CONNECTICUT
GREY
RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB
~ est. 1979 ~
Mountain Mist Outdoor Center
Meriden, Connecticut
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~ est. 1979 ~
Mountain Mist Outdoor Center
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The Hourglass May 11, 1998 A Publication of the Connecticut Grey Rugby Football Club MONTCLAIR GAME CANCELED For those who are not in the loop - or just don't know what's going on in the world, the game against Montclair in Montclair was canceled due to a lack of a field to play on. It's our guess that it's more like lack of team to play against. I don't know anytime before where a team has canceled a home game (except of course the numerous away games against Boston). The break was needed in order to get our minds back into playing the game. GREYS DROP CLOSE ONE TO ROCKLAND Although the final score doesn't show it, the game was actually much closer than one would think by the score. Rockland's "old boys" team traveled to PNA in Wallingford with what appeared to be more of their club side and not old boys side. Still, the Greys were able to draw first blood as Don Brancard converted a penalty kick to put the Greys up 3 - 0 early in the first period. That was all the scoring in the first but the second was another story. Rockland noticed our weaknesses and capitalized on backline overloads and took advantage of their speed to tally two tries to take a 14 - 3 lead at the end of the second period. In the third the Greys tried to pour it on and scored on a backline movement to fullback Steve Tenenbaum who touched down close to the posts. The conversion was good and the Greys now trailed by one try. The final ten minutes saw a flurry of scoring that began with another Rockland try. The lead was back to 14 but the Greys cut back into that lead when Steve Carr touched down. Brancard's conversion was good and the Greys trailed once again by 7. With minutes remaining, the Greys tried one more time to get the ball through the backs but a poorly timed pass was intercepted at the Rockland twenty by a small, young speedster who scampered 70 meters for the final try, the Greys losing this one 28 - 17. There was a considerable improvement in play this week that wasn't noticed in the previous three games. A special thanks to whomever the person was that obtained the services of referee Mike Brody for the game. I have only seen one ref who is more pompous and poor at refereeing than Mike Brody and that is Paul Gauthier. Sometime I'm not sure which of the two is worse. GREYS TRAVEL LIGHT TO ALBANY AND GET THE SNOT KNICKED OUT OF THEM As if the last game against Albany hadn't yet been erased from our memories, the game played on Saturday, May 9th should refresh our nightmares. The last time we played the Knicks, the Greys lost badly 56 - 12. This game was like deja vu. The final score was 50 - 3. Inability to tackle and overall miscommunication resulted in 7 Albany tries during the game that consisted of 14 Greys and one Albany lender who didn't make a single tackle all game at outside center - a position that usually has the most opportunities during a game. The Greys did take great pride in being the first to score - a penalty kick by Mike Kosila - and actually played most of the first 10 -15 minutes within Albany's twenty meter line. But that all changed quite quickly. There isn't much to say about what went well and there is a general consensus that Albany - with players who have played together for almost twenty years - is just a really good team. There weren't a lot of scoring opportunities for the Greys and thankfully, there were a lot of opportunities for Albany that were turned away otherwise the score could easily have been in the seventies - YES SEVENTIES. Thanks to all who made the trip on such short notice since the game was arranged at the last minute in place of Chesapeake who had to cancel the game against us in Wallingford. ITS MOTHER'S DAY!!!!! Even though we had arranged for a home game against Chesapeake on the weekend of the 9th, there was some concern since this was Mother's Day weekend. Now, normally we wouldn't try to schedule a game on such a precipitous weekend but a home game against Chesapeake didn't appear to ruffle too many female feathers. And so, we agreed to the game on the Saturday - IN WALLINGFORD. After news of the cancellation on the Saturday before, it was not clear whether we should take the weekend off or schedule another game. Rumors about a game against Albany in New York circulated around the field on May 4th. "But, it's Mother's Day weekend" Ed Carr affirmed, the point being that some spouses may not take the idea of an away game with such enthusiasm as some Greys. That and the fact that many Greys would not even consider leaving Connecticut that weekend for any reason. However, the game was only on Saturday and Mother's Day is on Sunday - or so the dialogue goes with Match Secretary Dean Jorgensen not seeing the whole situation too clearly and trying to justify why we should travel to Albany for a game. Anyway, on Monday we opened our e-mails to find that the "kipper" has indeed scheduled a game against Albany for the weekend of the 9th - much to many of our dismay. And, on top of sacrificing the meager number of Greys to a slaughter at the hands of a stacked Albany team, the "kip" had to excuse himself since he would not be able to make the game. Neither could twenty other Greys or did we forget to mention that it was Mother's Day weekend? On that note, Dean has scheduled away games against Chicago, Dallas and the Denver Barbarians and, by the way, he won't be able to go to those either. NEXT GAME - FIELD CHANGE The next game is home against Berkshire at 1:00 on May 16th. However, due to a schedule conflict we will not be playing at the PNA field in Wallingford. The good news is that we won't be playing at the Jon Bennet Ramsey field either. Directions are as follows: I-91 South - take Exit 14 and go right at the end of the ramp. Take first left onto Airline Road - immediately after the right turn off the ramp. Go south on Airline Road to the first light. Take a left at the light onto Woodhouse Avenue - Stay on Woodhouse for about 2 miles where you will go down a sharp curved hill. The pitch will be on the left next to another soccer field. I-91 North - take exit 14 which is marked Woodhouse Avenue. At end of exit take a right onto Woodhouse Avenue and go about 2 miles - field is on left after a sharp curved hill. CAREFUL - the driveway to the field is very small and comes up very quickly - Also a lot of kids around as well as other traffic. Please remember to call Don Brancard or Joe Scan to let them know of your availability. Those that do not call in their intentions to play will not receive playing time as a punishment for not following directions. Further discipline will involve spanking followed by whipping followed by general insults about your mothers. DO THE RIGHT THING - JUST CALL. AROUND THE FIELD Tom Roncaioli - well known for his lack of fashion sense when it comes to headwear has recently purchased - and worn - a hat resembling the head dress worn by many affluent Africans. The brimless hat style is also one which Ed Carr possesses. Not clearly understanding why these two own such items of apparel has led us to examine what these hats are and what is their significance. Our efforts have led us to the Eldridge Cleaver (no relation to the Beaver) School of African Studies and Refrigeration Repair where we have been informed that the color and patterns in the hat signifies profession and personal attributes - some colors or patterns having more than one meaning. Taking this one step further we have found that the stripped pattern of the hat worn by Ed Carr shows that the wearer is either a man of the arts who is an authority on 16th century paintings by unknown French artists OR he is a chicken rancher. We had to consult Barron's Handbook of Swahili Headwear to find out what the colors in Tom's hat signify. We found that the bright orange implies blatant homosexuality, the fuchsia highlights denote that the wearer is a cross dresser and the light blue undertones infer a sexual affinity for small rodents or sexual acts involving featherless farm animals. Maybe the Gay St. Andrew's hat wasn't such a bad choice to begin with - eh Tom? GET WELL SOON We were saddened to hear that John (little Johnny) was feeling a little under the weather and wasn't allowed out to play with the other boys this weekend. Nothing too serious we are told - just the sniffles and scratchy throat associated with a general excuse for not wanting to travel to Albany and get wet from the rain. Our sympathy and well wishes for a speedy recovery go out to Johnny. Get well cards and letters can be sent to
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