New Zealand or Bust!

2010-11-19T17:59:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago, I went onto the Rugby World Cup 2011 web site http://tickets.rugbyworldcup.com/to check into buying match tickets. I missed the phase II of ticket purchases, as I was hoping to get some tickets for some USA Eagle games in New Zealand. I totally spaced out on when the second phase was going to stop. That was the bad news.

The good news was that the World Cup organizers opened up some tickets for matches in earthquake-hit Christchurch. Not having much money to work with at the moment, I bought tickets for the October 1st match between the Wallabies and Russia.

It's not a sure thing that I will be able to A-get the time off from work, or B-save enough money for my wife and I to afford to fly to New Zealand and have a good time while we are there. That said, I felt that if I at least got a match ticket, that would at least got the process rolling. It's not different from Rugby World Cup 2007 in France. I bought my tickets for USA-Tonga, Tonga-Samoa and Argentina-Namibia even before I had the time off from work or plane tickets for me and my family. In the end, it worked. I saw some matches, and my family and I had a great time in France.

I am hoping that there will be some unsold tickets for the USA matches late in September for matches against Australia in Wellington, and against Italy in Nelson.

They say that the trip of a thousand miles starts with the first step. For me and my wife, this purchase of our tickets for Australia-Russia was the first step of a trip that will be several thousand miles.

Jason Jaftha: President Obama's Alter Ego is a Rugby Referee...

2010-11-15T10:37:00.000-06:00

Superman had Clark Kent. Batman had Bruce Wayne. Spiderman had Peter Parker. These were all individuals who had super-hero alter-egos.

I never thought that President Obama might be part of this group. Except instead of wearing tights, his alter-ego wears rugby kit. At least that's what I discovered when I saw Currie Cup matches with a young referee and touch judge who bore a striking resemblance to the American President.

A couple of months ago, my friend Jacques was over at the house so we could watch a Currie Cup match between the Lions and the Sharks. http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/CurrieCup/Refs-bungle-Lions-v-Sharks-20100927 Like the current American President, his South African look-alike has also found himself being second-guessed in the press-and if the President thinks that the people at Fox News are rough on him, they have nothing on the South African sporting press if you are a sub-standard rugby referee.

I know the President had gotten around in his younger years: Hawaii, Indonesia, and Chicago. His Father was Kenyan, but I never knew that the Obama clan also had made it to Southern Africa and had an interest in the oval ball.

In all seriousness, Jason Jaftha is a trail-blazer of sorts. As a "coloured" man blowing whistle at SARU matches, he has been very carefully groomed for his job. Time will tell if Jason Jaftha will be able to be a top flight IRB referee like the retired Andre Watson, or Mark Lawrence or Craig Joubert.

Spare a Thought for the Fallen Military Rugger...

2010-11-09T17:42:00.000-06:00

Most years, November is a very gray, and cold season. This year has been unusually warm and sunny, above 60 degrees F, or 15 degrees C-and with brilliant sunshine...It's still, I think, a time for reflection in my part of the Midwest. I think add to that, I am in the middle of reading a book on the Battle of the Somme from WWI-where thousands of British, German and French troops perished.

Add to that, November 11th is Veteran's Day. For military Veterans like my wife and I(Shot above with both of us wearing our Air Force uniforms), we think a lot of the sacrifices made by men and women in uniform. For me, I cannot get away from it, as I work as a nurse in the VA Medical Center here in Minneapolis, where we provide medical care for vets from WWII to Afghanistan and Iraq. The thing that is strange now, is that even though there are American, British, Canadian and Australian troops in some very unpleasant places, life here in the USA is not very different since the fall of 2001. There is no rationing of gas, sugar or other items like during WWII. After 9 years in Afghanistan, the dead and dying troops don't seem to merit much air time in the media. I cannot speak for other countries, but it almost seems like the American military has become an almost "warrior class"-separate from the rest of American society. Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors come home and seem to have a harder time coping and mixing with society. For many, it seems that life in "The Sand Box" has a more simple code of covering your buddy's back-and you know that they will do the same for you.

