OP, thanks for putting meat on the bones of the links between rugby and football. I did not know that stuff and am sending it to my rugby mates.
Football is such a good game. I played it for three years in junior high, got on the field only as part of our Brawny D (we had scrub strength) for 12 or 13 plays in that entire time. I was little and not particularly talented and did not make the cut for high school. I never played that game again.
I learned the rugby union position of hooker from a Brit at Oklahoma State in 1980, played on 4 continents, hooking with rare exception for most of it, and went on to play my last game (not counting a few old boys reunions later) in 2009 in Jerusalem, Israel hooking for the Jeruslem Lions (an expat team) in which we were beaten soundly by a bunch of Russian guys (expats or citizens of Israel I do not know) from Ashkelon. We had beers afterwards, as gentlemen do.
Rugby is also a good game. It is playable the world round, for the entirety of an athletic lifetime, however long that lasts for a person.
Funny how the son of rugby became so exclusionary for the marginally talented, while the dad... even if you suck, you can get 2 halves of B side rugby every weekend in season.
It sounds like I wrote something that made fun of your favorite game that you did not like. That was not my intent. My comments about rugby, soccer, and Canadian football are either in jest or an appreciation for things going in different direction. They are all culturally-embedded games with arbitrary rules. Whether a person enjoys one or another or several, is a personal choice. I mostly enjoy American and Canadian football, but enjoy learning about rugby and how it impacts my favorite game.
Not at all, sir. If that is my tone, I will contemplate an edit. I found your piece informative, full of new information (to me) and one of those "inside baseball" articles that gives understanding of the linkages between these things.
I meant to say, and I obviously buried this thesis too far between the lines, how fascinating it is to me that football, a game loved by all who play it, evolved to be playable after high school by only that 1 or 2% of players who truly excel. Coach Gaines opening lines from Friday Night Lights:
I will in the next few minute try to rewrite my first note to highlight the different directions the two games went with respect to duration of playabiliy. Apologies for coming off snotty or derisive. I miss playing both of those games.
Got it. I played a little touch football after college, as did several of my brothers. It is possible that the increased popularity and attention given to touch football will lead to more people playing it into their 20s, maybe longer.
Edit:
OP, thanks for putting meat on the bones of the links between rugby and football. I did not know that stuff and am sending it to my rugby mates.
Football is such a good game. I played it for three years in junior high, got on the field only as part of our Brawny D (we had scrub strength) for 12 or 13 plays in that entire time. I was little and not particularly talented and did not make the cut for high school. I never played that game again.
I learned the rugby union position of hooker from a Brit at Oklahoma State in 1980, played on 4 continents, hooking with rare exception for most of it, and went on to play my last game (not counting a few old boys reunions later) in 2009 in Jerusalem, Israel hooking for the Jeruslem Lions (an expat team) in which we were beaten soundly by a bunch of Russian guys (expats or citizens of Israel I do not know) from Ashkelon. We had beers afterwards, as gentlemen do.
Rugby is also a good game. It is playable the world round, for the entirety of an athletic lifetime, however long that lasts for a person.
Funny how the son of rugby became so exclusionary for the marginally talented, while the dad... even if you suck, you can get 2 halves of B side rugby every weekend in season.
It sounds like I wrote something that made fun of your favorite game that you did not like. That was not my intent. My comments about rugby, soccer, and Canadian football are either in jest or an appreciation for things going in different direction. They are all culturally-embedded games with arbitrary rules. Whether a person enjoys one or another or several, is a personal choice. I mostly enjoy American and Canadian football, but enjoy learning about rugby and how it impacts my favorite game.
Not at all, sir. If that is my tone, I will contemplate an edit. I found your piece informative, full of new information (to me) and one of those "inside baseball" articles that gives understanding of the linkages between these things.
I meant to say, and I obviously buried this thesis too far between the lines, how fascinating it is to me that football, a game loved by all who play it, evolved to be playable after high school by only that 1 or 2% of players who truly excel. Coach Gaines opening lines from Friday Night Lights:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ET-ren3CH8
I will in the next few minute try to rewrite my first note to highlight the different directions the two games went with respect to duration of playabiliy. Apologies for coming off snotty or derisive. I miss playing both of those games.
Got it. I played a little touch football after college, as did several of my brothers. It is possible that the increased popularity and attention given to touch football will lead to more people playing it into their 20s, maybe longer.