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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Aspen Part 3: Babes, Cows and John Eales

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:

2 comments:

  1. Great write-ups Steve. So glad I was there to be a apart of it all with you and the rest of our 'mates who made the trip. I think it brings closure to many of us in such a great way. Combo would be proud of us I'm sure. His legacy lives on in all things rugby, and it never shined brighter than during the 43rd Aspen Ruggerfest!

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  2. Carpe Diem - a montra that makes each day what it should be. This trip was a reminder that we need to take advantage of what is in front of us - beer, a laugh, a song, beauty of Aspen and a few asses in the mix. Thanks for post and keep up the Carpe Diem. Moo - Double D

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