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10/14/09 - Another season of graduate rugby at Stanford University has kicked off. Practice and game schedules are at right.
4/29/09 - Congratulations to club on their 5th place finish at the MBA World Championship Tournament at Duke University on April 17-19, 2009, and on a very successful 2008/2009 season!
The 2008-09 season wrapup note from team co-president Ryan Lippert follows:
Gentlemen,
I want to give a big round of thanks to everyone who helped make this weekend at Duke a terrific success. The team played with unbelievable heart, and each and every player gave 100% effort on the field, off the field, and on the upper lip.
We rolled through the first day of competition, easily securing wins against NYU, Yale and Texas. The Texas win was especially sweet, as we buried the team that kept us from taking home 1st at Thunderbird. As many thought the day couldn’t get any better than a 3-0 record, we were treated to the best post-game social event I’ve ever been apart of. The beer was free and the food was good - though the chicken breasts could have been larger, you could not argue with the legs or buns that came with.
SatARRRday night brought more shenanigans, as pirates took to the streets of North Carolina, some in search of booty, others in search the liquid gold known as PBR. Luckily, the on-field judgment of John C. proved to be a bit better than his off-field judgment this weekend: he managed to avoid the large players and repeatedly hit gaps during games, whereas his off-field game could be defined as the exact opposite.
Sunday morning brought about the low-point of the weekend, as we fell to SMU in a very close match. Though leading at halftime 5-3, the team lost a hard-fought game by a final score of 8-5. Despite the gritty and sometimes dirty play of their opponents, the GSB team kept their cool and played the game it was meant to be played. Unfortunately, moral victories do not yield points, and the Stanford team moved to the Shield Bracket to compete for 5th place. The team recomposed itself to defeat LBS by a tally of 10-0 in the second game of the day, earning a spot in the Shield final against Wharton. The Wharton attack pounded Stanford early and often, playing nearly the entire first half in and around the Stanford 22. However, the Stanford pack stood strong, thwarting the Wharton attack time and time again. Though on our heels again early in the second half, the team managed to counter the Wharton strike with a score of our own. The conversion was unsuccessful (on purpose to keep it interesting), putting Stanford ahead 5-0. Not long after that, the human highlight reel Shane broke off a 40-M run to pay-dirt, and a successful conversion made it 12-0. A late Wharton press yielded a try, but it was too little too late, and Stanford prevailed 12-7 to take home the shield with an overall record of 5-1.
Social festivities were raucous once again as the team traveled space and time to 1980s Miami, where each and every player of the team was found guilty in one manner or another by the Kangaroo Court.
In all, it was an extremely successful tour, and I want to thank everyone who participated for the effort. Well done boys!
Your open-shirted hero,
-Lippert |
