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Pre-season 04-05
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Kevin went to the AGM on Saturday on behalf of the
club...thanks Kevin! 2007 Division One Club Banquet & Awards Finished
the budgeting and here are the costs for the weekend... May 23rd, 2006 I've
put together the itinerary for San Diego in 3 weeks time...the info.
is for players & supporters. I hope to see as many Grunion supporters
as possible for this special occasion and the players will do their
best to continue the GRUNION RUN. Just
got confirmation guys...Kenneth Karena will be joining us for the
season this Wednesday night at training. Kenneth has completed two
years at the NZ Rugby Academy, is a talented flanker, and we're
looking forward to him making an impact in the team. If you can
make it out to training tonight and we'll grab a few beers afterwards
to welcome Kenneth. Jan 17th, 2006 Training
this week: We'll be running on Tues./Thur. night at 7:00 at
SBCC for those interested. Jan 4th, 2006 Training
tonight at Elings Park Softball Fields has been moved to Thursday
night since the fields are still wet. Next
Match...January 7th...League Opener vs. Kern County at Elings Park The
Christmas party on Saturday night was hosted by Fossilater Bob &
Jody Schwartz at their gorgeous home in Hope Ranch and was by far
the classiest party I've been to as a Grunion...it was great to
see all the guys and their partners dressed up enjoying cosmopolitans
(Promise not to make fun of Doug for drinking fruity drinks) from
the ice sculpture and celebrating the Holiday Season after a great
rugby day...Morgan was on hand with his very pregnant wife Lisa,
and they'll be moving to West Virginia in January...Whitey was there
with wife Jen and rumored to preparing for a comeback in 2007 (How
about it Jen?)...Bobby Riggs had on a tie...Lance showed us how
to really dress-up...The Metcalfs had their newborn daughter in
wrap...and of course all the usual suspects were on hand, cleaned
up a bit though. Thanks to Bob & his awesome wife Jody for putting
on the party, look forward to next year! 14th Dec 2005 This
Saturday, 12/17th we are hosting Back Bay I&II for the last
pre-season game of the season. Due to the Christmas Banquet at the
Schwartz's on Saturday night at 6:30PM, we'll be kicking off the
1st XV game at 12:00. Numbers have been low so if you plan on being
in town for the banquet, bring your boots on Saturday. If you haven't
RSVP'd for the banquet please do so. 5th Dec 2005 This
week, there will be no training on Tues. & Thur night as we
continue to look for suitable practice facilities for the upcoming
season. If guys want to get some extra conditioning in, plan on
meeting at the SBCC track at 7:00PM on Tues. & Thur. night,
just stay off the field. OMBAC has cancelled on the match this Saturday
so the plan is to have a fun training run this Saturday at Elings
Park with a barbeque to follow. The Westmont College squad will
probably join us well. Why don't we plan on 10:00 training sesssion
with barbeque and beers to follow at the field. We're
hosting Barracus & the Univ. of San Francisco this Saturday
at Elings Park. .
Anyone who wants to play this weekend come to both trainings as
we have several players gone this Saturday and will have to shuffle
some positions around. 14 Nov 2005 Mark
met up with Troy and I (&Merman) in Dublin this past Saturday
for the Blacks/Ireland match and came up with 3 tickets in the nick
of time to watch the All Blacks put on an exhibition. Not even a
fire in the stadium the night before could stand between us and
a once in a lifetime experience...watching the All Blacks put on
an awesome rugby exhibition...combined with the Irish passion &
tradition with Lansdowne Road as a backdrop...and a few pints of
Guinness to boot! Paddy, Dave and Alan were great hosts and we hope
to see them in Santa Barbara for a season soon! MER Just
a reminder that this Saturday we'll be up at the Park with all the
other local rugby sides for the kick-off the pre-season...including
the OLD Boys and UCSB Women's rugby sides. Bring your boots and
look to jump in for a couple 20 minute halves. Look forward to touching
the ball again and catching up with everyone, be sure and invite
any potential players/club members for a run! Oct 3rd,2005 I hope everyone is staying in shape and enjoying the off-season...the annual Santa Barbara Rugby Day and kick-off of the pre-season is only 5 weeks away. Kevin and I have lined up a solid 6 week pre-season to gel the team and get both old & new players on the same page come our January 7th home opener against recently promoted Kern County. Like last season games vs. the Griffins and Div. I clubs the Unicorns & SFC...OMBAC and Back Bay will test our metal...we've got 5 training weeks in preparation for those matches.
Here is a list of new players to the area/club this season...and I hope there will be more come November...keep recruiting! Kiwi Simon Trainings will be held every Tues. & Thur. night from 6-8PM at the Santa Barbara Junior High (Directions on web-site). We are working out the details of a sponsorship with Maury Hayashida's (Grunion '01-02) physical therapy clinic (Hayashida & Associates Physical Therapy) which will include available treatment to players during the week and will have trainer Chad Erskine running 30 minute rugby-specific workout sessions from 6-6:30 at the beginning of each training.
Take a look at the attached schedule (Also includes Nationals Dates/Venues) and try and plan work/vacation trips around bye weekends...also look forward to the formal Christmas Banquet which Bob Schwartz will be hosting at his house in Hope Ranch.
