Portland put up a scrappy and determined performance against Hartford Wanderers this past weekend, but in the end they were outmanned and outgunned by a well disciplined visiting team.

Last time I checked, the HOV lane out of Hartford only runs a couple of miles, so gas prices in Connecticut must be a lot cheaper than Maine given that Hartford decided to bring along about 45 players, plus assorted hangers-on. Portland meanwhile displayed a much more minimalist approach, with the usual dribble of players arriving up to five minutes before game time. As with baseball, the differences between big-market and small-market ball can sometimes be painfully apparent, but just like the Twins, the Portland team were able to do a lot with a little.

The first half was largely dominated by Hartford, as Portland worked to develop some cohesion between their team, and some belief that they could take the game to Hartford. In the mean time however the visitors were able to score a couple of tries and a penalty, leaving the half-time score at something like 13-0. After the break, Portland camped in the Hartford Red Zone, although they were unable to pile on any points early. The visitors did eventually yield, giving up a couple of scores, although Portland lacked the means to convert either of them.

Despite the apparent comeback, Hartford were not idle, running in 3 or 4 fast break tries of their own, displaying some impressive discipline, and putting the final result beyond and doubt. What the final score was exactly, I'm not sure, but I would guess it was something like 35-10.

The B game offered much of the same, with a completely different bunch of Wanderers, all with the same haircut as the first lot. Given the long drive, and all the time sitting around, their B side was annoyingly gung-ho, and did not let up on the now tired Portland players. As a result, Portland tried to pull some of the oldest tricks in the book, much to the consternation of the ref. Despite all their guile however, they could not supress the Hartford side, who came up eventual winners, 17-10.

Practice continues this week at the new time of 6pm, in advance of this weekends away trip to our old pals, Old Gold. Last time I checked their website, they were still running the following ad: "Old Gold Rugby is currently looking for a new coach to help direct this team to D2 champs." Holy shit, if there are any coaches out there that can do that, then their talents might be better served creating world peace or finding a cure for cancer. But be warned, the last bloke that pulled off a miracle on a par with getting Old Gold to the D2 finals was crucified. Amen.

No "Acts of God" are going to come between us and our practice, so while the dregs of Hurricane Francis hit us tomorrow, you'll be snug indoors at Jokers for practice. 6:30pm to 8:30pm, make sure you're there, so you can represent this weekend against Hartford. Take that, Jebus.

For those of you who weren't there last weekend, Amoeskeag roughed us up like a bunch of Russian hostage negotiators. As usual for this game it was about 90 degrees, and the scoreline was less than favorable. I don't know what it was exactly, but it was a pretty one-sided affair. Nevertheless, we saw some encouraging performances by our newer players, and didn't pick up too many injuries amongst the older ones.

In advance of our first league game this coming weekend, practice will be moving to 6pm, at the usual Fox Street location. For some of you that means you'll have to phone in your lame-ass excuses half an hour earlier. For the rest of us, let's be there and ready to go promptly.

Why weren't you at practice last night? Fine...whatever.

Well, there's a game this weekend, against Amoskeag, so you'd better make it to that, and we'll say no more about it. Be at Fox Street at 12:30pm. Bring plenty of water, and cook a lot of something and bring it to the drink up.

As you were.

Lads, apparently CIPP eligibility is going to be scrutinized more closely than ever this Fall, so if you are not already registered, you need to get on and do it now! It cost $25, and get's you a cool sticker and card. Here's the sorry list of who we have registered so far. Many of you claim to not remember if you registered in the Spring, so if your name is not on this list, your not registered - geddit? Here's the form - just fax it in with a credit card number and you're all set. If you prefer, just fax me your credit card, and I'll take care of it, and a few other things.

Many of you have still to show your face at practice. I don't get this. You must be in great shape already....

Well, I just witnessed the dismantiling of Team USA by mighty, mighty Puerto Rico. My encyclopedia tells me that Puerto Rico is "a self-governing, unincorporated, organized territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean". Puerto Rico was invaded by the U.S. in 1898, and they have pretty much run the show since then, although stopping short of annexing the country entirely and making it another state. Seems like it might be time to re-think that, since the only way to stop this from happening again will be to re-invade and take away all their basketballs of mass destruction. Peurto Rico, consider yourself on warning!

So it turns out that all that bling doesn't make you a better basketball player. I'm guessing that it has a bit more to do with practice. In that vein, practice for the fall season starts in earnest this Tuesday. So, like Lebron James, you can rely on your bling and your complete lack of activity over the summer, or like Carlos Arroyo you can work your butt off and pull off a few upsets this fall....

6:30 pm at Fox Street, unless you hear otherwise.