And the All Blues for the win!

First off, duh, I have to say that the All Blues won the National Women's Club Rugby Championship. So hat's off to them! They beat NY 25-17 in what is reported to be a rather awesome match. I don't have the roster for who was in the match but a lot of it seems similar to the squad I got to see in action.

UC Santa Cruz was down at Scrum by the Sea, lovingly put on every year by UC San Diego. We thought we were going to field two sides but for some reason or other we didn't get two teams in. Which ended up being chill and we just made full subs at the half. Which is awesome that we're starting to build up a squad that's big enough to do that. Played our first match of the year against Univ of Arizona was a bit of a struggle. Our rookies were still getting used to the idea of a flat defense and not playing sandlot soccer. It didn't help that they had a pretty brutal 8 + 10 who refused to go down in the tackle and had stripping arms that would make a D1 flanker jealous. Yup so our ability to set up rucks really suffered as a result (cause our rookies thought rugby was supposed to be played at this constant, pop the ball out of contact pace. The second match was a lot smoother, it helped that it was against UCLA's B side so the fundamentals were there, rucks were cleaner and even existed. Oh, forgot, we won both games by a couple of tries which says a lot about our attacking potential. We had almost no possession and territory in the first match and still managed to pull off the win. We scored off of probably the two times we had the ball. The second match against UCLA B had three tries, including a sweet little chip over the top by our fly which she recovered, was tackled, placed, and then was picked up and carried over by our 8.

Right so that was the end of day 1.

Day 2: A good match against Davis B (who was fielding more of a split side) at this point we had some significant improvements in our phases and defensive organization. We still had the odd flanker hanging out with the fullback...^^; oh and I scored a pretty cool try off a tap and go about 30 m out, ehheh which was good fun 'cause I tried out the whole juking thing in order to shift the point of contact and it worked pretty damn well (thank you Berkeley). We won that one pretty handily and it was just a nice clean match with a number of buddies on the other team, like UCD's 10 Jen and our 8s twin.





Davis' 8 on the left and our 8 on the right. Did I mention they both wear scrum caps?

What else...then we played a rather scrappy match against Humboldt. It was sloppy on both sides but unfortunately a certain player on their team felt it necessary to bring violence and dirty play into the mix. Unfortunately a yellow card didn't seemed to deter her...anyhoo their scrum-half was quite nice. We beat them handily but they scored the first try against us in the tournament.

Last game of the day was against old friends and league rivals Cal State Sacramento. With a number of grizzled vets they pretty much ran riot over us. They had been slaughtering teams all tournament and I think we held them to about five or so against us. It wasn't pretty but at least it was pretty fun all around. Their lineout wasn't as effective as normal but it's 'cause they were training in a new hook. But their backline was pretty lethal with no one on are team willing or able to tackle them.

So four wins one loss...not bad. I propped for the tournament, which was a pretty new experience for me. I really need to learn how to lift because I was getting frustrated being so useless during lineouts (I wasn't particularly helpful at fire). I'm pretty happy with the prop pair (excluding me) that we have, our locks got some work in, we have some really nifty rookie flankers. We have a lot of aggressive speed in our backs and for the most part their handling isn't too bad and they aren't shy of putting pressure and tackling. Our lineouts definitely need work, it's a big adjustment with completely new pods and new hookers. (the ball's going in wonky to pods that are only getting halfway up). Our scrum is improving, everyone has a better grasp of what is necessary to hold a scrum up...now we just have to rebuild it so they're working together and really popping the other side (we were kind of sitting ducks at the tournament, and never got clean ball because of it). Not too many injuries, a bruised rib, dislocated knee, broken shoulder, and a neck injury scare. I swear it just isn't scrum by the sea if an ambulence doesn't drive on the field at least 4 times a day.

Networking-wise it was pretty cool to see the old farts on the teams for probably the last time. Rabbit from U of A, props from pretty much every team...ahhh nostalgia. Speaking of which it was pretty funny I got to talk to Oxy and apparently they've been wearing the same set of jerseys for the last 5+ years...and there's not a single rip on 'em. I don't know how that works but either way I'm jealous. Well I got confirmation from the woman herself...Laura Cabrera is retired (she was down there helping coaching UC Berkeley) I was surprised to see that she wasn't down in Florida at least helping out the Blues. I talked to Ellen Owens head coach of UCB about showing up to a few of her practices to just watch her coach and she was super nice about it =] Oh and total sidenote I heard this rumor from my coach that Kathy Flores is going to coach the new Univ San Francisco team that's joining our league. Heh well if that's true holy shit it's a whole new ballgame. We'll see how that develops.

Uh this following stuff is from a post that I was working on right after the Berkeley Hit like a bear clinic:

I love learning from the All Blues. I was a lot more open/less shy about asking questions this year and as a result got a lot more out of it (player specific). Mari Wallace was working with the hookers and some of the key words / phrases she talked about was being responsible for ones own balance and stability. The technique that they were training involved the hooker having only slightly offset feet with wide footing, bind on the number, it's more important to have flexed have engaged arms, hooking foot used as handbrake and lifted on the engage (core to keep body even, props not leaning over to bind either, locks are responsible (new bind) to keep front row together this will allow props to focus on engaging square. Props should rest their outside arm on their thigh/knee to maintain balance while setting up, also ruck post x y and their responsibilities. and practice new style of throw in, bend at the hips then knees, work on my core! Yea those are my scribbled notes...sorry I'm too lazy to edit them into something coherent.
----------------------
*sigh* I wrote an 8 pg paper yesterday in 3 hours I'm just a little too tired to make sense.

but long story short I love how much you can learn from them.

There's so much more to talk about but this is it. I'm tired. Run with it. More pictures, stories, gossip, and techniques to come. Next next sunday we're playing Stanford. Hopefully we'll do better then St. Mary's who lost +100-0 or something like that. Sorry for the long delay on this post. I've been busy trying to find a job, a house, and pass my classes.

A Rougher...Longer Week

Yup one guess why I haven't posted in a while. That's right. Midterms! And me procrastinating...a lot. So much so that I can't even write one lousy post to inform you that I'm being lazy and procrastinating. Eghhhhh. Anyhoo I need to get back to studyin...ah hell who am I kidding...procrastinating so I'll have to post after Tuesday. Yup. Updates on the camp, slugfest being cancelled, the rookies progress, NAWIRA 7s, the Women's Club post-season, and run-ins with ruggers around Santa Cruz. This and much much more...as soon as I can force myself to write this @(*#(*@#&(*#@(*& paper!

A Long Rough Week

I'm finally getting back into being in school...doing those great little things like reading occasionally and participating in class and occasionally thinking. Practice has been doing swell...we're down to about 25 rookies or thereabouts which is a lot easier to handle...relatively speaking. We've gotten into contact but not positional stuff...or rucks really...erm yea tomorrow should be interesting. They're fairly comfortable with contact and we worked them into the "try dot" drill (two players, one gets the ball, they both have to run around a cone and the ball carrier tries to score on the opposite starting point while the defender attempts to tackle) which is always a fun one. Intensity is improving but handling fundamentals fluctuate a lot...inconsistent passes etc. But duh they've had like six practices. The ABs are holding their annual Hit Like a Bear clinic and yea we'll see what happens at the scrimmage. What else..I'm beat and should hit the sack for tomorrow.

sidenote...I didn't realize the National Women's Club Championship was so close..well hopefully they provide dvds of the matches like last time.

Delayed Match Report on the All Blues vs Minnesota Valkyries

Partially because I had an irritable night afterwards...ach well I'm letting myself get annoyed lately. Focus on school...rugby is secondary (heh...like I could ever pull that one off).

So the official match scores are up on Hail Pelicus apparently the ABs beat the Mudhens a while back 102-0. Last Saturday the All Blues took out the Valkyries 53-14 in a bruising match. There weren't a whole lot of injuries but you could definitely hear the hits from the sideline. Berkeley had the Valks pretty contained for the first half but as substitutions rolled in for both sides after the half Berkeley's defensive organization definitely suffered. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure Christy Riggenberg scored both tries for the Valkyries.

Berkeley was fielding some familiar stars but not all of them. I'm getting a wee bit better at picking out the squad, Chou was at 1 and Biscuit was tighthead...couldn't tell who was at hooker but she looked familiar..might have been a Cal or Davis alum. It was odd seeing Tina at lock, and one of their flankers used to play for the London Wasps, Street at flank, Blair was 8, Jossy was at 9 and Steph Bruce was at fly. Ruth Bryson was at inside and I think Meagan Verdeyen was at outside. Natalie Marchino at 14 and Ashley English at 15. The roster definitely switched around a lot but yea this is how it was at least for a bit in the first half. The All Blues weren't having their typical rampant backline runs despite seeming to have a speed advantage. Props has to be given to the Valkyrie defense and their scrum for preventing Berkeley from using it as a good platform for attack (which is starting to look like a bit of a pattern). Jossy had a great match at 9, and scored a try off a defensive scrum when she used a perfectly timed hit to jar her opposing scrumhalf's pass, chased down the ball, and touched it down for a try. Berkeley did a good job stripping the valkyrie ballcarriers in the first half leading to a good number of turnovers. Berkeley's outside center also had a tendency of making a few fifty-fifty passes and the ABs pop passes were a little rough in general. Stephanie Bruce made a few great runs and seemed to boss the backline pretty well. Her inside center had made a few rugby league-esque tackles that weren't called. On the Valkyries side they were pretty good at maintaining possession for a good couple of phases when they had the ball but their runs weren't really breaking the gainline and often ended up with a speculative kick and a turnover of possession to the ABs who were all too happy to switch gears and attack. Berkeley wasn't able to counter-ruck as much as they normally do.