MER Sept 21st 2005 Very good meeting last night (15th Sept), we had 25
club members attend as well as some new faces. Some interesting
info. for those not at the meeting... Ken
Those in attendance: Tim Ahern, Wormzer, Kevin, Erith, Tate, Lt. Dan, Jeff J., Ken, F'n Steve, Arturo, Ellis, Bob Riggs, Geoff, Keith, Judge, Evan, Erik, Ian, Wren, Spence, Ed, Jon Jones, new to the club...Andrew Elliot, David Prigge, Mina Doulabi We spent an owesome day up in SLO competing in the
delicious TRI-TIP rugby 7's hosted by our good friends from San
Luis Obispo. August 8th, 2005 Results from Fiesta 7's Oxy Cup Champions..defeated Grunion The Torpedoes dusted off a tough loss to the Fresno boys in pool play to defeat the SoCal Mutts in the Bowl Semi's and then scrapped through with a win against the Secret 7's...courtesy of a game saving tackle by cousin Erik Torjesen's little brother Luke...first game of rugby ever!...and yes he is Norwegian! Oxy Olde Boys-Cup Champions..defeated Grunion in Cup Final...in
the Cup Semi-finals Grunion defeated Red Mountain (From Arizona)
and Oxy Olde Boys defeated Fresno. And the Seven’s in Heaven women’s team tied the Surfers in the first match and defeated the Surfers in the second match. Thus, making the Heaven’s team the women’s Fiesta Champions!!!!!
Thanks for all of the support from the sidelines, we couldn’t have done it without you guys :)
Sarah Bow August 1st, 2005 HI, two things: 1. Taco Booth & Fiesta Taco Booth setup on Saturday was smoooooth....thanks to 15 able
bodies showing up, the taco booth stands tall once again and now
cooler thanks to Sparky and his new palm covered roof. 2. ERAC'S 7S Saturday saw the Incredible 7s squad selected from Grunions best, competing in the famous ERAC 7's Rugby tournament. The Day started early, too early, but we were out there ready to show some sparkling rugby to the rest of the world. Cruel destiny wanted LA to be our first victim for the day, maintaining our now long winning spell against the beloved neighbors. We were merciless, with Rico opening the score and the UCSB creme de la creme Marquiiiiise and RUUdy scoring three more tries. Marquise in particular made an impression by breaking four tackles in a fifty meters frenzy and scored under the posts. The day couldn't have started better. Next came Pasadena. They looked big and scary and even a good try from Rico did not prevent them from keeping the game tied. But then it came, from nowhere, was it a bird? was it a plane?...no just Kenny, late, who came flying on to the field in the second half, giving the team new hopes of success. And so it happened, we won by one try. Notable was again the effort from UCSB finest, Marquiiiise and Sean, with displays of power and speed. (just need to work on their hands now :)). After not much rest, we had to face a new challenge, division I dream team OMBAC, who had just recently qualified for nationals. It was ugly, we did not touch the ball and Kenny got the only satisfaction of the game by putting a couple of big hits while Jeff was experimenting his famous backpasses (not too well). The real Highlight of the day came from the last match against San Fernando. the winner was to face OMBAC again in the final. After an inspiring speech from Coach KB, we went to the field ready to battle. The game started well and we got the better edge after Kenny threw a cheeky football style pass from the lineout to the centerfield for Enrico's reception, taking the defense by surprise and scoring between the posts. The conversion was a disaster and we did not capitalise on easy points. SF quickly returned us the favour with some lame styleless try, no class. But SF did not know our secret weapon, new recruit John, who proved to be an excellent finisher after an action developed from a scrum. He flew down his wing to score diving in the corner. it was poetry,it was beautiful. rugby at its purest...the other try was setup by Ian (other new guy) who drew two players on to him and off-loaded to Rico for another try. Unfortunately SF caught up with us and with one more successful conversion, they won by two points. Never mind! it was a good day after all with some good friends. An honorable mention goes to other two addition to the team this year: Liutenant Dan, who recently moved from San Diego (which apparently translate whale's vagina... in german) and italian born Pierluigi Ferri, who is spending the summer in Santa Barbara learning English. Till the next MER I need everyone to go onto the web-site in the next day or two and sign-up for a couple of shifts, especially the day shifts. Rico has made it super easy to sign-up and now everyone knows who the slackers are... mysignup.com/tacoThis Sunday morning we are meeting at the SB Municipal
Tennis Courts off of the Salinas St. Exit at 7:00AM to move the
booth over to De La Guerra Plaza and set everything up. There is
a lot of heavy lifting so we need all the young bucks to step up!
This is a big volunteering week for the club with the tournament
and all so we need everyone to step it up! Next week will account
for 1/4 of the club's annual budget. The awards went to Rico (MVBack), Ken (MVForward),
Ian (MVTorpedoe), Grey Ghost Award (Renamed for Tim Ahern who is
now exempt from future nomincations...congrats!), and Doug &
Lorri Lynch (Club Supporters of the Year). We also recognized Bob
Schwartz for his hardwork in resurrecting the Fossils and Judge,
Jerry & Riggs for their work as club officers, Arin & Bow
who were close runner-ups for club supporters, and Mark Kelly &
Geoff who pushed Tim for the Most Inpiration award. The evening
was a good sendoff for the Schmidts (5 years w/ club), Jones (3
years), Beckett (2 years), and Butters (2 years)...we know you'll
all back, but you'll be missed next season for sure! I appreciate
all your hardwork and contributions to the club. July 21st, 2005 1. Taco Booth Sign up sheet U can now sing up for helping with the Taco Booth on mysignup.com/taco, for any questions just contact me. 2. End of the Year Party The End of the Year Party is this Saturday from 6:30-9:30 or so at the Lynch's household at 405 Canon Dr in San Roque. Since we are into the summer, dress will be summer casual...Doug & Lorri have a hot tub so bring a suit if you want to take a dip. I need everyone to bring a dish (meat, dip, salad, etc.)...think of your specialty...also bring a case of beer or bottle wine depending on what you & yours want to drink. We'll have several coolers of ice. Doug has a small barbeque so if you are bringing meats...try and bring cooked stuff. E-mail what you plan on bringing so I can figure out what we'll still need. Look forward to catching up with everyone and kicking off the summer in fine Grunion fashion...Fiesta is only 2 weeks away! Also this will be a good time to see off Jon & Elyn who are moving back to New York and Steve who is taking a comm'l R/E Job down in Newport. MER! 3. 