University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 8, 2003 Page: 6 of 6
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Lady Cards drop five-game
match to Northwestern State
An 18-kill effort by Lamar sophomore
Nikki Perry was not enough on Saturday,
as the Northwestern State Lady Demons
rallied past the Lady Cardinals for a five-
game Southland Conference victory at
the Montagne Center. LU fell by scores of
30-28,22-30, 30-21,29-31 and Il-
ls.
“I think it was a good effort,” head
coach Fiona Bolten-Simmons said. “In
game five it comes down to the team
that makes the fewest errors and we
weren’t that team.”
file Lady Cardinals (8-9, 2-5 SLC)
were unable to quench a Northwestern
State (8-9,3-3 SLC) rally to end game
four, and the Lady Demons carried that
momentum into the fifth and decisive •
game. It was a historic win for the Lady
Demons as it marked the first time in 13
attempts they have defeated Lamar.
Neither team truly found an offensive
rhythm for much of the match, until both
teams posted over .300 hitting percent-
ages in game four. Each team traded
points throughout the fourth frame, until
NSU put up back-to-back scores to win
the game and even the match at two
games apiece.
On Friday, the Lady Cards defeated
Louisiana-Monroe 3-1. Bethany Johnson
led the team with 15 kills and Erin
Ludeke chipped in with 28 assists.
..............................♦............................
LU harriers compete
at cross country meet
The Lady Cardinal cross-country team
placed 13th at the weekend Oklahoma
State Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater,
Okla.
Freshman Rowan Baird, a native of
Hamilton, New Zealand, finished the
6,000 meter course in 22:42 as the top
finisher for the women's team and fin-
ished 41st overall. Canadian freshman
Sarah Weir recorded Lamar’s second-
best finish in a time of 23:25, placing
60th overall.
The men’s team finished 24th overall
at the meet Sophomore Travis Tolbert
secured the top LU male performance,
placing 115th overall in a time of 27:00.
....................1.....♦.............................
Rugby is a barbaric sport played by gentlemen,
whereas soccer is a gentleman’s sport played by barbarians.
Titans’ among us
Rugby team finds camaraderie in physical sport
Kobe Bryant
Bryant ‘terrified’ as Lakers
return to training camp
HONOLULU (AP) - Kobe Bryant
returned to the basketball court
Saturday, admittedly out of shape and
scared about what lies ahead for his
family as his rape case proceeds.
After participating in a few drills with
his Los Angeles Lakers teammates at
training camp, the superstar guard said
he considered not playing until his case
is settled.
“Basketball to me just took a back
seat, man,” Bryant said in his first public
comments since July 18, the day he was
charged with sexually assaulting a 19-
year-old woman in Eagle, Colo.
Surrounded by a throng of media in a
steamy gym at the University of Hawaii,
Bryant decided about a month ago that
he would play, a decision supported by
his wife, Vanessa.
“This is my job, coming back to
work,” he said. “My family and I, we’ve
been dealing with this for a while now
and we’re going to continue to deal with
it I’m coming back to work and do what
I do.”
Bryant is accused of raping a woman
June 30 in his suite at a mountain resort
where she worked. He has said the two
had consensual sex. He is scheduled to
appearThursday in Eagle for a prelimi-
nary hearing to determine whether he will
stand trial.
Bryant smiled occasionally as he
spoke Saturday, although he mostly
appeared serious.
Asked if he was scared about the
case, he replied: ‘Terrified.”
“Not so much for myself, but just for
what my family is going through,” Bryant
said. “They had nothing to do with this,
but just because their names have been
dragged in the mud I’m scared for them.”
^^^^^narled expressions of anguish plaster the mugs of men in
combat — a kind of altercation that begets these war-
_ riors with gaping mouths and gnashing teeth — the
sweaty face of barbarians in euphoric ecstasy within their
elements. These are the gentlemen of Rugby.
Rugby practitioners have prowled the open fields of
the new world since before “Texas tea” surged out of
Spindletop Hill.
Students at Lamar University have recently rejoined the fray after
a hiatus of nearly two decades.
“We found that the first rugby team for Lamar University was
formed in 1974,” Lamar graduate student Jake Walker said. That team
was champion of its league.
Tall and lanky, Walker is one of Lamar’s oldest and most sociable
members.
“Last year (senior) Will Beazley
helped rebuild the foundation of the
team,” Walker said. “He’s been our captain
and has done a great job in initial recruiting
and perpetuating the sport. Sam Knight,
pastor at the Orange Presbyterian church
— and a great guy — is our head coach.”
The sport draws competitors from
various regions around the world.