I ran into a site on Facebook today for Fallen Military Rugby players.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fallen-Military-Ruggers/172537576090129 I cannot help but to have very conflicting feelings. It still hurts me that the Army medically boarded me out because I have sleep apnea. I still miss the soldiers in my Army Reserve unit. On the other hand, rugby gave me a chance to cope with my depression and anger after being boarded out. Belonging to the Metropolis RFC in Minneapolis literally kept me from losing my mind, and it has been a carrot on the stick to keep me going to the gym so I don't get killed in the Old Boys games. It's a different kind of band of brothers, but it's been a very valuable one for me.

So this Veteran's Day, spare a thought for the fallen...but also the Veteran's who are still alive, and trying to deal with some very, very dark thoughts after being what they have been through.

Wags

2010-10-23T11:56:00.003-05:00

At both rugby games I attended last weekend, first the Metropolis-Chicago Lions game, then the University of Minnesota-Nebraska mens rugby game at the TCF Stadium(Good article on the game here
www.rugbymag.com/features/profiles/gophers-growing-exposure-game.aspx )

There was one person at both games who is a very regular fixture in the rugby scene here in Minnesota: Rob Wagner, otherwise known as "Wags". He and his camera are at various club, college, and high school matches in this region, always ready for that perfect shot...

Wags' main job has been in law enforcement for30 years.

As for the rugby, Wags started playing in 1975 for Albert Lea, back when summer 15's was still being played, and into the mid-80's, then refereed for many years in Wisconsin and Iowa, mostly. Wags came back to the Cities in 1990 and coached for most of the next 10 years, and then picked up a camera in 2002 and has been taking pictures ever since. He is also a former Minnesota RFU President, Secretary, and Youth Director, and " enjoyed all of it (mostly).".

I think because of that, Wags anticipates action better than most photographers. He also has a keen eye for looking at good crowd shots.

Wags puts in a lot of miles shooting rugby matches. His pictures at http://www.dropkickphotos.com/

give players and fans a chance to see and purchase his work. I am very, very grateful that Wags was able to get some of the best game shots of me that I own. I know that many other local rugby players and their families are very, very grateful for this retired cop with the sharp eye. We may never end up in Sports Illustrated or Rugbymag, but at least we have professional-quality pictures playing this wonderful game.

I wanted to give Wags a shout-out, thanking him for what he does for the sport of rugby. He's an unsung here of the game here in the Upper Midwest.

Turning 50: Growing Old is Not for Sissies

2010-10-19T11:35:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, October 18th marked a half-century ago that I came into this world at almost 10 pounds at Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I have lived in a lot of places in 50 years: Minneapolis, Boston, Northern Virginia, Chicago, Iowa, San Antonio, and have studied in Paris and Montpellier, France. I have been married to a fantastic woman for 26 years...

I have two great kids who are now 23 and 19. I can honestly say that even if they were not my kids, I would enjoy being around them.

I have a two year old grandson who is just a joy to be around...

We have had 12 exchange students over the years from Italy, Paraguay, Armenia, France, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, Germany, Chile, Norway, Finland and Portugal...

I got involved in rugby back in 2006 at the ripe old age of 45. I also got involved in doing a rugby-centric blog around the same time. Through playing rugby, I discovered a sport that gave a middle aged guy his smile back...http://nursedude.blog.com/2007/07/11/how-rugby-saved-my-life-and-my-sanity/

Being involved with the Metropolis Rugby Football club in Minneapolis has allowed me to meet and play with some fantastic people. I even had a chance to play a couple of seasons with my son. While nobody is going to ask me to model swimsuits, Rugby has also given me an excuse to still hit the gym, because even in Old Boys games, you can still get hurt.

Yesterday on my 50th Birthday, I had cards, e-mails and Facebook messages from Australia, the UK, France, Portugal, Armenia, Africa, South America...and South Florida. It's pretty humbling that so many people took time out in their day to wish a chunky, greying grandfather a happy birthday. Thanks everybody, from the bottom of my heart, for your love and friendship.

Meat, Rugby, More Meat, More Rugby...

2010-10-17T00:18:00.001-05:00

As luck would have it, I have a few days off work before I have my 50th birthday on Monday.

