ALUMNI WEEKEND RECAP
This year’s Redmen Alumni Weekend proved to a big success. Attendance improved upon last year’s inaugural alumni event, and for the first time, McGill RFC organized a 7-a side tournament open to current varsity and club players and their Alumni. Apart from the brisk Montreal weather, it was a huge hit, and produced several competitive games that our alumni enjoyed!
7s Recap courtesy of Resident Writer / Backs Coach Extraordinaire Adrian Thorogood
A plethora of recent McGill rugby stars remain in the Montreal area. Nostalgic barbarians all, they continue to plunder the bars of rue St.Laurent and recklessly heckle from the stands at this year’s games. The recent McGill Alumni sevens tourney gave official ceremony to their nostalgic degeneracy. The tournament was a grand success, with two sides of Alumni pitted against two sides of current players. Notable appearances on one team included Stefan Rinas and Alejandro Silva. The crushing weight of academics forced both of these current McGill students to give up their rugby commitments. But their spiritual link to the club is unwavering.
The winning team was called the Non-Spankies. It featured three former McGill captains – Adam Sommer, Matt DeGraff and Caleb Balloch – the tallest second row in club history – Alex Hart and Jon ‘Too Tall’ Phelan - the excessively skills McGill backs coach Adrian Thorogood – and the unanimously adored club mascot Jake Spanky Roberts. Despite an apparent over-saturation of talent that led to much divisive infighting during the game, the Non-Spankies managed two solid performances to earn the alumni crown.
Caleb Balloch, once referred to in Athletic’s magazine as McGill’s ‘infamous threat’ provided the preponderance of effort and humor amongst the alumni. He resembled a proud but somewhat bewildered racehorse retiree that someone had forgotten to send to the glue factory. It is unclear whether his gargantuan size or excessive equine snorting instilled more fear in the current McGill players – many of whom still exhibit the tragic symptoms of man-boy syndrome – but few dared to tackle him.
The Non-Spankies have already signed up for next year’s tournament and invite oxymoronic fresh blood to challenge them in the years to come.
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The second portion of alumni weekend saw our current Redmen thirds and seconds take on Queen’s third and second teams, along with another successful game for our varsity squad against Sherbrooke. Afterwards, Sherbrooke and the current McGill sides joined our alumni at Benelux for an Air NZ and Heineken Cup game, along with food and drink for everyone. We also introduced some items for purchase open first to our alumni and then to our current players, namely the immensely popular (and at $15, incredibly affordable) McGill Rugby white T, pictured below. We also decided to sell off our vintage “cloth-maroons,” (below) to whoever showed an interest, at a reasonable $15 a pop.
We have just received our promised polos and are now charging $25 per polo with free delivery for our Montreal Alumni! See merchandise follow-up message for more information.
Thanks to the impressive attendance and support that you, our alumni, provided last year and this year, McGill RFC pledges to continue to plan weekends and events for its former players, and hopes to build momentum toward our 150th anniversary in 2013. Stay tuned for our post-season alumni letter as well as any further updates from our club. As always, don’t forget to visit our website, www.mcgillrfc.com to stay up to date with current Redmen Ruggers, Game Results and Reviews, and instructions on how to join your Facebook group and alumni forum.
If this message happens to reach you over Facebook or your email yet you didn’t receive our first or second mailed newsletter(s), please send us your mailing information so we can keep you updated! If you receive the message only over facebook and wish to be put on our Alumni Email list, feel free to send us your email as well, using me as your alumni contact.
Until next year!
Brendan O’Sullivan McGill RFC VP Alumni
brendan.osullivan@mail.mcgill.ca
brendanosulli90@hotmail.com
(514) 451-1023
