The Scrum and the Scrumptious

First, the "scrum". This past Saturday, we made it down to the final match of the 2005 National Collegiate Rugby Championships, this year being held at Steuber Rugby Field on the Stanford campus. For those uninitiated into the world of college rugby, one thing should be made quite clear. Cal dominates it and has dominated it for quite a while now. They have won the national title twenty one of the twenty six years it has been in place. And they almost always win convincingly. Case in point, Saturday's title game against the University of Utah. Final score 44-7 (link here). Wasn't even close. We noticed the turnout was substantially greater than the 2003 tournament where T and I had choice seats, front row in fact, at Witter Field in Berkeley where we saw Cal manhandle Navy. The Cal rugby team has had a number of moments in the national spotlight including a few not at all tied to its play on the field. A starting member of its 1991 and 1993 national championship teams, Mark Bingham died on the hijacked United Airlines flight that went down in the Pennsylvania countryside on 9/11; he led the group of passengers that rushed the cockpit and foiled the hijackers plans to crash the plane into the Capitol Building. Representing the Congress men and women that would have been sure victims of the plan, Senator John McCain later delivered Bingham's eulogy: "I know he was a good son and friend, a good rugby player, a good American and an extraordinary human being. He supported me, and his support now ranks among the greatest honors of my life. I wish I had known before Sept. 11 just how great an honor his trust in me was." Not at all surprising that Bingham would use his tackling abilities for the good of others. His previous claim to fame (well known to all true Blues) was as the ardent Cal fan who ran onto the field during the 1992 Big Game and leveled the Tree, Stanford's obnoxious mascot. Bingham was a true patriot, red, white, and blue throughout...just a little less red and a lot more blue, for those in the know. Another national headline grabber for the Cal squad was during the 2001 season when Stanford forfeited its game with the Bears for "fear of injury" (link here). Yes, the team actually wrote a letter to Cal coach Jack Clark bowing out of the game for fear that there would be too many injuries to their side. The sports media had a field day with that one. And to the delight of Cal fans everywhere, Stanford ruggers will have to live with that shame forever. As for me, It's been quite a while since I put on my cleats, but each time now watching a game in person, there's a strong itch to get back into it. Playing on Jeremy Howell's intramural team in college (in the key position of hooker or center man in the scrum) and also, during my stint in New York, practicing with the Village Lions RFC (link) in lower Manhattan were both very memorable experiences. Anyhow, that's it for the "scrum" part of the program. Now on to the "scrumptious". T and I had the chance, finally, to drop in at Buck's restaurant in bucolic Woodside (link), where I eagerly feasted on their trademark buckwheat flapjacks. Verdict? Worth every ounce of the hype. Their food is first rate and the wacky decor will keep you entertained, if not guessing (in our booth alone, I noted a mannequin in a genuine Russian cosmonaut suit hanging from the ceiling, an actual photo of former Israeli leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres posing behind his plate of pancakes at Buck's, and some hard to find tchotchkes including a homage to Homer Simpson coveting a pile of donuts). Buck's will definitely be our new "breakfast place" on the Peninsula.