7's in the sand Tough days for the glorious selection who went to huntington beach for what most of us would call their ever first 7's on the sand. Players from all over the world were present today, Irish, Italians, South Africans, Jews and some locals. The day started early on Saturday. The shortage of players and no jerseys were prospecting nothing good for the day but when the first game came at 9 o clock, in spite of the adversities and peril, we produced some awesome display of rugby skills and team unity, winning 19-0 against Caltech (a bunch of college boys). Notable the performance of South African born Erith who scored two tries, one in particular where he made a 30 meters break and scored despite finding sand extremely unhelpful ground and almost tripping himself on the try line. An example of true strength, man against nature, Erith against the sand. With an important victory under our belt, our confidence sky rocketed and we all forgot the bitterness for our lazy friends still sleeping in Santa Barbara, who had let us down so badly in a moment of need. All but one. The one and only Joeff Roberts, who confronted single handedly LA morning traffic and joined us just on time for the second match against old rivals OXY. Cocky and overconfident, we got absolutely trashed 50 to nothing, but little did they know that our defeat was merely a way for us to test their strength and find their weaknesses. The day finished smoothly with another victory over Secret 7, with one try scored by Uncle Rico, the game was characterized by an impenetrable defense and loads of sand up our nose. The night passed quietly, in skunky, shabby fifty plus cowboy bar, true Redneck style...lovely. We all went to bed early aware of the other long day awaiting us on Sunday. Sunday morning was not pleasant, with tight neck muscles and sunburns + Paddy had a few too many Irish car Bombs the night before. We made our way slowly towards the beach where we camped out in front of the main field and waited for our first game of the day against the Hood, a bunch of old and dirty south African boys who first kicked our arse 21-0 and than thanked us. No respect!! That was not a good start, we were now obliged to win and fate wanted us to face OXY again for the Plate semi-finals. We could see OXY was overconfident this time and we knew that it would have been their downfall. Well, maybe not, coz we lost again, but this time only 21-0 and we all left the field with our head high!! Thanks to everybody who came down and played: apart from the ones mentioned above we also have Jamie, Timmy, Rudy, Jeremy and Pierluigi. cheers MER July 11th, 2005 Came to Huntington beach this weekend and join us in the 7's in the sand rugby 7's tournament. See www.backbayrfc.com for more details cheers MER Riverside Fends off Grunions’ Challenge
By Brian Lowe Riverside has won the promotion-relegation challenge match against Santa Barbara and will remain in Division I for the 2006 Southern California championship. Riverside was victorious Saturday by 25-8. It was, for the most part, an evenly contested game; although the home team took some time to warm up before taking control of proceedings. Santa Barbara was dominant in the first forty enjoying a territorial advantage, while their scrum pushed Riverside’s pack all over the place, but the teams were even when it came to lineouts and rucks and mauls. The Grunions made the trek from the southern extremities of southern California’s central coast to the Inland Empire, east of Los Angeles, fully intent on making a statement, and through the first thirty minutes they looked the goods. However, from that point onwards, Santa Barbara was shut out and it was pretty much all Riverside. The Killerbees scored four tries to the Grunions’ one, although Santa Barbara led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter and appeared to have the edge. The Grunions, 2005 Southern California Division II champions, opened the scoring in the tenth minute when center AJ Leaupepe launched a rocket that dissected the posts from 42 meters out for a 3-0 lead. Santa Barbara had a chance to extend their lead shortly afterwards when they were attacking inside Riverside’s 22. A Grunion ball carrier was hit with a high shot as he offloaded to Leaupepe, who appeared to be on his way to the try zone, but referee Pete Smith (San Jose) called the play back for the penalty. Santa Barbara got their just deserts a few minutes later though when lock Wren Wise forced the ball in a pushover try for an 8-0 scoreline. The game see-sawed for the next ten minutes or so, before Riverside worked their way into the opposition’s end, where captain and halfback Nelo Lui slotted a penalty goal in the 30th minute to close the gap to 8-3. Just prior to the break, center Vaipului Paea scored the try of the game when he raced 40 meters, shedding tacklers along the way, to dot down out wide for Riverside’s first five-pointer and a tied scoreline of 8-8 at the half. Lui broke the deadlock early in the second period when he made one of his trademark 25-meter dashes along the touchline to score in the corner. Tongan-born Lui scooped up the ball from a scrum, caught the defense napping on the blindside, and was untouched for a 13-8 lead. Within ten minutes, Riverside was in again, this time big second rower Omeke Unga, a Claremont College graduate, forced his way over the Grunion try line from close in and the Killerbees were up 18-8. Seeing their DI aspirations beginning to evaporate in the heat of a southern Cal summer’s day, Santa Barbara rallied and tried to mount a comeback, but their efforts came to naught when they turned the ball over in their own quarter, allowing replacement wing Robert Moore to skirt the cover defense and run around to score under the posts. Paea converted and Riverside was home and hosed at 25-8. The Grunions fought until the final whistle and came close to breaking the Riverside line a couple of times late in the piece, but in the end, they simply ran out of gas. “After all the headaches of the season, finally it came down to this,” Nelo Lui told American Rugby News. “We showed that we still want to stay in First Division. Santa Barbara showed some good stuff, but in the end it was a test of who had the energy to finish the game. What happened last season we leave behind, and next year we move forward.” It was a big disappointment for Santa Barbara, which has been striving for promotion to the top tier for the past three seasons. “We had a sin bin and that kind of turned the tide a little bit,” added Santa Barbara captain Ken Jacobsen. “They scored a quick try as soon as we had that sin bin. I thought we had the momentum, we had two pushover scrums and converted one for a try, but in the last twenty minutes our forwards just couldn’t get the go-forward. “We were missing about eight starters, but I was pretty proud of the guys coming together eight weeks after the season’s over and trying to play a competitive game. We’re disappointed and next year we’ll be gunning to get up.” Santa Barbara lodged a submission with the Southern California
Rugby Football Union in April asking that the game be played in
May at the end of the regular season, but the Union rejected that
date. June 8th, 2005 Grunion, I apologize for the uncertainty regarding
the Riverside match...Riverside appealed the league decision to
have the match on June 11th and the League Executive Committee met
tonight and decided to move the game to June 25th despite our protests.
