From Awful to Awesome

Happy 25th to The University of Cincinnati Rugby Team

Long ago, in a time and place far away from where I am today, I was an athlete.  And twenty-six and a half years ago I was a member of a laughable rugby team, one of the worst ever.  We were beyond terrible. We were a joke. We sometimes had a hard time getting fifteen guys on the pitch by kickoff, we yelled at each other during games and consistently at practices, and the University of Cincinnati lost all of it's union matches in the fall of 1989.  We were so bad that by the holiday break, we were hearing regular speculation that UC would likely not have a rugby team when we resumed classes the following fall.  We were an embarrassment to the school, the Queen City, our friends and families that came to see us get beat up, and frankly ourselves.  I'm not being overly critical, I'm just being honest.  It was sad. 

Now, in our defense, none of us knew how to play rugby when we sat down for our first college lectures.  The team was made up of athletes like me; football, basketball, soccer, and hockey players, runners and wrestlers too, but no experienced ruggers.  On top of this, we didn't have full time coaches nor any designated field or training space.  Compared to other sports teams on campus we were like orphan gypsies.  What we did have were some rock solid volunteer coaches.  In addition, we made the most of Cincinnati's public fields to practice and play our matches, but what drove us during our ineptness was our genuine passion for the sport of rugby. 

After our pitiful fall season at the end of '89, something surprising happened the following spring... the Bearcat Rugby Team started to figure lots of things out and... we started winning.  We won several key games and racked up a handful of victories in some big Spring Tournaments.  Then, before summer break, we scrambled around and managed to get some budget money from UC for the next academic year.  

I wouldn't say this reversal came easy, but it happened and it was a cool thing to witness.  First off, as a group, we made a conscious effort to be more optimistic and put forth a solid effort as a team to squash negative or divisive comments.  We also learned how to really work hard as a team on and off the field.  We got better at playing rugby, but we also figured out how to recruit and retain players, we became better organized, got smarter with our budget and fund raising, and we started to simply communicate more effectively during games and practices which carried over to all the other things we did as a team.  This all helped us turn things around quickly and in a big way.  

When we laced up our boots in September we kept winning and we qualified for the National Championships.  Just a year before we hadn't been able to win a game in the Ohio Union, but twelve months after we found ourselves grouped with the top sixty-four college teams in the country.

In the spring of 1991, the first four rounds of the National Tournament were hosted by Ohio State in Columbus.  We cruised past the University of Tennessee in Round 1, easily knocked out Slippery Rock U. in the second round, but we didn't get past the Buckeyes in our Round 3 match-up.  It was a close game, but they came away with the win.

We'd had an unexpected and unimaginable run that put us in solid contention for the championship, but we came up short.  However, we did something that had seemed impossible eighteen months prior and finished with a final ranking in the Top Ten.     

The University of Cincinnati Rugby Football Club - Spring 1992

Hard to believe it's been 25 years.  Three cheers for UC Rugby!  Hip, Hip, Hooray!  Hip, Hip, Hooray!  Hip, Hip, Hooray!

...to be continued.

Memories of Rugby - (June 2, 2014)

Trent

bloodsweatandpigsears@hotmail.com

Memories of Rugby

Playing rugby for
The Univ. of  Cincinnati
in the 90's

As I've mentioned before, the radio has always held some significance on my job-sites when I'm working alone.  (See Appreciation For The Radio.)  Every Monday, sports radio host Dan Patrick invites listeners to phone in to share their best and worst of the weekend.  Although I didn't call, it got me thinking and the best for me was the Collegiate Sevens Championships on Sat. and Sun.  It was great stuff; well produced, good commentary, beautiful to watch, expansive views of the plays developing from above mixed in with seamless angles from the field level.  I got lost in it for a couple hours and wanted more when it was over!  Thank you NBC. 

Like rehabbing an abandoned or condemned property,
playing rugby can look rougher than it actually is.

