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 April 26, 2000 A Publication of the Connecticut Grey Rugby Football Club Isn't it scary that you've recently heard the two word phrase GREY TAME LION KINGS (and bring home the Cup!) On Saturday, April 15th, the Grey traveled to Queens to play a match against the Lion Kings in what has become a pseudo-rival match for the Kings. I still believe that our true first rivalry match is Les Vieux, so the fact that the Kings consider our matches "rivalries" is somewhat impressive and flattering. Anyway, as if to add a little more incentive into winning these matches, the Kings actually went out and purchased a trophy to commemorate the victor, and the cup (dubbed "The Old Boys Cup") will be passed each season to the winner of this game. Unfortunately for the Kings, they didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of keeping the cup this Saturday. The two most difficult tasks of that day were Captain Kerr's attempts to get playing time for 30 Grey and the watching and waiting the almost 2 hours to play after the scheduled kickoff time had lapsed. As usual, most tournaments rarely run on time and there were games still to be played on our pitch before we could begin. To this was added a constant cold drizzle that seems to precede any game in New York, in which we are forced to stand around and wait for long periods. This does not bode well for the Grey who usually have a poor start to games when these situations occur. Today, however, was different. The game began with the Grey kicking off – the ball was retrieved deep in the Kings' end and the Kings began an attack. Prior to getting hit, the Kings' ball carrier tried to flip the ball out to waiting backs but instead found a crashing Garrison – Daryl, that is; big boy; movie star. Daryl picked the pass off and went 30 meters towards goal, was tackled and had the ball picked up by a supporting Mark Collins who touched down for the score. Amazing. Twelve seconds into the game and the Grey led 5 - 0. The kick was not good but then again the uprights were closer than the butt hairs on the opposing cheeks of Flynn's ass – you needed a can opener to get the ball through. With momentum, the Grey continued to pressure the Kings and play most of the period in the Kings' end of the field. Good pressure finds the Grey with a scrum at the Kings' 5 meter and with the ball won, the pack proceeded to push the Kings backwards with Fred Seeger touching down the ball as it crossed the try line. The kick was again off and the Grey led at the break 10 - 0. With substitutions and a change in sides, the Kings were able to take advantage of some misplayed ball and scored on a penalty play at the Grey 10 meter line. Failure to retreat 10 meters on a previous penalty gave the Kings the necessary yardage to pull off the score. The kick was good and the Grey's lead was reduced to 10 - 7. The Grey needed a little spark and got it with good backfield movement that led to a try by Grayson Gregory. Again the kick was missed but the lead was back to 8 with the Grey up 15 - 7. This score was then followed by some nice defense by the Grey, and punishing crashes by Garrison and Bob Casey kept the ball in the Kings' end. A kick to ease the pressure and improve field position by the Kings was fielded by Steve Tenenbaum who punted back deep into the Kings' end. The kick was mishandled by the Kings' player and Tenenbaum, who provided great pursuit, snatched the ball from the ground and ran the remaining 8 meters for the score. Again, no conversion but the Grey were dominating with the score 20 - 7. In the third period the Grey continued with great fundamental play and any attempt at an offensive surge by the Kings was quickly thwarted with the ball moving back down field by the Grey mass. With only seconds remaining, the Grey had a quick out to the backfield close in to the Kings' goal, with Casey hitting Tony Johnson who eluded a few defenders and, while being upended, placed the ball on the try line. A supporting Bill Steimphle dove onto the ball and was credited for the try. The kick again was not good but the game ended Grey 25, Lion Kings 7. Man of the match was awarded to Mark Collins who in the words of Dick Vitale was "just reMARKable; stupendous; amazing, baby," and in the words of Captain John Kerr, "he's the berries." The Grey were awarded the Old Boys Cup that has since been engraved to note the date and score of the inaugural match and is sitting on the shelf at the Old Dublin. EASTER WEEKEND FESTIVAL April usually sees the Grey in Baltimore for the annual Chesapeake Old Boys (COB) rugby festival. This year was different. Due to a continued discontent with the organization of the COB weekend and the infusion of teams with relatively younger players that score triple-digit scores over the course of several games against the legitimate Old Boys teams like the Grey and the Toronto XL's, both the Grey and Toronto decided to meet in Connecticut this year to continue the annual Grey/XL match. Add to the weekend a guest visit by a foreign touring side and we have