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Why You Should Care About Rugby

In: Other Topics

Submitted By aakin
Words 598
Pages 3
Alexander Akin
Jesse Ozog
English Composition I/ Image Analysis
September 29, 2011

Why You Should Care About Rugby Rugby is a sport like no other; it is much more than a sport. Rugby is not, "like soccer," as I all to often hear. Such a statement is a blasphemy of the good name of Rugby. Rugby is a natural evolution from soccer. The game of Rugby-football started with a man, William Webb Ellis, who followed his finely developed instincts by picking up the ball in a soccer game, as it was played then, and running with it. He broke a rule he recognized as stupid and limiting, starting a fine tradition of civil disobedience that was later adopted by Gandhi and King.

You will find so many drawn to the game because they want to try something different, something exciting and new, and something that others may be just a bit fearful of. If that is not necessarily why they come to the game, they soon find a certain perverse pleasure in watching and listening to people's reactions when they tell them, "I play rugby."(Akin, 1) Most often the listener gets a strange look on their face, or grimace, and say, "Rugby, that's pretty rough, isn't it?"(General, 1) "Yeah, kinda,"(Akin, 1) the rugger responds, as they look you up and down and wonder what manner of person is this? This results in the statement changing from "I play rugby,"(Akin, 1) to, "I am a rugby player."(Akin, 1) A subtle but important difference as the first phrase states what one does; the second defines who one is.
Rugby is not a game, it is a life style. Its essence is not drawn simply from the physical competition on the pitch, but also from camaraderie that develops from sharing such an uncommon--common bond. It starts on the field but is reinforced during the post-game gatherings when opponents break bread and toast each other with drink and song. The party is a celebration not just for the victors, but also for the vanquished and a chance for redemption of sorts. It is a unique endeavor in athletics. Whereas Vince Lombardi spoke for most competitive sport when he said, "Winning isn't everything, it is the only thing,"(Lombardi, 1) the rugger, who still wishes to win, values the test of competition and the spirit of the game even more. So perhaps it can all be reduced to a bumper sticker after all, "IN RUGBY THERE ARE NO WINNERS, ONLY SURVIVORS." And we survive well together, teammates and foes alike.

People play rugby because it is not football, and it is not soccer, and it is not any of the other sport you can think of. It is different, it is unique, and it is rugby. More than a game, more than simple competition, flying in the face of what is expected of the American athlete. Rugby players are nothing, if not non-conformists. We few, we proud, we ruggers must never forget our ideals, our objectives and our principles lest we become just another game that values winning above all else. Rugby has always been above that. It is about camaraderie and sportsmanship. Other sports often pay only lip service to those ideals; rugby exemplifies them. Work cited

"Vince Lombardi." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2011. 3 October. 2011. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vincelomba115467.html

The other quotes are my own, and a common response from people when I tell them that “I play rugby,” or “I am a rugby player.”

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