A Muppet Movie reference in a rugby blog? Yes a Muppet Movie reference in a rugby blog. Sung by Dave Goelz as Gonzo The Great from the 1979 movie.
Follow along, you'll see where it's going.
As a sport, Rugby has a welcoming culture. Players, coaches, administrators, owners, family, friends and fans are the lifeblood of rugby. New to the sport? No problem! Welcome, join us and learn about the original oval-shaped football game. There are definite similarities--a good many differences too--but if you have watched American football, you do have the basics to understand rugby. Offload, conversions, penalty goals, tries--these are a few terms that if you say Option play, extra-point, field goal and touchdown, a football fan will instantly know what that means. It's a start, and football fans definitely have the basics even though it is a completely different game.
Rugby has been around a long time, and traditions define the sport. One great tradition is the post-game gathering and/or meal. Many teams will get together after just playing each other on the pitch to share a meal together with family and friends. Battered and bruised, looking like boxers that just went 12 rounds in a prize fight, the players still like being around each-other to share stories and each's others' company. That shared love and respect for the game is real. Folks in South Louisiana surely know of the unifying power of a get-together centered around food and competition. It's a feeling we all know and can tap into.
Rugby is also contagious. When you catch it, you want more. This is a GREAT time to be a rugby fan in the United States. Rugby exists at seemingly all levels nationwide for mend and women, boys and girls alike. Club, High School, College, Major League Rugby, the USA national Men's and Women's teams, and Sevens as well dot the landscape. For many Americans, actual rugby is closer than you think. There is also unprecedented coverage of Rugby on television, with world-wide rugby as well as our own domestic competitions getting some level of TV or internet streaming coverage. You can follow the rugby anywhere in the world on your computer or other device.
But what is best about rugby is the people associated with it. You can get to know rugby players by just talking with them. You'll find that they are folks just like you and me. Many Americans, many folks from other countries. All of them have a love for the game that is unique. Rugby players are all around us. Some play literally mot of their lives. When you hear of "Old Boys Rugby," the term can in fact mean that very thing.
Like the Song, Rugby is also about claiming something we had before, though lost to us over the years. Rugby has a storied history in the United States, which won the first two Olympic Gold Medals in the sport back in 1920 and 1924. The USA was actually the defending champion when Rugby was re-introduced as the Sevens version in Rio's 2016 games. Though this time, Fiji won the Men's competition and Australia the Women's.
This is why "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" is a rugby song. Totally. Here's the video taken from The Muppet Movie, which I'm old enough to have watched as a child. Notice the moon cleverly placed as the object of Gonzo's ballad. That is Rugby to me.
--RO
Follow along, you'll see where it's going.
As a sport, Rugby has a welcoming culture. Players, coaches, administrators, owners, family, friends and fans are the lifeblood of rugby. New to the sport? No problem! Welcome, join us and learn about the original oval-shaped football game. There are definite similarities--a good many differences too--but if you have watched American football, you do have the basics to understand rugby. Offload, conversions, penalty goals, tries--these are a few terms that if you say Option play, extra-point, field goal and touchdown, a football fan will instantly know what that means. It's a start, and football fans definitely have the basics even though it is a completely different game.
This looks familiar, vaguely familiar
Almost unreal yet, it's too soon to feel yet
Close to my soul and yet so far away
I'm going to go back there someday
Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls
Is that a song there, and do I belong there?
I've never been there, but I know the way
I'm going to go back there someday
Rugby is also contagious. When you catch it, you want more. This is a GREAT time to be a rugby fan in the United States. Rugby exists at seemingly all levels nationwide for mend and women, boys and girls alike. Club, High School, College, Major League Rugby, the USA national Men's and Women's teams, and Sevens as well dot the landscape. For many Americans, actual rugby is closer than you think. There is also unprecedented coverage of Rugby on television, with world-wide rugby as well as our own domestic competitions getting some level of TV or internet streaming coverage. You can follow the rugby anywhere in the world on your computer or other device.
Come and go with me, it's more fun to share
We'll both be completely at home in midair
We're flyin' not walkin' on featherless wings
We can hold onto love like invisible strings
But what is best about rugby is the people associated with it. You can get to know rugby players by just talking with them. You'll find that they are folks just like you and me. Many Americans, many folks from other countries. All of them have a love for the game that is unique. Rugby players are all around us. Some play literally mot of their lives. When you hear of "Old Boys Rugby," the term can in fact mean that very thing.
There's not a word yet, for old friends who just met
Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place?
You can just visit, but I plan to stay
I'm going to go back there someday
I'm going to go back there someday.
Like the Song, Rugby is also about claiming something we had before, though lost to us over the years. Rugby has a storied history in the United States, which won the first two Olympic Gold Medals in the sport back in 1920 and 1924. The USA was actually the defending champion when Rugby was re-introduced as the Sevens version in Rio's 2016 games. Though this time, Fiji won the Men's competition and Australia the Women's.
This is why "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" is a rugby song. Totally. Here's the video taken from The Muppet Movie, which I'm old enough to have watched as a child. Notice the moon cleverly placed as the object of Gonzo's ballad. That is Rugby to me.
--RO
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