“Rugby is all over the planet,” Beazley
said. “No other sport in the world is like
this. That’s why rugby is unique. It’s stayed
so long on the club level because it’s very
social.”
Many people in America are still
unknowledgeable of the sport.
“When people hear of rugby, they
think it’s something between soccer and
cricket,” Walker said. “Rugby is a barbaric
sport played by gentlemen, whereas soccer
is a gentleman’s sport played by barbar-
ians. It’s basically football with no forward
passing, no pads and steel-spiked shoes.”
The player’s garb reflects their bold-
nature. The playing field transforms into a
carnival of yellows, reds, blues and oranges.
Rugby has significantly fewer real
injuries when compared to football,
Walker said.
“For example, the first thing they
teach you in football is to put your head on
the ball,” he said. “In rugby, we keep our
heads up. Anyone who tries to use his head
as a weapon only tries it once. We put a lot
of emphasis on safety.”
Since its rebirth, the team has grown from a roster of 20 to nearly 40
part-time players, ranging from freshmen to graduate students.
“We have a saying on the team, ‘There are no rugby scholar-
ships,”’ Walker said. “What that means is that people participate on the
team as they have time. I like to say it is being on an ‘as-can’ basis.”
Campus fraternities also have people involved, but there are no
rivalries within the team, Walker said.
“They leave their letters on the bench because we all put on the
same colors,” he said.
The game is played with vigor and tenacity.
Even during practice, a shirt is grabbed and yanked as the runner
struggles forward. Someone dives on his lower body, locking onto his
legs. As he begins to tumble, he quickly launches the ball in a lateral spi-
ral to a waiting teammate who breaks through the hoard like a bull. He
bullets to the edge of the field and literally has to leap into the end zone
for a “try” (touchdown).
The seemingly random tackles and wild lobs are actually carefully
orchestrated maneuvers by each team, perfected during their scrum for-
mations and lateral passes.
“A scrum, or a scrum down, originally comes from the word scrim-
mage, which in turn comes from the word skirmish,” Beazley said, “It’s a
set play where the stronger group gets to push over the weaker group
while maneuvering the ball underneath with their feet.”
The scrum is unique to rugby. It’s a formation of eight men — three
at the front, four behind them and one at the back.
In practice, they all crouch in a squatting position, their heads
gauged forward, looking intently between a narrow column of duct-
taped, black-leather pads. The only thing discernible between the spaces
are two large water drums which form the
opposition.
“They put me in what is called a bind,
like a coil,” Nederland sophomore Elliot
Morris said.
Short but stocky, Morris is the “hooker,”
the center of the scrum. His arms hold the
props’ shoulders together through the pres-
sures of impact.
“They grab me on my waistband and
pull me forward while I hold onto the back
of their shoulders,” he said. “The concept is
like trying to compress a coil so that when it
expands it explodes.”
Morris shouts “engage!,” and the scrum
suddenly thrusts their heads forward, slam-
ming their shoulders and chests against the
rusted metal frame. Their bodies twist and
turn, struggling forward, as the true power
of the scrum is compounded by a desperate
heave from the supporting back five.
“This isn’t a powder-puff game,”
Beazley said. “It isn’t flag football. There are
people who play those sports and that’s for
them. This is for a different sort of people
who like to do intense things.”
“You really don’t have to be tough to do
this,” Morris said as he tugged at his shoes,
which were strapped together with silver
duct-tape.
“I think anybody can do this; it’s all a
matter of mind set,” Morris said. “Besides,
after the first game you’re not sore any-
more.”
“Playing rugby is a chance to get inter-
collegiate competition from the student
body in the spirit from which it was originally conceived,” Walker said.
“Even our “little sisters” — girls that want to participate in the sport —
get involved in the competition. They’ve always played an integral part
in helping us with things on and off the field.”
Beazley said rugby gives me something to do.
“I can go anywhere and play rugby and have instant friends,” he
said.
“You’ll never have the kind of bonds with other sports that you get
from rugby.”
Camaraderie is the rallying cry that reverberates in each man’s tale.
The warriors face their barbaric battles armed with only their fel-
lowship for armor.
When they leave the battlefield, they remain the gentlemen of
rugby.
Rugby coach Sam Knight inspects his team’s technique, inset,
as members of his team wrap themselves in a “bind” for a
“scrum-down.” Elliot Morris, top page, locks into position dur-
ing practice for a “scrum.”
Story and photos by Chris Williams • Layout by Ben DuBose
r
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Gurski, Patrick. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 8, 2003, newspaper, October 8, 2003; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500838/m1/6/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lamar University.