Termine » and there is no one more passionate about this game.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Within a span of several days, members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic rugby team flew from Florida to their training center outside San Diego, then quickly flew on to Houston. They spent the night there before taking a red-eye down to Rio, where they arrived last week.A long journey, right? Yeah, well, it was considerably easier than the 1924 U.S. rugby teams odyssey to the Olympics in Paris 92 years ago.For one thing, the 1924 team had to raise its own funds for transportation to Europe and lodging in Paris because the U.S. Olympic Committee wouldnt pay. Then the team had to take a six-day, cross-country train ride from California to New York, which was followed by a nine-day cruise across the Atlantic Ocean. Once there, the players received so much hostility that they had to battle their way off the ship when it docked in France. They were jeered during and after their games and also had their money and possessions stolen from the locker room.And yet, they won the gold medal, defending the Olympic title they had won in 1920.Yes, the United States won Olympic golds in a sport that was barely played in America then -- or now -- which makes the Americans the defending gold medalists as rugby returns to the Olympics for the first time since the 1924 Miracle at Paris.Americas victory in rugby football at the VIII Olympiad represents what is probably the most surprising of all victories, secured in the face of severe handicaps and almost unsurmountable obstacles, 1924 U.S. rugby team manager Sam Goodman wrote afterward in a report to the U.S. Olympic Committee. This years victory is another object lesson to the world of the American youths athletic adaptability.And 92 years later, the 2016 U.S. team can draw inspiration from its forebears.It was guys coming together and given no chance at all, said 2016 U.S. rugby player Madison Hughes. They toured England before the Olympics. They were told, The French are going to kill you. But they came out against all odds, because rugby wasnt a huge sport in the U.S. There were a lot of guys who hadnt played a lot of rugby -- some hadnt played it at all -- and some playing other sports in the Olympics.It was just guys coming together and representing their country with pride and doing everything they could to bring home gold.Like now, rugby was not played by many people in the U.S. in the 1920s. The sport had grown somewhat in popularity earlier in the century, when deaths and injuries caused considerable concern over American football. But when football came roaring back, colleges dropped rugby during the 1910s. The U.S. sent a team in 1920 only because the California Rugby Union pushed hard for it.California was the place where rugby had peaked in popularity, and almost every player on the 1920 and 1924 U.S. Olympic teams lived there. Even so, there were a few team members who had never even played the game until a few months before the Games started.Regardless of whether they had rugby experience, the U.S. players could boast of great athleticism. In addition to playing rugby on the 1920 team, Dink Templeton finished fourth in the long jump. Teammate Morris Kirksey also competed in the 100-meter race, finishing second to Charley Paddock. Kirkseys speed was an asset that made up for his lack of rugby knowledge.Among the most prominent American rugby players of the era was Colby Babe Slater, who played rugby in high school, was a multisport star at UC Davis, was on the 1920 U.S. team and captain of the 1924 squad (his brother Norman was on the 1924 team as well). Slater also served in World War I in the medical corps, risking death while experiencing some of the most horrific sights imaginable in Belgium --- then returning there for the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.Another top U.S. player was Rudy Scholz, who also played on both gold medal teams. He loved rugby so much that he would continue playing it all the way into his 80s. He and Babe Slater are the focus of Mark Ryans excellent book on those teams, For the Glory, where Hughes learned much about what the teams endured.While the U.S. did not have a lot of rugby experience, at least it didnt face a lot of opposition. Because of disagreements over requirements, scheduling and expenses, just two countries competed in 1920.The Americans opponent in the one-game event was France, the overwhelming favorite. But playing in wet and sloppy conditions, the U.S. upset the French 8-0 to win gold. And set up the incredible 1924 adventure.Out of a desire to gain revenge, the French Olympic committee sent a request to the California Rugby Union that it compete in the 1924 Games.As U.S. player Norman Cleaveland told Mark Jenkins for a 1989 story in American Heritage magazine: They were looking for a punching bag. We were told to go to Paris and take our beatings like gentlemen.It was even more unclear whether the U.S. would compete in 1924 than it had been in 1920. An additional four years had passed since colleges had dropped rugby, leaving even fewer experienced players available.This invitation was considered from all angles, U.S. coach Charlie Austin wrote in his report to the USOC. As rugby was a dead issue with us, as we had ceased to play it as a popular sport in 1914, we did not know whether we could gather a team which would do credit to the United States.Eventually, the California club and the USOC chose to accept the invitation, though, as Goodman wrote, it had to overcome many obstacles such as lack of organization, equipment, finances, players, and the necessary facilities.Although the Olympics were to open in July, the rugby games were held in May. The U.S. team took a train across the country and sailed to England aboard a ship in April. After arriving in England, it played three helpful games against very welcoming British teams before heading across the Channel to