Welcome to BA Baracus Rugby Club

SAN FRANCISCO – Baracus closed the season losing a tight game to Rosa 19-10 and missing playoffs for the first time since club inception.

There is lots of reason for optimism because the squad has young talent that has showed growth all season. I did not hear it from the men on the field, but barking about crappy ref calls from the sideline will never get us anywhere but a reputation as whiners. We were still a few plays away from winning this match, regardless of a ref’s calls.

Straying from the match blow by blow, we had another amazing day of Baracus friends and family in support to rock the post- match barbecue at Golden Gate Park. From Ollie to Vutu to Ofer and Johnny, friends galore. This atmosphere shows that we are more than just about winning on the pitch. As was said about the ‘70s Pirates, We Are Family, even if we sport bubblegum-framed hoodies.

Pete “Stretch” Jacoby showed many of the qualities Saturday that he has shown for his six seasons wearing the Golden Mumu of Baracus. In a league replete with faux tough guys and tatted-out wannabe warriors, pretty-haired Stretch was the real deal. He has the quality you want most in a quarterback: cool under pressure.

The first time I saw Stretch play was about four years ago versus an islander West Sac team. West Sac had a monster on the wing, likely a Super 12 player, who had scored Sac’s first two or three tries. Stretch was playing wing that day, and he switched wings to cover the big man whom he shut down the remainder of the match. (This was the same tilt where Josh hopped in at scrummy and Jimmy O’ bombed a 50-meter dropgoal en route to a victory.)

The other big Stretch highlight occurred vs, Sac last season at home, where he picked a pass for a try and, after missing two prior dropgoals, slotted one for the win after dummying opposite number Mike Dopson. And, who can forget Stretch swerving through Fresno defenders two weeks ago for a try at game’s end? Even cooler still, Pete gladly played B-side games after his first 80 minutes.

Stretch and family are apparently moving back east. We would all do well to remember some lessons from Stretch: Stay calm, go to training, play with fire, make tackles, don’t make excuses and never say die. And, perhaps even harder, have an uncanny feel for the game and superb tactical kicking.

Like in other matches this season, we had our chances against Rosa. Our tackling seemed much better but Rosa perhaps had one or two fewer mistakes. We hung together in this match and throughout the season; no back biting was heard.

Thomo laid more wood than Habitat for Humanity.. If Thomo has you in his sites on the sideline, run for cover because he is going to truck you into next week.

In the B-side match, Billy B got us on the board with a thundering try and later had to shoot a nasty boot o’ mustard and piss. David also had a dazzling scamper for a score, though we lost the B-side.

What we can do to improve: recruit more talent, play some 7s this summer and always be working on our game.

If only we protected the ball like we protect the bottles of Jameson's.....Sigh. Fresno took care of the ball better, propelling them to the victory over us Saturday in a glorious day at the San Francisco Polo Fields. We had our opportunites, especially in the second half. However, we flung the ball around with recklessness. Rugby mirrors other sports in that the team with the fewest mistakes wins. Fresno imposed its pack over our pack; they were not flashy but they were effective. Any team has to break the gain line. Too often we had handling errors that sent us back 10 to 15 meters off our own scrums. Tackling needed tightening. It's been a difficult year due to injuries, line-up changes, etc. The intensity has been off in the big games. Still, good clubs look in the mirror and decide to be better. Hang together or hang separately.

Per the 2nd side match, it was a quick affair, highlighted by hard-hitting by slickWilly, hard running by Lynch et.al, and the return of Tony, Glen and Osazee. final score, unknown.

But, all was not lost, because the baracus organized the best piss-up of the year. Fresno and Baracus players alike were singing x-rated rugby songs, arm in arm, smiles covered the entire bbq area for at least two hours, Fresno players continually gave praises for our sportsmanship and great party, and we even had a late-afternoon cage-fighting display courtesy of Burley, Keir, Sam, Tony, and Thomo..... seriously, it was a classy display by Baracus on a losing day, and i couldn't have been more proud of this fantastic team that i call my own.