The first part of my half-century birthday weekend was spent with my lovely, red-headed wife on Friday night. She made reservations at Murray's Steak House-an institution in my home town of Minneapolis. http://murraysrestaurant.com/ Every aspect of the meal was top flight: Great Australian wines, a "butter-knife" steak that was expertly grilled with sauteed onions, mushrooms and au gratin potatoes. It was fine way to start the weekend out.

On Saturday, my brother Bill, my son Ian and my grand son Duncan accompanied me to Columbia Park in North East Minneapolis to catch a key rugby match between Metropolis and the Chicago Lions. It was a match that Metropolis had to win to keep it's slim play-off hopes alive. The match was played on a gorgeous fall afternoon in Minneapolis. Brilliant sunshine, leaves at their peak color and temps in the low 60's put a tone of optimism in the air...

Metropolis put themselves into a 14-0 hole. They were able to score a converted try to make it 14-7, but then Chicago put it into overdrive to go up 31-7 at half time. Metropolis did not help their cause with some poor tacking and some missed passes. They played a much better second half, but were not able to overcome their poor first half, losing 36-24. Metropolis was able to match up well in the scrum, but you just cannot spot any team that kind of lead and hope to overcome a 24 point deficit against a decent team.

After the game, we were all pretty hungry. It had been quite some time since I had eaten a White Castle Hamburger, and some comfort food seemed to be just the ticket. http://www.whitecastle.com/
White Castle burgers are small, square and grilled with onions. They go by the nickname of "Sliders". They are not located in all parts of the US, but you can find them in places like New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Ohio...and the Twin Cities. I have fond memories of my mom taking me to the White Castle in North East Minneapolis when I was a kid. All of us were pretty hungry, so that meant making sure we had enough food after working up an appetite(my grandson Duncan and my son Ian) watching other people being physically active...

After our refueling at White Castle. It was time to let Duncan try to have a nap, then we were joined by Ian's friend Travis, and we took the bus(My brother Bill with Ian and Duncan) from near Ian's place in Saint Paul over to the TCF stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota to catch the University of Minnesota Men's Rugby team take on the University of Nebraska Rugby Club...

The rugby match between Minnesota and Nebraska was a fundraiser for the U of M rugby club. There was a nice crowd already in place. We just got to our seats and settled in to watch the match.

The University of Minnesota(in the gold) simply put a beat-down on the Cornhuskers. The beat the huskers in the forward play of scrums and line-outs...

As good as the forward play was by the Gopher's, their back play was sublime-particularly their scrum half and their inside halves. I got a shot of their 8 man dishing to the scrum half just as he was taking off on what would be a 60 yard scamper for a try...

The 68-19 win by the Gophers was a tonic for long-suffering Minnesota sports fans this fall, who have seen the Twins(baseball) eliminated by the Yankees, the Vikings(American Football) at 1-3, the Minnesota Wild (Ice Hockey) at 1-3 and the University of Minnesota football team at 1-5(Losing to 1-AA University of South Dakota)

The win by Minnesota in front of a nice crowd would get some much needed funds for the rugby program, and put a smile on everybody's face, on what is shaking up to be a great weekend.

Random Rugby Thoughts for 10-10-10

2010-10-10T13:22:00.000-05:00

We have had gorgeous weather in Minneapolis the past week. I have been able to take a boat cruise with my wife on the Mississippi River to see the fall colors and I have been able to walk my dogs Basil and Buddha to enjoy the fall foliage...

Yesterday, my brother Bill and I went and watched the Metropolis DIII side play the Minneapolis Mayhem-the local gay-centric rugby club. It was going to figure to be Christians Vs. lions stuff, and it was. 110-0 for Metropolis. To be honest, when you see a match that is that one-sided, you really feel bad for the other team. It's one thing to lose, but when you are thoroughly and utterly humiliated, it's tough to get anything out of a game like that. The Mayhem did not have the athletes or many people who knew how to play. Metropolis did take a lot of it's top players out of the game 10 minutes in and also half time. I felt bad that I did not get a chance to go to the social. I had a chance to meet some of the Mayhem players when I volunteered at the Bingham Cup back in June. Nice guys...I certainly did not wish that kind of a beat-down on them.

The Metropolis DI side lost a second game in a month to Palmer down in Davenport, Iowa. Metropolis is set to host the Upper Midwest Division I rugby championship during the first weekend in November. If we don't win our last couple of games, we may be hosting a tournament in which we won't be playing. Augie and his guys have their work cut out for them.

Two big wins on Sunday for French sides in the Heineken Cup. Biarritz showed that their trip to the Heineken Cup finals last June was no fluke by going to Bath to get a 12-11 win. The match that everybody was waiting for all weekend was a good one. Toulouse just ground out a tough 19-18 win at home against London Wasps. The London side actually had a shot to go ahead in the 78th minute, but the penalty attempt sailed wide, and Guy Noves' men held on for the win. Still, Wasps had to feel good about almost snatching a win, and a bonus point loss was not bad. London will have to fancy their chances when they get Toulouse in London. I am curious to see if such a high profile match will make Wasps think about hosting the match at Twickenham.

I have to head off to work. Hope your 10-10-10 goes well-have a favorite beer and enjoy the fall (or the spring for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere).

Last Thoughts on Aspen Ruggerfest-Really

2010-10-07T02:00:00.000-05:00

In the television comedy Cheers, there was a character named Cliff Clavin, who was an insufferable know-it-all. Cliff could usually be found at the bar drinking beers(While still in his US Postal worker uniform) with Norm. One of the standing jokes in the show is that after a trip to Florida, Cliff spent many episodes trying to share tales of his Sunshine-State trip-that nobody really wanted to hear.

With that in mind, this will be my last posting about the Aspen Ruggerfest-it's been a couple of weeks since I came back from Colorado, and it's time to move on, and here are my Aspen-related FINAL thoughts:

Aspen may be the most dog friendly city I have seen in the US. Many of the outdoor cafes and bars had dog bowls to give your dog a drink, and you could chain your dog up and socialize with Fido at your feet. There was everything from purse dogs to really huge dogs like St. Bernard's and Newfoundlands.

Metropolis Old Boy Thor may be the most gifted American-born fly half I have ever seen. He may be pushing 50, but his sleight of hand and no-look passes would make Magic Johnson jealous. It's true that Joe Kiley put in a man of the match performance in the over 45 final for the combined Cardinals/Metropolis?OL's team, but Thor was just able to do ridiculous things with the ball-both in hand and his kicking game to help put them in a position to win.

There is something about a bunch of guys wearing cow suits that just make people smile and makes them want to have their picture taken-and in some cases, tweek the teets of the Holstein-clad ruggers..

You have to hand it to the English. Even by rugby standards, when you have a party, nobody knows as many good rugby songs as English Ruggers. We were lucky to have several members of the Old Laurentian Rugby Club from Rugby England http://www.oldlaurentianrfc.co.uk/join us in Aspen. They are just a great bunch of guys, and on Saturday, they were in fine voice, as witnessed by Deano....

One of the things that strikes me about the children of rugby players, is that they seem very precocious. They seem very comfortable in the company of adults. I've noticed that with the kids of some of my Metropolis teammates, but I had a good conversation with some kids whose dad/uncle played for Aspen. I really liked the jaunty fedora that the one little guy wore...

As great as the rugby action was...

It was tough to beat the great vistas of the mountains out in Colorado....

All in all, a good time was had by all.

I cannot thank my wife and daughter enough for this early 50th Birthday present. It was simply a fantastic trip and experience.

Aspen Part 4: Adventures in the Hot Tub

2010-09-29T11:49:00.001-05:00

Our last loss against the Clowns on Friday afternoon meant that our rugby in Aspen was finished. What this meant was that we had the rest of the weekend to have fun and take in the beautiful scenery.

It also meant that me and my mates in room 302A needed to take some Ibuprofen and take advantage of the hot tub at the Durant Condos for our associated aches and pains inflicted on our middle-aged bodies. On Saturday night, we sauntered down to the hot tub, where we were joined by some members of the Omaha GOATS. One of the GOATS players, Doug was actually a member of the Des Moines, Iowa rugby club who brought his wife Colette down to join the relaxing atmosphere in the hot tub on a beautiful evening.

We were to find out, that not all of the action in Aspen that weekend was going to be taking place on the pitch.

