HOBOKEN, NJ – It’s apropos that Grinding Ax Walt was too emotional to take the ball today, what with his favorite basketball coach signaling the end of his career and all. Plus, he’s an anti-rugby soccer guy – which makes sense because he’s a Dallas Cowboys fan from New Jersey. That means he’d be ignoring the history being made today in professional rugby. So, his being AWOL is a good thing. With that, here are today’s two topics: Crying, Losing and… Mike Krzyzewski?! Pro Rugby in Hoboken?
Crying, Losing and… Mike Krzyzewski?!
Unless you’ve been in a coma or just frozen solid – like Junoir Blaber up in Buffalo – you likely know that yesterday marked Coach K’s last home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. And boy, was it memorable. 96 former Duke stars came to fete the guy that everyone (outside of Duke baketball people/fans) never really liked. Some would point to that douchey, snarky demeanor. Others dislike his winning record and stoic carriage. Since yours truly falls into both categories, seeing him LOSE and CRY yesterday was pretty cool. Sure, as a Mets, Giants, Rangers, and Knicks fan I’m as bitter and damaged a sports fan as there is. Reveling in someone else’s storybook tale going awry is par for the course. That’s why it was great seeing arch-rival North Carolina come in and win, sending the Cameron Crazies home to sob into their Blue Devil crybaby soup. You can cure cancer tomorrow, Coach K, but all most of us will remember is that you are a crying loser… and yes, I’m a d’bag.
Now to the fun stuff…
Are you sick of 17 minutes of action in a 31/2-hour NFL game? Tired NBA contests that are only contested in the last 4 minutes? Bored of MLB lockout whining? Abhor soccer and it’s fake injuries, hairy shins and girly hair-dos? Than there’s no time like the present to finally, once and for all, give professional rugby a try. Not as a player – you’d get killed. As a fan. And what better place than in the home of Ol’ Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra. That’s right, Rugby New York and the New England Free Jacks will be engaged today in one of the fiercest rivalries in sports since the Gladiators and Christians locked horns… New York vs Boston. 3PM ET, JFK Stadium (Hoboken High School). Cheap tickets, tons of bars, easy public transport. Be there. Or watch on www.TheRugbyNetwork.com and hear yours humbly doing the play-by-play.
That’s it. Feel free to opine below and come back tomorrow for the aforementioned Junoir Blaber, who’s been known to kick a rugby ball or two.