On the sidelines there was a good amount of spectators including a number of AB alum which was a cool show of support. I got to talk a bit with Ellen Owens (UC Berkeley's head coach, ex Grizzly U-23 coach) about the somewhat difficult task of pinning down the effects of the new ELVs. Lois Bukowski was also in the stands as well and one of our own alumni whose name is escaping me... who just moved back to the bay and apparently is looking to rejoin the blues. Sidenote I had no idea Laura Cabrera used to be a fly-half! Yea I know I'm just a kid so I'm not privy to all this info that's a duh statement to everyone else. Jen Crouse was also in civvies on the sidelines and Cabrera was patrolling the sidelines with coaching clip in hand. HP from Stanford was there and so was ORSU for part of the match and San Juanita Moreno (3 full caps at outside center u-23 eagle and grizzly and Western Oregon Alumni). Right so overall a good day to be a rugby spectator =]

The ABs played their last league game on Sunday against the Fog beating them 55-5. One of my D2 buddies Georgi Ellis (alumni prop from Cal State Sacramento NCRFU #2) started for the ABs on Sunday which is pretty tight. Long story short uh All Blues won the PCRFU (duh) ORSU takes 2nd seed and the Mudhens take third.

Other matches: ORSU beat the Valkyries 46-15...dunno how competitive/serious the match was. ORSU also beat the fog 45-12. Yea Treasure Island saw a helluva lot of rugby last weekend.

Anyways...shit that was a lot to talk about. Erm...what else...this weekend the Davis Double Deckers are hosting a round robin at Davis with Chico State, Sac State, and the Sacramento Amazons. The Berkeley All Blues are hosting their annual 'hit like a bear clinic' at treasure island on Oct 18th 9-4 and hell yes we'll be there for $25 bucks in advance it's a steal (but they haven't posted a site so we can't sign up yet). We'll be hosting our own tournament on Nov 1st. Scrum by the Sea the weekend after that...our match secretary is giving us our schedule tomorrow at practice so we'll see.

Ugh that leads me to shit...so I kinda screwed up and overstepped my self imposed boundaries on my involvement with the team this quarter. I'm only here for a quarter and I'm attempting to stay as far away as possible from any sort of decision making or advisory role when it comes to vet stuff. I'm here to coach rookies and keep my skills sharp "." I've done a fairly good job shutting up but this shit is hard! It's their team now, they can do whatever they like....argh fuckit I'm not going to discuss it. It just sucks being a politics major where you're TRAINED to identify and question the origins of policy making. But this turns me to a happier subject.

So tomorrow will be practice #4 and we're still getting around 40 rookies out to practice...maybe it's down to 35 but still that's a shitload. And the pace is still going well...we introduced light contact with pads yesterday. Needless to say I'm stoked. Our lines are looking serviceable, everyone is picking stuff up fairly quickly and integrating well with the rest of the team. There are some exciting ass kids in this bunch and fun folk as well. Had a film night team dinner on Tuesday and played the most ridiculous name ice-breaker ever (mwahahahaaaa I know 9/10 of the rookies names). Ohh! The new coach from ORSU. Apparently she played her college games for Reed, played for ORSU, then moved to Connecticut and coached a bit there (her names Myca? Mica?). Seems nice, loud, clear. Yup. Danni my old prop showed up yesterday and was helping instruct as well. So four forwards coaches...erm so I might slip into more of a player mode which is fine with me.

What else...Women Eagles posted a cool new set of videos interviewing different national team players on "what it means to be an Eagle"

with Jamie Burke:


Ashley English:


and Emily:



Er lastly there's been a lot of chit chat about the format of PCRFU playoffs because Utah is finally gonna be involved this year (or so they say). Initially the PNRFU were going to get two seeds and NCRFU #2 was going to get bumped out so Utah would have a spot. Now it looks like there is going to be a challenge match between PNRFU #2 and NCRFU #2 hosted by PNRFU over the spot which seems to be fair especially because NCRFU still holds the top PCRFU seed spot (and national ranking). But yea when it comes to UCSC's post-season stuff it's really up to these young guns. So as it stands...

PCRFU Playoffs

Host: NCRFU (natural rotation - NC '09, U '10, PN '11)
Dates: April 3/4, 2009 (Fri/Sat)
Venue: TBD
Point of Contact: TBD
PC MC: TBD
------------
If PN2:
Match A: NC1 v PN2
Match B: U1 v PN1
----------
If NC2:
Match A: NC1 v U1
Match B: NC2 v PN1

++++++++++++++++++++++++
Match C: Loser A v Loser B
Match D: Winner A v Winner B
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Winner D = PC 1
Loser D = PC 2
Winner C = PC 3
Loser C = PC 4

Lastly I've been checking out my options for moving to the Bay. North/West Oakland or Emeryville looks to be my best bet balancing the price/security issue. I'd be jumping into some deep waters for a kid used to the beachy (heh in more ways then one) parts of LA but I think I'd have enough of a support network. BLeh my paycheck was waaaaaaay smaller then I had hoped (they took out damn near 500 bucks in taxes) but I ought to have enough (if I don't have to fix my damn car...at this point maybe I could convince someone to just steal it...). Right...well I'd join the Blues...duh. I heard some rumor from Ellen that Vallejo is trying to start a women's team but it's late and this has taken the better part of an hour so I'll look it up later.

Two Practices Down, A New Coach? and a Showdown on Treasure Island

The last two practices I've been working almost exclusively with the rookies. Doing the same old shit but things are running smoother (kinda). There's still about forty-five girls coming out. We'll see what this number inevitably shrinks to. Lots of talented rookies, and for the most part a good attitude and work rate. Everyone seems to be picking up the drills fairly well. I'm still suffering the ill effects of this cold but hopefully I'll be able to kick it. I got new running shoes for everyday life and they're a vast improvement to what I was wearing before. Apparently a woman showed up after Thursday's practice asking if she could help out coaching (people are saying that she's used to coach ORSU) obviously this would be a frickin amazing boon but the details are sketchy 'cause I wasn't there and I can't get any concrete answers about the incident from anyone. I'll definitely update as the details come in. Kickoff for tomorrows game is at 12:30 and I'm totally going to be their for the All Blue vs Minnesota Valkyrie game, it's at SFGG field. Sidenote, apparently there's a collegiate round robin oct 11 in sac I don't think we were invited but I'll try and post more details about it later. Yup that's it. Short but sweet.


Some quick **edits***. We'll see how much of a match this turns out to be...I did a little research in the morning and San Diego recently beat the Valks 31-26, a close match and the Surfers are no push-over team but yea...this is going to be against the All Blues. Also while the Valkyries traditionally hold a strong spot in the national seeding they kind of squandered their #3 seed last year by losing 17-7 against ORSU (a team that the All Blues beat last weekend). The Valkyries will be having a rematch against ORSU on Sunday while the ABs will play the Fog but I won't be able to catch those match ups. Hm apparently the Valkyries played the Twin City Amazons on the same day and won 19-12 which is a better sign. Did I mention I dislike the midwest's TAU site (I couldn't find a single mention of women's senior club rugby)? Granted I wasn't super searching but it should be easier then that. Also in the lead up to this match the Valks beat Chicago North Shore in an a-side match 53-0 (Chicago having some standout eagle 7s players like Pam Kosanke and Teena Mastrangelo). I checked the Valkyries official roster and it was kind of odd 'cause their website lists Barb Fugate as their coach while their cipped roster lists Martha Daines and Jane Tierney (also listed on their website) and their site seems rather up to date so I don't know the story behind that one. They have 26 rostered players like Kris Zdanczewicz (World Cup Standout flanker and duh fully capped Eagle) Christy Ringgenberg (current captain of the world cup bound Eagle 7s squad). There are probably more on the team but I'm just a little norcal journalist (*cough* *cough* more like starstruck fan) so I don't know the ins and outs of midwest rugby. Oh it should be noted that the Surfers participated in last years Sweet 16s (by beating belmont who in turn had taken the spot from Austin) and lost in the first round as well to the Atlanta Harlequins (the only D1 team in the south). Just for sake of comparison the ABs have 45 rostered active players. Alright that's enough number running for today.

Quick Tangents and Long Meetings

1. SO several weeks ago I played a quarter of a match against the All Blues. As previously mentioned I got the snot knocked out of me in scrums resulting in a number of reset scrums. After the game a tall ridiculously fit lock gave me a chiding for all the discomfort I was causing in the Berkeley scrum (discomfort from resetting a million and a half times). I didn't recognize her but she was definitely an elite level athlete so I just tucked the incident away into memory for a later date. Long story short I think it might be Chris Trucano of the Twin City Amazons. Which would be frickin awesome...er to be uh kinda insulted by the...alright anyhoo moving on.

2. the ABs won against ORSU up in Portland, Davis Double Deckers beat Fog, and the ABs are playing a friendly against the Minnesota Valkyries which I'm totally stoked on going to see (on sat) and will play a league match against fog on Sunday. Fog will also be playing ORSU on Saturday.

3. ugh the meeting with the rookies was poorly organized and dragged on. Oh well a couple of people were stoked.

First Practice and New Coaching Roles

It's a weird experience overstaying one's visit. Last thursday was the first practice of the season (vets only) and there were 13 of us standing out there. We had a few missing but shit almighty if it wasn't weird waiting for the senior corps to roll around half an hour late. All the people who just frickin ARE rugby to me...it was bizarre. The chemistry of the group is different, more serious, less joking around. Eh I guess it had to go in that direction but it's damn weird seeing so many serious faces on the first day of practice in preseason.

