Monstering the Myth: Cal's Phantom Scholarships

On the heels of the University of California at Berkeley's win over the University of British Columbia to launch the annual two-match series between the schools, it's a good time to crash-tackle one rumor that has persisted for decades about a source of Cal's dominance.

That fable pertains to Cal's alleged supply of athletic scholarships for rugby union players. There is plenty of reason to believe such a story, as Cal has won the national collegiate Division I title all but five of the 29 times it has been contested since its 1980 foundation. The last time someone else won was 2003, and before that 1990. In addition to its stranglehold on the college game, Cal boasts not one, but two former U.S. national coaches and players on the U.S. national side and professional European club contracts.

They also have symbolic varsity status, which affords them some access to special advising and training resources, but what they don't have is player scholarships. Although the varsity status has been raised as an excuse for Cal's dominance by some, Cal raises its money and recruits its players without the benefit of the athletic scholarships that feed American varsity teams in most sports across most campuses nationwide (including many other Cal varsity teams).

Now and again, one hears talk of scholarships at Cal, but it's a tale. Cal emphasizes its lack of scholarships in its own promotional material. If you don't believe that, you can consider the case of touted American football prospect Cole Huntley, who recently decided to turn away college scholarship offers in the gridiron game for a chance to play rugby at Cal sans athletic scholarship.

There's plenty of great things behind Cal's success, but scholarships are not among them. Armchair Playmaker reckons the winning has a lot more to do with what the players are choosing to do (and not do, especially in terms of some leisurely rugby union "traditions" ) at school than how they're being brought there. In any case, the results come out well, as in the below highlights from the 2007 grand final:

Second (and Third) Chance to See Great U.S. Sevens Showing

Rugby union sevens fans in the United States who missed the home side's strong performance at this past weekend's USA Sevens in San Diego, California, have another chance to get a look ... if they have access to the ESPN360 online network. The tournament which was won by Argentina after they bested the Americans in the Cup semifinal, is being replayed on ESPN360. The network's availability in the United States varies across Internet providers, but is available on most university campus among other places. If you've got ESPN360, you can see pretty much the entire two-day tournament (more than eight hours of coverage per day), but the replay may not be available much longer as the network removes access to some video after 48 hours or so.

Those without access to ESPN360 can also see a one-hour special about the 2009 USA Sevens on the ABC network on Sunday, 22 February, at 5:00 p.m., but you'll have to make do with this short highlight reel from the 2008 event for now:

Super Weekend

If the first weekend was any sign, the 2009 Super 14 rugby union season will be a thriller. Consider these figures from Week One:

• Close matches: Six of the seven matches ended with less than a converted try between the sides. The average difference in scores for all seven matches was 5.7 points.
• Plenty of tries: No fewer than 45 tries were scored in the seven matches. The average tries scores per game was 6.4, or 3.2 per team.
• Plenty of stars: On the weekend, 42 players scored tries. Three players scored two. A couple of players also scored drop goals, not to mention the less exciting penalty kicks and conversions.

It all goes on until the end of May, so let's hope the competition stays just as exciting. As we wait for Week Two, here are a few highlights from 2008:

Code-Swapping Epidemic Spreads to Coaches?

Australia has produced many a code-swapper across the nation, with league and union players switching sports to find fortune and fame across the globe. Now, former Australia Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, who is involved in some form of coaching with approximately half of the rugby union sides on Earth, is interested in coaching rugby league.

Will we see a dual international...coach? That might be a stretch, but time will tell. Here's Jones' decision to leave his current primary club, straight from the source:

No Justice in Any Code?

Although Armchair Playmaker's emphasis is on rugby union and rugby league, we saw parallel's between tonight's American Football Super Bowl and another championship match from the last year.

Although the Steelers managed to win a great contest, their victory was no doubt marred by unsportsmanlike play from defenders James Harrison and Ike Taylor. Aided by penalties against the pair, the Steelers briefly conceded the lead but got the win in the end.

Not so different was the 2008 Super 14 final, wherein the Crusders managed a win over the Waratahs despite similar misbehavior from Brad Thorn.

All of the offenders in this tale, of course, we duly punished, with the Steeler offenders giving up 15-yard penalties and Thorn getting sent off for ten minutes and costing his side a try to boot. All the same, it would seem a bit more poetic for the odd punch-thrower to end up on the losing end of one of these championship matches!