A hooligan's game played by gentlemen

Babble on.

Colby Cosh links to this post and picture of GWB playing rugby at Yale in the late 60's and mocks the lefty-wingnut who tries unsuccessfully to paint Bush as a bully for committing what may or may not have been a breach of the laws of the game.

About fifty pounds ago, I played wing three-quarter for both my high-school and university rugby teams, and I have the scars to prove it. I can state with complete confidence - as can anyone who has played more than a game of competitive rugby - that you don't obviously and intentionally break the laws in rugby in order to hurt an opponent. There are enough legal methods for destroying the other guy within the rules that stepping into penalty territory is rarely necessary (although the six-inch uppercut deep inside a maul has its uses).

Accidental penalties, on the other hand, are quite frequent, averaging 24 per game in Rugby World Cup 2003, for example. Just to give a little perspective, in the 2003 NFL season, ref's called an average of 15.63 penalties per game. (Rugby's freeflowing - which is more fun, but more chaotic and penalty-ridden than football - although football does have other advantages...um, was I saying something?) In fact, here's a photo from RWC2003 that shows some of the best players in the world [raving moonbat]have obviously been taking EVIL lessons from GWB and are consequently completely unfit for public office[/raving moonbat]. Here's another...and another....and another. I mean, gimme a frickin' break.

It looks to me like Bush has overcommitted to a tackle moving to his right, and his opponent is ducking out of that tackle. Which makes Bush a bad tackler, not a bad President. Should I even need to say that?

Babble off.