Staving off Dementia ... hopefully

Based on opinion rather than science, my aim is to stave off the potential for dementia by continuing to dredge up some really old memories, and I thought it was time to focus on some quotable quotes and anecdotes from all of those years at Central. As an aside, I recently watched an old episode of the Nature of Things about memory and how much of what we are certain is factual is actually a mish-mash of truth and fantasy.

I am hoping that the following are more fact and less fiction.

NOTE: Since some of these might prove a trifle awkward, I will abstain from actual names, but I am sure those involved, should they read these, will be able to figure it out!

1999 Cherry Blossom Tournament - Washington, DC
Ron and I met on the picket line in the fall of 1998 and, discovering we had a mutual love in the game of rugby, he welcomed me aboard the Good Ship Central. My first major event was a a multi-hour bus ride to Washington, DC for the program's first ever Cherry Blossom tournament, which was played in the shadow of the Washington Monument on the West Mall. The Reader's Digest version was that we won the tournament despite a deluge that left the entire team mud from head to foot. One of our brighter sparks decided that washing the mud off in the Reflecting Pool, prompting the hoard of National Guard who descended on us to request that we get out ... immediately. To make matters worse, another of the bright sparks decided that the perfect response to extricating the players was a rousing rendition of O'Canada. They did let us leave but there weren't a lot of smiles.

2001 GBSSA Championship vs Innisdale ... I think
After the game ended in another win for the good guys, a certain lock confessed that he made a poor choice in his pre-game nutrition by consuming a few green apples. Apparently his digestive system was not appreciative, resulting in what he coined "Green Apple Splatters" that resulted from the exertion of an early ruck. Our 8-man, who was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, went white when he realized he had bee sticking his head beside our locks hind end during scrums.

2002 OFSAA Semi vs Saltfleet SS
After scoring a go ahead try, and realizing we needed the convert,  our captain and scrum half asked our lock who was lining up the kick, "Can you make this?" referring to the resulting kick. "Yes" was the reply, prompting an immediate retort, "You better F-N make it!" I'm glad to tell you he did and that we went on to win on home turf vs Brantford CI, securing the program's 4th OFSAA Gold.

2003 OFSAA Tournament ... I think
To have continued success over the years, our program adopted a host of additional skills and habits, designed to enhance our player's abilities. Not the least of which was a more stringent nutritional regime, designed with performance in mind, thanks partly to the efforts of Ron's sister, a registered dietician. The lads embraced the diet, enjoying the performance benefits, but they were teenagers, and they begged that the bus ride back from OFSAA (a Bronze, no less) make a pit stop for some teenagery-style food. Gleefully clutching their $25 bag of Wendy's, a feast ensued that would have left medieval courts in envy. A short time down the road, however, the glee was replaced with panic as a number of the lads implored the driver stop on the side of the road to allow many to purge the expensive poison from their systems, much to their disappointment.

2004 OFSAA Championship vs Uxbridge SS
During our run to the championship game, our scouting identified that the Uxbridge South African born flyhalf was a problem waiting to happen. Head coach Ron dreamed up a wrinkle in our defensive structure that would potentially limit the flyhalf's effectiveness, instructing our OHL hockey-playing Inside Center to take a Kong line on the FH each time. The thought of continually crunching the same player throughout the game brought a huge smile to our center's face. It was he who coined the tactic HPP, or Hockey Player Pinch. We won our 5th OFSAA championship and the Uxbridge FH looked like he had just tangled with a Mack Truck and lost.

2007 OFSAA semifinal vs Upper Canada College
We have been so blessed over the years, and 2007 was no different. We have the luxury of playing a Team Canada prop at inside center, striking fear in the hearts of the opposition backs. Despite his physical prowess, this young lad possessed a quality set of skills in his toolbox, skills that would prove to be the difference as the semifinal game would down. Our program pride's itself on being well prepared and, as such, we have a play that allows for a drop-goal attempt if 3 points are required to find the win. Down 10-9 to UCC, our prop-turned-back executed a perfect diving spin pass to our FH (who also played Team Canada, I should add), who calmly slotted the kick to earn us a berth in the final 12-10. We would go on to win our program's 6th OFSAA Gold by besting rival Uxbridge SS.

2011 OFSAA Championship vs Trenton HS
In a match between titans, the game was tight going down to the finish when a Trenton player broke through and scored what looked to be a last second win, but the touch judge behind the play held his touch flag straight out, indicating that he had witnessed foul play. After a lengthy discussion with the referee that included the referee repeatedly asking, "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?" the whistle was blown, the try negated, and a penalty awarded to the Good Guys. A tap and kick into touch gave us our 7th OFSAA Championship. As it turned out, a Trenton player had thrown a punch into the face of our Inside Center in an act that forever made him the Central version of Helen of Troy with "a face that launched a (champion) ship".

2013 Season and the Birth of a Nick Name
Our program has benefitted from a host of unlikely heroes over the years, and some of those heroes are enshrined in program lore as codes for certain specialities in the hallowed Tech Pack, known forever throughout the ensuing generations. Although the likes of "Curtis-ball", "Conan" and "Gussi" have roots in actual names, it is the nicknames that bring the grins to the faces like "Mogul" (based on a certain scrum half's resemblance to Mowgli) or "Ali" (based on the aligator-like catching motion of a certain lock), but the one near and dear to my heart because it was a certain SH/FH's nick name, as affectionately coined by that year's co-captain, "Tron" which was short for "Fagatron".

2015 Season and the Love-Fest in Midhurst
I have already recounted the incredible experience of winning our 9th OFSAA championship, on "home" turf at Jim Hamilton Field, with both of our sons playing major roles, but the one thing that I haven't written about still brings on the emotions every time I revisit the memory. Following the victory, the trophy presentation and the medals, the hundreds of "old boys" there in support, joined arm in arm for a huge Kumasa. For those that don't know what a Kumasa is, it is the Central Rugby cheer created by the players from 1994 that is used just prior to the beginning of every game, very much our version - with all due respect - of the New Zealand Haka. Sadly, I was so caught up in the moment, I neglected to film it, and will forever have to be content with my memory of it.