This week lets plan on playing touch at Chase Palm Park on Tuesday & Thursday evening. Plan on meeting around 6:30 Our Timmy makes the headlines in Kiwi's paper!! (click on it!) + 5 UCSB Ladies are called
May 24th, 2005 The weekend started off with an awesome team dinner
at Busker's Irish Pub & Rest which was sponsored by the Full score from National Tournament in Newport: Saturday: Grunions vs Dallas Reds, won 31-7 Scoreboard: tries(4): AJ, ACE, Rico(2) Sunday: Grunions vs Boca Raton, lost 25-18 Scoreboard: tries(2): AJ, ACEconversions:1/2 Rico penalties:2/2 Rico Quick match report, totally dominated on Saturday
with forwards doing an excellent job in the second half against
a strong wind. Less effective on Sunday, with Boca's forwards stealing
most of the lineouts and being able to score two tries on rolling
mauls. Game was tied 18-18 with 5 minutes remaining and Grunions
attacking in Boca's 22. Unfortunately yet another lost lineout gave
the opportunity to Boca to score a try, running multiple phases
along the length of the field (credit to them)!! We loose and it
hurts a little! I know the guys and the entire sideline were Loads of people to thank: Lisa and Tim for the dinner on Friday night, KB for looking after us like a big papa', Dr Jones family for the kind lunch, all the supporters who came to Newport with us (Rich Cotter, Lisa Ahern, Sabre Fewell, Sarah Bow, Arin 'TB' Oliver, Ugo Ferri, Ken & Joan Jacobsen, Jen & Jackson Kelly, Aunt Janet Goedicke, Bob Riggs, Bob Schwartz) and those who could not (everybodyelse) but were thinking about us! A bigger thank to our ever present president and newborn tour operator Kenny (he is available for any holiday bookings!!) May 21-22nd, 2005 May 3rd, 2005 Check out the Brackets for DII National Championship
in Fort Adams State Park http://www.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/02/championships/show.pl?competitionId=114 http://www.usarugby.org/championships/ClubMenII/index.html May 2nd, 2005 Grunion 28 vs. Oxy Olde Boys 18 4/23/05, Elings Park Score board: tries(4):
Rico (assist from Sparky Gonzales), AJ, Troy, Ace
Saturday 30th April - So Cal Championship Final at Elings ParK...Kick off at 2pm
April 18th, 2005 4/16/05 Score board: tries:
April 11th, 2005 4/9/05 - Elings Park Score board: tries(1):
Sparky
Also need to mention F'n Steve who helped man the concession booth in addition to setting up the field in the AM and then playing with the Torpedoes... MER April 4th, 2005 4/2/05, Riverbottom Field Score board: tries(11): Sparky(2), AJ(2), Dr Jones(2),
Rico(2), Stevie(1), Ace(1), Wormser(1)
3/26/05 @ LARC Score board: tries(6):
Sparky(2), AJ(2), BJ(1), Rico(1) Article By Alex
Goff: Santa Barbara Defeats LA in SoCal DII March 27, 2005 – Speed and skill in the backline saw the Santa Barbara Grunions defeat Los Angeles 44-19 in the Southern California DII league Saturday, placing the Grunions alone in first place. "The guys have been itching to play after three weeks off and we always get up for the LARC games," said Grunion president Ken Jacobsen. ...we love the intensity of the rivalry, and it's fitting that at the end of the season we are meeting LARC twice in three weeks home and away and possibly again in the playoffs. We have heaps (Ace & Stevie would be proud) of respect for LARC and the go-forward their forwards can create." So the task was for the Santa Barbara forwards to stay steady and provide good ball. Aaron "Ace" Barlow was also a key player, moving from fullback to flyhalf to cover regular #10 Troy Jacobsen, who was out of town on business. Barlow just returned from playing flyhalf for Westmont College on their Spring Tour of New Zealand. And this they all did, with the backs running roughshod, directed by Barlow. For Los Angeles, too, it was a big game. "It was our biggest match of the season so far," said LA coach Julian Bristow. "Santa Barbara were the better team on that day. Their backs proved the difference with great speed and skill." Although up for the game, LA was lacking a few key players, and this might make a difference in future matchups. Santa Barbara knew all this, too, and took full advantage. We had been preparing for this one, however, we were without some of our key players in key positions. It seemed SB knew and attacked our new guys relentlessly. LA looks forward to the return of Eddie McKenna, Bozho Deranja, James Swanwick and James Hemkin in the coming weeks. "We have two weeks to get our game back on track for the rematch,"
said Bristow March 25th The UCSB will be hosting/playing in the Sweet 16 on
Friday, April 15th & Sunday April 16th. Purdue & UCSB are
confirmed...other possible teams are Texas A&M, Wyoming or Utah...UCSB
go in as the number 2 see. March 21st, 2005 Training resumes this week. Tues. night at SBCC track
at 6:30PM. Thur. night at La Colina Junior High at 8:00PM....thur.
night trainings for the next 6 weeks will be at La Colina Junior
High (For Directions go to the web-site). March 18th,2005 Keep well trained lads!! LA is only a week away check out latest from Westmont NewZealand Tour March 15th,2005 10 days left to the big game in LA...Boys are enjoying themself down in Kiwis Land. At least the sun is back over herein Santa Barbara. Check the latest update of the Westmont NewZealand Tour March 7th, 2005 3/5/05
March 4th, 2005 New schedule for this weekend games: Fri. Night @ 8:30 pm , Robbs Field (turf), UCSB vs. Arizona (B-side match at 10:00 pm) Sat. Mar. 5th @ Elings Sun @ 10:00 am, Storke Field, UCSB vs. ASU, (B-side to follow @
11.30 am) 2/26/05, Elings Park After 3 weeks off the guys were itching to touch the ball, probably
more interested in putting in some hits on defense...as it seemed
like we played defense for a good part of the game on Saturday.
