Rugger Rigours

Apparently James has not given up alcohol for Lent. How else to explain the rambling comment below which can only have been written after several beers, a bottle of wine, a few mixers and possibly a glass or two of port. I've had a few daft comments on this blog before, but this one has to be read to be believed. He writes, and I use the term 'writes' very loosely:

That post was awesome dude! Can you tell me how to get...

Sorry, I don't know what came over me.

I must point out that I am not in the habit of eating 8 plates of Singapore noodles but if it's offered to me then I will, with all due reluctance, eat it. I decided to leave the 20p that I was short-changed by with my host in lieu of a tip. A miser I am not!

Ash Wednesday - I knew it was. After all I laid on pancakes for the padres (the relations not baseballers) the day before. However, last night I could take it no longer and had a cider, a bar of chocolate and a "treat". So that's me going to hell and accounts for my eye problems.

Proper football - Of course, we all know that to be Rugby, it being closer to the game from which Rugby Football and Association Football evolved from. Indeed both codes initially prohibited the forward pass and one code still does, to this day. Early soccerists had to dribble towards their opponents goal and either shoot or pass back to another player.

Although why they had to salivate towards their opponents goal I am not sure but heroin and cocaine was freely available at any local Boots apothecary back then and you know what these soccerists are like when it comes to excess. Pretty much like any 8 plate chomping maths and computing grad with time on his hands.

Brain damage from manly versions of football - There was a video on YouTube (I can no longer find it) about a programme along the lines of "Who Hits Harder, Rugby or Football (not soccer)". They did some scientific tests and showed that with all the padding footballers hit A LOT harder than rugby players. Does that mean that rugby players hold themselves back because they are not as heavily padded? I suppose with a helmet on you are more likely to go in head first. At school I was taught to go in with the shoulder but I usually just grabbed people from another school around the neck (an oik is still an oik). Until someone did it to me and I have had a twisted neck for the past 30+ years. Still, I have all my errr... you know... departments... schools... FACULTIES! That's the word.

I should point out that James and myself had an earlier side conversation about the relative lack of comments on our respective blogs. James suggested that our blogs may be viewed as too 'highbrow', a claim that may be more applicable to James' blog than to this humble effort, for which the reason is more likely that I have a habit of reproducing the comment in a later post, and then, not always favourably, dissecting it.

Overall the ratio of comments to posts here (1.69) isn't too shabby, but I suspect this number has declined in recent years. Overall, 2,102 posts have generated 3,559 comments (excluding the spam nonsense which is discarded).

Before moving on, regarding James comment on rugby versus American Football, in my opinion the use of the thick padding and helmet in the latter results in more reckless tackling and hitting. Helmet to helmet collisions are particularly dangerous:

Former Carolina Panthers running back Eric Shelton sued the NFL in 2010, alleging that a helmet-to-helmet collision caused him a spinal cord injury that left him paralysed, and he was not appropriately compensated for his injuries.

In 2011, a Frostburg State player died from a helmet-to-helmet collision.

On October 17, 2011, a 16-year-old high school football player in Homer, New York died from bleeding in the brain suffered from a helmet-to-helmet collision

The relative lack of padding in rugby results in an emphasis on technique. I wouldn't say that rugby players 'hold themselves back' so much as play the game respecting the reality of physical limitations. Given the choice of tackling correctly and not getting hurt or tackling with the wrong technique and risking injury, there's quite an incentive to learning and playing the game 'correctly'.

Anyway, after eight plates of Singapore noodles, (a typical lunch for James is shown above), James is no doubt naturally well padded, so next time he steps out for the annual Posh School Old Boys v Plebby Oiks match, he'll be in good shape. Well, not good shape, as in good fitness shape, but at least prepared for the rigours of rugger.