the makings for a really interesting weekend. For those of you who have been watching our web site (www.pioneeraero.com/cgrfc) the agenda and the list of events were well planned and the weekend worked out extremely well with little or no problems – except for the weather. Highlights of the weekend were the three games – with the Grey going 2 - 0 on the day – the great party at the field, the party and food at the Old Dublin, and the fact that the game on Friday with the XL's was canceled (there wasn't enough scuba gear for two sides). Onto the games: UTRECHT 36, TORONTO XL's 5 Looking a lot younger and, well, extremely fit compared to their opponents, the Utrecht team had little difficulty scoring several tries from long runs against the XL's. With a significant first period lead, Utrecht added more points in the following periods allowing only one try by Toronto in the third period. Able to score 6 tries (it may have been 7) Utrecht proved to be in a different class than Toronto this day. But were the Grey in the same class? GREY 19, UTRECHT 12 With almost thirty players, the Grey were once again faced with the difficult decisions as to who will play where, when and for how long. Although this is a problem with only one game to play, it was a lot easier this day with two full 60-minute games. Captains Kerr and Facey put together what looked on paper to be fairly strong teams for each of the six scheduled periods. This was evident in the first period against Utrecht. The Grey dominated the game early and were able to keep the Utrecht backfield in check, avoiding those long runs by the fullback and wings that plagued Toronto. The Grey scored first as a back line pass to Daryl Garrison was advanced forward inside the Utrecht 22 meter. Daryl was tackled but able to pop the ball up to Kerr in support who touched down for the score. The conversion by Brancard was good and the Grey were up 7 - 0. Continued pressure kept the ball in the Utrecht end almost the entire period and another break by Don Brancard saw the ball out to Tony Johnson, who flipped the ball out to Grayson Gregory at wing for the second try. The conversion was wide and the Grey led 12 - 0. The second period was a complete reversal from the first as Utrecht pressured the Grey and the ball remained in the Grey zone for the entire period while good defense by the Grey and some mishandled passes by Utrecht prevented them from scoring. The third period was pretty much even except that Utrecht – now playing for the 100th straight minute – was getting the breaks and good back movements. Don Brancard scored the third try of the period and, with the conversion, extended the lead to 19 - 0. Utrecht answered with a try of their own and with the conversion made, the score was close at 19 - 7, the Grey still in the lead. More movement by Utrecht resulted in another try but the conversion was wide and time expired after the kick. The Grey notched their third straight win of the season 19 - 12. Man of the Match was awarded to Jim Facey. GREY 34, TORONTO XL's 5 In the final game of the day the Grey faced Toronto for what has become the annual event and challenge match for both teams. Toronto is looking forward to the day they can beat the Grey and the Grey are hoping to continue their 12-game (plus?) winning streak. This day, however, was not the one Toronto was looking forward to. The Grey began the first period with a quick score off a penalty set by Lou Petruzzello. The conversion was missed and the Grey were up early 5 - 0. As if we hadn't seen enough amazing events in the past day such as four inches of rain between Friday morning and Saturday morning, we also saw a try scored by Bud Harvey who was the lucky recipient of a mis-direction generated by Mal Davidson, who brought the ball around the backside of the scrum, drew the defender in and dished to Bud who walked over the try line for the score. Again the conversion was missed and the Grey had extended the lead 10 - 0. The Grey, still in possession of the ball and camped firmly in the XL end of the field, were rewarded with another try by Daryl Ceccarelli, and with the missed conversion the Grey now led 15 - 0. Prior to the break, Toronto was able to break through the Grey defense and score on a long run but with the missed conversion the lead was only 10 with the Grey up 15 - 5. The second period was more to the advantage of Toronto who won more of the rucks and line outs and played mostly in the Grey end of the field but were unable to score. The period ended with the score still 15 - 5. In the third period the Grey brought in some fresh bodies (with legs) and the flood gates opened. The Grey scored quickly as Mal Davidson touched down under the posts and the conversion by Brancard was good to give the Grey a 22 - 5 lead. This was then followed with scores from Mark Collins and Steve Tenenbaum with one conversion added by Brancard to extend the lead to 34 - 5. And so the game then ended with another convincing Grey win over Toronto and a four-game winning streak this spring. Man of the Match went to Mark Collins, again. NEXT GAME: BERKSHIRE AT PNA The next game is scheduled for this Saturday, April 29th, at the PNA field. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m., field setup begins at 12:00, and all Grey should be at the field AND ready to go by 12:45. It is important that you let John Kerr or Jim Facey know of your availability. Let's get out in force and continue our win streak against Berkshire who can be very strong at times – however, that's usually when we play them in Berkshire. GREYS FAIL IN HOPES TO ACQUIRE PLACE KICKER With the NFL Draft in full session Saturday, April 15th, the Grey were oh so hopeful that they would be able to obtain a kicker who could contribute some additional points to the Grey's five-try-per-game average. Mindful that close games can be lost by not being able to take advantage of the "free points" these conversions provide. Over the past several games, the Grey were unable to score many conversions and this loss stands at this time to be 30 points. Unfortunately, Sebastian Janikowski was drafted by the Oakland Raiders, apparently ending the hopes of the Grey acquiring a decent Polish player for the team. There is still hope though. It seems that Sebastian has a little problem staying out of trouble and by the time spring camp comes around, the two most important questions will be "is he still in the US?" and "is he out of jail?" Not surprising since Sebastian was a football player for Florida State University – you know, the "Creminoles" – and it's just in their nature to be mentally challenged jerks. AROUND THE FIELD How do you ruin a good day? Answer: Schedule a rugby game the day before two games are scheduled and, at the same time, canceling a scheduled golf outing! Much to the dismay of many from the linkster section of the Grey, the scheduled golf outing for Good Friday was preempted by the scheduling of a game against the Toronto XL's. Why? Because they were in town! Not a good reason in my mind. Anyway, the outcome of such occurrences usually brings to light changes or modifications that need to be made to avoid similar problems in the future. Therefore, as of 2001, it is required that no person be allowed to run for a position as a club officer unless that person plays golf or has a desire to place a game of golf first and foremost on their list of prioritized things to do on the weekend or holiday day that is not already slated on the approved schedule for a game. This should avoid these situations where a day on the greens is unceremoniously usurped by an overzealous rugby goon. However, things have generally worked out well this year for the Grey and thankfully the Friday game was canceled due to incompatible weather – that and the fact that a large assortment of animals had gathered on the field and were lining up in pairs. It was an omen. In the "phrases better left as thoughts" department, we have the gem of a quote uttered by Mike Fotos (Dr. Speck) prior to the kickoff against Utrecht. In an effort to put the team in the proper frame of mind, Mike announced that we should "move the ball with our minds and our legs with our hearts." Now can you imagine what frame of mind we were in following that proclamation? Still, it's amazing that even long after the game was over many Grey actually remembered – that Mike had said something. It took the combined efforts of five Grey to piece it back together. Mike has been warned about speaking in public and will not be allowed near any representatives from the local newspapers. We would like to extend our thanks to the President of the Utrecht team for proving to we Grey that there is someone more long-winded and boring than Jorgensen. It was a painful discovery. Zulu Warrior????? Obviously an honorary title. At the banquet, the Utrecht boys choir hoisted the Captains from the Grey, John Kerr, and from Toronto, Kevin Blosker, on chairs to chant the Zulu Warrior song. And in true rugby fashion things like this usually end up with someone being naked. There he was, our Zulu Warrior? Excuse me, but isn't John the wrong color to be a Zulu? And, aren't Zulus somewhat taller? And I am absolutely positive that all Zulus have long spears. But from my perspective and with his pants around his ankles, I believe that John had brought a dart! Not-So-Hypothetical Situation #1. It is 15 minutes to game time. The players are preparing for a game against a strong opponent. It's raining and you have in your kit bag a pair of molded cleats and a pair of screw-ins with ¾-inch aluminum studs. You also have a new pair of rugby shorts that aren't broken in and a pair of really loose gym shorts. Question: Should Tom Roncaioli put pickles on each of his three quarter-pound cheeseburgers? Things I Have (Recently) Learned in Life #1: Never sit directly between Sandy Woodard and a tray of finger food – especially if the food contains some sort of creamy filling or requires dipping in some type of sauce. Finally, a grateful thanks to Paul Pender for the excellent meal and the use of his establishment to host our weekend function.
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