The Grunion were led be insipirational leader Timmy Ahern, who put
in some bone crunching hits on the Oxy boys and the defensive line
held Oxy tryless on the day (we've only let in 1 try this year).
Oxy was unfortunate not to score on a couple of occasions with the
last pass going astray. With the ball in the hand the Grunion were
a bit rusty, the forwards scored a try with a rolling maul but turned
over possession too much for our liking. The back-line was put on
the backfoot a lot by a strong Oxy line, however strong running
from Rico (1 try), Ace & Sparky (1 try) made the difference.
Troy and Wormzer were able to contain the Oxy runners on defense
and Troy did a good job with boot, striking an impressive drop goal.
This was a good Oxy side and I'm sure they are looking forward to
the return trip down South on April 16th. February 22,2005 It rains like another universal flood! All games cancelled! SoCal soaks! February 14,2005 2/10/05, Elings Park, Westmont 15 vs UCSB II 17Glorious defeat for the Westmont boys on a cold Thursday at Elings park. After being down 17-3 after just few minutes into the second half. They came back in the last 20 minutes of the match scoring a try on the flag, which was then brilliantly converted by the westmont fullback. The Westmont machine then went on to score a second try, galvanized by a soaring winning spirit and also thanks to the less than brilliant UCSB defense, who thought it was too dark to play by then. The missed conversation deprived the hosts of a fair draw for the day. Much credit to them. Jokes apart, the game was controlled by the UCSB forwards who did a lot of work throughout the match and offered many opportunities to the backs, whose game was instead characterized by bad decision-making, poor penetration and even more horrible defense. As soon as Westmont realized UCSB had holes the size of Texas out in the backs, they rightly started spinning the ball wide, which resulted in the two tries and near victory. Uncle Rico February 7, 2005 2/5/05, Elings Park
MER February 1, 2005 What a weekend...UCSB won an awesome game against Cal Poly on Friday night in front of at least 1,000 people, Kevin deserves a lot of credit for his work with the boys and the work they've put in to get to where they are now. The Grunion had another solid win and we have yet to hit our stride...The weekend also had a super low with AJ's concussion & subsequent seizure on Saturday but he came through it OK and spent the night in the hospital. The reaction of the Old Aztecs and player who hit AJ reminds us why we all play this great game. See the match reports below. Grunion Rugby Score: 49 Grunion vs. Old Aztecs 0Date: Jan 28, 2005 Venue: Robb Field, Mission Bay San Diego Score board: tries(7): Rico, Sparky, Butters, Wren, AJ, Wormser, 1 missing conversion: 7/7 Rico penalties: 0 drop goals: 0 Match Summary: The Grunion defeated
the Old Aztecs of San Diego, gaining full points from the match
with 7 tries. The Grunion started slowly but were able to gain control
of the match 10 minutes inplaying a majority of the match in the
Old Aztecs half. The Old Aztecs failed capitalize on a strong backwind
in the first half, instead opting to run the ball at their own peril.
The Grunion seemed to be their own worst enemy, failing to finish
off numerous try attempts within reach of the goaline. Troys boot
and strong backline running kept the Old Aztecs on the backfoot
for the entire 2nd half. The forwards were able to convert a number
of tries from lineouts close to the goaline. The 2nd side match
was marred by poor refereeing allowing the game to get bit physical
and out of hand. The game was called 10 minutes into the 2nd half
when rookie AJ received a knock to the head on a reckless tackle
which started a violent seizure. Fortunately, Francis and number
of Grunion were on hand to bring AJ back to a calm. The Old Aztecs
also had a nurse on hand who was very helpful and along with a few
players were able to hold AJ until the seizure ended. AJ was in
our prayers & thoughts throughout the night as we was in the hospital
for tests & monitoring. AJ was released on Sunday morning with all
the head tests coming back OK, and the same player who hit AJspent
the night with Francis & AJ and then drove both he and Francis all
the way back to Camarillo yesterdayOnly in Rugby! Ill keep everyone
posted on AJs recoverykeep him in your prayers & thoughts. Merman: Rico Gino Ferri Next Game: 2/5/05, Vs. SLO at Elings Park Grunion vs. NC Gurkhas @ Elings Park Grunion 45 Vs North County 13 Grun II 33 Vs NC 12 Merman: Butters Score board: tries(7): Rico, Stevie(2), Wren, Wormser, Dr Jones, 1 missing conversion: 1/3 Dr. Jones, 4/4 Rico penalties: 0 drop goals: 0 The guys were itching to get their first game in after two rain delays and it showed on the field. The Grunion controlled the match with aggressive running & tackling, however offensive play was marked by a number of knock-ons resulting in a stop/start affair in the 2nd half. Probably not the most entertaining match to watch but there was a good crowd on hand being the home opener. The Torpedoes followed up with a solid win finishing strong in the 2nd half. The club also hosted the Westmont vs. Loyola match earlier in the morning. The warriors led by Grunion Jeff Jacobsen fell to Loyola, 3 tries to 1. Titan training on tues. & thur mornings is now from 6:30-7:30AM with Chad. Team Fitness run on tues. night at 6:30PM at SBCC track. Team Rugby training on thur. night from 8-10PM. Next match is this Saturday, 1/29th @ the OLD Aztecs in San Diego. The SB Airbus will pick us up on Saturday morning at 8:00AM at the SBCC track. We'll pick up the ventura County guys at 8:45AM at the Park & Ride lot off of the Las Posas Exit in Camarillo (Not in the strip mall). MER
January 2, 2005 With a little help...
