luckycanuck (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
luckycanuck) wrote2009-10-23 11:34 pm
luckycanuck) wrote2009-10-23 11:34 pm
Entry tags:
Introduction - Rugby
Friday's of a sitting week are always an odd day. After the chaos and workload of the past four days there is a real let down when it gets slow.
Speaking of sitting weeks, the schedule for the sittings of Parliament was announced late this week. It looks as though Parliament will be sitting when the Bingham Cup is on.
What's the Bingham Cup I hear you ask? Good question. The Bingham Cup is a rugby tournament played every two years. It's named after Mark Bingham, an American rugby player who was on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 (the one that the passengers brought down before it reached its target.)
Mark Bingham was also gay, he played on a gay rugby team in San Francisco, and the Bingham Cup is basically the world cup of gay rugby. I play for the Sydney Convicts, the only gay rugby team in Australia.
For the record, I'm straight. I'm one of the few straight guys on a gay rugby team. I found out about the team by chance at the gym one day, and have now played four seasons with the club. I live in Canberra so I can't come to training, but I do get up to games (though not as often as I'd like.)
I really enjoy rugby. I started playing whilst doing my MA and have stuck with it since. I've said at times that it's the closest thing I've ever experienced to combat. There is a level of intensity and cameraderie that you don't find in many situations. I look forward to games, I feel alive when smashing into a ruck or making a tackle or crashing over the line to score a try.
A lot of rugby clubs are very blokey. I really enjoy the game, but I'm not much of a bloke. I've tried to go along with some of the hijinks that seem to go with a lot of rugby clubs, but it never really suited me. The Convicts, on the other hand, are the least blokey rugby club I''ve ever seen. They provide me with the opportunity to indulge my rugbyesque interests without the frustration of feeling like I don't fit the culture.
It's odd, but I seem to be a more natural fit on a gay rugby team (though not for the obvious reason.)
But I digress. As fas as I can tell, the Bingham Cup is on at the same time as Parliament is sitting. Generally nobody goes on leave when Parliament is sitting, but there are exceptions. I may have to make one.
I missed Bingham in 2006 because of my visa situation and in 2008 for work reasons. I don't intend to miss it in 2010. The only thing that would definately get in the way would be if there was an election at that time. Don't you mess with my rugby plans Prime Minister!
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Your gay rugby team is one of your endearing quirks..although S always acuses me of being a fag hag when I wear my convicts shirt!
Butters used to play rugby..hence the knee recon..*LOL*
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But do you count as a fag hag if you know the team through me? What is the term for a fag hag if the guy is straight? "Hetero hag" doesn't have the same ring to it.
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