Wednesday, September 28, 2011

WORLD CUP WOES

HAIL, PELICUS!

LONG TIME NO E

Misadventures abound, too much rugby and too much travel.

The root of the problem is that we forgot our portable USB drive in a different time zone, the one that contains all of our rugby files, folders, photos and programs. Some were backed up; most were not. A friend tried to ship it home but it was pilfered en route by a hitherto-trusted delivery service, the package torn open, the jump drive removed from its container, the container replaced and the package delivered still with a gaping hole in it.

Such is the state of UPS, whom we worked nights for, loading step-vans, on our way through college.

Teaching the new IRB Officiating Sevens course in Chicago was a joy – losing what will take scores of hours to restore was not.

Then five days in Aspen – and what with trying to watch every game of the Rugby World Cup – this is the first time HP was absent three weeks in a row.

SPEAKING OF THE WORLD CUP

A lot of us paid Universal Sports a fair chunk of change to be able to watch all of the games, in particular the Eagles’ matches.

What a rip-off! They were down for maintenance during the USA – Russia game and then elected not to show the USA – Italy game until 24 hours later.

Luckily, the world of p2p Internet hook-ups came through. We saw the Russia game on Indian television (the Bollywood commercials at halftime gave it away) and the Italy game on Italian TV – with commentator-babe in mini-skirt at halftime.

The world is getting smaller but the Eagles – alas – may never beat a tier one country in our lifetimes. It’s been thirty-five years of your writer’s lifetime that he’s been watching these games and hoping, but he won’t have thirty-five more.

LOTS OF REFEREES NEEDED

Please take a look at your schedule. I’ve taken a look at ours, and we need you.

Do not hesitate to volunteer. This is the time of year when you will probably be able to cherry-pick at particular game or event. PLEASE RESPOND WITH YOUR AVAILABILITY.

October 1:
Alumni games in Chico – need two refs
Sierra Tens in Sacramento – need three refs
Lady Razorbacks hosting Sacramento Amazons – need a ref
All Blues hosting Beantown on Treasure Island, Joe Androvich to ref. Need two ARs.

October 8:
Sevens tournament involving the USS Carl Vinson, the Maritime Academy, and Baracus in San Francisco. Tours of the Carl Vinson will be available on Sunday for the refs.
Triple Threat hosting Tempe. Host city TBA. Need a ref
Sunday, October 9: SF Fog hosting Tempe

October 15:
Friday-Saturday: Fiji Day Sevens at Sheeran Field (SFGG). Need 5-6 refs
Saturday: Reno Zephyr Fall Classic. Four pitches. Need a dozen refs
Saturday: West Coast College Sevens in Arroyo Grande. All the top California teams except those in the Pac 12. Need two NorCal refs
Sunday: Women’s D2 college camp scrimmage. Need a ref

October 22:
THIS IS THE WEEKEND WE NEED TWENTY REFS OR MORE
Olympic Club hosting NYAC on TI. Needs a team of three
Women’s Slugfest on two pitches at UC Santa Cruz. Need six refs
Women’s NorCal College Sevens in Vallejo. Need three refs
Women’s Club D2 Regional Playoffs hosted by the Amazons. Need 4-6 refs
Men’s Pacific Coast Sevens at Stanford. This will be a qualifier for the nationals in December. Need refs and ARs

GAMES PLAYED

Saturday, Sept. 17
SACRAMENTO LADY AMAZONS 68 – West Valley Angels 0 Referee: Phil Akroyd
ARs: Brad Richey & Eugene Baker
Not much color commentary to add on this one. One of those point-per-minute kind of games. 41-0 at half, 68-0 at full-time, even though we finished 15 minutes early due to score/injury/general disinterest.

Total of 8 penalties in the game, 3 of which came from new players who thought that hands on the ground was OK. It’s a shame that there isn’t more competition in NorCal as the Amazons have won by more than 60 points against the only two teams in the league.

Photo attached of recently-transferred Brad Richey getting into the California swing of things with a pre-game nap at Danny Nunn Park. Aspen, this is not.

Saturday, Sept. 24:
NorCal Triple Threat 0 – ORSU 22 Referee: Sean Peters
Another beautiful day in Santa Rosa. At "Pete's Sake" Rugby Pitch, the Triple Threat hosted O.R.S.U. Both teams brought great well-coached athletes that were ready to go, as the whistle blew.

Triple Threat came out fierce with their fast backs making great runs, with explosive break downs. O.R.S.U's #10 (Beckett) found her way through Triple Threat’s defense and scored the first try of the game. Just before the half O.R.S.U marched down the field again only to find themselves in front of the posts. Then scored a penalty kick to make the score at the half, O.R.S.U - 8 Triple Threat – 0

Second half, Triple Threat again came out hard, fast and swinging. They got down to the try line, then ended up getting a penalty.Triple Threat's #6 did a quic- tap and caught O.R.S.U sleeping. Triple Threat's #6 went in for the try and knocked it on, "a heart breaker" 5 meter scrum O.R.S.U.

Although most of the scrums O.R.S.U dominated by pushing the smaller Triple Threat around. Before it was over O.R.S.U found themselves attacking in the red zone and putting in 2 more trys from there (#10 great game).

FINAL O.R.S.U ~ 22 Triple Threat ~ 0
Ref. Sean Peters

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO
Not on Tour
Brad Richey collects his thoughts while resting his eyes pre-match.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris