First work-out last night and in comparison to most fitness work-outs it was extremely moderate. No Leap Frog Death March, Stairs of Eternal Peril or Card Game of Torment and Suffering but rather some light to moderate running, agility, strength and a bit of ball handling. All in all it was the great balance that we have come to expect from Coach Bryant less some colored pie charts and statistical analysis presented in labeled maroon folders (work on that Doc). I was struck by a few things.
First, there seems to be 3 levels of fitness. A hand hull of those who didn’t have much difficulty say 10%, then those who were challenged but not crushed which I peg at 60%, then 30% who were left feeling broken, violated and emotionally hallow. I counted 3 pukers which I haven’t seen in a few years. Awesome. I checked on one of them who was on the deck prone and was as white as Deano’s unshaven ass. Rookie of course, I asked how he was doing. His response was that he’d been sick all week and he “wouldn’t miss the first practice no matter what”. It’s called Magic Cool-Aid kid, shit is addictive. Better watch how much of that you guzzle because one day you too will be beyond the age where it is adviseable to play an intensice physical sport and will findyouorself making excuses to family members why practice is more important than birthdays and anniversaries. Wait until you begin to show up to work with black eyes and quake at the idea of rucking your co-workers for looking at you the wrong way. Last night showed good effort across the board and despite being challenged I didn’t see a single player walk over to the fence and to the “long stretch” which usually lasts until the end of practice.
Second, there were definitely some stand-out rookies whose names I’ll probably not remember until they do something entertaining like tell me stories of their Bott Fly fetishes. There is definitely some potential; young but with luck, willing and malleable. There were also some stand out returning players who I was impressed with. Yes solid deliveries by Keegan, Casey, Deano, Pet and many who you’d expect to bring it, but the performance handed downby Joaquin, Brecheisen and Judd were particularly impressive. I am more impressed with these guys and others every time they lace up their boots. I would also like to publicly thank Rob Ingles for his return to the pitch because standing next to him, my legs look like Keegan’s. Shock and awe. Ingles is magic people. You’ll understand later.
Where Ingles re-immergence may be the highlight of my preseason, his presence and the performance by those who are easily underestimated is a perfect illustration of the momentum and the potential we need to exploit. If we fail to exploit this opportunity we will have performed perhaps largest blunder in the history of the Club. I certainly don’t want any part of that which brings me to the 3rd and poignant uh… point. In Doc’s pre-practice manifesto he enlisted the acronym of WIN or What’s Important Now. I think it boils down to 2 very simple things:
1) Sink the hook. Every year we get a large wave of rookies. Some new to the game, some with checkered experience. Always remember one of the most important laws of a successful rugby club: Numbers Propagate Numbers. What made the difference last year is that we were able to retain most new members and thus we flourished largely because of the internal competition it created. What ever IT was that kept those players around, we need IT again because these kids are going to get tired of running their dicks into the ground without any matches in the near future to bait them into the actual game of rugby. What maters most now is CLUB. Every new member must know that they matter and play a monumental role to the success of the Club regardless of their experience, skill or current athletic ability. Look at Pirate Rob. Certainly no one would put him in a foot race against Greg although I’m sure he can shimmer the fuck up a top mast. I bet that a year ago Rob felt like he was a worthless sack of salt pork and dry tack and I bet on most clubs they would have pitched him and his glass eye over board. 1 year after wanting to die after a practice similar to last night Rob is a key leader and club member. It’s not because he was voted MVP or Best Defensive Player. It’s because he matters to the Club not only as a player but just as importantly he matters as a member. With out Rob, we would lack internal competition needed to drive us to a better state of play and without Rob we would lack the depth in personality and leadership that continues to make Pasadena Rugby the most fucking fun rugby club South of Missoula. Go ahead and ask any player who as worn the Maroon and White and gone on to play with other clubs. Ask the teams who were on the sideline in South Carolina to cheer us on. This is an extremely unique club and these new fuckers need to understand that it is ONLY because of them. They are the reason we have been here for close to 40 years. If they go away eventually we will too.
2) Fitness, fitness, fitness. This was our most lethal weapon last year and MUST be our first and most critical this year. If you can’t get to the break downs and support the play or shut out the offensive line in a defensive attack, EVERYTHING is going to be twice as hard and twice as critical. Without fitness the best you can hope for is to exploit the oppositions mistakes which will be all the more difficult when you are sucking wind. And guess what, we aren’t playing soft-cock rugby this year. Expect nothing we saw last year. Competition is going to be fit, tight and they will come at us more aggressively than we have ever seen. OMBAC, Riverside, Back Bay- these are teams that have a recent history of fielding National Championship sides and at higher levels of rugby. No tattooed witch-doctor scrum-half’s or pony-tailed midget stunt doubles here. The ONLY choice we have is to surpass our competition is superior fitness; put them on their heels, play a disciplined game and exploit their mistakes. It all starts with fitness. Look, last night was fine because it was our first practice but that was about ¼ of what our fitness work outs have historically been and need to be. Given that much of the preseason is dedicated to putting together individual skill sets, sub-unit skills, unit skills and team strategies, we need to get back up to fitness speed and we need to do it quickly. There is a lot to squeeze in just 14 weeks considering that come Jan. 12 we need to be at the same fitness lever we were last May. It is not going to happen if Tuesday and Thursday is your primary fitness day. My suggestion is to look at it the other way around. Design your off day works outs to be more challenging and brutal than your practice days. However we do it, fitness needs to happen quickly and more importantly, universally.
One last thing that Deano reminded me of other than to never trim your ball sack with scissors. I just can’t imagine what it would be like now if we had elected to stay down in D3 with the prospects of another season spent kicking the shit out of social misfits and the athletically challenged. This thing we have right now is spectacular and awesome. Whether you voted to move up or not, I hope you now realize that this was without a doubt the best decision this club has made in a long time.
Creepy? These positive jerk-off sessions are really going to give me a bad reputation and pretty soon guys are going to want to talk to me. Fuck you all. As much as it pains me to say, it is good to see old faces. Fuck, I need to stop with the positive shit. OK, I was looking for a better picture and I wish I had one of him last night but this is what I have. Onto What’s Important Now. Enjoy...
Chris Harris
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