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

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

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?

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

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....

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 ?

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

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.