We did some lines, some rucks, poaching drills, pop tackling drills and ended with a wonky fitness thinga-ma-bob [(sprint, push-ups, sprint, sit-ups,)x2 +hill sprint + run through sand + kick accurately + bear crawl back - from where the ball hit the dirt]. Uh yea. Since there were 13 people I was kinda odd man out and I talked to my coach about helping coach in fall because it's not really set if they want me to play or not. (Two of our vet props won't be playing for fall and we don't necessarily have a hooker either) but obviously it'd be advantageous to be safe and train someone for each open spot. Conversely it might be helpful to have structure + a vet in the front row. So we'll see how it plays out. Plus I tweaked my shoulder somehow so I'm resting that up.

Coaching-wise I'm trying to make an effort to give specific tips to improve technique issues rather then trying to convince players of the importance of doing or not doing an action. Basically I'm a pair of extra eyes.

I've done a bit of outside fitness lifting and such on Wednesday and then played a round of basketball. Worked on Friday and tossed thousands of boxes (weeee that burned the hell out of my arms). Didn't really work out this weekend 'cause it's the first weekend I've had free basically all summer. I'm stoked for my classes so far but I've got class right after practice so I'll have to leave early. Dammit oh well. We've got some sort of meeting today with the rookies...dunno what the fucks gonna be said...in fact I don't think anyone does. It's rather frustrating but you gotta give the kids the leash and let 'em run with it. *sigh* Occasionally I don't think they've heard the phrase "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Yea we only got 3rd last year but we've won league the last five, and pac coast the last three years, and had been doing a fairly good job retaining rookies considering the size limits of our club structure. At least learn and consider the previous system before you start tearing it down. *double sigh* One more quarter....

ps fog just posted this with clips of their game against the Davis Double Deckers WRFC

Rugby Recruiting, Stereotypes, Team Structure, and Dues

First off I've been doing a lot better staying off my computer and keeping active. Yesterday was my last day of work so I made it a race to see how many fix-it tickets I could finish in my half day (14). They were ALL third floor problems *grumble* I hate college 8 kids *in a whiny tone* "ummm so like I bought this shelf can you help me assemble it? " NO! "Ummmmm likeeee sooooo we want a second fridge" ok....go out and buy one! Arghh it's only been three days and they've already screwed the paint job we worked on all summer long. I could complain forever. It's over. Done. Alright new topic...

I only worked a half day yesterday since it was our schools fall festival (where clubs compete with sororities + frats to save their souls jk jk) uh but yea it was personally disheartening to see what my school is transforming into. Ugh where are the hippies!? This is UC Santa Cruz! Where are my smelly vegan hippies at?! Where are my die-hard extreme eco-terrorist political activists?! Where are my spiritually centered sustainable I compost my own crap farming folks? Where are the people who can walk out the door without an hour and a half MINIMUM of makeup + hair??? Where are my sensitive uber-otaku nerds at?! Ykno I don't actually mind the sororities we currently have, they're actually pretty cool and empathetic and it was a little sad that they were falling in with us in agreeing that Santa Cruz is making a turn for the worst. I'm allowed to be a little bitter, I caught a lot of stick today. It sucks promoting a sport where there is no body type and gah @(*#)&@*# it just pissed me off. Yea they're freshmen but c'mon...wake up...you're going to college...being an ignorent asshole just doesn't cut it to be cool. Just some fun sample quotes. "OH Noooooo rugby is too intense *giggle*"...and as they're walking away "sHe'd snap me in half...*heehee* He'd snap me in half" Or how every third guy would be like "women's rugby no thanks *hahaha*" and a couple of guys would say "well if you count as a woman I guess I could play women's rugby". Yea...normally it slides off the back but 4 1/2 hours of that..yea it sucked.

Got a number of enthusiastic rookies but we'll once again see how it'll turn out. Man I wish I could stay another year. But I'll get over it...I'm sure. It sounds exciting this year with more teams in our league. Pre-season should be fun though, we've got a number of good D1 matches lined up (Stanford and Davis for sure) plus scrum by the sea. We had a scrambled meeting that was basically a re-iteration of a meeting that I wasn't invited to. I'm skeptical but uninvolved in the new power-structure. Before last year we never voted for captains. They just stepped up. I'm a politics major...I'm not really down for democracy in all situations. Anyhoo just curious what other collegiate clubs do. (and I'm really doubtful of voting for a captain, field captain especially before practice has even started). MEh. They're club not mine.

I paid dues, 30 bucks for a collegiate player and 20 for Pac Coast Territorial Union. I can't recall what our club dues are but I'm sure I'll be reminded of it sooner rather then later. I want to do a survey/some research to see what kind of dues that the different levels of rugby charge. Breaking down women's senior club to the proposed super league, d1 regionally, and dii. Yea it'll take some footwork and I got distracted looking at the New York Roster...I'm such a sucker for a well maintained web-site.

Important side-note! Alex Williams (Berkeley All Blues Head Coach)is running another one of her collegiate/high school developmental camps early in January. You should read up on Alex William's Rugby Camp and email her on the contacts page to tell her you're interested. I went to this last summer and it was awesome! Meeting players from all over (as well as a number of u-23 eagles preparing for their tour to NZ) and learning from some of the best coaches and players in the nation! Yea just go alright!

Fitness-wise I was pretty drained after opers but I still went through my handling practice. Twenty-five static passes a side (still working on turning my damn shoulders towards the target and passing across the chest). Also worked on 5 dummy and then a back flick pass. 5 Dummy and then that weird 7s pass around + behind your head. Lastly I did fifteen dummy and pass.

Today I'm lifting light weights (gotta work on my hamstring and surrounding muscle) and then a pool workout. And painting our new janky home-made scrum machine...we'll see how it works out. Our old backs coach designed it...ehhhhh....yes...optimism.

Fitness

will no longer be my enemy. I can do a lot of cool things when I'm fit. I want to be fit so I can have more fun playing rugby. So I'm going to *gasp* spend less time on my computer. I don't want to be the most out of shape player on the team. I want to be able to lead by example. Yep. Heh we'll see how this works out. Well I'm off to get my heart rate up. Tomorrow is my last day of work. OPERS the annual recruit rookie-a-thon is tomorrow. It's lead by the next gen of kids...we'll see what comes out of that. Alright I'm stalling but I want to survey the teams of goffs proposed women's super league and see what their rookie and member dues are. A project for another night.

**Radio Edit** I practiced fifty static passes (splitting them half with my r and l)with my new favorite passing partner (ie the random broken anchored hanging umbrella in my backyard) while chasing and picking the dribbled ball that results from a successful pass (also working on the novel idea of passing across the chest, looking before I pass, turning my shoulders and keeping my hips square ahead, and making sure my follow through is pointing at the target). Got warmed up a bit with a few dynamic stretches then headed off on a twenty minute bike-a-thon changing pace and direction around west side SC. I made two stops to do some circuit training in well lit areas. The first one was just 10 push ups and the second stop was shoulder pressing a rugby ball size hunk of concrete, 2x10 for each arm and 2x10 bicep curls with it. Yea...I did just spend more time describing the exercise then doing the exercise...damnit! *sigh* Whatever it was good to get my heart rate up for thirty minutes. (not that I don't get a workout dragging ladders and furniture (+tools) around an entire college 10 hours a day =p

Berkeley All Blues vs Emerald City Mudhens

aka starstruck day 2. Well I managed to be less starstruck then the last time I saw an All Blues match and as a result I remembered a bit more about the rugby this time around....granted it helped not getting rocked on the pitch. It was another who's who-fest on the sidelines with Jen Crawford (who has been to 3 world cups and and eagle captain aka Berkeley's super-experienced backs coach with 23 caps), Laura Cabrera (hella experienced eagle), Lisa Butts (current Davis captain? and eagle and world cup reserve hooker/flanker) and more I'm sure.



Wow...even in a team of Berkeley's caliber Blair makes and impact. The way that she targets the binds of players, ducks under tackles, with her pace, power, and work rate she was really part of the lube that kept the ABs ticking over with tries. With Blair in first pod and Street in 2nd the ABs had a powerful attacking platform off of lineouts. Emerald city seemed to hold their own on their own scrums keeping the ABs from using it to its full potential (in the second half the mudhens occasionally got a drive on berkeley but not in time to affect the unleashing of the all blue backs). Ashley English was on the pitch at fullback linking up with Natalie Marchino (for some reason the usa rugby stat site has her under Nathalie...?) at wing for some spectacular tries. The All Blues were doing a great job hitting everything at pace and playing multi-phase rugby. The kicks by both teams were well placed and props has to be given to the Mudhens pack and fullback (who I'll figure out her name eventually) for their tenacity. Near the middle of the second half the mudhens had the ABs pinned in their own twenty-two for a good amount of time, putting them under pressure as their forwards doggedly kept driving the ball to within inches of the tryline. Unfortunately due to an eventual mistake and infringement by the mudhens (can't remember if it was for coming in from the side or diving over the ruck) but the ABs were able to clear the line and the mudhens didn't really get another good scoring opportunity after that.

Injury-wise Stephanie Bruce or Ruth Bryson had to go on for the other but I really have a hard time telling them apart so I can't tell you what was going on with that. One of them made an amazing 60 yard breakaway but was tackled from behind just as she made the tryline and was injured in the process. Chou had to go out when she took a knee to the eye socket at which point Mari Wallace moved to prop and that east coast hooker that I played against at pumpkinfest (Audrie? Something like that) came in at 2. The ELVs didn't really come into play as far as I can see (it's hard to judge whether the added space behind the set piece is really affecting anything) but there was one quick lineout that was done in a spectacular fashion. For the whole game she had been sprinting into the fans to retrieve kicked balls and I thought she was just trying to keep the game moving. Well next thing you know the mudhens take a floating high ball into touch from their half and Marchino is a blur into the crowd taking the ball mid-flight (and nearly taking out a spectator who was stepping forward to catch the ball) and throwing it in rather flat to Ashley English who preceded to open up the unprepared mudhen defense (it was a hair backwards and not where the ball went into touch but behind it...which is why I brought up the ELVs). Apparently the rule only counts if a spectator hasn't touched the ball yet hence her full body dive to prevent the spectator from touching the ball...this kinda sounds like a grey area law but I'll email a ref and post an update if I'm wrong. Oh and street was awesome off of scrums and harrying the opposing scrum-half...the first scrum of the game she wrapped the 9 so fast she was unable to even pass the ball to her backs.

