From the October 31, 2014, Chicago Tribune "Emerging sport gets day on the big stage" by Chris Hine.
"Rugby is an intensely physical game, played without pads, in which broken bones and battered bodies are common. The sport is also remarkable for the toughness of its participants and the intense camaraderie formed between teammates and foes alike. It is a culture unfamiliar to most Americans--but that is changing."
Saturday rugby will have one of its biggest moments in Chicago when the best team in rugby, New Zealand's All Blacks will take on the USA Eagles at Soldier Field in Chicago before a 61,000 sell-out crowd, the biggest-ever for a rugby match in this country. (The All Blacks take their name from the color of their uniforms in case you're wondering.)
And, rugby makes its Olympic debut in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Chicago has two rugby clubs that play at the top level of U.S. competition, the Griffins and Lions.
Over the last two decades, rugby has become one of the fastest growing team sports in our country. According to the Rugby World Cup, currently 1,130,000 Americans are involved in it, yet most people don't know much about it.
The Chicago Area Rugby Union says that the Chicago-area has 41 rugby clubs, including some women's clubs, up from 26 twenty years ago.
And, I Am Sure a Big Fan. --RoadDog
Being an account of some things I'm interested in, what I'm doing, and reflections on my past, especially music.
Listen to this man. Seven years of college, you know. Trying to reason with 2020 and, now, 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment