Works been driving me into the ground

I only work 30 hr weeks but at 9:30pm to 3:30am the going has been a little rough. I don't really feel that great currently and summer school just started up. Picked up a nifty book from the library about black rugby players. My internal clock is just wonky though and the weather is flipping about as well. Went on a bike ride after class to run a few errands, I ended up with: a comic book, a mouthguard, and a tub of margarine. I forgot to pick up cups so I'm currently drinking tea out of a saucepan. My prof is a retired general who apparently has taught numerous vice-presidents of nations as well as a king. Weird. If this post seems scattered...well...frankly it is. My life has yet to settle down and its halfway through summer. The future is freaking me out. I think I'll do the sensible thing and attempt to find a job up north after graduation and practice with the blues (or something). Ahhh why didn't I try harder in college?! Alas, now I'm stuck with my lot in life. Well, the U23 team won their first game and lost in the 2nd. I wonder what happened to my site tracker...

oh and the team wants me to make a website.....AGAIN

That was FRICKIN amazing!!!!

So I'll start this post off by saying if I don't look back at some of my actions from the previous year and feel utterly humiliated by them, then I'm not really growing. Weeeeell it's that time of the year again. I was feeling shitty about myself because of my grades...worked hard...and fixed 'em. We lost the national championship last year...because we actually played a team that played real rugby. Screw ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that I've ever said, posted, or thought before. I'm going to add a little line at the bottom of this post and read past it at your own risk (chances are you're just wasting your time on uninformed idiotic jabber). Now I'm still uninformed and idiotic but at least I know I am. So screw it, I'm wiping the slate clean and I'm a rugby rookie all over again. And damn it all I'm excited!

So yes the Alex Williams rugby camp rocked my world like a real tackle should. I went to an "Introduction to Rugby" camp and learned more in three days (about REAL rugby) then I have in three years. Now I understand why Amara always said that we didn't play real rugby...and its frickin true. We have pretty intuitive/organic backs but our forwards are a roving band of marauding barbarians assaulting other teams into submission...we don't really play this sport called rugby.

So How Do I Like Real Rugby??? It's frickin' cool! It's faster harder safer smarter...it is everything good. So now...my goal is to use my raw strength and apply it to this sport. Every single aspect of my game can change for the better...and I'm so frickin excited to start. My core is strong but it needs to be infinitely stronger and I need to engage it in every aspect of my game. My whole body is disjointed and I need to coordinate my upper and lower body (with my...duh duh duhhhh...core). Nutrition is frickin important...had a hot dog yesterday and I crashed afterwards...now I know...no more hot dogs. Passing at the chest level, elbow up, using my fingers to flick the ball, going into contact facing forward like its a ruck, when there are two defenders and I want a maul I will attack one and turn outside in, when I want to sink I bring out my butt to counterbalance, I use my props to resist my locks and I want to sink at the same time as them, look over the top of sunglasses when I'm crouched so I don't need to duck on the engage, bend my elbows down on my binds, a new way to throw lineouts!, power position, lockouts are amazing, I won't move my pelvis up to try and drive up etc etc. I'll put more but I'm making breakfast!

The camp was incredible, the coaching staff.....Liz Kirk is my new idol! More on it later but the end line is...GO TO THE DAMN CAMP!!!!!!!!

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So I feel bad

being boring as tar but that's just how my life is going right now. Practice SUCKED (run 8 shuttles then go home) but 7s last week was fun. Played the All Blues/Cal A side twice and San Jose once. Got to meet Blaire Goefstansan(can't remember the spelling), but yea All star 8-man previously from UCSB...guess she's an all blue now. Lets just say damn she was good. I had a pretty nice day, made a lot of turnover ball but didn't have the fitness or pace to stay in the final game. We lost the first two against ABC and barely beat out San Jose. It helped to have two wings on our 7s side..actually it was probably because our old captain/fly-half was making devishly strong lines up the center giving us the punching power we were lacking before. So I just paid for the rugby camp...hope I don't regret it. More later...

I'm back....from Istanbul

Not much rugby blogging in Turkey...but I did pick up a rugby mag in England and I gotta say the new England jerseys look awful...possibly even worse then Australia's.