When you have rugby players, beer and a hot tub, it can get loud. Well, we got loud enough for a resident of the condos to come down and ask to quiet down. We invited her to join us...she paused and looked at us, and when she realized that we were sincere with our invitation, she came down to join us at the hot tub.

Her name was Annie. I am going to guess that she was in her mid 70's. She had just finished a long drive from Lake Havasu, Arizona to Aspen that day. She brought some wine down with her as her beverage of choice. We all had a nice chat. When Annie was ready to leave, my back was turned to her, and then I heard Colette-also a Registered Nurse-call out "Look out!" I turned my head just in time for Annie to fall backwards into the hot tub. Colette was on her in a flash. Doug and I helped Colette to get Annie out of the hot tub. She had swallowed some water, and had been disoriented and flat on her back in the water. She was not unlike a turtle that had flipped over on its back and not able to right itself.

Colette has a lot of geriatric experience and did a quick assessment of Annie. She had been having some other fainting/falling episodes. (Hopefully, Annie went back to her doctor to get checked out to see if this was a case of simple dehydration, or if she was having some TIA or 'mini-stroke' symptoms, or if she was having sinus issues) Colette did her utmost to prevail upon Annie to get in and see her Doctor on Monday. One thing for sure, if Annie had been all alone and had passed out in the Hot Tub, she might have drowned. A fun night turned serious in a big hurry. One of the ruggers escorted Annie up to her place to make sure she got back to her place in one piece.

One thing was for sure: Doug's wife Colette is a keeper. Good looking(The picture above does not do her justice), smart, great sense of humor and cool under fire. I think Annie and everybody else in the hot tub was glad Colette was there, too.

Aspen Part 3: Babes, Cows and John Eales

2010-09-26T12:33:00.000-05:00

Aspen, Colorado is a place where there is a whole lot of money. If you follow the money, This usually leads to a healthy mix of good looking women. Add to this mix the wives, girlfriends and female fans of oval ball, well, the women watching in Aspen was almost as good as the rugby:

One of the other Metropolis RFC Aspen Ruggerfest traditions has been players dressing up as cows on the last day of the tournament. They parade from their hotel rooms and condos to make an appearance at Wagner Park, where all of Sunday's finals are held. The Cows make their appearance and "graze" on the pitch during half time of the open final. My roomies in Aspen all had their own cow outfits. As I did not have one, John Eichten was nice enough to at least lend me his cow hat for Sunday's fun. Mike even had a cow pattern blazer for the weekend. The over 45 team that had Metropolis, Virginia Cardinal and Old Laurentian Old Boys had cow pattern jersey's for the final(which they won-8-3 with a man-of-the-match performance from "Super Joe" Kiley)

One of my roomates, Dave, or "Double D", had an Elvis Cow costume made up. He had a great time getting his picture taken by tourists and spectators, like the really nice looking MILF in the above shot.

For a lot of the Metropolis Old Boys, the passing of Matt Comstock back in the spring gave an awful lot of us a great deal of resolve in coming to Aspen. He really relished playing, being a part of the cow parade and partying in Aspen. His sudden death made a lot of us realize that you get just one shot at this life, and you have to take advantage of it. I know for me, Aspen was a good goal to help keep me going to the gym to stay in some semblance of playing shape.

One extra benefit of going to Aspen was that I had a chance to meet and talk with a real legend of the game: former Australian Wallaby captain, John Eales-who still looks really, really fit:

I also had a chance to speak with former USA Eagles captain, Brian Vizard. The only thing that is greater than meeting an athlete whom you admire, is that when you meet them, you find out that they are also really nice people. I don't know if he ever imagined having a bunch of American rugby fans wanting to speak with him and take his picture, but he could not have been nicer. My only regret is that I was so dumbfounded by being able to speak with and get my picture taken with John Eales is that I forgot to remove my sunglasses and my cow hat.

