A Plug for Japan Aid...

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??

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

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

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

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...

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

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.