Welcome to The Vortex

Typically I leave the hate to others in order to focus my inner rage on local doushbaggery like guys who skip out on fitness, linger on the side of break downs or have the inability to pour a beer without a massive head of foam. If you play rugby for as long as I have in Southern California you too will find that all of our opposition are more or less the same and thus deserve an equal amount of loathing and distain. Sure there are some clubs who have individual players I enjoy including even Eagle Rock, but in the end it is their sum that I contempt. My reasoning is this. We are coached and train to play our game: hard, methodical and disciplined rugby. It doesn’t matter the color of the jersey we are running against. They are an obstacle to our goal of completing a season of control and domination. I now do not care if some clubs are more chirpy than others or if some clubs have certain styles of play or certain players who stand out. My rugby heart is an apathetic cold dark vortex of abhorrence and revulsion. It feeds on the progeny of poor sportsmanship and it swallows those destitute in in respect for the game of rugby, it's laws and it's values. Alas it has not always been so...

I have been guilty of sweet talking other players for much of my rugby playing career. When I started playing rugby the sport was very social and I developed a style that had in turn been very social. I would talk to other guys on the bottom of rucks and make light remarks in heavy competition. It is no secret that my favorite day of the year is Maggot Feast Sunday as for me this day is an amalgamation of all of the things I enjoy from the sport; which is to a large degree is social in nature. I believe that in order to play rugby and to respect the core values of the sport, one should possess a certain amount of gentility. For me this has been demonstrated through always welcoming and treating my opposition as a comrade on the pitch, perhaps over that of a competitor. To offer them an olive branch of respect in this common bond we share as rugby players.

Our club possesses much of the virtue in gentility that many if not most clubs in S. Cal do not. We respect and uphold the core values of the sport- sportsmanship, tenacity and support of each other in the face of adiversity in order to achieve our goals, respect of ourselves, each other, match officials, and the laws of the game. This is what attracted me to this club and to a large degree it is what has gotten me to stick around for 10+ years. However over the years I have been jaded by doushbaggery and doltishness which has instilled an internal disgust for much of our opposition. Where we play to the virtues of the sport, many do not and there are a certain few who seem to go to great extremes to take advantage of this. For those of you new to the game or this division, I can tell you that SLO is amongst the largest contributors to this sin of contempt and disrespect. For this they should hold amongst the highest ranking in the Annal of Filth of Humanity. Here is some history.

It is well known that Pasadena Rugby has a long history of opening our arms to many and actively seek those who share our desire and pursuit of the virtues that represent this sport as stated above. A more recent example is Beaumont Rugby. Although we were competitors on the pitch, we offered them encouragement and offered assistance to improve their game. We were gentlemen to them and in turn they were gentlemen to us. They seemed to be genuinely appreciative of our efforts to assist them in becoming a better club.

There once was a time when we held SLO as a sister club in similar ways we have enjoyed a close relationship to the Bucks in recent years. The Club would charge up on a Bus, SLO would in turn rally with a spirited, clean and hard fought match and then throw us one of the most kick ass parties seen in SCRFU. In turn we offered them clean competition, often at the financial expense of our own club members. We provided them free entry into our tournaments and always went out of our way to make sure they were welcomed wherever a Pasadena player may be found. This has changed. As our hand was outstretched in the open hand of sportsmanship, they took a cheap swing as. A few years back while playing up at SLO Mark Frazier tore his Achilles (completely snapped it behind his knee). They laughed. A short while later one of our players (Will Osbourne) suffered a head injury and was convulsing for 10 minutes (also suffered a fractured arm and torn shoulder). Except for the shirtless self described “male nurse” who had a crush on Mike Aston, they didn’t lift a finger to help. These guys wiped Ciampa’s nose across his face and ended his rugby career. A few years back we traveled over 5 hours in traffic to beat them handily in 2 periods. They requested a 3rd period for the 2nds, we subbed out everyone and lost the 3rd period but they publicized (widely) that they trounced us. Then they made us wait around for over an hour before tapping the warm keg of beer. They laughed when our fly-half was knocked out and they took a cheap swing at our full-back after the final whistle had been blown. They throw punches in rucks, they kill the ball, they heckle injured players. They have a loathing contempt for every rugby value that we sweat and work hard to preserve. They do not respect the sport of rugby, its laws or it's values and they sure as fuck don’t respect us.

This weekend I should thank the members of SLO Rugby for darkening my heart and making me a better rugby player. Because they have slapped our club in the face so times, I no longer come bearing the olive branch of warm competition. I come ready to bleed on them and laugh my frigg'n ass off when they turn on each other like rabid cannibals. Because of their brand if ass hat doushbaggery I no longer sweet talk players. I am completely numb to it. Friend or foe, fuck them all the same. The other night we ran our asses off for 120 minutes and last night as I hobbled through the soreness to complete my Wednesday run, I was driven by the dedication to contribute to my teammates success in controlled domination and pure rage for those who do not possess our work ethic and respect of The Game. Their brand of rugby revolts me and these back woods hicks are a worse brand of rugby vermin than the dirt bags out in Riverside or Kern or Sun Valley or where ever. Those teams may cheat and be classless dirt bags, but at least they don't shit down the neck of guys who come in amity. Their only contribution to the sport is to reinforce the negative press that many of us have dedicated our careers to overcome in order that the sport may flourish in this country. These red neck horse fuckers got more than they deserve just in the time I spent typing this post. Fuck...

In other news, congratulations to Aaron tanner for his nomination to USA Rugby Hall of Fame.