Aspen RuggerFest Report
First, Pat Herrity's account:
Wednesday 9/19/01: The tour officially
started on Wednesday with a golf outing in Boulder, CO. Two foursomes participated. (I did not; details
from Buzz). Then it was out for a night
on the town (details intentionally omitted).
Thursday 9/20/01: We met the rest of the team at the Red Rocks Bar in the Denver
Airport at about 9 AM for a few more drinks and then it was on to the vans for
the four hour drive to Aspen (after the obligatory stop at the liquor store). The scenery was spectacular, especially as
we went through Independence Pass. Many thanks to Steve Lough and Buzz McClain as they navigated
switchbacks, roads with no guardrails (Harry likes guardrails) that are not
wide enough for two cars, much less a 16 passenger van, and snow-covered peaks.
We tried a quick jog at Independence Pass (12,000 ft) and were quickly winded.
We arrived at Aspen for a night on the
town. All of the town (and its many
pubs) welcomed rugby players. A favorite
was McSorely's that served a free keg of Guinness every evening of the
Ruggerfest. Buck managed to run into a black bear walking through the parking
lot of our condo on his return home.
Friday 9/21/01: We knew we were in trouble when we learned we drew the Gentleman of Aspen as our first game. For
the uninitiated - the Gentlemen of Aspen are perennial national champions. The team we played had over 30 players including 10 that had just moved to
old boys, 4 former Eagles and one current Eagle. Throw in home air advantage and you can
imagine the result.
We kept our heads up, played hard and the score ended at 42 - 0. We should have had 7 but the ref blew up
our advantage just as Brian Stotler was going to dot uncontested in the center.
The touch judges were radioing in calls
from the sidelines to the ref (major bummer). He blew the whistle based on a
radio call before checking advantage and immediately apologized to us (little
consolation).
Jeff Gravatt played extremely well and was everywhere. I believe the Gentlemen went on to win the
Old Boys division and beat several teams by a much greater margin (some
consolation).
Our second match was much better and we
were ahead 10-7 at half time. We played
Metropolis from MN. The game got away from us in the second half
as injuries began to take their toll and was close but I do not remember the final
score. I know Gravett and Pat Clark
scored tries but am fuzzy about the rest. Hopefully Buzz can fill you in on the
details.
Our third match of the day was against the
Littleton Harlequins which we won handily - approximately 5 tries to 1.
Hopefully Buzz has the details. Only score I remember for sure was my try off a
nice pass by Brian George and I managed to dislocate a finger as I dotted. One of the highlights of the tour was having a trainer - Doc Sue. She adjusted necks and backs between matches and in the mornings and managed to
tape John Hawley's ankle to the point he was able to play the whole game
(previous record was 5 minutes).
That evening after a soak in the hot tub it
was the Old Boys party at the Double Diamond (free beer and food) and
then out on the town in our snazzy tour polos - nothing like the flamer
jerseys (details omitted).
Saturday 9/22/01: This was a day to watch
top notch rugby including the likes of Kansas City Blues, Denver Barbarians,
Gentleman of Aspen, Charlotte and the Chicago Lions. The day (like all of the days) was gorgeous and the
crowd (including many locals) was large and
into the games. Buck's bear was seen walking across Aspen mountain to bring
a surreal feel to the day. That evening, Buzz handed out the tournament
superlatives - I'll let him describe - and then it was off to the tournament
party and a final night on the town (sound familiar?).
I left early Sunday so Buzz can fill you in
on the rest. The tour was outstanding
from the quality of play, to the field conditions, the weather, the town, the scenery, and the whole
atmosphere. Nothing like playing in the middle of the Rockies. The tour went off
without any major hitches and was well planned short of the Flamer
Jerseys. Buzz and Bill Judge are to be commended.
Sign me up for next year.
Pat Herrity
Comments from
Harry Donovan:
Hey... you guys should see rugby Mountain Style...
unbelievable, in my opinion. Brutal tackling and movement so
fluid you can't take your eyes off the play or you'll be wondering where
the ball is. Props and rows are the workhorses doing the cross field
rucking and mauling, and flankers and the eight man charge the fringes and help
the backline, always coming forward at full speed... I'm talking full
speed.
Everyone wears shoulder pads and
justifiably so. Looked to me like the pads couldn't have helped that much with
the power of some of the hits. The
Aspen Gents are a force there - they beat the Kansas City Blues 43-7 in the
final after beating us 43-0 in their first game of the tournament. An educational and humbling experience that
would benefit us all.
Maybe my lack of seeing international play
as well as first division play weakens my categorizing this as "West Coast
play" and it could very well be an overall style or toughness, but I'll
tell you... these guys would eat Suburbs for breakfast.
We had three matches, the first against the
gentleman who started against us with their first side (old boys) and may have
had a couple of guys that still play young guys on board as we
do. Once they obtained the lead they felt comfortable with they started
substituting with less experienced guys that picked up numerous penalties in the
second half. All these guys are big and in shape - ALL of 'em. The props were often on the wing in hopes of getting a pass from the winger. If you bent
to pick up a ball, you were hammered by two at a time. They rarely maul (they don't need to).
The loose play is unparalleled; the ball is
always presented or tossed off to a player coming straight through. A real experience for me.
Although we lost I am actually proud to
have been able to play one of the best teams in America, which, in fact, harbors
a number of Eagles on it ( Mark Williams played fly half for a bit).
We played our second game against a team
from Minnesota who had lost their first game 24-0. We held our own most of the way through the game, having the lead
for what I believe was most of the first half.
You'll have to look for someone else's
synopsis of the game as I was too busy trying to keep my feet and get air in my
lungs. The air out there, although feels clean and crisp, sucks.
Initially we found ourselves breathing
hard
unloading our suit cases from the van. When
we convened for a practice on Thursday night, reality set in on what we
were up against. It is hard to breathe... very.
I don't use this as an excuse for losing
our games because many teams were in the same condition we were in. But it is very difficult to catch your
breath. We won our third game of the day after picking up a few whores from
other teams as a lot of our guys couldn't go on.
Aspen did, in fact, win their own
tournament with ease... but you know, when sitting on the sideline watching the
finals it was clear that the crowd, which seemed to number about 1500-2000 was
cheering for whomever was playing against the Aspen sides. I think many knew that these guys were
creating a lot of underdogs, teams that don't normally lose. The Kansas City Blues scoring only one try
in the final against them? Go figure.
One humbled PRU
member,
Harry Donovan