Ah, youth. You have your life in front of you, the possibilities seem endless, you don’t have the trappings that come with parenthood, your joints don’t ache and creak in the morning when you get out of bed during the winter…and you can take your shirt off at a beach or a pool and not totally embarrass yourself.
A young man on my Metropolis Rugby Club named Conor is about to embark on an ambitious trot around the globe (Australia, New Zealand, Uganda, South Africa and England are on his ambitious itinerary) to play some rugby, meet new people and experience new things. He is joining the blogosphere as well, and here is his site link: http://willtravelforrugby.blogspot.com/
Conor leaves next week, and I hope that he can get a great deal out of the trip. I’m old enough to be Conor’s dad, but I know that travel abroad changed me and taught me a lot the two times I studied in France.(Paris and Montpellier) It was in France that I saw my first rugby match on TV (Wales-France), and I still have Friends from my year in Montpellier with whom I still stay in contact after 28 years. I can hardly wait to read about his experiences as he heads off to the land of OZ.
Bon Voyage, Conor.
Our former exchange student, Rodrigo, had a very good week with his CDUL rugby club from Lisbon. They made the road trip up north to Porto, where they beat CDUP on a last a minute try. Rodrigo has told me more than a few times that he loves beating the guys from the Douro River area-even more than local rival Belenense. Here are a couple of pics of Rodrigo playing in Porto:
Some interesting matches this weekend with the Six Nations. Tonight, in a rare Friday night match, France puts it’s perfect record on the line against Wales. Word is that both coaches agreed to play with the roof closed, so it should create a fast track with some running rugby in the offering for the passionate Welsh crowd. (I don’t think it will be like that crazy Super 14 game in Jo-berg that looked like a basketball score) Wales really needs this game, as two losses I think will keep somebody from winning the Six Nations, and Wales has already lost at England. Speaking of England, they host Ireland in what will be a must win game for them, after France’s beat-down of the Irish at the Stade de France a couple of weeks back. Another loss for Ireland, and their reign as Six Nations champs will be a short one. England survived it’s road trip to Rome with a narrow win over Italy. They overcame a bad kicking day from Johnny Wilkinson with some lively play from their wings in the second half, and some good defense when they needed it. The last game with Italy and Scotland is pretty much the wooden spoon game. Whoever wins this game of the two winless sides should keep the winner from that dubious distinction.
My picks for the weekend are France, England and Italy.
This weekend will also be notable as this will be the last week of Broadcasting for Setanta Sports in the USA. They sold their USA rights to Fox Soccer Channel. I spoke with a rep from Direct TV, and they are in negotiation with FSC to see if they can get the rights to show the new channel that will be called Fox Soccer Plus-but in theory, they are supposed to have Heineken Cup, Magner’s League and Six Nations matches. No word on if they will be showing any Super 14 matches or Tri-Nations. At any rate, this weekend’s matches might be the last rugby that I will be able to see on Television for quite some time.
In watching Georgia warm up, the thing that struck me about the Georgians was
just how big and tough they looked. It seemed like every forward with a white
jersey on looked like he could have done a casting call as a bad guy/heavy in a
James Bond movie.
Almost immediately, the Georgian's laid siege to the Lobos line. The Georgians
used their maul with great success during most of the match, but their initial
incursions into Portuguese territory showed the Lobos forwards that it was going
to be a long day at the office with their strength and physicality. Early
pressure led to a penalty converted by fly half Merab Kvirlkshavilli, who would
convert a try, score a drop goal, and did a great job of tactical kicking for
the Georgians.
Os Lobos took the lead, thanks to Australian born Joe Gardner's try. He would
only convert 1 out of 5 penalty kicks, and those misses would come back to haunt
Portugal on the day. The Portuguese looked fast and dangerous with ball in hand.
In the second half, they had a lot of possession-particularly during a 10 minute
period when David Kubriashvilli's yellow card
gave Os Lobos a man advantage.
They applied pressure to the Georgians even at the last minute of the game,
getting as close as the 3 meter line, but then the Georgians made a heroic
defensive stand to hold of Os Lobos and preserve the 16-10 Victory in front of a
sun-splashed, polite and appreciative crowd of about 2,500 that mostly filled
the University Stadium in Lisbon. It was a very nice ambiance.
Once Kiwi referee Andrew Small whistled the end of the game,
Rodrigo (our former
exchange student, who plays his club rugby with CDUL 
Rodrigo was able to get us parked a good hike from the stadium, so I got my work
out in keeping up with two younger, fitter 19 year old rugby backs (Duarte is a
wing and Rodrigo a fly half or full back), we got our tickets and got in to the
stadium at the 20th minute. The game finished 1-0...and of course we missed the
only goal of the game.