Anyway, I played 4 years of college rugby. The sport is the link between soccer and football so it shares traits with each; non-stop action like soccer, full-on contact like football (without the protective equipment.)  Playing college rugby was way beyond fun, but because it's so violent, it was sometimes hard for my friends and family to watch the games.  Each season I'd try to help them worry less by saying, "It's not as bad as it looks."  I understood why they had concerns because when I watched it, I saw what made them cringe.  It's intense, looks even worse than rough, and appears vicious much of the time.  However, when I was in there, it didn't feel so dangerous and I loved it.  And that intense craziness added to the thrill and there was nothing like emerging from that chaos with the ball and scoring some points for my teammates. 

I want You to save an old house
that no one else wants.

Renovating an extremely run-down house is comparable in that it looks harder than it seems for me as I'm working my way through each phase of the project.   And even being condemned or abandoned properties, it's not that bad.  It's not as impossible as it sometimes seems to the people in my life and oftentimes the folks in the neighborhood where I'm working.  Getting past the fact that nobody else wants these properties may be a big part of it, but just because they've been overlooked doesn't mean they're lost causes.  And the thing is, for me it's something that I totally enjoy with a passion that compares to the feelings/attitude that I had during my college rugby days.  When I'm there dirty, tired, (and maybe a little bloody), I feel at home.  And when I make it to the end, I feel that same sort of relieved satisfaction.

Finally, I need to realize that just like playing rugby, maybe renovating a Pig's Ear is not for everyone either.  However, if you have that rehabbing dream, don't let those overly concerned friends/loved ones or episodes of Renovation Realities scare you.  Hear them out and learn from the mistakes shared on that show, do your homework, and if you want to renovate a house, I'm here as always to encourage you to go for it.   And... if you want to play rugby, it's an awesome sport, so find a club near you, lace em' up, and give that a try too.  

Trent  
bloodsweatandpigsears@hotmail.com
You may also like Appreciation For The Radio.



Over-the-Rhine - Part 2

Over-the-Rhine - Part 1 (October 7, 2013)

In the summer of 1989, I lived on West McMicken Avenue in Cincinnati.  W.Mc. is a main street through the Over-the-Rhine district until it crosses Vine Street and becomes East McMicken.  I lived on the fringe of this part of the city where this street intersects West McMillan Street that leads up to the University of Cincinnati. 

I lived in a house with other male college students on summer break so I was both fearless and somewhat clueless about living in this sketchy part of town.  The rent was cheap and that was significant.  There was a local bar across the street named The Play Pen that the police visited often in the late hours and although my roommates heard gunshots in the evenings, I never did. 

These were the streets I was running.  Not too dangerous during the day
and it's easy to see that this area had potential.

In those days, I was a college rugby player.  I spent hours in the morning running the streets of the OTR and Clifton while I listened to my R.E.M. and Echo and the Bunnymen cassettes on my Walkman.  Even back then I had goals and dreams of buying and renovating run down properties so I saw the entire Over-the-Rhine part of the city as a neighborhood with tremendous potential.  Not only were these blocks loaded with solid, well-built brick buildings, but this area had unique history that included a time when Central Parkway was the Miami & Erie Canal that ran from the Ohio River up to the Great Lakes. 


The Canal that established the southern border of the Over-the-Rhine
before the Subway Tunnels and Central Parkway.

So as I ran those streets and trained for my sport, I fell in love with the Over-the-Rhine.  Now, years later I'm sad that we didn't get together.  I never got my chance to take on an old building in the OTR, but I enjoy checking in on the area from my home in South Carolina.  I'm excited that things are happening up there.  I'm happy for this special district and glad for Cincinnati.  Although I'm sorry to be missing out on the OTR revitalization, I'm excited to see it happening and envious of the developers, investors, and contractors that are there making it happen without me.

Over-the-Rhine today

My dreams have lead me away from The Queen City.  I'm reading the news of the progress happening in the OTR and now looking forward to the day I can visit to see how the area has been rediscovered.  And maybe, I'll be able to share this special neighborhood with my family someday down the road, and we can walk the streets admiring the architecture after lunch at the new Over-the-Rhine Skyline Chili.  I love and miss Cincinnati.

bloodsweatandpigsears@hotmail.com