Rugby Memories from RWC 2007 in Languedoc

I have not been able to get much computer access during this trip to Europe. We had a great time on our cruise, with 3 stops in Italy, and two in France. When we got back to Barcelona, we rented a car and made it to Montpellier, where we stayed 3 nights with my friend, Bernard Massé.

Back in 2007, my son Ian and I saw two games from Rugby World Cup 2007 in Montpellier. The games were played at the Stade de la Mosson, but Australia practiced at this stadium, which is now the current home for Montpellier's rugby team. It seats about 15,000. Rugby is done here for the year, as Montpellier will play it's next playoff game at a neutral site in Toulouse.

One of my other great memories in 2007, was visiting my friend Jean-Paul in Puisserguier, a little village near Bézieers. Languedoc is right in the heart of rugby country. Montpellier may be on top of the standings in Ligue 1 in soccer/football, but the oval ball is something very near and dear to the heart of the average person in the smaller towns.

One evening, while in Puisserguier, Jean-Paul, my son Ian and I had a few too many glasses of Pastis at a local, rugby-centric bar. Too drunk to drive back to Montpellier, we stayed the night at Jean-Paul's place. one thing  I remember is trading my USA Rugby sweatshirt with the bartender, a fellow prop, who gave me his rugby jersey for the local side.

The other day, my wife and I stopped in Puisserguier to meet Jean-Paul, and we stopped at the same bar/café. The bartender remembered me, and even gave me a glass of Pastis for old time's sake...

Pastis! The National Drink of the South of France.

Our friendly bartender remembered me from 2007

Jean-Paul even had a present for me: a signed rugby ball by Robert Hierro, the man who coached Toulon to it's last French Title in 1987, and also has written some very good articles and books about the sport of rugby. The Gilbert ball also had the emblem of ABB, the local side. This ball is going to have a place of honor next to one of the 2011 RWC balls I have back in the USA. It was a great walk down memory lane.

With a signed ball by Robert Hierro, former Toulon Coach.

More Than a Club: FC Barcelona is a Money-Making Machine

My wife and I have been in Barcelona, Spain since Thursday, May second. For those who have not been to this end of Catalonia, you really need to come here. The food is great, the people are friendly and they are just mad about sport. I had a chance to visit the Olympic Stadium and the

Olympic Museum here in Barça.

On Saturday, I also had a chance to visit the Nou Camp-home to FC Barcelona. Barça has an expression about itself: Mas que un club-more than a club. 

There is no question about the passion for Catalans about FC Barcelona. Because of their success-particularly over the past 4-5 years, they also have a world-wide following. 

What blew me away today, was the number of fans waiting at closed gates to be let in for a chance to go have the ulitmate Barça fan experience: a tour of the Nou Camp, including locker rooms, interview rooms a chance to see the playing surface and the press box. All for the rock-bottom price of 22 Euros. I was lucky, I had a coupon, so I only had to pay 20 Euros for the experience. Look, I am a rugby fan first and for most, but I am also a football/soccer fan, as well. I am glad I had a chance to see the Museum and get my picture at the Nou Camp. It's a great facility. I also believe in making money, but with what FC Barcelona was doing, was bordering on the obscene. After you have spent your money on the tour, the tour ended up, not surprisingly, in the FC Barcelona Botiga, or Boutique. Potential shoppers had a mind-numbing amount of Merchandise to buy. All at top dollar-no discounts here. To be honest, for an American soccer fan, it is possible to buy FC Barcelona shirts for less money than what people where charged in the Botiga.

In rugby, I think the closes thing that comes to mind is what happened in New Zealand in the past Rugby World Cup. I know people in New Zealand felt that they were getting bent over in a big way by Adidas for what they were getting charged for All Blacks gear. I was taken aback by RWC t-shirts that were going for 60 bucks. The big difference between what happened in New Zealand, and what I saw on Saturday in Barcelona, is that Adidas and the RWC organizers had a limited time to rake in the cash. In the case of FC Barcelona, it is an almost daily ritual with the faithful lining up to spend their money.

There were also people buying tickets for Saturday's derby match with Espanyol-but there were very few tickets to be had.(a match Lionel Messi and his mates would win 4-0)

At the end of the day, Barça is indeed, more than a club-it is a Catalan money making machine. They have turned making money into an art form.

Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte

I made it back to Minneapolis just in time to catch a round of 32 match that opposed Metropolis RFC and Charlotte, NC...

The spring weather had been good in the Twin Cities this spring...unfortunately for the visitors from North Carolina, the weather was 41 degrees and wet-far cooler than what they have probably been experiencing this spring. The good thing for us spectators, was that at least the driving rain-which had postponed the Twins-Royals baseball game in Minneapolis that day( I had tickets), at least let up at kickoff for this Division I playoff game. Metropolis actually had to go with some grey-beards for this game. Head coach Nathan Osborne was enlisted to play fly-half, and former A-side captain, Jayme Kohlbeck were called into the starting lineup related to injury. They both would also play key roles in the game for Metropolis-Nate also getting involved in a little dust-up during the game...