Baracus out-gunned a gutty Arroyo club, who played the match one man shy of a squad, to take a 63-7 triumph at the Polo Fields in San Francisco. It was a slow start with the teams trading tries before Baracus started to work shots to the body and combinations. We appeared to realize that after about 25 minutes of play, that somewhere we would always have an overlap. The tries then came in buckets in the A-side match. Some good stuff happening all over the place, interspersed with some silly passes. One amazing try was Stretch to Doc to Stretch over the span of about 70 meters.

The B-side affair saw Baracus drop a narrow match, about 4 tries to 5, vs. a Marin club that came out strong. Marin's number 15 was an ugly SOB and we almost beat him. Granted, we were still mixing and matching against a team unit. We played much better once we remembered how to tackle. Oh, Pete Stretch got a try as a member of the tight-5 as he stood in at lock. Perhaps Pete can eat his way into the forwards in another 15 years or so.

Other sideline notes:

Matt (aka New Dane) looked strong at #12 in the 2nd half of the A-side match

Tall Sam, awesome. He makes it look easy, almost as easy as Stretch makes the game look at times.

Square Sam: Have another Red Bull before the game. Beautiful hit on the kickoff, just a tad early! If you averaged Buckeye Mike's hit, the late one, v. O 'Club and Sam's crush you would have the perfectly timed blast.

Parris Pickert. Productive day from the thin man, four tries? He is the quiet storm!

The new #15, Chris?, has some speed and moves. We welcome him to the fold and can never have enough quality players.

Dan Taylor: Silky barrister, in and out of the court room.

David. One of the few players I would almost pay to watch play rugby. His try beating the guy down the field? Boffo performance.

Royal: Rounding into form, can play anywhere. Perhaps a young Gramps in the making.

Thomo, aka homeless rugger, aka young Andy Capp, is making 90-percent of a play until he gets caught or put in an awkward position. When he plays a bit more , he will shine even brighter.

PG: Great to have him back from Thailand. His saltiness picks everyone up. With him and Doctor on the same pitch, our hypertension ascends in a good way. We would have a stroke if Sean The Fat was still in the mix.

Alex: Back in the battle after hurting his knee getting up from his desk.

Young Buckeye Mike: Becoming a force. Had a nice tough-guy try bulling it in from 5 meters out.

Burley, brought it in the second half v. Marin.

The usuals are the usuals, enough documentation. Hutty, Keir, Lynch, Show, Hurricane etc. you guys are the guts of this thing we dub Baracus. (As a member of the more centrist Baracus faction I will not attach "tan" at the end of the club name. We need to be opressors and not the oppressed.

Nice to see Jerry back from film-fest land or whatever foreign port to join us.

Murph, thanks for the sideline PBRs!

We win as a team, and we lose as a team. On a wet and muddy saturday, we lost as a team, 17-27 to Santa Rosa. The game started quickly, with the Baracus not aligning well on defense. A lapse in defensive alignment opened up a big hole on the outside and Santa Rosa's fullback beat us wide for a qucik score. After another defensive lapse in the middle of the field, we gave up a big run to their strong #8, followed by a penalty to 'Rosa, which lined them up near our 5m line. They hit a quick-tap, and drove in for their second try. At this point, the Baracus woke up. We stormed back with our first try, a sweet set of passes that set up Santa Cruz Mike in the corner for his first try as a Baracus. Unfortunately, later in the half we missed an opportunity to tie the game and knocked-on a ball in the try zone. But, we kept storming, and just before half time there was a controversial call that could have been scored a try for Baracus or a 5m scrum, alas it was a 22m to Santa Rosa, which the ref later admitted he got wrong. Half-time score, Baracus 7 'Rosa 17. Re-juvenated the Baracus scored quickly in the second half to come within 5 points of the home team. Although we sort of went on auto-pilot for the next 30 minutes instead of stomping on the opponent's throat (speaking figuratively), we again missed a chance for a score, getting tackled on the try-line after a sweet break-away run by Paris. Unfortunately he didn't have any support, and ran out of steam after a blistering 60 yard sprint. Late in the game, still trailing by only 5 points, the Baracus threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted and run in for a score by 'Rosa's #8. This was a game that we should have won, and everyone on the field and sidelines knows it. With more committment and focus at practice, we will surely beat 'Rosa next time we face them.

