South Bay Rhinos

In our second-to-last game of the season, the Grunions went down to Carson to take on the South Bay Rhinos.

My injury still keeps me from playing, but I went to support my team and help them drink their beer.  I also ended up running the video camera for the game, though I slacked off a bit and "delegated" to Melch.

The field was in a nice location, with lights (that we didn't need, but I appreciate that), a nice covered club house with tables and... a muddy, uneven, gopher-holed field that smelled of manure.

Not the best field ever, but there's still nothing like the joy of setting up for a day of fun in the sun.  I fell in love with the pre-game feeling as an ultimate player and it carries on for me with rugby.

Goodyear blimp taking off during warm-ups

14 should be me!

The Grunions lost the A-side game and won the B-side.  The opponents were big, strong, spirited and given to many rule violations.  Not dirty, but a bit sloppy.  The ref in the A-side game gave many penalties, but still missed more than he called.  The B-side affair was called more closely and as a result the Rhinos ended that match with two yellow cards and a red.  Maybe things would have gone differently had the A-side match been officiated in a tighter manner but they were a good side and we weren't without our mistakes and weaknesses.

When all was said and done, we joined the Rhinos in their club pavilion for some great food, drink, music and times.  The times were made better still by the fact that it was Leisure Suit day for the Grunions.

Leisure suit Saturday!

Aww yiss!

Just beautiful

Following the match and post-match social, we hopped into our bus and made our way to the... Grunion Bar!  The Grunion Bar is a kinda divey sports bar with a great name.  We settled in with about 15-20 pitchers of beer and a few quarters...

Giant quarters table

From the bar it was back to the bus for some song, some beers and some carousing.  Not a bad day.