Rugby Sevens is a great workout...

Sunday, July 15, 2012
I’d been sitting at Jason’s rugby tournament in the sweltering heat of an afternoon sun when my phone began to vibrate.  I looked down to see it was Mark Mendeszoon, the Podiatrist who’d lined me up for my knee surgery.  He’d spent the last two weeks in Portland, Oregon watching the Olympic Track and Field trials.


“How were the trials,” I said as a form of greeting.


“Oh my God.  Too good to describe…and three athletes I’m working with are going to London,” he said.


He describe the paths these athletes had taken…one was Bridget Franek from Crestwood high and the second place finisher in the steeple chase.  Her mother worked for Mark as a Massage Therapist. 
“Her goal is to make it to the finals and I’m trying to get tickets to see it.  Finals tickets for any event are going for between $3-5,000, though,” he said.


“Holy shit,” I holy shitted.


“Yeah…that’s what I said.  Anyway…got a room for a couple hundred dollars, which is a steal.  It’ll be something,” he said.


We made some plans for going to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics and then got around to my knee and elbow.  “Sounds like you have some fluid build up on that knee and Kraig can look at your elbow, too.  Make an appointment for next week and get in there, man,” he concluded and I assured him I would.


I have to say I was impressed with the tournament play.  It was called a ‘Sevens’ tournament because they played with seven men on a side and two seven-minute halves.  Normally 15 players take the field and they were using the regulation field, which meant that less than half the players had to cover the entire area…and that meant a lot of running.  It was unbearably hot, but the playing was so fast and the games over quickly, that it didn’t seem to matter.  Conditioning, execution and speed were the keys.  The big guys that were important in a regular game seemed to be more of a liability as the faster guys just ran around them.  Tackling was a little more violent since they were running at higher speeds, but I didn’t see an injury in three hours of competition.  I know rugby receives a lot of bad press from people who don’t understand the game, but I think I get the attraction.  Yes…there is a greater chance of injury than in a non-contact sport, but good conditioning goes a long way to alleviate this.  More people find themselves in the doctor’s office as a result of doing nothing and suffering the results of a sedentary lifestyle than if they get out and do something…so I’m for rugby and doing something.


We celebrated Savannah’s 21^st birthday with lasagna, apple and banana cream pie.  I ate it all and wished I hadn’t…after I finished.  My knee had been extremely painful after yesterday’s ride and I’d decided it was time to rest it so the calories would be sticking.  Well…there were apples and bananas in the pies, at least.