The second side match saw some great individual play, as well, we got to see Pierre run for the first time with the Baracus. Needless to say, we are very happy that Pierre has joined us and he will truly be an assett for many years to come. Lynch, Thomo, Willy, Smelly and Providence all ran hard, as well, Buckeye Mike gave up a gash in the head in order to make a hit on a hard-running 'Rosa player. (see below for the bloody goodness)

The Baracus traveled with 23 men to Fresno. Alas, Hurricane was a game-time scratch, and Hutty went out shortly into the game, so we were truly only 21 deep for the entire game. Mix in Kevin's head/shoulder injury, and your scribe's busted knee, and on paper, this looked like an uphill battle for Baracus.......... HOWEVER, the Baracus are getting more fit, and we have an awesome group of subs that bailed us out, brought on the fresh legs, and helped us to an eight point (+/-) victory against a strong fresno team, Baracus 31, Fresno 23.

The game started quickly, and Fresno attacked us with their outside center, who was clearly their marquee player. We made a few high tackles, and let him run through us. But, we maintained our defense, and avoided an early try by them. A quick counter, some good forward rucking sprung the baracus backline into action, and the race was on. Baracus went up 5-0 within the first ten minutes, shaking off three hours of rust from the drive home. Fresno came right back, crashing their strong outside center, and tied the game 5-5. The baracus then proceeded to play its best half of rugby all year. Excellent forward rucking opened up the holes for the backline, and the backs moved the ball well. The baracus were in synch (dare we say, integrated) and went into half time up by 14. Fresno is a good team, and they came back at us with a strong series of forward crashes and more from their #13. The baracus allowed Fresno back into the game, and this was due primarily to our lack of fitness. Thankfully, we have pete stretch and they do not. Just when Mr. Mo-mentum appeared to be changing his address to Fresno, Stretch hit a beautiful 50 meter kick that died at the back of the try zone, and Stretch pounced on it for the score. This was the turning point in the game, and re-energized the Baracus. Late in the game, our fitness failed, and Fresno scored on us twice. Alas, the baracus had built a big enough lead with tries by Burley-Bailey-Doc-Stretch that we held on at the end, and came out with a victory. The baracus used almost all of its substitutes, and they provided the extra energy that we needed to bring home a victory. If it weren't for the subs, the Baracus could have been on the other side of this score.

The B-side game was spirited, and the Baracus took this as well. That's a double-dip in Fresno, and everyone is to be commended. In the words of a great man, "Chop your nuts....." Apparently, one of the Fresno forwards took this phrase literally, and administered the nut chop to Burley. Later in the game, this same forward was seen stomping on people's heads, and the referee (a Fresno player) threw his teammate out of the game. Lynch ran hard all day, Buck-eye, Logan, and Bill Batista all played well. Danny "Hamstring" Taylor played two full games, Thomas kept hitting hard, and the youngin's continued their solid play.

We went to Fresno missing several starters, but it appears that several new starters may have emerged. Making a strong case with the stellar play by everyone on Saturday! We came away with two scalps (wins) and it was a great team effort that brought us to victory. We have the next six practices to work on connections, FITNESS, FITNESS, TACKLING & FITNESS, so come out and run hard.

