The Gentlemen of Aspen

Between 1997 and 1999 I lived in a beautiful little town in Colorado that I don't think many people know about. It is called Aspen, Colorado. I've never seen a place so pretty. I have had quite a few adventures there that could take up a blog posting or two.

Aspen has the luxury of having one of the premier Rugby Football Clubs in the entire United States. They have won more titles than any other Club League team. One of the wonderful thing about Rugby is that they'll take almost anyone that wants to try out.

I happened to bump into one of the players in the gym and we started talking about rugby since I played in high school and in college. He asked me to turn up at practice on Thursdays.

I think he was surprised when I showed up.

Rugby is a rough and tumble sport. There is a saying amongst those familiar with real football (soccer to us Americans) and Ruggers. "Football is a gentleman's sport played by hooligans and Rugby is a hooligan's sport played by Gentleman". In fact, the name of the Rugby Team in Aspen is "The Gentleman of Aspen".

Well, on Saturday afternoon we traveled to Vail, Colorado to play the Vail Rugby Club. I had the wonderful opportunity of playing "A" squad since many of the other regular "A" squad was off playing for the American Eagles (the professional team for American Rugby). I typically play one of two positions, hooker or winger. On this particular day, I was tapped to play hooker which was especially challenging since I am 5'3" and my two props were over 6' tall. Once we were locked together and they stood up, my feet were at least a foot off the ground.

During some especially brutal scrums, I got pulled and flipped over the pack and kicked repeatedly in the ribs and kidneys. Fun was had by all.

Our team was easily handling the Vail squad and at half period, we decided to switch me to the winger position.

By this point, I have pretty much earned a lot of respect of the members of the team because I always give my all during practices. Since I was playing winger, I was in a good position to score if the opportunity arises. People on the sidelines were offering rounds of drinks to anyone who passed me the ball and it resulted in a try (the equivalent of a touchdown in American Football).

Needless to say, after many attempts I still hadn't been able to get across the try line. Then, I got what most players dread.....the "hospital pass". It is called the "hospital pass" because the catching of the ball results in a collision so bad it puts you in the hospital. In my case, all 128 lbs. of me collided into 3 very tall and very heavy guys. I'd say they easily weighed over 700 lbs combined. I went flying like a rag doll and had all that weight on me. I got up, brushed myself off and continued to play. My hand was killing me but on the plus side, my kidneys and ribs didn't hurt anymore.

After the game, we went out drinking, which is a custom with Rugby. I found that icing my hand down with cold beer helped a lot. At the bar two sisters of the players came up to me and told me how tough I was. They thought I was a goner after getting that hospital pass. They told me from their perspective all they saw was my arms and legs flailing around like a cockroach and then the next thing they knew I was running around on the field like nothing had happened.

Well, I went to see a physician that specializes in sports medicine. It turned out that I had an avulsion fracture of the right thumb. It's often referred to as Skier's Thumb. I was casted for 6 months and it still didn't keep me from the Rugby pitch.