Knapp and I are going to shy away from an entire Toe To Toe on the Final Four, because in my mind, there is not much that either of us could write that hasn't been said before. Predictions for tonight's MSU-UNC tilt will come later. So we thought we would give our respective sports some facetime and list a few reasons why you, the sports fan, should come attend a rugby match or a crew race.
I've been playing rugby (admittedly on-and-off) since my freshman winter, but my commitments to this fine student newspaper forced me to take a hiatus from the sport for essentially all of junior year and senior fall. Still, getting back into rugby the last few months has helped me reconnect with the great aspects of the game. So without further ramblings, here are my reasons for coming out to a Dartmouth rugby match:
- The style of play
Rugby is truly a sport that requires both strength and agility. A common misconception is that rugby is just a collection of fat dudes that drink too much and get up on random Saturdays to try to run over players on the other team. Such a strategy -- and trust me, plenty of college club teams adhere to this -- usually only produces a lot of fatigue and a crushing loss for these packs of fatties.
Dartmouth's playing style does not fully shun using strength and size to overpower its opponents. Players go into contact hard, and do not shy away from meeting an opponent to stick a tackle. But equally important for Dartmouth is speed and quickness. Out of these moments of physicality come periods of crisp passing and hard running, as speedsters use their best moves to elude the defense to get to the try zone. Rugby is truly a dynamic game, an interplay between two polar opposite athletic states that culminates in non-stop action.
As flanker and future man of the match Paul Jarvis '12 notes, "Rugby just makes me happy."
- The characters
The men's rugby team has quite the collection of athletes, with enough personalities and skill sets to satisfy every fan. Rugby has players that range from stocky, slightly overweight props, awkwardly tall locks, centers with blazing speed and fullbacks who lack the will power to play defense but occasionally kick the ball pretty well. They come from all walks of life and all parts of campus, creating a truly diverse group.
Consider some of the members of the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club that you could see at a Saturday match. There's Mike DiBenedetto '10 and Zach Foda '09, two true rugby throwbacks, paired with new school guys like Andrew Dete '09, whose insatiable drive to lead yet another Big Green team brought him into the rugby fold (he is currently on the waitlist for captain).
Matt Alkaitis '09 will impress even the casual fan with how hard he tries at anything, a brand of dedication that some (like Nate Brakeley '12) can only hope to replicate. The speed of backs Ry Sullivan '09 and Phil Galligan '09 might make you think they were taking some sort of performance-enhancing substances (but unlike Barry Bonds, they weren't). And don't forget Nick Downer '11 and Chris Downer '11, whose slight resemblances to each other often confuse opposing players.
- The setting
Dartmouth rugby boasts one of the nicest collegiate rugby facilities on the East Coast, arguably in the nation.
The Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse, just north of the medical school and across from the golf course, is a majestic edifice complete with a lounge and high-definition television, flanked by two well-groomed rugby pitches (fields). Surrounding it all are the beautiful woods of New Hampshire, and there's no prettier sight during the fall than to come stand above Brophy Field to take in a Dartmouth rugby match. Heck, it's only a two-minute drive from the Green, too.
Now back to basketball. You've got to give Michigan State a lot of credit for beating a very good UConn team on Saturday night. The Spartans went hard to the boards, and kept up the pressure into the second half to close out the game. Also, you can't top the story of an in-state team playing for college basketball's most coveted prize in Detroit, a city that has been absolutely rocked by the economy and the problems of the American auto industry.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, did what everybody expected them to do. They outran Villanova in transition, got great play from Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, and it was almost unfair how accurate the Tar Heels were from three-point range. Sure, the Wildcats made a bit of a surge in the second half, but honestly, that semifinal was over about five minutes into the game.
So my pick? I'd love to see the Spartans win one for Detroit and the state of Michigan, and they'll certainly have home-court advantage tonight. But UNC is just too well-rounded and talented for Michigan State to match up against effectively, and the Spartans won't have the firepower to come back from an early deficit. This won't be as bad as the last time these two met in Detroit in December, but the same team will go home with the victory. UNC by nine.