Final Score ABs won a lot to 0. The game was played in two halves and I'll post the official pelican refs score later. The match took place on the goose-poop pitch on Treasure Island.

Oh and I talked to Lisa Butts (2 full caps) after the game to get a bit of a scoop on the new Davis team. Apparently they played an extra third against Berkeley because Sacramento (amazons I assume) canceled a match against the ABs last Sunday. The team was mostly made up of chico + davis alum with some chico state players filling up the ranks. They have a number of u-23 players (grizzlies I think) and they actually held berkeley to 38-0 during the first game and only conceded the rest of the points in the extra third. Berkeley didn't even score a try until the 23rd minute of the match (which after seeing Berkeley in action the last couple of weeks is a pretty mean feat on it's own). Once again a really strong start for a teams first match against last year's national champions (Lisa Butts of course used to play for the Berkeley All Blues and helped them on that road to victory).

Well next week in Norcal Rugby...the ABs are flying up to Portland for a match against ORSU (I assume) and the Davis Double Deckers are playing Fog somewhere in San Francisco! Specific...I know! Hehe anyhoo hopefully I'll be there and I can get a better hold of this new tough team in Norcal women's club rugby.

ps total sidenotes...didn't know that Street (Allyson Hemstreet)and Natalie Marchino are the captains of the All Blues. And rookie dues for the All Blues run $75 bucks and returning vets are ~100+ bucks. Yup.

Getting Schooled and Cleaning up my room

ALL BLUES 59 – Belmont Shore 7 Referee: Preston Gordon
Assistant Referee: Eric Rauscher

Because SFGG's main pitch is being re-seeded, this took place at the Job Corps field a little further up the island. We kicked off just after 12:30 for 4 20-minute periods with open subs, as requested by the coaches. The opening quarter of the game was fairly even, with both sides working off a little summertime rust. The All Blues did a little better with support play and passing, and ended up with 4 converted tries by halftime. Belmont Shore did well but couldn't quite match their opponents.

The second half was about the same, and the All Blues scored 5 tries, 3 of which were converted. Belmont Shore put one across the line towards the end of the match through some good recycling, and converted it, leaving the scoreline at 59-7 to the All Blues. I think that flatters the winners a bit though - this match wasn't really that lopsided.

This was the first match under the ELVs for everyone on the pitch, myself included. I thought everything went pretty well - the 5 extra meters of space at scrum time seems to create more attacking opportunities. I don't recall many of the others having an impact either way.

Thanks to Eric Rauscher, who showed up to touch judge, or rather, be an assistant referee. He and I stuck around to assist Don with the first half of the SFGG-Greggs match that happened right afterwards. That was a great game (36-32 at the half) and I would have stuck around for the rest of it had I not had family waiting for me. Next week's match should be a cracker!

-pelicanrefs.blogspot.com

yup...I know it's a slow repost...I've been working 60+ hrs a week and yea it's got me all muddled. The game against the All Blues was awesome...I was only in for a quarter but it was so cool playing against the who's who list of world cup players, eagles, and u-23 eagles. Ehehee I know I have issues with being star-struck but it was cool playing against Tina Nesburg, Mari Wallace, Jossy, Street, Chou, Blaire's sister, Vix, and those were the ones I noticed while I was being pummeled to a pulp (hmm seems I know my famous forwards a wee bit better then my backs). Belmont did damn well (before Lenny and I were subbed in) to hold off Berkeley. I was pretty surprised by the number of knock-ons and penalties that the ABs committed and some major credit has to be given to the Landshark defensive pressure which was the cause of a number of these mistakes. A good pre-season friendly for both teams for sure. I gotta say it was an awesome experience being surrounded by so many veteran players and against such a skilled side. Regina Sheck added additional structure and leadership to an already solid and experienced Belmont pack and I can't believe how effortless they made scrumming against the all blues look. Regina played 8 and was our primary kicker in the match and there is more info about her here (Heh and now I can say that I've played with a world cup champion against half the eagle roster).

Long story short I got schooled for the twenty minutes or less that I was on the pitch...for the first couple minutes I was fine, had a few straightforward carries, made a few yards, rucked a bit and that was fine. But lord once we packed down I was toast. I played loosehead and I haven't propped in a full scrum since oooo last fall...and I only do it during rookie tournaments...ehehe. So I held my own for the first two scrums until they realized that I didn't know shit and just started dropping, pulling, barging, holding, and popping me at will. Then I died. Only time in my whole life that I've been chastised by a ref for sucking so much in the scrum. And I quote "If you can't take the hit maybe you shouldn't be out here". Yup. Ouch. I was keeping my side off the ground but I was basically limbo-ing and my spine was doing a stretch-armstrong. I'm in total awe of my opposite number and any prop that can keep the scrum steady while she's doing the things she does (cheers to Brooke and Amber). Wish I knew her name but she wasn't particularly friendly during the match or after...eh...it's kinda a Berkeley thing (which isn't meant in a harsh way but Berkeley tends to be serious + elite and deservedly so).

After the match was pretty fun, got to hang out a bit with the Reddick sisters, Alex from Fog, Georgi Ellis from CSU Sacramento. It was cool 'cause Alex Williams stopped by and said hi (I went to her summer camp last year) and everyone basically assumed that I was playing for Belmont now which is a hard thing to correct when you mumble a lot like I do. Kathy Flores was there as well and it was also super cool to see Miller again (Belmont's forwards coach) heh she's so badass! Heh Kasey, Kate, Shannon, Fuj, Grace...yea I miss Belmont even if I was ridiculously dorky and awkward when I played for them (not that I'm much improved now).

Anyhoo enough sentimentality. Apparently I completely missed that our women's club LAU dissolved and now there's just a pac coast competition. Wonder if they'll still be a TAU playoff...I feel that step always helps prepare our collegiate team to gear up for post-season play and prep us for Elite 8s (I'm only bringing it up because I imagine it serves the same purpose for Women's senior side teams). As goff and a number of other blogs have mentioned that there are two more teams that are trying to settle into the scene and they are Budd Bay out of Olympia, WA and the Davis Double Deckers (which I think I mentioned earlier seems to be a mix of UC Davis alum, chico players, and sac alum...but I'll try and post a roster later in the week). Anyyhoo both teams played a match against a strong side and did fairly well for a brand new club. I can't recall the budd bay match but I'll look it up later. Davis played the All Blues and held it 61-0. Oh and there seems to be a lot of questions about club rugby in norcal and I thought that I'd mention that the Sacramento Amazons seem to have been having issues with dues/admin stuff with Pelican Refs and thus have been in 'poor standing' so that might be why things are going through a bit of a shift.

BLeh...lots of rugby so little time. Apparently rugby magazine is going to be distributed in Barnes & Noble stores around the country as well as college campuses...which is neat and while I don't super like the magazine it's kinda one of those things ya just gotta buy cause it has rugby on it (and actually is about the sport and not about stupid fuck fashion...thank you Ralph Lauren....you didn't invent rugby...*sigh*) I'm going to the Berkeley vs Seattle game tomorrow...no I don't actually know which seattle side it is...but we'll see. Maybe I'll get the guts to do and interview. Meh...probably not seeing that I'm so poorly prepared. Then again if the Berkeley All Blues ever updated their website...............


**UPDATE** womeneagles.com updated their website and expanded their 7s roster. Did you know that there was a women eagles youtube channel? Nope...I didn't either (well kinda but then I forgot about it) Alright that's it goodnight.

Bruised Black and Blue + Controversy

aka I survived being homeless for a month, subletting in a house of angry vegan serial killer locals, scraped through five weeks of mind numbing summer school, and still managed to protect my few remaining brain cells from the paint fumes that I'm gassed with every day at work. I've lost 14 odd lbs from biking my ass off everyday, managed to find a reasonable place to live in the fifth gnarliest housing market in the US (people are paying 800 for a 10x10 room...1000+ deposits...you can rent a living room for 550 a month plus 800 deposit I'm not shitting you), had to tow my car three times, and finally got enrolled in my senior seminar so I can graduate after fall quarter (FINALLY). Yea...I might just have scraped by another summer, holding on by my teeth and bloody half-torn off fingernails. Ah well, I'm two months from done. Then I have to deal with the real world. Ugh.

So, as much as I like CA it's too damn expensive for me. I've got an old teammate in portland telling me stories about how she's working 20 hrs a week for 10 bucks an hour, getting full benefits, paying 200 a month for rent and living fat as a cat! Now I love avocados, CA coastal weather, and the kickin' culture but frankly I can't stand this shit. I'm thinking about moving to Washington....I could play for the Mudhens/and or seattle or something and it'd be cheaper and coastal and my bff/inside center may be moving up there as well.

Right....so what does this have to do with controversy? Heh...Goff of course! It was an interesting piece. I mean as a pretty longtime reader he hasn't said anything particularly new...it's a mish-mash of his previous editorials whisked together and displayed like tasty carrion to encourage some bloodletting.

