National USA 7s Championships

Well, this weekend was a learning lesson for the team. We finished 0-4 but i'm very proud of this team and the effort put forth to make it to the Nationals. The teams in our pool were Chicago Lions, Maryland Exiles, and Denver Barbarians.

Scores:
vs Lions 19-7
vs Exiles 14-17
vs Barbarians 35-7
Bowl quarterfinals vs New York Atheletic Club 35-14

As you can see we were faced with a higher level of competition than we normally play but we held our own. The first two games we should've won but we didn't take advantage of the opportunities presented to us. We were the only team in our Pool to score on the Barbos who ran out 35-0 lead at the half but we shut them down and scored a try of our own in the second half. The Barbos lost to three time consecutive champion OMBAC in the semi's. No other team scored on them except Nashville and OMBAC. Maryland Exiles went on to the Championship finals and got crushed by OMBAC 54-0.

The Men put in a lot of time and effort to make it to the Nationals and it was a great experience and we learned a lot. We are not discouraged but encouraged and eager to move on to higher ground. We accomplished what we wanted this summer and that was to win the South championship. Now we have a new goal and that is to win the South Championship and bring back some hardware from the Nationals.
the Vulture

South Championships

Nashboro United 7's team extended their record to 33-1 for this summer and won the south 7's championship this past weekend in Columbus, Georgia. Despite loosing one game in the pool play, Nashboro finished first in the B pool and faced New Orleans in the semi-final game. We defeated New Orleans 24 to 12 and played Charlotte in the Finials. Charlotte defeated Auburn in a very close game 14 to 12 to advance to the finals. In the final game Nashboro was down to Charlotte 12 to 0 at half time. Nashboro picked up their game in the second half and scored two tries and converted both to win 14 to 12. Time expired after the second try and the game was blown up. Charlotte was very upset with the referee, David Haines, for ending the game the way it ended but time expired and the game was over. NashBoro had won the South's 7's Championship. Below is the roster for the South Championship Team:
1. Atkeison, Johnathan R
2. Balicki, Ted J
3. Bone, Evan B
4. Kane, Mark N
5. Mianda, Hodgen M
6. Miranda, Mark A
7. Renda, Michael P
8. Ryan, Christopher P
9. Santini, Dan T
10. Shuck, Minor D
11. Sullivan, Marc C
12. Van Vuuren, Pieter J
A special thanks goes to all the supports who traveled to Columbus to support the team. Wes Barnes drove up from Pensacola to be the teams official touch judge. Chris and Mike Gower and Igor drove down on Saturday to support the team. Christian Miranda, Bonnie and Elisa also made the trip to support the team. I would also like to recognize the Team's Manager Lyle "The Vulture" Jones for all of his hard work in keeping this team organized.

Buckhead 7s

Bad Scheduling and Sleep Deprivation Can't Stop Nashville

Nashville RFC 7's collected some more hardware for the trophy case this weekend despite many obstacles, making it two in a row for the summer
campaign. We received the brackets late Thursday slating us as the first game at 9am astern. After much bitching and moaning from the peanut gallery, headed by Dave "Whose the bastard that scheduled this crap!" Osler, Lyle Jones (Match Secretary and budding NRFC father figure) got us refocused with a zen master-like speech even Shaq would appreciate. Here's a few quotes:

"We've been dealt a bad hand but we must turn this negative into a positive. Let's go win the damn Open Division... I would love to tell the story of how the eight or nine of us got up at 3am drove to Atlanta and started play at 9am and left at 9pm with a 1st place trophy in hand." "Let's meet at the Cracker Barrel off the Bell Road Exit no later than 2:30am" That's right mates! 3am.

So we get to Atlanta before anyone else only to find out the UGA team doesn't show, so we don't play our first game till 11:40. Bastaaaarrrddss!! Paul "I forgot the time change" Mammarelli showed up about 10:30 to give us a scrappy team of 9 for the day.

Game 1 NRFC vs. Renegades 2 Score: 26-5
Gave up a try off the first kick-off for a dubious start to tournament play. Regrouped through sloppy play and picked up the win. Peter proved too shifty for the t-shirted hosts.

Game 2 NRFC vs. Columbia SC Score: 21-17
In a must win, we spotted them 17 points and looked to exit early. We regrouped, Classic scored a try about 20 seconds in and we ripped off 21 unanswered points to reach the semis, highlighted by a movement from our own 10 meter, going from Miranda to Gower (C) back to Miranda to spring Osler for the win. A great moment in NRFC 7s lore.

Semis NRFC vs. Old White Old Boys Score: 35-7
Gave up an opening try AGAIN, then ripped off 35 unanswered points, highlighted by Mike Gower's aggressive run and pop pass to a streaking Osler for a 60 meter burner. Miranda proved to be a machine in the latter games with speed and energy no teams could match. Igor stymied their best runner with two outstanding tackles, one to spring Miranda for the try and another to embarrass the oversized bunch and send us on to the finals.

Finals
NRFC vs. UGA Piglets
(the bastards that stiffed us in the morning game)
Score: 12-5
Once again, gave up the first try (not a trend to persue for the future). Applied heavy pressure early and played outstanding defense to get the go-aheads and physically demoralize the other side. Lost a solidifying try due to a suspect knock-on call. No matter, NRFC would not be denied and the improbable early risers and later bloomers took the Open Championship, providing a proud moment for the undersized, under-rested bunch. Thanks mates, I really enjoyed it!

1 Paul M
2 Jones
3 Classic
4 Osler
5 Van Vuuren
6 Gower (C)
7 Miranda

Gower
Captain, Buckhead 7's 2002 Open Division Champs