France.Thats where the obstacles got worse. When the ship docked, French officials were not willing to let the Americans disembark because of issues with their visas.The trip next morning from Folkstone, England, to Boulogne, France, was extremely rough and we were in no mood for the unpleasant reception we received at the hands of the officials of the country who was supposedly entertaining the worlds athletes, Goodman wrote. There was no one to meet us; our baggage was seized and for a time we were not even allowed to land on French soil, simply because the French Olympic Committee had not taken care of our visas.There were reports that the U.S. rugby team formed a scrum to force its way off the ship and past French security. Cleaveland told Olympic historian John Lucas, a Penn State professor, for a paper in 1986: We started a near riot, crashed the fence and made our way to Paris through hellish rain.Bob Latham, the current chairman of U.S. rugby, has heard many tales about the docking. They were absolutely being turned back, he said. Even when they hit land, they were outrunning the authorities.All of which led some in the French newspapers to refer to the U.S. players as streetfighters and saloon brawlers. Goodman also wrote that the U.S. team was forced to train on a miserable field near their hotel until they were finally allowed into Colombes Stadium, where the Olympics were to be held. According to Ryan, some in the French media even denied that the U.S. had won the 1920 gold medal in rugby.Without going into details about our stay in the French capital, Goodman wrote, it is only necessary to remark that we were accorded anything but hospitable treatment; in fact, many times we were treated with open hostility.Why such hostility at an Olympics, especially after the U.S. had played a decisive role in beating the Germans and Austrians in World War I when it joined France and the Allies in 1917? For one thing, Ryan writes, the French were upset by U.S. president Woodrow Wilsons Fourteen Points after the war, which included softer punishment for the Germans.Plus, the French rugby fans wanted to get the gold medal back.There was slightly more rugby competition in 1924 than 1920: Romania joined to make it a three-nation contest.The U.S. again wasnt considered much of a threat, but at least America was better than Romania. In perhaps the worst Olympic performance that ever earned a bronze medal, Romania went 0-2, losing 61-3 to France and 37-0 to the U.S. That set up a rematch of the 1920 gold-medal game.Although it lacked some rugby experience, the U.S. team made up for it with its size and tackling ability when the game was more physical.From contemporary reports, it was the physicality of the Americans, Latham said. We may not have had much rugby skills, but we knew how to tackle. That these guys were able to lay things on the line and play a very physical game is what carried them through it all.The U.S. was jeered in the championship match against the heavily favored home team. Nonetheless, the Americans tackling approach helped them take a 3-0 halftime lead and knock star French player Adolphe Jaureguy out of the game, along with another player. Those injuries helped the U.S. dominate the second half and beat France 17-3.The French fans were not happy. They booed the Americans so heavily (with some fans throwing bottles) that the team had to be escorted out of the stadium by police, and a few U.S. fans were even assaulted in the stands and had to be hospitalized.Thank goodness for the 9-foot-high fence between us and the slaughter-minded fans, Cleaveland told Lucas.Men like Babe Slater and Scholz were disgusted by what they saw, Ryan writes in his book: Like so many others, they had been willing to risk their lives in the First World War to restore Frances freedom. ... Such a display of hatred from a supposed ally was beyond their understanding.As unpleasant as that match was, conditions improved afterward when the U.S. team traveled through France playing exhibitions. They won over the players and the French rugby people, Latham said. They extended their tour and were actually respected.They should also be remembered.Our victory in 1924 made the hockey win against the Soviets look like an everyday occurrence, U.S. player Charlie Doe told Jenkins. If we had that kind of coverage, rugby might be the great American pastime today.Rugby was dropped from the Olympics after 1924 and would not return until more than nine decades had passed and all the gold medalists had died.In large part, this was due to the departure of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics. He loved rugby and was a force behind its place in the Games. He left as IOC president following the 1924 Games, and his replacement, Count Henri de Baillet-Latour, did not favor team sports in the Olympics. Thus, rugby did not survive.Coubertin certainly championed getting rugby into the Olympics. ... So losing him as a champion of it, I think, certainly hurt, Latham said. Not only how he exerted influence in Olympic circles, but how much he wanted to exert after France lost gold-medal matches in 1920 and 1924.Few people today know about the 1920 and 1924 U.S. teams, though UC Davis has presented an award named after Babe Slater to the schools top male athlete since 1965. The university also is making sure to highlight his achievements this summer -- not that Slater pumped his accomplishments much.He never overly talked about it, said Dick McCapes, his son-in-law. I was aware that there were Olympic diplomas and medals in his office, but I never fully appreciated his accomplishments until much later in life. If you asked, he would talk about it but would answer briefly. He was focused on the present.Slater would be focused on the Rio Games, because rugby is finally back, albeit in the rugby sevens form. There will be a dozen teams competing, including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Fiji and Great Britain but not Romania, which will make winning gold again considerably more difficult.The players now are much better, and there are more opponents to play, Latham said. The competition is stronger, more athletes are coming to the sport as the sport of first choice. More people are in their prime physical years. They have rugby instinct. Just the opportunity to play and the coaching has become much more organized and sophisticated. And more mainstream.While the competition will be tougher, the U.S. players are better. So they could win gold, just as the 1924 team did. And at least they didnt have to pay their own way to Rio or fight their way off the plane when they got here.The first thing [this team] should take from 1924 is thats our gold medal to defend, Latham said. We dont want to lose that. Nike Vapormax CS . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. 2018 Nike Vapormax KPU . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. http://www.vapormaxflyknitpascher.fr/nike-air-vapormax-flyknit-pas-cher/vapormax-noir.html . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Nike Air Vapormax Flyknit Moc . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Vapormax Off White 2018 . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2.DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche are rounding up the old crew to restore the downtrodden franchise. First, Joe Sakic was given more responsibility in the front office. And now Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy is rejoining the Avs as head coach. Colorado reached an agreement in principle Thursday with Roy to lead the team and also serve as vice-president of hockey operations. Roy will join forces with Sakic, who was recently promoted to executive vice-president of hockey operations. The Avalanche won two Stanley Cup titles with the duo on the ice and the organization is hoping they can help turn around a struggling franchise. Pull this off and it just might be Roys biggest save yet. The Avs finished a year theyd rather forget, winding up last in the Western Conference and sitting out of the playoffs for a third straight season. The dismal season led to the dismissal of coach Joe Sacco late last month. However, the team does have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. They also have one of the winningest goalies of all time, a fiery competitor during his playing days who will bring that sort of intensity to the bench. The 47-year-old Roy becomes the sixth coach in Avalanche history and the 14th in franchise history; the team began as the Quebec Nordiques and moved to Denver before the 1995-96 season. The Avs captured the first of two Stanley Cup titles that season, with Roy in net. Although he has no NHL coaching experience, Roy did spend the last eight seasons as coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, winning the 2006 Memorial Cup. He also is a part-owner of the QMJHL franchise. "This is an unbelievable day for me," Roy said. "Its a new and exciting challenge that I am really looking forward to. Almost 10 years to the day that I announced my retirement as a player I am back in Denver and hope the fans are as excited as I am." Roys younger brother, Stephane Roy, let the secret out of the bag earlier this week, posting a Facebook note saying his brother would be the new coach. That left fans in the Mile High City eager all week, hoping two of the most beloved players in team history would team up again. "This is a very exciting day for our fans and a significant moment in our organizations history," team president Josh Kroenke said. Following the season, the Avalanchhe shook up their front office, naming Kroenke as their team president as he took over for longtime executive Pierre Lacroix, who was instrumental in assembling the squads that won championships in 1996 and 2001.dddddddddddd Kroenkes first task was giving Sakic more of a say in every day hockey decisions. He also allowed Sakic to seek out the next coach. Naturally, he turned to someone he knows quite well. "All along Patrick was our top candidate and we are thrilled that he has decided to accept this offer," Sakic said. "Patrick has a great hockey mind, is a tremendous coach and there is no one more passionate about this game. He will bring that winning attitude to our dressing room to help this young team grow." Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006. He retired with the most regular-season wins in NHL history (551), since passed by New Jerseys Martin Brodeur. Roy also won two Stanley Cups with Montreal and remains the winningest goalie in Stanley Cup history with 151 postseason victories. "Patricks passion for the game of hockey both as a player and as a coach defines who he is as a person," Kroenke said. "He is a winner and is coming back to Denver, where he created numerous special moments on and off the ice while helping lead us to two Stanley Cup championships." Roy won three Vezina Trophies (1989, 1990, 1992) and was selected to the NHL All-Star team six times. The excitable Roy started his career with Montreal, winning two Stanley Cup trophies for the Canadiens. But a rift grew with the team after a game against Detroit on Dec. 2, 1995, when Roy allowed nine goals before he was finally taken out in the second period. Upset, Roy told Montreal it was his last game for the team. A few days later, he was in Colorado, helping the Avs win their first Stanley Cup title. To this day, Roy sweaters permeate the Pepsi Center on game days. Hes that revered. Roy had his number retired by the Avs a decade ago and a banner to commemorate the achievement now hangs from the arenas rafters, alongside those of Peter Forsberg (21), Ray Bourque (77) and his new partner in turning around this franchise, Sakic (19). The team has quite a bit to build around, too, especially since the Avs have a young nucleus in place with Matt Duchene, Ryan OReilly and captain Gabriel Landeskog all under 23. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Authentic Jerseys ' ' '