I would encourage any rugby player or fan to try to make it to the Aspen Ruggerfest at least once. You have great rugby, fantastic people-watching, and a fun atmosphere all played out in the most beautiful venue you will ever see:

Aspen Part 2: Send in The Clowns

2010-09-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

After going 0-2 without scoring a try against Kansas City and the Harlequins, our combined team of OL's, Metropolis and Omaha GOATS Old Boys had to play it's third, and final game against a bunch of Clowns. That's not meant to be a mean-spirited comment, we REALLY did have to play the Clowns in our last game on Friday. http://clownrugby.com/

We started off well against the Clowns. We had decent pressure on them, and our forward play was better. I was feeling like I was adapting better and actually making it to some rucks(me with the semi-shaved head rucking a clown). Against KC, my feet felt like I was running in quicksand. At least in the last couple of matches, I was able to at least get to the breakdown, and I felt stronger in the scrum.

We at least scored a try in this game. Kyle, one of the Metropolis Old Boys put the ball down to at least salvage some pride.

The game did have one incident that was maybe the grossest thing I have seen on a rugby pitch. Towards the end of the game, there was a scrum where the Clown tight head prop and I banged heads, giving me a nice cut on my right ear. This left a large amount of blood on the side of the face of my fellow prop. The young referee wanted to blood bin the other prop, when the hooker said "Don't worry, sir...I'll take care of it!" At this point the hooker grabbed the prop and licked the blood off his face. There was a loud moan of disgust from players on the field, the benches and the spectators at the Rio Grande field. Play did continue until the ref blew his whistle, which meant that our combined side was 0-3 and that our rugby was done for the rest of Ruggerfest.

I had a chance to chat with the Clowns after the game(the other prop to the left of me, the blood-thirsty hooker is shirtless kneeling)-like most people in the sport, they were nice guys, and they told me that one of their mates was going to be getting married on the Wagner Field pitch at the end of all of the rugby on Friday night. A rugby/clown wedding...it sounded so different, that I had to check this out.

After an afternoon of re-hydrating and taking some Ibuprofen for my aches and pains, I went down to the Wagner Field, and sure enough, there were several Clowns players, the kilt-clad preacher and the bride and groom. It was disturbing and romantic all at the same time...

It takes a special woman to be married to a rugger. I know my lovely red-headed bride has been very supportive of me over the last 5 years. For a woman to sign on to be married to a rugger and a Clown, well, she has to be a good sport.

In my next posting, I will talk about the Running of the Cows at Aspen and my brush with rugby royalty.

Aspen Report Part I: Is it Oxygen Debt or Old Age?

2010-09-21T14:39:00.000-05:00

I can finally write about my Aspen Ruggerfest experience. I just got back home to Minnesota after 4 mostly fun-filled days in the Rocky Mountains. I was lucky to have 4 Metropolis Old Boy room-mates who are really nice guys. When you room with people, you never know quite how it is going to go. In my case, sharing a condo with Bruce(to my left), Dave, Mike and John worked out very, very well with our Condo that had a million dollar view, as you can see from above.

On Thursday, I had shared a drive from the Denver Airport with Eric and Kyle to Aspen. In our quintet, I was the first person to make it to the Durant Condo and check in. I had to drag my bags and my prop-shaped physique up the 3 flights of stairs. I could not believe how winded I was doing that. There is a big difference in activity done at sea level and at over 8,000 feet. I don't mind saying that I was more than level nervous about Friday's games. We would have to finish in the top 2 of our pool to play rugby on Sunday.

After a good night sleep, it was off to play Kansas City in our first game on Friday. I should explain that for the over 35 division, we were a mix of Omaha Goats, Metropolis, and a couple of Old Laurentians from Rugby, England. We knew Kansas City was going to be tough. The game ended up being harder than I even imagined. Their huge, strong, organized pack put a serious beat-down on us. There were a couple of scrums where I had the disquieting sensation of being literally off the ground. I cannot think of any game I have ever played where took such a physical beating at prop. It was the perfect combination of altitude, middle-age and playing very good opposition. We had a little over an hour from that beat-down to get ready for our game against Harlequins. We still did not score any tries, but I felt that at least I was having some success in the scrum(that's me on the left with the short hairdo)

We lost again against Harlequins, and were shut out again. In spite of the pain and fatigue, I have to say that I don't think I will ever play at a more beautiful venue than in Aspen...

