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MERMURS
FROM THE DEEP 8-24-04
I want to thank all the teams and referees that participated
this
past Saturday in the 7th annual Santa Barbara 7's. The level
of
play/refereeing, camaraderie, and positive attitude of all
the teams
made it a great day for rugby.
Women's Open
Cup Champions - UC San Diego, runner-up - So Cal Griffins
Plate Champions - Oxy Olde Girls, runner-up - UCSB
Men's Open
Cup Champions - Grunion, runner-up - Oxy Olde Boys
Plate Champions - Kern County, runner-up - SLO
Bowl Champions - Celtics, runner-up - Cal Lutheran Old Boys
Men's Teams: sb grunion, sb torpedoes, cal Lutheran
old boys, Apple
Valley Finlanders, los angeles, San Fernando, santa monica,
slo,
kern county, occidental old boys, Godzilla 7's, ucla.
Women's
Teams: So Cal Griffins, ucsb, ucsd, oxy olde girls.
I especially want to thank all the volunteers that made the
SB 7's
tournament possible & such a success this year.
Judge, Bob, Jerry &
Hannah, Tim Metcalf, Will, and Ian for running the food/beer
booth.
Tia for the great t-shirts. Gerry, Troy, Heather, Wren
for their
help in the Canterbury tent, Kevin & Aruna for their organization
of
the referees & sound system, Jeff & Judge & Perry
for their extra
efforts on Friday putting together the bleachers & field
setup, Tim
Lew for organizing all the Grunion sides during the day, Ellis
for
being the first & oldest Grunion at the field on Saturday
helping
with setup, Geoff for the use of his truck, and for everyone
else
that came up on Friday evening to setup or who stuck around
on
Saturday night to help takedown. The event was a huge
success and
all the visiting teams & refs enjoyed the Grunion hospitality,
nobody got hurt, and we raised some good money for the club
& picked
up some gear for the season.
The event wouldn't have been possible without our sponsors
which
included the FIRESTONE WALKER BREWERY, CANTERBURY OF NEW ZEALAND,
and MID-STATE BANK & TRUST.
Onto rugby.MERMURS FROM THE DEEP.The Grunion won the Cup Final
vs.
the Oxy Olde Boys, 29-24, for the first time in seven years.
Oxy
has been on form all summer and presented a huge challenge
to the
Grunion. The first half saw the Oxy boys finish on top
with two
tries to one. The 2nd half subs brought on a wealth
of experience
for the Grunion with Mark Kelly, Troy, and Ben Bush taking
the field
which added a strong defensive element and some fresh legs.
The
pressure resulted in some fast incredible tries to Ben Bush,
Tim
Lew, and Merman, Ryan "Pre-fontaine", whose pace &
timing on the
day was just too good. Oxy put the game within 5 points
with a late
try under the posts, however a final try by the Grunion sealed
the
game. Honorable mention goes to Troy for his semi-final
performance
against LARC with 3 tries in the 2nd half & his last minute
try vs.
the Godzillas to clinch the win in pool play. The Torpedoes
qualified for the Men's Plate competition, however fell short
to
Kern in the semi-finals. Full credit to all the Grunion
who brought
their boots out. We had close to 30 guys trying to pick-up
games
with the two sides and filling in to help other teams throughout
the
day.
Ladies
Rugby: UCSD vs. Grifins
In the women's bracket, UC San Diego were too tough for the
SCRFU
Griffins side. UC San Diego won two close games vs.
the Griffins in
pool play and then again in the Cup Final. They had
speed to burn.
The Oxy Olde Girls fought off a valiant effort from the local
side,
Bow's hoes in the Plate Final.
On a parting note, It was great seeing all the guys out on
Saturday
night at Sharkeez celebrating the day. The best part
was seeing the
comraderie between some of the Grunion's biggest rivals in
LARC,
Oxy, and SFV, over a few beers. That's what rugby is
all about.
MER
Ken, President
Grunion RFC
7's
Burger Crew
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