It took a lot for Rodrigo to take me to this game. You see, he's a Sporting fan,
through and through-although his dad, Luiz, is a Benfica fan. In a red-clad sea
of Benfica fans, we stood out in our neutral colors. (I was wearing a Metropolis
Rugby Hoody, and training shirt underneath it)
The atmosphere at the Stadio da Luz reminded me a lot of the atmosphere at the
Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France when I saw Olympique Marseille play
Bordeaux to a 1-1 tie 6 years ago. It was a very passionate, very vocal, and
where I was sitting-a very profane group of fans. Rodrigo was giving me a
running commentary about what people around us were saying.
Rodrigo, Duarte and I had a good time watching the game, which was played at a
very fast pace, throughout the game. I have to admit that I had more fun
watching the people around us. There was a couple a few seats over from us,
where the boyfriend was wearing Benfica colors, and his girlfriend was wearing a
blue Belenenses
scarf. To be honest, they seemed more into each other than the game. Sometimes
love really is color-blind.
There was also a near fight with some older fans in their mid fifties a few rows
over. It would have been interesting if anybody actually would have landed a
blow before the other person would keel over from a heart attack.
In the final minute, the bottom-feeders from Belem ALMOST broke Benfica hearts,
when their young Brazilian number 7, Mano, unleashed a wicked volley from 20
meters out that JUST skimmed by the Benfica goal. It would have a been a goal of
the week candidate for a team that looks almost certain to make the drop.
Benfica hung on for the 1-0 win.
My trip to Portugal had so many high points...my wife and I just had a great
time In Lisbon and the Al, that said, my Sports Saturday in Lisbon was quite a
highlight for me. It was certainly a fun day played out under a sunny Lisbon
sky.
Portugal looked great with ball in hand, but the hulking Georgian forwards made mince-meat out of
and dominating virtually every scrum.
(Granted, one was from almost 50 meters) and
I won't get a chance to see Rodrigo play rugby, as with Carnival approaching,
his team, CDUL 
Rodrigo did leave me a message that he will try to get us tickets to see
Portugal 
Georgia put a 77-3 beating in on Germany to solidify their spot at the top of
the table. The top two countries will qualify for New Zealand, with the third
place team having to qualify for the Rugby World Cup via a playoff. This
weekend, Portugal will need to beat the Georgians and hope that somehow Spain
can slow down the improving Russians as they charge towards a first-ever
qualification to the Rugby World Cup(The Russians beat qualifiers Namibia a
couple of weeks back, by the way) At the very, very least, Portugal needs to at
least keep a firm hold on 3rd place to show that their qualification for France
2007 was no fluke.
For those rugby fans who are also into numbers, here are some figures for rugby
in Portugal:
Number Of Clubs:
44
Number Of Registered Players:
5940
Number of Referees:
47
Pre-teen Male Players:
1886
Pre-teen Female Player:
0
Teen Male Player:
2693
Teen Female Player:
256
Senior Male Player:
1105
Senior Female Player:
0
Total Male Player:
5684
Total Female Player:
256
I may not be able to see any of the Six Nations this coming weekend...but
between Portugal-Georgia, Carnivale, hanging out with Rodrigo and his parents,
some great Portuguese wines, seafood and soaking in the scenery with my lovely
red-headed bride...
.I think I will be OK. I am also hoping
to be able to meet some of Rodrigo's teamates and members of his CDUL club.
Until then....Até Logo!
Since having my pulmonary embolism last May, it threw a real monkey wrench into
my ability to play rugby. a big reason why it did so, was that I was put on the
blood thinner, Coumadin. It makes contact sports kind of an ill-advised activity.
I don't mind telling you that it more than sucked not being
able to get a run in during any of the fall Division III games or any Old
Boys/Veterans games. Back in December, a different doctor put me on a class of
drugs called Beta Blockers, because my Atrial Fibrillation came back to point
where I was actually in the hospital for a couple of days in December. I had a
bad experience with Beta Blockers 6 years ago, and I really did not want to go
back on them. My Doctor said that he would prescribe the lowest dose that he
could.
Well, after almost two full months on the drugs, I gained 10 pounds(most
decidedly NOT muscle), my energy level dropped, I felt like I needed 10 hours of
sleep, and I was having muscle aches that had nothing to do with my job or
working out. When I spoke with Dr Taylor, I was blunt on told him that I felt
like shit, and wanted to change the medication regimen. To my pleasant surprise,
he was very open to getting me off the beta-blockers and to try a different
medication.
Medicine also can take different forms. As in Oval, like a rugby ball.
The madness that is the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament kicks off this weekend.
Luckily, I will be able
to watch England-Wales live on BBC America. My buddy Jacques should be along as
a neutral South African observer to take in the game from Twickenham. The other
two games this weekend will have Ireland hosting Italy and Scotland hosting
France.
It might easy to read too much into results from the past year, particularly the
November internationals. Ireland had a year for the ages in winning their first
Grand Slam in over 60 years, and finished undefeated in all internationals, with
only the home draw to Australia being the only game that the men in green did
not win in 2009.