Now I'm not going to address it all....hardly...I just want to mention a point, a small personal opinion. Elite level isn't a cure-all for endearing the sport to the whole of the US. It's a significant chunk..yea...but we're going to have to come out with a mix. Developing an exclusive elite cadre of teams doesn't exactly encourage participation and support. I don't see why creating one has to cut the other out or in simpler terms why they have to be mutually exclusive. I can see why the goals might be separated but I don't see why everyone is witch-hunting women's collegiate (d2 *cough* *cough*) rugby culture. It's fun, and relaxed environment to learn the game. If someone is particularly motivated to become involved at the elite level there are age grade all-star teams to play on to get funneled into the serious athlete pool. Yea the collegiate level coaching is frustrating (and probably worse then the high school level at times) but it does spread the word and I'm kinda sick of it being reviled by every commentator and journalist alike (The Albuquerque papers at nationals and blogs like gainline.us is chock full of mud, slung by certain insecure men at women's teams for even existing much less occasionally using a few cuss words around the pitch) . When D2 men's teams act up they're pretty much ignored... why can't those concerned with the women's game be equally courteous?

Yea 98% of college players have to be completely retaught in order to play at club level, but at least the interest has already been peaked, the hurdle of introducing them to contact has already been broached, and their bound to know more of the rules then the average rookie off the street. Yes clubs occasionally pick up that super-athlete from other sports who are chock full of athleticism and master the game immediately (and you don't have to deal with the cockiness of a kid who thinks they already know everything) but how often does that happen? One or two a season? Just appreciate the collegiate rugby that exists, the competition is getting fitter every year...(just look at Ship elevating the D2 game...they recently took a close loss to Penn State one of the perennial contenders in D1).

Oh sidenote on the elite club level...I really wish Berkeley/WomenEagles.com would update their site more often, especially rosters. With USA rugby being as uninformative as ever it'd be really nice to have updated rosters. It wouldn't take too long and it'd give a heckuva lot more recognition for our women's Eagle heroes. Sidenote number two I really miss the blogs that the Eagle teams used to do when they went on tour and Jen Doan's photography being public and available. It brought the game so much closer then an itty bitty blurry streamed clip could ever do (I mean ideally both) but yea if someone could just screencap and torrent the games imagine how much help it would provide to the *crappy* collegiate teams to watch women's rugby done right. PS I'd totally be willing to do some web/graphic design gruntwork (don't just judge me by this site I can put effort into things if I want) into making a poster for the WNT or Regional Sides if someone would shoot me a handful of decent res photographs (+ permission to work with them). Cause hell yea I think a lot of kids would pick up an Eagle poster (even if it was mondoboring and just a roster WITH THE NAMES OF EACH PLAYER ON THE BACK). The World Cup WNT cards were hella awesome I just wish there was more uh...sports-ish stat info on the back...basics like height weight, what tours they've been on or something....

Alright enough rambling...I'm glad to be back...and with a vengeance...stories of my ass getting kicked last weekend by none other then the Berkeley All Blues to be posted soon...hopefully with pictures.

Homeless

as of tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Busy Busy Busy

Working and looking for a place to live. Packing up my life and preparing for the road ahead (being homeless)! Yup so things are rough, I played touch last Tuesday but missed on Thursday I'm going to skip out again tomorrow. But I've got a bunch of places to check out. I'll probably make it to Palo Alto if we manage to scrounge up enough players...but I don't know how wise it'll be. My hand is STILL screwed up, and so is my cheekbone and my wrist is acting up at work. Ugh. But yea. Passed all my classes with B's aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I guess that's it. Peace

Ixnay on the first tournament

Because June 28th is Pride! Oh my, I managed to graduate and everything...four long years...heh the whole thing feels anti-climactic after rugby season has ended. Navy is up here chilling with us. I start my job tomorrow. It should be all fitness, I'm really going to push myself to keep up a good pace at work, get some muscle back on these bones, maybe eat a little better. Not much to report, NASC isn't really my thing but MARFU and Northeast have done well. *sigh* Not much rugby news besides that...here's some pictures to kill time.

This one is at Alumni...


This one is a random pic of the fog game

There's Not a Whole Lot to Say...

Ahaha I'm done with finals and it's finally summer. Sorry I've been mondo busy, NASC stuff is going down so yea....a bit of regret but there's no way I would have had the money to play in it (nor would I have made the team with my fitness level (-50). Heh oh well...not a whole lot of rugby stuff to talk about...*sigh* Wales just got it's ass whupped by South Africa which isn't surprising even considering the lack of top players on both sides. Summer 7s ought to be starting soon. I know my next match will probably be on the 28th in Palo Alto...hopefully we can go to Santa Barbara and Tritip as well, that'd be great. Anyhoo yea more updates once practice starts up again and my room looks less like a disaster area

My face hurts

...and I'm procrastinating. We tied the game against the Fog which is damn good considering we were spread pretty thin and had to get creative in our positions. We showed the same weaknesses that we payed for in New Mexico (slow to the breakdowns, susceptible to stripping + poaching, poor support). *sigh* it was a fun match. I had to switch to prop fairly early in the first half and while Lenny was jumping we had their lineout beat. Jacuzzi went out with a separated shoulder, same ol' Natalie...just a lot of side to side, they had pretty good wings and better soft hands then we're used to playing. It's a shame, hopefully we'll (heh I mean UCSC...I'm alum now) be able to play them at decent strength in pre-season, I'm sure we could give 'em a tougher match. Oh...breakdowns went to hell with both sides killing the ball or conversely interfering with the competition...which made for a messy match.

I caught a fist to the eye (non-intentional), a couple lumps to the head, more damage to my hand, and some tiger stripes... not bad for a match against a club side.

Mmm afterwards it was quite fun talking to some of the Fog women. I got to shoot the shit with ruggers from all over from Chico to Pitzer it was neat. I guess they joined up with SLO last Champagne Classic and we talked about how fun those kids are. One of 'em had played for Belmont under Herb and Kiwis and playing abroad. I talked to them about playing after college and I think I've become attached to my rash decisions (like beating berkeley once at palo alto 7s). Another one of my kind of baseless plans is to move to Berkeley once I graduate spend the rest of the year as a tackle pad for them (just to pick up some stuff) and then maybe look towards moving to Davis. Or maybe I'll like Berkeley....

Gotta say though, this was a wakeup call...I forgot how much different club rugby is compared to DII collegiate rugby...hmm

oh and I can't remember for the life of me how I know their hooker...maybe it was palo alto 7s but I don't know how she'd know my name/recognize me.

Ahhh my last KC was nice. Was pretty cranky when I first arrived but I did have a massive headache from my cheekbone/orbital...but ended up being a nice function. Got a sweet women's springbok backpack in recognition of four long years =]

Gotta say the class of 04-08 kicked ass...we never lost a league game. Nuff bragging...there's so much more to be done in my rugby career! (er...including minor stuff like writing three papers this week so I pass my classes so I can ykno...graduate soon)

Gotta Love the Message

and I love the senior vids...I'm a sentimental hooker



practice tomorrow...I'm definitely going to regret not running this weekend

mmm side note...I've been sick since three weeks before washington...uh you count the months but I'm friggin tired of it.

Best Alumni Game Ever

Yupppp I'm procrastinating again. Right...ok six hours to write a six page paper.

Wait I was talking about alumni game this weekend! Which was both interesting and informative. (this post is really late I'm sorry)

We did fairly well against a pretty all star group of alumni. We scored twice, once at kickoff as well as the start of the half but they caught up when we lent them our inside and outside center, and wing. We lost by a try....*sigh* I'm kind of getting sick of that...I had to make a few gnarly tackles on Tina (Fortuna HS' coach) and Tank (Davis' asst. coach). It was definitely my favorite alumni match...maybe it had to do with being a senior...maybe because I was hydrated and slightly prepared.

It was also informative...Davis is making a women's team (coached by UCD's coaches) and it's going to be a mix with Chico...which is pretty exciting. I'm really interested in playing for them but I still want to learn some stuff from the All Blues first. I know I'll only be a tackle bag for them but I just want to listen to their coaching and ask a lot of questions...anyhoo sorry for the super belated post.

Game against the SF Fog this weekend. Let's win it slugs!

remembering what it means to be sore

and man does it suck. I jogged to the local park on tuesday (8 blocks total =p). Hiked across campus and went to practice yesterday and running felt a lot better on turf. Biked my ass off today...but yea my quads are killing me. My hammy seems to be ok and my sprint is getting faster again but my knee still lacks flexibility. Dunno what I'm going to do about that. I'm starting to bike again at night to combat my insomnia. It's fun and freeing and makes me feel like I can fly (or make 50m in 5s ahahaaaa jk).


Oh and I got a job...I'm doing work crew this summer...so moving furniture, cleaning, painting, and then moving the furniture back. So I should get thrashed this summer...only problem is they only pay once a month =p so I may need a second job...hopefully not in cash control again. Right...and I don't have anywhere to live *sigh*. I may live out of my car.


Alumni Game this weekend..I'm not looking forward to that...last year they smashed us and all the kids refuse to take the game seriously...*sigh*. I care less about this game...I wanna beat fog...I wanna win my last college game even if this one doesn't count. I wish my tighthead was here though. Oh and we'll be getting the good pics from washington PCRFU playoffs soon (I know it took foreeeeeeeeeevver) but here are some nice ones from Nationals in Albuquerque.

Despite the warnings to the coaches that dangerous and high tackles were going to be harshly penalized....they weren't. We made our fair share but the crackdown was nowhere to be found. Wayne State in Yellow, UC Santa Cruz WRFU in black and gold

eh just a scrum pic

8 man pic after we stole the ball against the head

Kelsey Setliff a natural born wing at outside center...

Kelly McMahon with the ball and Lynne Freeman in support (Lynne-O being my roommate for four years...)

Making a go for the outside corner Kelly McMahon and Mashawna Miller in support (two lethal runners man they'd be good with some training)

But really to no avail...this was pretty typical of the game. Backs would try and make a run...get smashed (crushed, demolished, decimated etc)..and the forwards would be exhausted trailing a million miles behind

Typical Ship Quality #2: They could strip the ball out of contact/in rucks like kids grabbing candy (gotta say they were better rippers then any of the D1 teams we played in pre-season) the only ball we won was from set piece and that doesn't go very far when you can't retain the ball for more then a few phases


yup so maybe I'll post more later but that's just a few snapshots from the field...hats off to ship...they were one beastly fit and ferocious team

Quickies

So yea Stanford and Ship are the DI and DII national champs! Congrats! I have a midterm today and I'm totally procrastinating! What else...I need to write a resume this weekend, get a job, figure out whose couch I'm crashing on...ahhhh. This summer is interesting...I could be crashing in Fresno if I can find an online course over summer or working and living on campus.

Alumni game coming up...we're going to have our asses kicked...I wanna play with the aluni...and near the end of the month we have a game against Fog (exhibition/scrimmage).

One of our lovely rookies has pictures that I'm going to post up here so check back soon. My coach kinda has me convinced to go with Berkeley though...

back to studying!

D1 Championship Rugby Updates

Same old same old up at Steuber Stadium, Stanford beat Navy 40-20 (in a pretty close match till the last quarter of the game) and Penn beat Brown. So it's the same match-up for what....like the fourth year? I don't know if it was my frosh year but definitely for the last three years. Call and BYU won as well..kinda boring stuff actually.

Well that's cool...they're revising the All American Selection Process

So here is a mish mash of information garnered from a rugby nobody.

There's a new selection process with new people ranking it, Keenya Warner (who I totally gushed over at team registration in new mexico...but forgot that she was a center not a wing...btw I'm really glad I got the trading cards for the women's world cup team because I've met seven of them and was able to recognize the opportunity thanks to the cards) (I really ought to start getting them signed), Chris Ryan (USA 7s attack coach), and Sue Whitwell (forwards coach for the USA Developmental Team). They're going to pick two teams for DI and one team for DII. They're looking positionally. Yea....secret hope. But as my astute teammate pointed out...maybe if I'd have a chance if I was as fit/played as well as I had my soph or even junior year. Yea...thx teammate.

I'm still pinwheeling and horribly behind school-wise...just trying to recover and catch my breath during midterms. I'm going to be missing the championship games at Stanford 'cause my old fly-half is getting married. Or at least I don't think I'm going.

I still don't know which team I'm going to play for post-college...mostly because I have no idea where I'm going to be.

That also goes for summer...actually I have no clue where I'm living over summer or fall. I haven't actually decided whether I'm staying for summer...yeaaaaaaa about that. It's like losing the engage and getting driven back...I need to take the time and readjust my positioning...get my studs firmly back in the ground. Deal with school in the short term and make sure I pass my classes this quarter. Get back in study mode.

Rugby career wise I want to 1)get in shape (for the first time ever) 2)learn club level rugby (which means good coaching)...which leaves me with one option if I stay in NorCal.

oh some videos, gotta say I love both sides of women's rugby

Stanford...


GO Bre and Navy!

SLO...(not really 100% work safe)

The End of my College Rugby Career

Weird. I know that I should compose something...reflect, synthesize and summarize my four year run as a DII collegiate women's rugby player. But I can't...it's over. Yea there's a few more functions but all of these experiences are now part of the past. My family, my teammates, my homeland will now be a part of my past, an imagined non-corporeal space to be invoked but never returned to. I am now in exile.

Ok so back to the facts. I'm not all that upset that we lost, frankly we made it farther then I expected...I'm glad we won league...that was the only symmetry that I was seeking. It was nice to make it as far as 3rd or 4th in the nation. We won our first game 60-0 against Wayne State from Nebraska, the elevation was so bad that I forgot our lineout calls...we dominated possession anyways. I scored two tries. We scored all but one of our tries in the first half, we subbed at the half and "experimented" on running side to side (don't ask). Our second game against Shippensburg was obviously the kicker and we lost 12-7. They scored two in the first half and we just couldn't respond. It took a good twenty minutes to catch onto their scrum and then we started stealing all their put-ins (that's just how I roll). Unfortunately we couldn't do anything with our possession (but run sideways). They were PHYSICAL at the breakdown and could poach like pro cooks. We rallied in the first half and I scored our only try (just a penalty tap + a dive). Unfortunately the time just ran out on us. An easy way to put it is our strong people were to slow and our fast people were too weak for this match. Tons of injuries, our lock continued with a broken collarbone (lifting too...*wince*) and our inside fractured her elbow (and kept playing). The decision making on and off the field were pretty poor but meh. It's all over. I walked in my last game. I get to live with that for the rest of my life. Sucks. The knee on my striking leg is swollen to the size of a softball but it's just superficial, no ligament damage. My right wrist has limited mobility and my hammy nagged me even in the heat. My temple is throbbing where a knee clipped it. But I walked away from the game much to easily.

At least I played in my final game, at least I scored (more then anyone else on the team), at least I was making my tackles, and was stealing ball in scrums. It sucks that the team has turned into something where one can't get a "good job" unless you win. But that's why potential sucks.

Three cheers for the seniors.
Natalie Jacuzzi (the craziest funniest mofo I've ever met #15)
Michelle Sit (rabid sensitive chinchilla #6, #7, #8)
Cat Antonio (all heart loyal #7)
Lauren Lopez (my homo a gogo housemate prop lock and drop it)
Lynne Freeman (my dad, my best friend, two years and we're legally married #12)
Kerrie Kubo (me, woo #2)

I'm excited though, new chapter blah blah blah. Time to be a rookie again, build my way to the bench, maybe even start. I haven't decided which club I'll play for...Davis might start a team or we may rehab the amazons...or Fog...or maybe even Berkeley (but I doubt it). I do want to move to the bay...I have no idea what I'm going to do career-wise or ykno in life. But I'm pretty determined that this won't be the last time I'm at a USAR Championship. =] oh and a number of us are playing 7s in Palo Alto again. And we have goal....we're going to beat the Berkeley All Blues!!!! Fuck yea! Somehow! Mwahahaahaaaaa <-----total crazy joke (their 7s team last year was Ruth, Petrie, Blair, etc etc etc)

I'll be posting all sorts of media and crap. But yea I've really enjoyed playing NorCal DII Women's Collegiate rugby. I've had so much fun with the crazy muthas in our league from Sac State to Monterey so y'all better play club rugby 'cause I wanna play with you and against you again!

ps....no clue what direction this blog is going in...but it'll still be women's rugby, give me some feedback!

Off to the National Collegiate Rugby Championships of 2008

Yup, well wish us luck. And Belmont Shore. I'll be taking copious amounts of pics and videos so stay tuned. Let's bring it back to California...I wanna play a home game one last time =]

National Guard Collegiate Rugby Nationals (or whatever mouthfull you prefer) infogasm

Goff put up his annual predictions...and for once we're on top..but once again his predictions never matter because we all play very different types of rugby (not even styles...but types) and we'll see how things work out from there (we probably only got the nod because we've been rather good the last two years). I don't know if I'll say more because he is a subscription based site. What else on goff...oh he posted some guy's estimates on the number of collegiate teams in the US...so by my counting 329 women's colleges (versus 461 men's teams that's a lot more parity then I expected). Interesting stuff.

D1 and D2 are mixed and not demarcated but let's look at local available competition (and yes I realize other teams play out of state for games)

16 Women's Colleges in Minnesota with UM-Duluth
12 for ours in Norcal
61 in New England for Norwich (I'm pretty sure the Northeast has DIII women's collegiate rugby)
8 in SoCal for Claremont
9 in North Carlolina for East Carolina (yup that's confusing)
30 in East Penn for Shippensburg
4 for Wayne State in "the great plains"?
11 in the Pacific Northwest for Western Washington

and that rounds out the 8 in order of seeding...which allows for an interesting comparison. I will also repeat that it's just weird going to 8s without Mary Washington (they've made the last three).
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More Geographic Stuff:


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Some info gleaned (ok copied) from USA rugby, I'm kinda glad our match isn't being streamed online...just because I'm superstitious. It's pretty considerate that they kept DII out of Friday matches probably because they understand the financial burdens an extra day would put on the clubs. One can also infer that there are going to be four fields of rugby. DII Women's is being sandwiched between DI women's and DI men's...and I'd be concerned about the fields getting torn up if they weren't apparently made up of dead ass dirt to begin with. Hopefully this satellite picture from google maps is outdated...





