Fellow Ruggers,

Keep it Short- that's the theme for this month's/week's/bi-weekly letter. I should have no problem shortening my rant because I really have not come across any ground breaking tidbits in the last two weeks. But, as always, I have a few rambling thoughts that I'd like to share with those who want to read on.

The US Eagles are about to embark on the Polynesian leg of this year's Epson Cup. I'd like to wish Coach Duncan Hall, and the boys, good luck! Going against Fiji and Tonga is hard enough on your own pitch, but competing against them in hostile territory could be downright ugly! I got the chance to meet Coach Hall a couple of months ago, and he has a lot of great ideas on how to improve the Eagles' squad. Since Coach Hall is leaning toward youth to fill the Eagles' squad, I made sure to introduce him to my 2 year old son who is ready to earn his cap for the Eagles in the front row!

I was randomly flipping through the channels last night, and I stopped on the angst-ridden, pimple-driven MTV show Road Rules. What made me stop (not that I watch the show every week or anything like that), was the sight of cast members tossing around a rugby ball. Come to find out, one of this year's cast is a member of the ever repeating National Champions, the Cal Bears (University of California). In the first episode, this macho rugby player almost chickened out on the first "challenge" of walking on a balance beam between two hot air balloons. Come to find out, he's afraid of heights. However, he sucked it up like the rugby player that he is, and came through for the team. It may be a silly show, on a silly network, but what a great demographic it reaches! Every week this guy's going to mention rugby to millions of youngsters, ranging from 10-28. As we've learned from history, any press is good press.

Cheers,

Pat Laczkowski

Hooker Rugby Supply

Click here to read more about the Road Rules rugger.