Its time for good for the game/bad for the game. This is a weekly review of all things rugby broken down into what I deem good for the sport and bad for it. It's pretty simple...
Good for the Game:
1. Premiership Final
I won't ruin the ending for you but let me just say you are in for one cracking match! Saracens, coming off a spanking from Toulon the week before, were out to prove something. Northampton looked to tie the bow on their great season. Both teams didn't want to give an inch and it showed with smashing tackles and all out there attack from both squads. If you haven't seen this match yet, find it, watch it and enjoy!
2. College Rugby Championship on NBC (and their sister networks)
This tournament has grown in every important way. The crowds keep getting bigger, which means more people are paying attention to the game and becoming fans. The competition has improved, both in player skills and in team parity. But, the one thing I enjoyed the most was the celebration of the rugby player and not the glorification of the part-time crossover athlete who happens to be on the team for this one event. The true rugby player, once thought of as a second class athlete, is starting to come into his own and showcase all the dynamic aspects that is required to be skilled on match day. Don't believe me? Go back and watch the first year, you'll see what I'm talking about.
Bad for the Game:
1. CRC Marketing and women's tournament
It does bother me, in a very big way, that this event is celebrated as a 'national championship' when a very large number of good schools ( St. Mary's, Arkansas State come to mind) aren't invited to this event because they don't have the alumni to support ticket sales. If anything this should be called the the Commercial Rugby Championship as it is geared to one thing, making money. Which I'm fine with, just don't pretend the teams you see on TV are the cream of the crop when, if you follow any kind of rugby in America, you know isn't the case. Also, playing in an empty stadium on a poorly executed web cast can't be fun either. As for the women's side of the game why do they continue not to show their finals? We are aware that our women's team is the only hope we have for Olympic medal, right? We should be celebrating these athletes and encouraging the growth in the women's game. I have a feeling that either one of the women's national team's could do for our sport what the '99 women's national team did for soccer.
2. Super 7s
Why do we here in America feel like we need to attempt to make the great sport of rugby better by tampering with it to make it look like football? I don't know who won the thing, who played in it or if it was even enjoyable to watch. But you can't call it '7s' if you break it up into four quarters with a halftime. It kills the soul of 7s which is you need to make your chances count because you don't have the time to wait for another one. Also, the fatigue the players are subjected to must diminish the skill to the point where it becomes hard to watch. Leave 7s alone, it will sell itself without the help of our American sports business models.
See you pitch side!
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