MATCH SCHEDULE
Friday, April 18
1:30: Dartmouth v BYU (DI MEN)
1:30: San Diego State v Arkansas State (DI MEN)
2:00: St. Mary’s v Air Force (DI MEN)
2:00: Bowling Green State v Kutztown (DI MEN)
2:30: Cal v Tennessee (DI MEN)
2:30: Army v Cal Poly (DI MEN)
3:00: Penn State v Minnesota (DI MEN)
3:00: Colorado v Utah (DI MEN)
4:00: Northern Iowa v Stanford (DI WOMEN)
4:00: Virginia v Colorado (DI WOMEN)
4:30: Brown v West Chester (DI WOMEN)
4:30: UCLA v UC Davis (DI WOMEN)

Saturday, April 19th

9:00: Penn State v Florida (DI WOMEN)
9:00: Chico State v Indiana (DI WOMEN)
9:00: Texas A&M v Cal (DI WOMEN)
9:00: Vassar v Navy (DI WOMEN)
10:30: Coast Guard v Loyola (DII MEN)
10:30: Michigan v Radford (DII MEN)
10:30: Middlebury v Northern Colorado (DII MEN)
10:30: Utah Valley State v East Carolina (DII MEN)
11:30: Norwich v Shippensburg (DII WOMEN)
11:30: Wayne State v UC Santa Cruz (DII WOMEN)
11:30: East Carolina v Claremont (DII WOMEN)
11:30: UNM-Duluth v WWU (DII WOMEN)
1:30: Winner of Dartmouth/ BYU v Winner of SDSU/ Arkansas State (DI MEN)
1:30: Loser of Dartmouth/ BYU v Loser of SDSU/ Arkansas State (DI MEN)
2:00: Winner of St. Mary’s/ Air Force v Winner of BGSU/ Kutztown (DI MEN)
2:00: Loser of St. Mary’s/ Air Force v Loser of BGSU/ Kutztown (DI MEN)
3:00: Loser of Cal/Tennessee v Loser of Army/ Cal Poly (DI MEN)
3:30: **Winner of Cal/Tennessee v Winner of Army/ Cal Poly (DI MEN)**
3:30: Winner of Penn State/ Minnesota v Winner of Colorado/ Utah (DI MEN)
3:30: Loser of Penn State/ Minnesota v Loser of Colorado/ Utah (DI MEN)
4:00: Winner of Stanford/ UNI v Winner of Virginia/ Colorado (DI WOMEN)
4:00: Loser of Stanford/ UNI v Loser of Virginia/ Colorado (DI WOMEN)
4:30: Winner of Brown/ West Chester v Winner of UCLA/ UC Davis (DI WOMEN)
4:30: Loser of Brown/ West Chester v Loser of UCLA/ UC Davis (DI WOMEN)

Sunday, April 20
8:30: Winner of Texas A&M/ Cal v Winner of Vassar/ Navy (DI WOMEN)
8:30: Loser of Texas A&M/ Cal v Loser of Vassar/ Navy (DI WOMEN)
8:30: Winner of Penn State/ Florida v Winner of Chico State/ Indiana (DI WOMEN)

8:30: Loser of Penn State/ Florida v Loser of Chico State/ Indiana (DI WOMEN)
10:00: Winner of Norwich/Shippensburg v Winner of Wayne State/ UCSC (DII WOMEN)
10:00: Loser of Norwich/Shippensburg v Loser of Wayne State/ UCSC (DII WOMEN)
10:00 Winner of ECU/ Claremont v Winner of UNM-Duluth/ WWU (DII WOMEN)
10:00: Loser of ECU/ Claremont v Loser of UNM-Duluth/ WWU (DII WOMEN)
11:00: Winner of Coast Guard/ Loyola v Winner of Michigan/ Radford (DII MEN)
11:00: Loser of Coast Guard/ Loyola v Loser of Michigan/ Radford (DII MEN)
11:00: Winner of Middlebury/UNCo v Winner of UVSC/ECU (DII MEN)
11:00: Loser of Middlebury/UNCo v Loser of UVSC/ECU (DII MEN)

**Time has changed to accommodate broadcast schedule**

Webcast Matches
Friday, April 18th
2:00: St. Mary’s College vs. Air Force (DI Men)
4:00: Univ. of Northern Iowa v Stanford (DI Women)

Saturday, April 19th

9:00: Penn State v Univ of Florida (DI Women)
11:30: Norwich v Shippensburg (DII Women)
1:30: Winner of Dartmouth/ BYU v Winner of SDSU/ Arkansas State (DI MEN)
3:30: Winner of Cal/Tennessee and Winner of Army/Cal Poly (DI Men)

Sunday, April 20th

8:30: Winner of TX A&M/ Cal and winner of Vassar/ Navy (DI WOMEN)
11:00: Winner of Coast Guard/ Loyola and winner of Mich/ Radford (DII MEN)

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Ugh lots of stuff to deal with...I have a paper to write, gotta do laundry, one more practice, blah blah blah....am I excited to go to New Mexico? Hell no! But it's pretty crazy that 48 teams are going to be there..I think the state's gonna run outta ambulances, ice, food, and beer.

Everyone and your mother...

my mom visited me this weekend and it was stressful and nice. I'm just feeling old and beat-up again. Now I'm twenty-two and one more week of practice before the next round of eliminations. It's crazy that there are going to be 48 teams in New Mexico...that's a little nutso to me. I'm kind of sick of it all. It's been hot as hell at practice...hotter then it is in New Mexico. I miss winter.

Women's Rugby Videos

This shouldn't be taken the wrong way but home video-editing has really improved (at least among the D1 squads)

UC Davis:



Penn State:


And a wee little unedited video we took at Pac Coast Playoffs on Day 1...Western Washington in the cute blue number and our best friends from Cali Sac State in the white green and gold. (Ps I'm starting to notice that all of my youtube videos are of sac state playing...)

UCSC WRFC are the Pacific Coast Champions

after defeating Western Washington 36-10. In the first half we had an onslaught of four or five tries (three in the last three minutes). Unfortunately I personally let a try through, there were a number of penalties and I just turned my back and it was exploited for a try (their nine Heather Stephens was a wily old head). We scored a few more in the second half. We mostly just soaked up their pressure on defense and our scrums were also negatively affected because we had to play a man down for almost the entire half (two yellow cards...team penalties for silly stuff we'll work on). The refs of the tournament were fair and reffed a good game...but once again it illustrated how different LAUs stress different things. I mean things that slow down the game are pretty universally penalized but I've never seen a ref blow the whistle so many times for incorrect quick taps or a hooker striking a ball out of the tunnel(when trying to steal it). I didn't do too much in the games but I think I finally got over my cold so that's a plus. Now I just have to get my life in order, turn 22, prepare for my mom's visit (ie clean), study study study, work a little, fund raise for the trip to "the National Guard's" Elite 8 or Collegiate Championship Series in Albuquerque, New Mexico, buy books etc. Oh..and y'kno train five days a week. Ughhh. Maybe eat. Maybe Sleep.

Pictures to be posted later but yea it was cold in Washington. It wasn't significantly colder then Santa Cruz in winter...but it's spring. And there was a very stiff wind that we used to our advantage but made lineout ball pretty difficult. Then again it didn't rain while we were on the pitch...there was snow on the ground the day we arrived though (at our host family's house not on the field).

Ahh it's good to have that feeling again, my team is my family, wherever we go is home, and trust me sometimes it really is a traveling circus =]

**Edit** just a little addition...
Women's Rugby: Shippensburg Shuts Out Norwich, 30-0
Apr 6, 2008

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - After beginning the season by winning its first 16 games, the Norwich University women's rugby team lost its second straight contest on Sunday, as the Cadets were soundly defeated by Shippensburg, 30-0.

The Cadets (16-2) were dominated by Shippensburg from the beginning of the game, and could not get anything going. The 30-0 final score marks the worst loss for NU in a number of years.

"Confusion best describes this weekend," said Norwich head coach Austin Hall. "On Friday night, we played one of the top Division I teams in the country (West Chester), and we played to our potential. Today, we just fell off the map against another excellent side. I must give a lot of credit to West Chester and Shippensburg; they have both built very strong programs and played well this weekend. We have our work cut out for us over the next two weeks."

Norwich (16-2) will have a second opportunity against Shippensburg (17-1) on April 19 in Albuquerque, N.M., in the quarterfinals of the National Championship.

*edit* this caught me off guard at first but then I realized it was just a typo on the journalist's part...Norwich faces Shippensburg in the first round of 8s and not the quarterfinals (because those matches are obviously still up in the air). Final seeds are up:

2008 Seedings

1 Midwest #1 University of Minnesota- Duluth
2 Pacific #1 UC Santa Cruz
3 Northeast #1 Norwich
4 Southern Cal #1 Claremont College
5 South #1 East Carolina
6 Mid-Atlantic #1 Shippensburg
7 West #1 Wayne State
8 Pacific #2 Western Washington University

It'll be weird without Mary Washington

Blogging from the field of Pacific Coast Regional Collegiate DII Women's Rugby Playoffs...

Damn that's a long title...but yes indeedy it's day two of this fine but frigid tournament. Which means day one already happened and what the hell am I doing up at 8:30 in the morning after a match...*sigh* Well yesterday the team was under the assumption that the match began at two...funny story...and we got a call around 11:15from the other coaches asking where the hell we were. Our opponents from Central Washington were already on the field warming up...our match was at twelve. Brilliant. So having 25 panicked girls running around trying to pack their gear after packing down a big ol' breakfast was a wee bit of chaos (PS our host family is amazing). The match got pushed back like half an hour but it was still really tight. The chill and the wind were the only things that was really different then Santa Cruz. The stiff wind made it hard to hear calls and even harder to through a straight lineout ball. We scored three tries in the first half and they dotted one down after a weakside play with their swift winger. Their flanker was having a hard time hitting her mark (she was overthrowing it) but I was damn impressed that she could throw the ball completely straight for fifteen in that wind. But yea final score 17-5 with UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs to face the Western Washington Flames at er 1? this afternoon...I need to check my own schedule. Pics of the match to be posted when I get back home in Cali Cali!

