Scrumming in Dem Shorty Shorts

Naomi is set to turn me into a sports watcher.

Tonight we started with rugby: the Ulster Ravens against the Connaight Eagles. Friendly match, friendly match, only had to use the ambulance twice.

Eccentricities about rugby in comparison to American football.

-a "touchdown" is called a "try."
-fieldgoals are called conversions.
-if you score a fieldgoal, it then becomes a converted try.
-there are no timeouts
-no body or head protection
-shorty shorts
-you  must pass the ball backward instead of forward

Then there are wee cute things like how players will hoist various members of their team into the air to catch the ball.

It's one violent sport, though. In the words of Naomi, "It's the dull thud of flesh on flesh that gets me every time." You've got to have a severe napolean complex, superman complex, or a very thick skull to participate. Yikes.

 Mid-scrum (two parallel lines of men linked together push up against one another while a ball is placed underneath the "bridge" created by their bodies. They then fight for the ball like cavemen over the last leg of mammoth).

Photo evidence of Naomi's existence