Ah, it was good to see so many of you again this Sunday and share a few beers. Thanks Andy for the good time, and may I take this opprtunity to congratulate you and Amanda. I wish you better luck than me....no, really, that was just a joke.

A weekly "sevens" run around starts this Thursday, on Fox Street @ 6:30pm. Per J-Wil, if you plan on being a dick, bring $20 to contribute to the after practice festivities. "Being a dick" is at the discretion of the majority of those present but is likely to include but not be limited to the following:
Crying like a baby
Calling tags you never made
Kicking the ball over my head on restarts
Shoving & bitch slapping
Wearing a "do rag" (this isn't Old Gold for christ's sake)
Shouting "what the fuck" every time you drop a pass
Driving off in a huff (at least without leaving your $20)
Stiff-arms
Not sharing your water
Claiming you "still had another gear" after nearly being run down by Leo
Throwing up spastic passes and then yelling at me for not catching them
Picking all the backs on your team
Claiming you didn't know what rules we were playing by when everyone yells at you for being tagged
Saying "your not back 5" all the time
Not being back 2 and a half
Kicking sand in my face
Trying to kick the ball to yourself and missing
Only playing on offense and then saying you have a "tight hammy" when we loose posession
Having a "tight hammy" or tight anything for that matter
Running off to answer your cell phone
Not going for a drink because you have some shady hook up planned
Hoisting up a kick on your imaginary "fifth and last tackle"
Pretending you didn't know you were out of bounds
Denying you are being a dick and refusing to accept the majority decision
Thinking you're better than you actually are
Anything else that I think of...

On this day in history, 1985, it was Live Aid. A really big concert about something. Who can forget watching such great performers as Adam & The Ants, Joan Baez, Billy Ocean, Howard Jones, REO Speedwagon, Ashford and Simpson, Wham!, Hall and Oats and the Thompson Twins? Some of you may be too young to remember much about it, but I have vivid memories of watching for hours hoping that Duran Duran was coming on next. Little did I know that I would not get to witness them again live for another 18 years. Such a loss to humanity.
Nevertheless, it was a rockin' good day, and a much simpler time. We all still thought that Freddy Mercury and Elton John were straight, that the Rolling Stones were about to retire, and that Power Station were going to be the best group of all time. Oh the folly of youth...
Ah well, as Bob Dylan said on the day, "it would be nice if some of this money went to American farmers."

A gentle reminder about the Reggae Booze Cruise coming up at the end of the month. July 24th to be precise, from 4pm to 7pm. Three hours stuck out at sea with all your team mates - but apart from that it promises to be a good time. The event is being coordinated with the Navigators Quad Rugby team, so it promises to be a whole lot better organized than anything we could've done by ourselves. The band "Stream" will be playing, if that means anything to you, and more importantly there will be a cash bar. Tropical attire is encouraged, and there will be door prizes awarded, although I'm not sure what for. Good behavior, probably.

Jimmy Hendricks informed me that all active players are required to sell 5 tickets each, and that they must be to hot girls only. OK, I made that last bit up, but if you could at least make an effort to target the deeper end of the female gene pool I think we'd all have a much better time.

Hats off to the Eagles this weekend for giving the French a scare. Only a late surge from the Les Blues allowed them to avoid utter humiliation. Read the full report here.

Lastly, I need to leave you with a link that will render you entirely non-productive for the rest of the day. Here you go. Talk about a train wreck of humanity. I have so much to get off my chest....

Aprapos of nothing, as usual, I found this link covering the ongoing chlorination of the gene pool. I looked, but there are no Portland rugby players to be found....yet.

Have a great weekend. Allez les Eagles!

Here's some information on selections and whatnot for this weekend's test versus France. If we can keep it within 50 points, we'll be doing well. The only guys from the Northeast are the Wolfhounds scrummie and Mark Griffin of Old Blue who has drifted in and out of favor for the last couple of years.

Goff On Rugby -- American Rugby News

Belated congratulations to Matt Boyer and his fair wife on the arrival of their son, Henry William Boyer. He was born on May 24, sharing a birthday with Bob Dylan, Queen Victoria, Tracy McGrady and Heavy D. According to Matt he's a big fella so the next generation of Portland rugby players is well under way.

Also congrats to Matt Burgess for completing his run up Mt. Washington, and for shaving 30 minutes of his previous best time (of 4 days, 6 hours, 25 minutes). Just kidding! There's a picture circulating of Matt approaching the summit, and that expression on his face is pure joy!

Thats all the news for now. Stay frosty.

Hola Amigos. This posting lark was getting the better of me and I've been seriously out of new material for a long time. Besides, the Spring season (and I use the term loosely) is over, so there isn't a whole hell of a lot going on.

Unless of course you count Euro 2004, where just yesterday England inflicted a crushing defeat on Croatia and Wayne Rooney scored two fantastic goals. I swear, that boy is the next Gary Linekar (who hell he?). So next stop Portugal in the quarter-finals. If we win, the only certainty will be that many innocent English fans will get knifed by those crazy Latin bastards. They love their football down there, but only in a gay, man-kissing, crime-of-passion kind of way. Of course, the Portugese people I've met over here are a much more level-headed bunch....

Meanwhile the England rugby team continues its free fall, getting kicked up one side of New Zealand and down the other, and getting all chippy about it too. I think we should've refused to play again after we won the world cup. Not that they're alone mind you, Scotland got their asses handed to them by Australia and South Africa used up Ireland. Wales on the other hand beat Argentina, which really isn't much to write home about.

I'll tell you what though, the cricket team looks pretty good. The boys beat New Zealand 3-0 in the test series and look to do the same to the much diminished West Indies. When will they make cricket and Olympic sport again?

Alright, that's all the sports news that's fit to print. On to a fine new links. Apparently this craigslist.org thing is a phenomenon that has passed me by, until today. As with most of the internet it is a pile of boring, self-indulgent shit interspersed with a few gems. Fortunately they've done much of the sifting for you in their "best of" section. My own favorites inclulde this little warm-up test; a note from my ex-girlfriend; a shout-out to the neighbors; some love from the girl at the front desk; my own confession; and a note to the wife.

Go on and explore the whole lot for yourself here.