Rugby World Cup

Yesterday I got a taste of what it's like to be a real rugby fan.  The Rugby World Cup is currently being held in New Zealand, and there are 20 teams vying for the title.  Rugby is a big sport here in Australia, but I've just never gotten into it.  Yesterday, however, I was convinced to watch a match and met up with some of my friends to do so.  We ended up at Turf Bar in the CBD, where the crowd was decent, the beer was flowing, and there were many shouts from passionate fans.  The game that was on was Wales vs. Samoa, and while the Welsh followers were dogging their team for playing badly, I couldn't tell and the team still managed to pull off a win.  After that match was England vs. Georgia, and England (a much better team) easily took charge of the match.  It was a fun experience due to the noise and passion of the crowd, but I still don't think rugby is a sport I will dedicate myself too.  Apparently the United States has won one and lost one, so I don't know what our chances are of advancing to the next round.

Even better than rugby was the fact that in the back part of the bar, I managed to stumble upon one TV screen that was showing the Stanford vs. Arizona football game.  I couldn't believe my eyes, but it made my day.  I was finally able to watch the boys play and of course we won, 37-10.  There was another guy watching and it ended up that he had also attended Stanford.  He's an '05 grad with a degree in mechanical engineering, and he also has a younger brother who was on the water polo team and graduated last year.  Small, small world.