Metropolis captain, Wade McInroy, played this game like a man possessed. The 8-man ran rough-shod over Charlotte defenders. Hooker Adam Dilley played a stellar game. Metropolis also had a new weapon in it's arsenal from the last time I had seen them play last year: A South-African born inside center named Louis Joubert opened the scoring for Metropolis from an off-load from McInroy. By my count, both Wade and Joubert scored 3 tries apiece.

Metropolis dominated every aspect of the game. They were quicker, they dominated in the scrums and at the breakdown...in a word, they looked like they wanted this game a bit more. In every sense, this was a complete team victory.

In the end, the 48-0 victory by Metropolis punched  their ticket for the Sweet Sixteen match to be played in Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks. I was glad to make into town in time to catch up with some of my friend with Metropolis and to catch a very convincing win. I will have to catch the rest of the USA Nationals from the internet, as my wife and I leave for Europe on May 2nd, but with the intensity and skill Metropolis showed this past weekend, whoever they play in the round of of 16 had better bring their A-game. On a cold, wet day in Minneapolis, I really liked what I saw.

Clever to Continue as Captain of the USA Eagles.

New USA Men's National Team Rugby Coach Mike Tolkin followed an old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", by naming Todd Clever to continue his role of captain.

Clever has been the face of USA Rugby for the past 4-5 years. In New Zealand he played well, and provided leadership on the field. More to the point, I don't really know who plan B would be to wear the  armband for the USA as they prepare for their games scheduled this summer against Canada, Georgia and Italy.

Sometimes good leadership is knowing when not to meddle.

California Dreamin'

As the fledgling San Juan Sivlerbacks try to set up a match with the New Mexico Brujos on April 14th, my life just took another turn.

Life is funny. I was just minding my own business  and thinking that I was going to do a couple more travel nurse jobs and then settle here in New Mexico-because truth be told, my wife and I have really been enjoying the lifestyle here in New Mexico. Out of the blue, I was offered a job at Los Angeles Childrens Hospital, where I will start working in June. Obviously, I am going to have to check out the rugby scene in Los Angeles and Southern California. To be continued as I finish off my last  3 weeks here in New Mexico.

London Calling( And Barcelona, Montpellier, Among Others...)

Well, It's Official: My wife and I bought our plane tickets to go to Europe in May. We'll fly into Barcelona, from where we will take a cruise that will stop in Marseille, Cannes, Livorno, and Naples.
We will spend a week in France, split between Montpellier and Aix en Provence. Our next plan is to take the train from Paris to London. While in England, we plan on having stays in Liverpool, London. and Birmingham.


I have two rugby-centric goals on this trip: To see Twickenham and to go to the city of Rugby, the birthplace of Beautiful Game. I would love to catch a professional game in France or England, but in taking an initial glance at the calendar, I think most of the leagues will have wrapped up by the time I get to France and England.

It's OK. I think we can find SOMETHING to do or see in Europe.

American-Born Props Support Lancaster....

First of all, congratulations to Wales for winning the 6 Nations in Grand Slam style.

My advice to Welsh fans would be to enjoy the trophy and the celebration parties in Cardiff, Wrexham and Llanelli. Enjoy it, because England looks to be approaching in the rear-view mirror at warp-speed.

After a very disappointing Rugby World Cup, on and off the pitch; after getting pilloried in the press, having several top flight players retire from international play, many England fans had very, very low expectations, indeed.

The RFU provisionally gave the rudder to this aimless English cruiser to Stuart Lancaster for the duration of the 6 Nations while they looked for a more "suitable" Head Coach. Names like Nick Mallet and Jake White have been discussed. The new skipper was compelled to work with some inexperienced players as his sailors.

I could not watch England-Ireland live on Saturday, because I was playing here in New Mexico,

 but I watched a recording of the match on Sunday. I have been trying to find the right words to express my feelings since then.

In past few weeks, I have seen England beat a very experienced French side(many of whom came THIS close to beating the All Blacks in the RWC final) in Paris in Paris, give the favored Welsh all they could handle in a 7 point loss, and on Saturday in Twickenham, gave the Irish front row a beat-down the likes that I have not seen in a long, long time in a 30-9 demolition at Twickenham. After faltering first steps in a tight wins at Scotland and Italy, England improved as the tournament went on. The Saint Patrick's Day throttling of Ireland at Twickenham should have erased any doubt about if Stuart Lancaster should have the 'Interim coach' title removed from his name.

When I looked at the rugby news on the web today, I was still astonished to see that the RFU is still dragging it's feet in signing Lancaster to a full-time deal.

It seems that I am not the only American-born prop who thinks that the RFU should get on with it and give the full time England job to Stuart Lancaster. Alex Corbisero, the New York City-born England Prop (who had a great tournament) also went on record with the same opinion:
http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-2012/rugby/story/161424.html

Corbisero is not the only England player who has thrown their support behind Stuart. Frankly, I don't know what else the guy can do to curry favor with the stuffed shirts at the RFU. In my opinion, this is one of the best rebuilding jobs in Europe that did not have "Marshall Plan" next to it. Lancaster has these young kids playing well and they have his back. They will only get better. I just don't see these players leaving it on the field for Nick Mallet, Jake White, or any other imported coach.

If I'm an England fan, I am screaming at the RFU to get on with it and hire this guy as you build towards the rugby orgy that will be RWC England 2015.

For the record, Buddha, my American-born Olde English Bulldog thinks Lancaster should get the job, too.