Two Day Update

Greetings all. I am doing this update on Monday evening, and am hoping to get it posted before I crash out. A little sore after our first match of the Festival today vs the Antediluvians from Canada. I am getting ahead of myself though, as we had the Opening Ceremony last night.


The Dogs gathered in the Hotel lobby Sunday afternoon ready to get the Festival started. We were bussed to Town Hall in downtown Sydney. The bus drivers earn every cent they make for driving here. I could never imagine trying to navigate these narrow, curvy streets with those large multi-passenger things. Once downtown we formed up in a pretty good spot, right in front of the speakers podium on Town Hall steps. As in the past, the trading began with other teams for pins. I think by the end of the night I had about 18 new ones.

The teams were spread out over about five blocks going in both directions from where we were. A team on one end started a wave somehow, and it went through the entire gathering of us 5,000 players at least four or five times. Pretty neat. When the speeches were complete, and the Official Flag passed onto the Sydney reps, we started our march to the Convention Center. Try to imagine 5,000 players and supporters walking down the streets for 20 minutes on our way to the party.
When we arrived there was a slight delay for some unknown reason, but we were all let in to enjoy the free food and drink for four hours. The live band was excellent, and the costumed entertainers on stilts were a fun addition as well. I spent a great deal of time wandering the Hall looking for friends from past Festivals, and also making new ones during my pin/badge trading. Of course, there were beers drank during the evening, and I'm pretty sure everyone got their fill and more.(yeah, right!)

A group of us walked back towards our Hotel at about 10:00 p.m. when the party was closing down. We were about a block from our destination when shouts of "Hey Dogs" were heard from a corner pub across the street from where we were waiting for a stop light. Three of our team mates were at tables outside having a nightcap, so we had to join them for a couple. Well, a couple turned into several, and we ended up staying there until about midnight, a decision a few of us paid for in spades at our match today.

FIRST MATCH DAY-MONDAY
As stated above, our first match was against a Canadian team. We were picked up by our bus at 10:45 a.m. and were taken to Centennial parks, a huge park complex about a 1/2 hour drive from our Hotel. After getting registered, we were shuttled to our pitch where we were to play. Kickoff was at 12:45, and The Dogs took the pitch with a couple extras on the sideline to spell us when a break was needed. I was in my full dog costume, which everyone thought was crazy due to the warm temps, but even though I was kinda hot during the match, I thought it was well worth it. The teams both played well, with lot's of action, some nice runs mixed in, and actually, a good deal of hard hitting. The injury report isn't complete yet, but Bob White tweaked a knee, one of my roomies, Al Hayward has a very sore hip, and I think I may have cracked a rib or at least bruised it pretty good. We will see how I heal before our next match on Wednesday.

One of the good things about these Festivals is that there is never a drought of players to fill in. Ruggers from different teams just show up, grab a jersey, and start playing with anyone who needs them. A great way to meet even more players from around the world.

As in all Golden Oldies Rugby matches, ours ended tied at the final whistle. The exchange of gifts between both teams was performed, and we all made our way back to the Festival party area. Trading then really began hot and heavy. I did two trades for t-shirts, and also collected about another 15 pins. Dave McDonald had promised me some very nice ones, and I want to thank him here for feeding my addiction with six or seven very unique and hard to acquire pins. Cheers Dave!

Since I was playing, and so was Al, the main photog, I don't have any action shots of the match to post at this time, but will get them from our fans on the sidelines in the next day or so.

We stayed at the grounds for a couple of hours, then caught a bus back to our Hotel. Al and myself headed up to the whirlpool for some much needed RX. The results of the 30 minute soak were favorable for both of us. Now, it's time for a "down night", just kicking back and relaxing. Once I post this I am going to hit the rack and get some much needed sleep. Though extremely fun, these Festivals are hard on us old guys ;)
Tomorrow is a free day, with our team's Harbour Dinner Cruise scheduled for the evening. Gonna sign off for now. Thanks for stopping by!