MERMERS FROM THE DEEP Grunion 21- SFV 7 Elings Park... Merman: Jovani The Grunion & SFV met in a last hitout before the begin of the 2005 season. The game was delayed due to referee Greg Millerd, aka Sniff, straining his calf muslce. Aruna was able to fill in for him. As usual, the games between the Grunion & SFV took on an extra edge with a few late tackles and high hits, and some flying boots. After a big hit on the SFV's inside center, the game got a bit out of control in the 2nd period. Since it was a pre-season match Aruna decided to call it early and we enjoyed some food/drink on sidelines. We wish SFV the best in Div. I. Our season opener is on the road on January 8th vs. SO County Gators. We'll begin training the week of Jan. 3rd...training will probably be moved to a different location other than the SBJH as the field has gotten pretty bad there. KEEP UP THE FITNESS & KEEP RECRUITING FOR THE SEASON! We didn't select a Merman on Saturday...I think it is appropriate that we remember Jovani over holidays and our thoughts & prayers should be with his family and close friends. So be sure and raise a toast to Merman over the break. MERry Christmas and Happy New Year! KenMERMURS FROM THE DEEP ELINGS PARK Another great weekend for Santa Barbara Rugby!!...It was awesome to see the first-side front up to the Griffins in a nailbitter, all the new guys with the club mixed in the with the Torpedoes to get a win over Santa Monica II, the UCSB women & men played some dominant rugby, and the Westmont boys challenged Div. I UCLA...and all at the same venue on the same day. Bob, Jerry and Will manned the barbeque and beer garden while everyone got to watch some great rugby all day long. We finished up the day watching the UCSB women put on a very impressive display against the Banana slugs from Santa Cruz (See all the match reports below). We had the pleasure of hosting the NZ Rugby Academy all week with trainings led by their instructors Jim Love (Former Tongan World Cup Coach '03) and Ray and then having their 8 boys on tour mix in with the Grunion & Torpedoes on the Saturday. The UCSB Boys billeted them all week and they are flying out tonight. Saturday night they led the social at Sharkeez with songs & hakas and I think they all plan on returning to Santa Barbara in the near future. Some quality guys & new brothers in rugby. Part of their trip to Santa Barbara was the further the pre-development of a Rugby Academy at SB City College which Kevin is working on....I'll keep you posted. On Saturday....Jeremy lost his wedding band....and Martin left his kit bag at the field. If you know anything shoot me an e-mail. This weekend the club is hosting the Barracus club from San Francisco (Dan & Dane's Club -Grunion from '02-03) at 2:00. The Torpedoes will play their II's at 3:30. Social to follow at Sharkeez. The UCSB men are also hosting UC Davis at 12:00, and Westmont is hosting Cal Poly SLO III's at 11:30. All the games are at Elings Park this Saturday. The UCSB women are traveling to San Diego for the Scrum by the Sea tournament at UCSB...good luck. Match Reports from the weekend... Score: So Cal Griffins 17 Grunion 12 Date: Nov. 6 2004 Venue: Elings Park Match Summary The Southern California representative-side came to Santa Barbara looking for a warm-up game on Saturday for their upcoming USA Rugby Territorial games, and they were lucky to leave with a win as they were matched player for player by the local Grunion. The Grunion took an early lead with a try by rookie flank Jacobsen, who charged down a clearing kick, re-gathered, and touched down for the first score of the game. The Griffins responded with a quick try in the corner from a line-out and it was on for the next 60 minutes with some unforgiving defense from both sides. Both sides showed the signs of an early season hit-out with some poor offense, but the Grunion were able to capitalize on loose play with good turnover ball. The Grunion had 4 scoring opportunities that fell short 5 meters from the goal line. The game finished with both sides pressing for a final try only to be denied by some goal-line defense. Highlights: Rookie Jeff Jacobsens charge down & try in the first 1 minute. MVP: Rico Ferri (Outside Center) Grunion Points Table Tries (5 points): Jeff Jacobsen, Chad Erskine Conversions (2 points): (1 for 2) John Jones Penalty Kicks (3 points): none Next Game: Nov. 13th , vs. Barracus (From San Francisco) kick-off at 2:00PM, Elings Park. Score: Grunion II (Torpedoes) 27 Santa Monica II 22 Date: Nov. 6 2004 Venue: Elings Park Match Summary In their first game of the pre-season the Torpedoes continued their winning form of last year. The club is fortunate to have a lot of depth in a number of positions and has welcomed a number of new players to the club. Erik Torjesen was solid in the row combined with former NC Gurkha, Clint Nelson. Erin Kleefisch, is also a welcome addition to the club on the flank coming from the Belmont Shore Club, a good athletic talent. In the backline, Steve Beckett returned to full-back after a year off adding some experience to the Torpedoes. Highlights: AJs 60-meter try run from Flyhalf with some beautiful stepping. MVP: none Torpedoes Points Table Tries (5 points): N/A Conversions (2 points): N/A Penalty Kicks (3 points): none Next Game: Nov. 13, vs. Barracus II, Kick-off at 3:30PM, Elings Park. Score: UCSB Women I 31 Santa Monica Women 5 Date: Nov. 6 2004 Venue: Elings Park Match Summary Summary of match: The UCSB women took on the brand-new Santa Monica Women's Rugby Club early in the morning, defeating them easily 31-5. Highlights: Scrumhalf Shelby Silva lead an impressive blind side play which the forwards picked up and mauled into the try zone for a score. MVP: Kara Mathews, who looked like an entirely different player from last season, running the ball well and making solid tackles. UCSB Points Table Tries (5 points): Phoebe Boone, Kara Mathews, Claire Elliott, Shelby Silva (2) Conversions (2 points): Daralisa Cheung (1), Sara Bow (1) Penalty Kicks (3 points): none Next Game: Nov. 13,Scum by the Sea Tournament at UCSD, in San Diego. Score: UCSB Women II 22 UC Santa Cruz Women 