The Polo Fields, SF, Baracus v. Sacramento A and B

I was watching a great DVD documentary before game night, "Living with Lions," an account of the 1997 Lions tour of South Africa. One of the crusty Lions coaches said that good players take criticism and learn from it. We can expand that to good teams take criticism, after Sacramento smacked us at home Saturday 41-11. Sacramento appears to be the class of the league with its big pack and athletic backs. Still, Baracus had moments to get into the game but too many defensive lapses. Baracus played tough defense the first half, surviving several try line stands and benefiting from Sacramento miscues like touching it down before the tryline. Sacramento looked more together, and we are still figuring out where the pieces go. Gramps hit a bomb of a penalty kick from mid field and then Bailey scooped up a loose ball to cut the score to about 14-11. After that, Sacramento just ran by us. We lacked, as Stretch says, "integration," and our tactical kicking did not always find the mark. It looked like we were out of synch with players making breaks and then support not getting their in time. Sacramento had a sharp counter-attack. We will no doubt learn and respond. Don't say Fres-No to Baracus. Say Fres-Yes!

A slow starting B-side tilt turned into a cage match by game's end. We dropped this one by 31-20. (My late match details are lacking as I was sidelined; thank you Puma Bill and others for your assistance.) We went down by two tries before David the scrummy did his patented tapdance through and around the Sacramento scrum. He is one bad-ass 155-pounder. Next, Ollie gave the wink-wink to PImike who hit him with a quick lineout toss for another score. Buckeye Mike got into the act scooping up a pass and slashing in from the wing for a try, his first in the maroon and gold. We played well when we made a concerted effort to maintain possession. Bill B, Square Sam, (Marshawn) Lynch and Smelly smashed it up on penalty plays with plents of help from other forwards. After trying for trickier plays like hitting the fullback on skip passes, flyhalf Santa Cruz Mike in his debut started switching and crashing Burley. We kept getting called for not releasing ball, which killed a lot of momentum. Thomas "The Beast" started to let loose at outside center. In one of the most amazing plays of the day, Thomas smashed about 5 would-be tacklers along the sideline in a 50-meter dash. He even challenged Sac bigman Kali Afu before eventually being pushed out. There were several other feisty Baracus who contributed but I am still putting names with faces. Sac seemed to be putting most of its starters back in the last 20 to 30-minutes of the match. Hutty and Ollie had some big hits down near the tryline against Kali. We fell asleep when they did a quick line-out off a kick for touch. Always play to the whistle. My apologies for a shit tackle effort on the sideline chasing down a kick, but I was also pissed that when I looked back I did not see anyone joining the pursuit. If you are in the middle of the field and not really doing anything on defense, for God's sake swivel your head around and get out to match numbers. Sacramento was overloading the backs all game and we were too slow to react.

Guys, I do not have a dependable paycheck for a living and have to pay a mortgage bought at the top of the housing market. If I am injured, I can't work. I have to resign from competitive rugby but I leave with a pleasant memory. Thomas passed the ball and I started to head to the corner as I heard Bailey screaming he was coming to the outside; I know to get the ball to fast guy. Just as I let go of the pass some tatted-out Sac guy nailed me under the left armpit. X-rays showed broken rib, and I am now watching Charlie Sheen sitcoms to ensure that I do not laugh and cause further injury. Seventeen seasons under the bridge. I hereby roll my partial dues payments over into a social membership.

PI.Mike

From the Pelican Ref's Report:

Baracus 11 (1) - SACRAMENTO 40 (6) Referee: Sam Reagle
Evaluator: Mike Malone
Pitch: Polo Grounds, Golden Gate Park, SF
Weather: Typical

In some ways, this game was a lot closer than the score indicates. Baracus had a great attitude all day and tried to learn from each mistake, but their tackling lacked consistency while Sacramento looked closer to mid-season form. On the other hand, Sacramento wasted one scoring opportunity by splitting the Baracus back line before downing the ball one meter short of the goal line and a couple of other scoring opportunities due to poor ball handling.

In the first half, both teams played pretty evenly with Baracus getting some lucky breaks when they appeared to be in trouble. At the 35 minute mark with the visitors up 14-3, A Sacramento player was binned for a repeated infringement. Baracus converted the penalty kick to end the half down only 14-6.