After two losses on Friday, we had one more game to try to salvage some honor, or at least score a try. It was time to literally send in the Clowns-and that will be my subject for my next entry.

Less Than a Week to the Aspen Ruggerfest...

2010-09-10T02:34:00.000-05:00

It's less than a week before I head out to Ruggerfest in Aspen. It was nice to get a run in two weeks ago in the Old Boys game with the East Side Banshees. The thing that has been sticking in my mind for the past couple of weeks is that with the huffing and puffing I was doing while playing at our low-altitude here in Minnesota, I am set to play less than 24 hours after getting into Colorado at an altitude of 8,200 feet in Aspen.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen,_Colorado

I have been thinking about the last time I actually tried running in Colorado. It was 25 years ago. My wife and I were both in the Air Force, and my wife was at her tech school to become an Air Force Camera woman in what was then Lowry Air Force Base. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowry_Air_Force_Base

I remember telling her that I was going to go for a job while she was at class. She had an odd smile on her face when I told her this, but I did not pay it any mind. I was 24 years old, in great shape, and nothing was going to prevent me from getting a run in that morning. I remember taking off and after about a half mile feeling like a really fat person was sitting on my chest. That was my introduction to trying to be active at high altitude. It got me to thinking just how good a shape you have to be in to play a sport like basketball or Ice Hockey at that kind of altitude.

Well, next week I will be rediscovering the joys of exercise at altitude at Ruggerfest in the over-35 division. My fellow Metropolis RFC grey-beards and I will be teaming up with the Omaha Goats Old Boys, The Golden Goats. http://goatsrugby.com/ Mercifully, in the old boys divisions, they will be allowing rolling substitutes, kind of like what they do in ice hockey, which is a good thing, otherwise the Aspen newswires would writing about a bunch of old rugby players having the Big One out on the rugby pitch.

In speaking with some of my other Metropolis mates, the rugby actually seems to be secondary. Most of them marvel and speak with great affection about the parties, socials and scenary in Aspen.

I owe a huge thanks to my Daughter, Rachel, who gave me her air miles so that I could do this trip (Money has been tight in the Nursedude household)

After 17 Years: an Empty Bedroom

2010-09-03T18:40:00.001-05:00

We have lived at our house in New Hope, Minnesota since July of 1993. When we bought this house, my son Ian was 6, and my daughter Rachel was 2 and a half. At that time, my wife and I had the largest bedroom, then Ian had the second biggest room. Rachel's bedroom was almost more of a personal office sized room compared to the others.

The room was painted a bright yellow and had all manner of "Girly-Girl" things that would befit a little girl's bedroom. Over the years, Rachel would share the roughly 12 foot by 9 foot bedroom(with the help of a bunk bed) with her AFS sister's Tiphaine, Akane and Orn. Right before my son Ian went to Japan for his AFS year abroad, we finally decided that Rachel had lived in the cramped space long enough. We built a room in the basement for Ian and then Rachel took over(and repainted) Ian's room, which went almost overnight from being an adolescent boy's room to a feminine cathedral to all things equine. At that time, we were hosting Diego from Chile, who decided to paint the room popsicle orange.

The small bedroom was now re-invented from being a children's room to a teenager's pad. It went from being Diego's room to Benidikte's room. Our snowboard-loving Norwegian kept the room's bright orange color. This would change when Paula from Finland moved into the room in August of 2004. The words "Flamboyant" and "Finnish" don't really go well together. Paula asked if the flaming orange room could be painted a more sedate powder blue(not unlike on the Finnish flag). The room stayed powder blue when Rodrigo from Portugal moved in 3 years ago. While he was with us, Ian and Andrea found out they were pregnant, and they were due to have their baby in the summer of 2008. Rodrigo was put in the unfavorable spot of having his room being transitioned to a baby's nursery even before he flew back to Lisbon. He was a pretty good sport about it.

The plan was for Ian, Andrea and Duncan to live with us until they finished their university studies. Luckily, Ian has a good eye for design, and he repainted the room with a whimsical day scene on a couple of the walls, and a starry sky on the other walls. On Duncan's shelves were a myriad of toy monsters and children's books.