5 Date: Nov. 6 2004 Venue: Elings Park Match Summary Later in the afternoon, a team comprised largely of rookies took on an equally rookie filled side from UCSC. The UCSB team dominated again that afternoon, squashing the Slugs 22-5. The rookies were quite impressive - running hard and tackling well all over the field. We're looking forward to the season starting and putting two teams into the So-Cal Womens Division I competition. Highlights: Scrumhalf Shelby Silva, who lead impressive blind side plays off the scrum which resulted in 2 tries on the day. MVP: Stand out players of the match included rookie Jenny Tamayo on the wing who ran like she'd been playing the game for years and veteran Blair Groefesema who tackled with a vengeance and dove into the try zone with ease. UCSB Points Table Tries (5 points): Blair Groefesema, Kim Bell, Daralisa Cheung (2). Conversions (2 points): Daralisa Cheung (1) Penalty Kicks (3 points): none Next Game: Nov. 13th ,Scum by the Sea Tournament at UCSD, in San Diego. Score: UCSB 50- UC Santa Cruz 5 Date: Nov. 6 2004 Venue: Elings Park Match Summary UCSB played their first full pre-season match this Saturday at Elings Park against UC Santa Cruz. The game opened with a strong Gaucho lead in the first half, with Santa Barbara playing both a strong offense and defense. After half time, the scoring slowed down and UC Santa Cruz managed to get their only try of the game, but Santa Barbara managed to hold their dominating lead. Highlights: Francios Simon caught a kickoff and ran 80 meters against the UC Santa Cruz defense eventually leading to a try scored by flanker Robbie Reed. MVP: Andrew Negus (eightman) UCSB Points Table Tries (5 points): Alain Clark, Robbie Reed (2), Reed Wilson (Cpt.), Jake Fennesy, Ryan Brown, Adam Mitchell. Conversions (2 points): (5 for 8) Ryan Brown Penalty Kicks (3 points): none Next Game: Nov. 13th, vs. UC Davis,12:00 Kick-off, Elings Park Nov. 14th, vs. USC, TBC Score: Westmont UCLA (Westmont lost but no score was reported) Date: Nov. 6 2004 Venue: Elings Park MER
November 2, 2004 Santa Barbara Rugby Day SANTA BARBARA RUGBY DAY 10/30TH ELINGS PARK Santa Barbara Rugby Day is coming up in just two weeks. The weekend will kick-off our pre-season with training starting the following week. Each year the SB Rugby Day has grown in # of ruggers and this year we'll be adding the Old Boys (Fossils) and expect 200+players. This is a great opportunity to introduce new players to the game...so start spreading the word. I've got SB Rugby Day posters to promote the day...If you can you put up a few, e-mail me back and I'll send you the attachment. MER MERMURS FROM THE DEEP NEW ZEALAND INST. TOUR NZIS 29- Santa Barbarians 14 MVP - Ryan Topley 10/9/04 Elings Park The Santa Barbarians played hosts to the New Zealand Insititute of Sport this past weekend at Elings Park and provided a strong challenge to the visiting Kiwis. The game was an intense hitout with both sides eager to represent their countries. The Kiwis were especially strong in the scrum lead by a strong front row and future Wellington Hurricane at loosehead (Raymond). The Santa Barbarians were able to sort out their scrum problems and put themselves in scoring positions (5-meters out) 3 times in the first half but went into halftime trailing 8-0. The 2nd half saw excellent tries setup by the strong running of Rico, Troy and UCSB wing - Ryan Topley who had an excellent day. Mark Kelley, led the forwards on the pick & goes...an area that the Barbarians dominated in the 2nd half. However the forwards were able to capitalize on 4-5 scrums & lineouts in the opposition 22 meters. In the last 20 minutes the NZIS backs led by our good friend Tolly at Outside Center...was just to good. Tolly scored an individual try from a kick-off that was really impressive...combined with another try from a charged down grubber the game was put out of reach. Regardless of the score, the game was a blast and very entertaining for the large crowd on hand. The guys exchanged jerseys (Provided by sponsors BOB BRYANT JEWELERS, MOSS MOTORS, and MARBORG INDUSTRIES) after the game. I've posted photos from the weekend on the mer-group...check them out. Peter Krick deserves special thanks for coaching the Barbarians side and cooking for the social which was held in the picturesque Godric Grove on top of the Park. Peter cooked up his special turkey chili (80+lbs!!) and the players brought cakes & salads. The visitors brought lots of gifts for the local ruggers and shared some beautiful polynesian songs which was a real treat for everyone. Capped off a an awesome day. Saturday night we all celebrated what was a special weekend with our new friends...dancing all night at Sharkeez. The UCSB girls also cooked a dinner for the guys and the younger guys/gals in the group spent the night in IV. The UCSB girls & Tia&Bow were awesome for billeting the girls in the group and looking after them. The Sunday morning pick-up at 7:00AM had a bit a drama with one of the girls missing and two of the kiwi boys getting locked up by the friendly IV foot patrol. Fortunately Kimberly showed up at 11:00am and was fine, the group made the Charger's game in San Diego, and it looks like the Raa & Cheen will get out of jail today after their arraignment. I appreciate all the support of the local ruggers in helping them out. Especially our attorney friend, Marlise, who has been instrumental in providing the boys with counsel and working out a deal with the prosecutor the get the guys out today. If any of you guys need help with a DUI or any drinking misdeamenor, I highly recommend you call hear...she's been awesome and has great connections. The Sheriffs office at the county jail said they have never received so many phone calls or visitors for any inmates they have had and said the guys have been been getting on pretty well with all the inmates. It was amazing to see how the rugby connections got us in to visit the guys during non-visiting hours and also in getting the guys off some pretty serious charges. Both Kevin and Peter Krick provided a lot of support and assistance too to John & Shelley (Tour organizers) who have been