Sure, there are ladies on high school wrestling teams, maybe even in college, but a girl on a rugby team? Some of us are seriously behind the times. Now for the sake of discussion let’s assume it’s an all girl rugby team. One of the parishioners of the female persuasion recently mentioned that the family was going to Louisiana to watch her and the team compete in a tournament for small colleges. Thinking immediately of basketball, volleyball or chess, the shock came with the announcement of the sport in question. Haven’t we all watched a scrum or two of our favorite rugby teams? But girls rugby? It’s time to step into the present for us old codgers.

How does a girl/young lady/woman decide that rugby is their avocation? “All right Taylor, put down those dolls and practice your hooking, mulligribers and garyowens.” Why go shopping with Mom when you can form a maul rather than be in the mall? You really have to admire a sport that has the terms “Group of Death” and “Blood Bin” as part of the ordinary vocabulary. It’s the only known sport that has set rules for the players AND the referees bleeding. Perhaps it begins with a “gateway” sport; “She deliberately spiked that volleyball at me; what sport would allow me to tackle her into the dirt?” “What pigskin sport would allow me to practice high tackles on the fake brunette who pretended to be my friend?” One wonders what other sports happen at these locations of learning that are open to either sex?

After exhaustive study, most collegians go for intramural jello wrestling. Unfortunately only two teams can play at the same time; the greens and the reds. Beer pong was popular for a while but since it was not picked up by the Olympic Committee its popularity has passed out. Cow tipping is a perennial favorite in midwestern universities but west and east coast colleges have yet to join in the fun, or know what a cow is (Favorite team name: The Cornhusker Cow Tipper Tassels). Sumo wrestling lasted one academic year but the lack of a decent uniform, or lack of decency or lack of a uniform assigned it to the diaper pail of history. Other sports that lead to the equality of the sexes have come and gone; jousting, berry picking, spin the bottle, snipe hunting, poke the bear, etc.

For those of us slightly aged people, life can get into a rut, which comes in handy when you start to lose your short term memory. It is the Holy Spirit that keeps us ever new with holy grace. No matter who we are or what we do, the changes of life are always accompanied by God’s grace. Cardinal Newman put it simply, “To live is to change, to be perfect is to have changed often.” The younger generations keep us up to date, in mostly good ways. It’s the Lord’s way of love between the generations and sharing wisdom that keeps the Church every new.

Ouch! Miss Taylor just found herself in the sin bin for a spear tackle on a counter ruck!