Monday, September 06, 2010

UK Eagles 13: Where did the time go

Alright, well the time has finally come... we're heading home after almost a month away.  I'm at Heathrow airport, a little tired, sore, and dehydrated, but here.  I am sad to lose this experience, but definitely happy to be heading home. It's been a long campaign.  In light of that, I'll keep this one relatively short, but hopefully will get out a longer one once I've settled back into Boston.

Sha does a great Jamie impressionSo, Saturday we had our captain's run then I did some more packing before the ultimate flea market.  The Welsh girls put up signs advertising the 'Wales Kit Swap Shop' in their common room.  All the teams showed up with their various kit and went to town.  We were only able trade for a bit before heading over to our rookie skit and jersey ceremony.  The rookie skit was hysterical.  I particularly appreciated Sha's impression of me.  After the jersey presentation we presented coaches' and manager's presents.  Afterwards, we went back to the dorms, where there was still trading happening.  I didn't get too involved in the trading because I was too busy trying to deal with the fact that I had gotten news earlier in the evening that my car was towed back home.  That was less than ideal.  Monica was a saint for taking on dealing with most of it so that I didn't have to.  After that I was ready to hit the hay.

Game day was pretty fast and furious.  We had core and arousal workout early, and then there was only a short while before our match.  It was a crazy intense match but in the end we came out victorious 23-20.  Everyone was super excited! I was so proud of us and I am continually amazed at how far we've come in 4 years, but also, how far we came just in this one tour.  We got a surprise for a win in Dave streaking the field in a star spangled bikini bottom trailing an American flag behind him.  There are some great pictures from it.  I'll post one once I get it.

Finals at the StoopAfter the game there was very little time because we had to get dressed to head over to the Stoop to watch the finals.  It was also an intense game with NZ beating England 13-10.  It was a great environment for that type of match!

Front Row loveAfter the match, we changed into our number ones and went over to the Holly Hog Roast and got a chance to hang out with some of the other teams.  We played a lot of games and sang songs before departing back to the sports park at 10:30pm.  That's where the true party began.  They had the entire sports park closed down for just the teams and accredited personnel.  They got a DJ and had dancing.  It was a lot of fun, but exhausting.  I finally made my way to bed around 3am and I was one of the early birds of the various teams.

This morning was a crazy event (as it always is) of getting everything packed and organized to head home.  There was a lot of work spent on getting bags to weigh less than 23kgs... mine was over, but they let it pass.  Now we are just waiting for our flight.  Nothing like an 8 hour flight to feel refreshed!  Alright, they just announced our boarding gate, so I'm going to sign out and go load up!  Next time I write, it'll be from the USA!

Author's Note:
I didn't want to lose the links to the various news articles regarding the 2010 World Cup, but also didn't want to keep the massive link bar on the side of the page, so I decided to post them here after the fact:

Somerville Wins over KZN
The New York Times
The Times Record - "National Treasures Visit Bowdoin"
The Times Record - Women's Rugby Takes Center Stage
The Portland Press Herald
The Hippo
Somerville News - Off to the World Cup
The Somerville Scout
UNH News

Tufts University E-news
Washington State Magazine
The Watertown News
Crossfit Oakland
Bowdoin Campus News
All Over Albany
Albany Times Union

1 comment:

Monica said...

Request: blogging while with Broadreach.