Since June of 2008, this room has been Duncan's room...until today. My son, his wife and Duncan have moved into a place of their own over in Saint Paul. I admit that I have been very ambivalent about their moving. They need to be their own family unit after living with us the last 2 years. That said, it's a unique thing for a grandparent to watch their their grandchild grow up on a day to day basis. Duncan has gone from being a very calm baby to being an impossibly good-tempered two year old(He does have his moments, but they have been few and far between) Today, after Ian and I emptied out his room, I grabbed two of his favorite soft dolls, his Earnie and his Curious George along with some soft play tiles that had covered his floor. The finality of taking those last couple of toys out of Duncan's room just hit me harder than I had even anticipated....I totally lost it and started to cry in the kitchen-while still hanging on to Earnie and George. (That had to be quite a sight)

I cannot help but to think of images from that room from the past 17 years: of tow-headed Rachel playing with her Barnie and her American Girl Dolls, of me reading Rachel her bed-time stories, of Rachel chattering away with her AFS sisters later at night in the room-when they all knew they should be asleep, of Tiphaine, Orn and Akane NEVER complaining about the tight quarters of the room, of Diego playing guitar in the room, of Bennie crying over a boy who had broken her heart, of Paula having the cats asleep on her chest and head, of Rodrigo's soccer and rugby clothes scattered in the room...of changing my grandson's diapers countless times, of dressing him, of watching him play on the floor of his room....of laying him down to say goodnight, and how much "Papi"(that's me) loves him-and how Duncan never gave me an ounce of trouble in putting him to bed.

There are so many images that come to mind of the occupants of this now empty bedroom...as tears start to well in my eyes, I ask myself what will be the next incarnation of this room that has seen so much in the past 17 years?

It has been said that a house is just the board, brick and drywall-it's the people in the house that make it a home. That is very apparent as I walk through the now empty bedroom.

Metropolis Old Boys 36 East Side Banshees 12-Back to Playing Prop Again!

2010-08-28T23:27:00.000-05:00

When I had heard a few weeks back that my Metropolis Rugby Club was going to have a Family Day that would include a triple-header of rugby with the D1,D3 and Old Boys teams meeting up with the East Side Banshees http://www.bansheerugby.com/#Events, from Saint Paul-I quickly was able to get this weekend off. I really wanted to be able to play in the Old Boys game, and with the Aspen Ruggerfest coming next month, I wanted to be able to get some real game time in.

It also meant a lot to me to have a chance to play in front of my kids and my grandson. For my daughter, Rachel, this was the first time she had ever actually seen me play rugby, because most Saturdays in the past when I played, she usually had a horse show she had entered.

For me, the scary things about the guys on the Metropolis Old Boys, is that a lot of these men are my age, but have little KIDS of their own(As you will see in the shot lower down on this page), not grandchildren, like me. To my way of thinking, if you are in your late 40's or early 50's and fathering children...these guys are more nuts being parents of young kids at my age than chasing around after an oval ball on a sun-baked, upper-midwestern afternoon. If the choice is between bruises and sleep deprivation, I'll take the bruises.

Saturday had a forecast of brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures. It was well into the mid 80's during our game, and was up near 90 for the games that the D1 and D3 sides had to play. I was thankful for the Old Boys game kick off to be at 11 30 AM, before the worst of the heat would envelope Columbia Park in northeast Minneapolis.

I ended up getting a lot of playing time in-we did rolling substitutions based on fitness(or lack of) and the warm weather. I played mostly at prop, but during a point in the game ended up playing at 8 man for a few minutes-a position that I had never played before. Boy, was I glad when Mike Kreblin came back into the game to play 8-man, and I could go back to my more normal position of prop. I think my teammates were relieved, too.

The game was played with great sportsmanship-no chippy stuff at all. We were able to blitz the Banshees in the first half to get a 24 -0 lead at halftime. They fought back to make it 24-12, but then we were able to salt the game away with a couple of late tries.

I was glad to get out of the game with nothing more than a little right shoulder and neck stiffness. Even though it was pretty warm out, I could not help but to think of how different it is going to be to play at altitude in Aspen, Colorado in about 3 weeks. I am really going to need to do some VO-Max work with my Kettle Bell workouts so that I am not total road-kill out in Aspen.