In the second half, Baracus scored an unconverted try while Sacramento was still shorthanded to bring it to 14-11 and the game was on. It stayed this way for about 15 minutes before fitness seemed to favor Sacramento as they scored 4 unanswered tries in the last 20 minutes for a final score of 40-11.

Thanks Mike for investing a Saturday on my behalf. At least it was mostly dry.

Seconds: BA Baracus 25 (5) - SACRAMENTO 32 (6) Referee: Mike Gadoua

At the historical Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park, SF, it was an overcast, chilly day at the 2:30pm kick off. With a good number of the players worn out from playing in the A side match, the teams were pretty even. Sacto led at the half 17 to 10 and both teams scored 15 points in the second half. It appeared that BA was coming on strong in the last few minutes of the match and a converted try would have tied the match. However, mixed with the veterans were new players and a penalty for failure to release ended BA's final minute drive.

It was a long day for the Baracus as O-club paid the ultimate show of respect by bringing their A-game to the match. The Olympians showed their class by running and rucking fast and furious, and taking advantage of ANY missed tackle or lapse in judgement by Baracus. In the end, the score was O-Club: many, Baracus: few. Despite the outcome, there was not a single head hung after the game, as every man in Maroon and Gold fought every minute of the match.

On to the good news: The Heisman trophy has nothing on Burley as the hard running lad gave a smaller O'Club player a clinic from his straightarm. Burley didn't just fend the man off; he picked him up by the chin and carried him for three or four meters before chucking him to the turf like a used Kleenex. Then, Burley kept accelerating to the try line, where he got caught but left it in play for Alex to score the hustle try. The whole scenario was set up by PG drawing a man, being the shifty prop that he is, and dishing to Burley.

Other noteworthy plays:

• Parris Pickert going to the store but forgetting the groceries as instead of dotting down the try, a defender poked the ball away from him.
• Bailey denying a try by sweeping across and pushing an O'Club wing out of bounds on the corner.
• Gavin making a tackle on shear willpower as he dragged a ball carrier down with one hand in the man's jersey.
• Great hit/late hit: Young Buckeye "Mostly Legal" Mike Darwal leveling a winger about two/three steps late and igniting the Baracus sideline.
• Stretch going 120 minutes and D. stepping in for some quality minutes (while still claiming he's done with rugby. Uh huh.)

From the Pelican Ref's Match Report:

Baracus 0 - OLYMPIC CLUB 52, Referee: Pete Smith

Game on indeed! The O Club are a team to be reckoned with this year.

Jon Kohler, Tony Petruzzella and Chris Clever may be the best back row in the country. Carl Hanson has dropped 20 lbs and is fit and powerful from the second row yet is smaller than his second row mate. Toss Brian McClannahan in the front row and you have one of the best packs around.

Having a quality coach like Ray Lehner with the talent on that team is going to translate into a lot of wins this season.

If they have a weakness it is their backs. They are talented, but not outstanding and need to work together a little better as too many passes missed their mark. When they did string some passes together, they were very effective.

The BA Baracus are a very good division 2 club and my guess is they will make the playoffs again this year assuming their key players can stay healthy and they can integrate some of their young stars into the run-on 15.

As for the game itself, it was very entertaining and closer than the 52-0 score would indicate. The O Club were too much for Baracus in the first half, opening up a 37-0 lead with a blue-collar playing style.

The second half had Baracus playing 'downhill' and the game evened out with the O Club only managing two tries. Petruzzella converted one of the tries and added a penalty kick. Baracus would have scored had their winger not knocked on in the try zone while attempting to center and two other breakaways for Baracus where run down from behind keeping them scoreless.

The game was a wide open affair with very few penalties and no foul play. All in all it was the perfect end to a good preseason.

I do have to mention that Baracus did manage a try in the 'third' half, but it took 103 minutes of play before the O Club surrendered any points.