Getting the reaction from my friends and family regarding my new interest in rugby has been interesting.

My mother started off with an entire litany of reasons why I shouldn't play ranging from "You're not athletic" (that's okay, Mom, they take inexperienced people like me and work with us to get us up to speed, in better shape, and make us better players) to "They don't wear any protective gear" ("Yes, Mom, I know...and?").

My friend Elizabeth was a bit more sedate. "That's no sissy game, that's for sure." She just wants a picture of me tackling a man, I think.

My friend Loa wants me to be careful since her father ruined his knee playing rugby. Well considering that my knees are messed up, too, this might happen sooner than I think.

My friend Nina just wants to know the rules. Hmmm...so do I.

My friend Ron warned me not to mention Fight Club. I'm going to have to ask him for an explanation for this one.

My friend Lisa wanted to know if it was a gay team. Of course it's a gay team, Lisa.

Anyway, the practice last night was, in hindsight, a little more intimidating than my original impression. I am going to go back and give it a try because I am not someone who gives up without even trying. All I have to say is that the tackling drill they did looked like a lot of fun. I'm probably going to go gear shopping this weekend for some jerseys, shorts, socks, and so on. They really are a nice bunch of guys. We went to an Irish pub following the practice and I got to meet and socialize with some of the guys. One of the men said that since he joined the team he has lost two pants sizes and has more energy. In addition, they really talked up how the team bonds with each other after each match by going to a bar (often with the other team) to pound a few beers and sing rugby songs.

They did mention, with much humor, the straight team they had just played who sang a rugby song about getting um...rimmed...I can rimmed right? Anyway, it was sung to the holiday song "Sleigh Ride." While the men sang, "I want a rim, rim, rim-ah, rim, rim, rim, rim-ah, rim job..." their girlfriends and wives all jingled their car keys to mimic the sleigh bells. One of the guys said, "We were ready to give it to them if they really wanted it, too..."

Oh yeah, this going to be fun...