We really do have something to play for today. Western Washington were cool girls, they're a nice team and they hosted a pasta social dance party after Saturday's matches but.......Sac State left it ALL out on the field yesterday. They had the heart, the skills, they just lacked the healthy bodies. Seriously the match started with tit for tat tries between the two sides until sac state pulled ahead but then their season long lack of subs started taking a toll (they only have 16 players). Existing injuries were taking out people left and right but somehow they managed to dredge their broken bodies around the field so they could stay on and help their mates. It was gutwrenching broken ankles, broken collarbone, major concussions, a girl tore the rest of her ACL...tightened her brace and kept playing. In the last 20 minutes sac had about four or five healthy players but the whole team was playing their guts out. Western Washington were pretty vicious in striking at Sac's vulnerabilities, repeatedly targeting their outside center who was moved to wing because she had a broken ankle. Sac fought all 80 minutes of the match and goddamn if they didn't deserve the win...a few more healthy bodies...the insane level of passion and commitment for your teammates--- this is NorCal D2 Women's Rugby. It's hard not to be parochial, I love Norcal rugby. Let's show the pac northwest what we can do. Let's bring this shit back to Cali

T-minus 2 days till Washington

Here's some updated info:

PCRFU 1 = USARFU 2
PCRFU 2 = USARFU 8

Seeding:
1 NCRFU 1 | UC Santa Cruz
2 PNRFU 1 | WWU
3 NCRFU 2 | Sac State
4 PNRFU 2 | CWU (2009 seed will be URFU1)

Dates: April 5/6, 2008 (Sat/Sun)
Host: PNRFU, WWU Rugby Club
Venue: Polo Fields, Ferndale, WA
Point of Contact: Rocky Denhartog and Kerry Griffin, 360-920-8425 (c)
PCRFU MC: TBD

Saturday Matches:
12:00pm Match A: NCRFU 1 v PNRFU 2
2:00pm Match B: PNRFU 1 v NCRFU 2

Sunday Matches:
11:00am Match D: Loser A v Loser B
1:00pm Match C: Winner A v Winner B


Winner C = PCRFU 1
Loser C = PCRFU 2
Return To Top


So our first match is against Central Washington. Uh...I might have to drive (which if anyone knows me is a terrifying prospect (I'm over-cautious) I need to do my laundry, survive two more practices and...I dunno...shit like that.

T-Minus 3 Days Until we fly to Washington

Ahhh and it's going to snow! I'm from SoCal...like Southern California...I can take rain in Santa Cruz but I'm used to sunny warm days with a gentle cooling breeze. I've seen snow once! How do you dress? What do you wear when playing rugby in slush/rain/snow ahhh that's terrifying. If any ruggers abroad have tips for snow now would really be the time to chip in. *sigh* I only own two pairs of pants and they're both jeans. *grumble* oh and it's 6 o'clock practice which is doing wonders for my illness. We were doing drills for 30 minutes in the dark. Blah blah blah need to fundraise...what else.

Ohh I saw Wendy's article and shot a brief msg to their webmaster...mainly just talking about how Iowa State beat us last year and for fucksake to give women's rugby credit in their LAU.

Oh so beyond early morning practices our flight leaves from San Jo at 6am...so we get to wake up at 3-4...grumble mutter grumble. Maybe I'm just tired and wheezy and sick of coughing but it really is exciting...I'm just not the peppy person. It's so weird practicing contact again... what else..
The seeding is firming up for Elite 8s in New Mexico:

1 Midwest #1 University of Minnesota- Duluth
2 Pacific #1
3 Northeast #1
4 Southern Cal #1 Claremont College
5 South #1 East Carolina
6 Mid-Atlantic #1 Shippensburg
7 West #1
8 Pacific #2

Well Pacific will be settled this weekend and if Norwich doesn't get Northeast I'll have my socks shocked off. Dunno what's going on in West. Well off to my 6 hour block of class. 9 days till my birthday. There were a lot of numbers in this post.

not much in rugby news

but I got an A-, B+, B+ this quarter! Mwahahahaaa not too shabby. I'm still trying to kick this cold while still earning some money over spring break. The trip to Washington for regionals is rounding out to 250 a player (for the flight and cars) so yea obviously housing and grub will up the price tag *sigh* and 250 would buy me a terabyte hardrive as well (or more realistically it would get me that much closer to a deposit so I can actually have somewhere to stay this summer). MMmmm what else...

My mum said something really adorable the other day. I guess one of the various rugby catalogs came with a rugby spectator guide and she called to tell me that we had to make it to Stanford because now she understands rucks and mauls and offside laws and wants to see me play again. It's kinda funny how mother's think they're making perfectly reasonable requests when they're actually asking you to move a mountain for them. That and we've already made the National Championship match TWICE and she had to wait til now to learn the damn rules to appreciate the game. *sigh* At the very least it's good motivation to get in shape and sharpen the skills for Washington. No one is looking that far ahead yet (except my mom apparently) but yea...it's post-season and hopefully it'll be a long one. Fourth year. Last chance. What's that old rugby refrain?? That's right...'Redeem Thyself' (a new mantra perhaps?)

Damn GO Navy Go

heh...taken straight from goff...

March 22, 2008, Annapolis, Md. - An aggressive Navy side took advantage of every Princeton mistake to steamroll the inexperienced Tigers 115-3. Breanna Strand scored 23 points in the first half to lead Navy’s onslaught. Flanker Michelle Akins replied with three tries in the second half for Navy.

Breanna Strand (inside center) went to my high school, and I knew she was a good rugger but damn...=] good to see that she's kicking ass.

Makes me wanna kick this cold and get back in shape

Finished finals...I'm exhausted

I think my mental toughness has been upped by leaps and bounds. I've been going nonstop for literally a full week (like 22 hour days). I can't believe the sheer amount of shit that I've accomplished. Now that the quarter is over for me I can relax and....deal with the massive amount of shit that's been accumulating.
I need to get back in shape for regionals (I've been running on coca cola and burritos for the last seven very sedentary days)
ughhh

oh and sleep.

hmmm....oh Univ San Francisco joined our league so we'll technically have six teams in our league now if Monterey and San Jose muster up the numbers. Which is awesome but I'll be a slug alumni by then.

Er...the top 20 ranking was finally updated but I don't really care cause we haven't moved.

That's enough rugby news for now right? Er Belmont Shore did pretty damn good at the Champagne Classic. That's about it. It's 9 o'clock and I'm to tired to even drink a beer.

So I skipped pelicans

And that was probably my one and only chance to play at the elite level. Meh. Life and priorities...right now I need to focus on school...I say that every year, every quarter but it's true. School isn't just a money sink for a piece of paper and the older I get the more I believe in it. *sigh* What else...Humboldt forfeited so there was no game on Saturday...something funky may occur and Humboldt and possibly Reno may move down to D2

What else....


WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALES! WALES! BREAD OF HEAVEN! Ahhh it was good to see m'boys win the grand slam. I haven't seen them play so well with such confidence since four years ago. Ah to see Martyn Williams and Shane Williams and Hook and Gethin and Byrne and Ryan Jones and Alun and Ian and Shanklin and Huw and even mister macho Mike Phillips and bleeding Gavin Henson....ahhh hahahahaha and all those who doubted the awesomeness of Wales and Argentina can suck it =]

NorCal DII Women's Collegiate League

Yup UCSC beat St. Mary's 32-13 yesterday and we won league. I dunno it's just a cool accomplishment to have won league for all four years now. I've had my ups and downs with rugby but man it's been worth it. Yes there was only three teams this year but each match was hard fought and a difficult battle for all sides. More on this later but finals are just around the turn and I have no days to write 15 pages ahhhhh.


What lies ahead...

Women's Collegiate D2 Regional Playoffs

PCRFU 1 = USARFU 2
PCRFU 2 = USARFU 8

Seeding:
1 NCRFU 1 (UCSC)
2 PNRFU 1 (WWU)
3 NCRFU 2 (Sac State)
4 PNRFU 2 (CWU) / URFU 1 (UVSC) (pending March 29 challenge match)

Dates: April 5/6, 2008 (Sat/Sun)
Host: PNRFU, WWU Rugby Club !!! (news to me)!!
Venue: Bellingham, WA

Saturday Matches:
Match A: NCRFU 1 v PNRFU 2
Match B: PNRFU 1 v NCRFU 2

Sunday Matches:
Match C: Winner A v Winner B
Match D: Loser A v Loser B

Winner C = PCRFU 1
Loser C = PCRFU 2

Hmm so we have two seeds again? That's peculiar...

2008 Seedings (a la usa rugby)

1 Midwest #1 [University of Minnesota-Duluth]
2 Pacific #1
3 Northeast #1 [Norwich]
4 Southern Cal #1 [Claremont?]
5 South #1 [Charleston?]
6 Mid-Atlantic #1
7 West #1
8 Pacific #2

and the bracket is as follows
Day 1 in New Mexico
Pool A: Midwest #1 vs Pacific #2
South #1 vs Socal #1
Pool B: Northeast #1 (which is Norwich)vs MARFU #1
Pacific #1 vs West #1

and the rest who knows from there, Norwich is doing a gnarly job ripping up the DII rankings so we'll see how that works out. It is kinda peculiar to have two seeds. I'll try and fill out more info when I'm not in finals week...

Sac State Women's Rugby vs UCSC **EDIT**

We won it 12-7 in an in-cre-dibly close match. More details later but other big news. Apparently UC Davis beat Stanford 10-0. YEA....jeez talk about big news especially since the aggies seemed to be struggling a bit this season (with a 1 point victory over Humboldt) **edit** Actually they were in second place **edit** but shit...way to know down one of the top teams in the nation. More details later, but yea my old bones need to take a rest!

pps. so I guess there is a lot more to this story. Stanford had a couple starting players off at a U20 eagle camp and their Sr. capped Eagle flyhalf Jossy Tseng sat on the bench because she was late to the teams warm-ups.

A) that's a pretty cool show of integrity on Stanford's part, (as well as the diff between D1 and D2...hell we couldn't spare the players)

B) Stanford is still on top of the Norcal D1 charts due to point differential

C) a weee bit cocky on Stanford's part.

Yup ok that's it, now I have to finish my five page film paper today, go to practice, try and read a 500 page book (in a day), write a 20 pg paper by sunday, play in a game, read five novels in two-three days, may or may not have promotion/relegation match, may or may not go to pelicans camp, write five pages, read a few hundred pages, write two pages, read a couple thousand pages and catch up on a months worth of work, take two DEATH final exams...and fin. The next fifteen days are going to be....H E L L!!