shuttling back and forth from San Diego. Well, I'm off tonight to drive the guys down to Anaheim to re-connect with their buddies. Fortunately we've avoided an international incident and the guys have picked up some good tour jumpers (SBCjail) and are going to get some good ribbing from their buddies on the flight back. I hope everyone was able to share in this special weekend and I appreciate everyone's help in billeting and taking care of the kiwis. They had an awesome time and I'm sure we'll see some of them back in town in the future...hopefully wearing a Grunion jumper! MER SLO Tri-Tip 7's Consolation Champions MERMAN - Mark "Sparky" Ortiz The Grunion finished off the weekend with a good showing at the Tri-tip 7's. We went 2-0 in pool play with victories over the Godzillas and Gurkhas. We Lost in the semis to Los Gatos in a close game and then defeated SLO in the consolation final. Merman went to Sparky who had a number of tries on the day. The SLO rugby club had a nice bag-pipe tribute to all the Ruggers that died on September 11th. God bless America! Wren also turned 42 (or 32?) this past weekend so be sure and buy him a beer the next time you see him. The Club's AGM is planned for 9/30th, attendance is mandatory for all club members. We'll have more information in next two weeks on pre-season dates as well as info on two touring sides from New Zealand that'll be coming through town this Fall. MER If you're still up on Friday night at 12:30...FSW will air their segment on the SB 7's after the NPC match between Canterbury & Otago. If you have the #17 jersey bring it to training on Tuesday or Thursday Mer
August 23, 2004 Grunion, I 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 Grunion at the field on Saturday helping 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, noboby got hurt, and we raised some good money for the club & picked up some gear for the season. Onto rugby, 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 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 incredible tries to Ben Bush Tim Lew, and Merman, Ryan "Pre-fontaine", whose pace & timing on the day was just too good. 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. We'll keep playing touch through the SLO tournament on 9/11th. We've got one side enterred, if we have enough players that want to finish out the 7's season we can look at putting in another side. 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 our biggest rivals in LARC, Oxy, and SFV, over a few beers. Thats what rugby is all about. Mer August 16, 2004 SB 7's around the corner We're a week away from our 7th annual tournament. For the 2nd year in a row the tournament will be held up at Elings Park. We're expecting 16 men's teams and 4 women's teams. Judge & his crew will have burgers and hot dogs all day and Bob will keep his eye on the Firestone Beer garden with 5 kegs donated by the brewery. Canterbury is also sponsoring the tournament by donating a new set of Grunion jerseys + gear/equipment for the year, they'll also have a booth if you need to pick-up any gear along with tournament t-shirts. Also checkout the new bleachers donated by the SB Rugby Association which arrived this week. The Fossils (aka Bob Schwartz) matched the club dollar for dollar for this gift. Plan on coming out and having a few beers. A few fomer players will be back in town including Mike & Lisa Loader and Matt Lane. Don't forget the boots as we will have two sides in the tournament including the Torpedoes first appearance on the 7's circuit. Tuesday & Thursday - Touch at Chase Palm Park Friday evening 4:00-7:00 - Setup at Elings NEED VOLUNTEERS Saturday 8/21 - All Day - Games start around 9:30-10:00. We need volunteers to help run the tournament from selling t-shirts/rugby gear, food prep & sales, beer garden, ball boys, trash & clean-up, etc. preferrably guys who won't be playing. Note to everyone...Elings Park is our home so watch after it come Saturday. Let me know if you can help out during the tournament. MER Ken, 698-6058 June 1, 2004 We'll kick off the summer touch season this week. Tuesday and Thursday nights around 6:30 at Chase Palm Park. Lets get some new faces out there. The Grunion held
the end-of-year banquet on Saturday night at Keric's house. Judge
and Will put on a Tri-tip/chicken feast. Those in attendance included
MC Hammer, Spice Girls, Chris Cross, The Boss, Debbie Gibson, Meatloaf,
Ted Nugent, Michael Jackson, Eddie Vedder, Wren, Poison, Billy Ray
Cyrus, the others I'm not sure about. Cogratulations to the following
guys who took awards. Most
Valuable Forward - Butters In addition to the player award presentations, jersey auction, kareoke competition, we will also an additional award/trophy presentation......If you think any club member/supporter is deserving of some sort of award for something they did, said, inferred, etc. feel free to pick up a fitting award/trophy you can present to them. Last years' awards were... First Aid award - Tim AhernDepends award - Haig Kirkeby Cross-dressing award - Wren Wise Vagina Award - Troy Jacobsen Mullet award - Geoff Roberts May 17, 2004 MERMURS FROM THE DEEP 5/14-17/04 Newport,
RI The Grunion returned early Monday morning into Santa Barbara after an exciting weekend in Newport, Rhode Island. The club had its first taste of National competition and despite disappointment with Saturdays loss...as a club I think we feel really confident in our playing style/ability and look forward to returning to Rhode Island next year. Saturday's game vs. Indianpolis saw the club dominate possesion but it was just one of those days where it wasn't going our way. The club had 5-6 multiple phase runs only to turnover the ball within 5 meters of the goal line, a combination of impatience and passing/handling errors. In the 2nd half the guys stayed within a try of Indianpolis for most of the half but hopeful scoring and counterattacking opportunities were cut short by handling errors. You only get so many opportunities and we let them slip. On Sunday, the club had an opportunity to redeem some pride by playing the Bayonne Bomber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