Perennial Wooden Spoon candidate Italy must feel like the jilted girlfriend with
something to prove, after the Celtic League recently rebuffed a proposal to add
two Italian clubs to the Magner's League. Italy's strong front row might create
a few problems for the Irish, but with Ireland playing at home, and with a
formidable group of backs including the incomparable O'Driscoll, it is
tough to imagine Ireland finding a way to lose the match. I think the Italians
can keep it close the first 20-30 minutes, but the Irish just have too many
weapons to use in front of the green-clad faithful at the Irish temple of sport,
Croke Park.
With all of England's troubles during the November internationals, it is easy to
forget that they did actually finish second in last years edition of the 6
Nations. England gets Delon Armitage and Riki Flutey back from injury-they were
sorely missed in November. England Coach Martin Johnson has signaled that this
England side will be a more attack-minded side against the Welsh by picking
Matthew Tait at Outside Center and Danny Care at the number 9 jersey to play the
scrum half role, as England looks to win it's first 6 Nations since 2003.
Wales, Grand Slam winners two years ago, got some bad news before the England
match with Lions prop Gethin Jenkins being ruled out for Saturday's clash at
Twickenham. Warren Gatland, the Welsh Coach, did get some good news in that
fullback Lee Byrne had a potential two week suspension rescinded this past week
in Glasgow. This gives the Welsh a vital cog in their red machine as it goes for
4 wins in a row against the English.
Scotland has never won the 6 Nations tournament. Their last win was in the last
year of the 5 Nations Tournament was in 1999, when Wales' Scot Gibbs' late try
broke English hearts and handed the 5 Nations Trophy to the Scots. This weekend
the Scots get to host France- my pick to win this years tournament after their
stellar play in the autumn internationals and the very robust form of French
Clubs in the Heineken Cup.
Just because France will be heavily favored at Murrayfield does not mean that
the Scots cannot present a notable Banana peel to Marc Lievremont's side.
Glasgow is atop of the Magner's League, with 9 Glasgow players lining up for
Scotland on Saturday, including captain Chris Cusiter, who knows a thing or two
about French rugby after having played a couple of seasons at Perpignan. He also
has pegged the French as the team to beat in this 2010 Six Nations tournament.
French Coach Marc Lievremont had to replace Toulouse's injured Jean-Baptiste
Ellisalde with his teamate, Freddie Michalak on the roster. He also won't have
Racing Metro caveman-in-residence Sebastien Chabal at his call, as he is out due
to a back injury. Uncapped Toulouse lock Yoann Maestri will start in place of
the bearded one. France will start with Clermont scrum half Morgan Parra and
Montpellier fly half Francois Trinh-Duc. Stade Francais' center Mathieu
Bastareaud will be welcomed back to the squad and will bring his unique physical
gifts to the French back-line. Lievremont will also have some weapons that he
did not have at his disposal back in November, with Poitrenaud, Rougerie and
Ouedraogo will be back at Fullback, wing, and flanker, respectively.
In spite of the injuries, France still has, on paper, a very formidable looking
side. France has a bad habit of playing to the level of their opposition, and
Scotland can turn a running game into a street fight, like they did in their
shocking win over Australia back in November. I think if France can get by this
potential banana peel of a match, a win in Edinburgh will give them the
confidence they will need the rest of their way. A loss will give the French
those recurring self doubts that has kept them from winning the Six Nations
since 2007.
My Predictions for 2010:
1. France
2. Ireland
3. England
4.Wales
5.Scotland
6.Italy
Well, bad news for those of us in the upper Midwest: It looks like we are going
to have 6 more weeks of winter. (I'm glad I am going to Portugal next week)
Some people remember the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray, where his
character re-lives the same day, over and over again.
There are certain things this time of year where I feel almost like Bill
Murray's cynical meteorologist, and living the same day over and over. One of
them is every January and February, we are reminded of how overweight we are as
a nation in the United States. The TV is FLOODED with commercials advertising
weight loss programs, gyms, healthier eating and newscasts giving us an almost
daily warning of the road to hell in the USA that is paved with corn syrup and
trans-fatty acids.
The other thing that you see this time of year is replacement shows for canceled
TV series. It seems like this year, there has been an inordinate number of these
hospital and emergency shows that have the, what I call, "Nurse as a Sex-kitten"
character. For awhile, it seemed like TV producers tried to portray nurses as
professionals. That seems to be a distant memory with what I have seen lately. I
cannot even begin to tell you how much I hate that stereotype. I think it's
demeaning to the women of my profession who do a difficult and necessary job.
I recently heard about a restaurant in Arizona that combines these two recurrent
nightmares of gluttony and sexist stereotype into a nasty witch's brew of
unhealthy food where it is brought to tables by servers dressed as sexy or
naughty nurses: 
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