|
Mr Porter and your editor could have given a more accurate account of the teams Kutztown played and defeated in the fall.
They went undefeated in their fall schedule knocking off three ranked teams currently in the Top 25. Those teams they beat are Navy, Penn State, and Delaware. In addition they defeated a men's Super League team Philly-Whitemarsh 60-22. This can all be found on their website www.kurugby.com
The ‘4’ in strength of schedule is due to the fact that they played in the MARFU Premier League this year which at one point had 5 Top 25 teams. The teams in the MARFU league are arguably the best teams top to bottom on the East Coast. Kutztown defeated everyone in that league this year.
They do not have a team the caliber of Cal in their league, but no other union in the country does. Also how many of the other teams with a ‘5’ rating have come close to Cal this year. Just because you play a team like Cal and happen to have them in your union, does mean that you are a better team than Kutztown?
Kutztown has a rich tradition in its union and on the East Coast. They have a EPRU Division 1 Inter-Divisional Record (1988-2006) 74-5. They have produced four All-Americans, one of which is on the current squad. In 1993 Brian Dettling was the first Kutztown player ever named to the USA Rugby, All-American 1st team.
Also, in 1994, two Golden Bears, (prop) Brian Donnelly and (2nd row) Mark Weibner, were named to the USA Rugby All-American 1st team. Mark Wiebner was once again named to the All-American team in 1995. Marco Barnard at inside center, was the fourth KU member to be honored as one of the best collegiate players in our nation. Marco was named to the 2007 All-American squad. He represented the US Collegians vs Canada in June 2007 and Oxford University in September 2007.
This is a small state school in PA which the players fund all on their own. Many would question why KU does not travel west to take on the Pacific teams. That's easy to explain, they simply do not have the resources. Most of the players at Kutztown are not coming from well to do families and dues/donations go to running the team on a daily basis. Why do West Coast teams not travel to the East Coast during the fall?
The success of the squad is due to having one of the top coaches in the nation for 20 years now Gregg "Doc" Jones. He has taken many players new to the game and turned them into territory All-Stars and All-Americans. All of the accolades and achievements have been accomplished with a very limited talent pool to choose from.
Again I question Mr Porter’s facts since MARFU does get two seeds, not the one seed he mentioned, to the Sweet 16. It has been proven how good MARFU is that they are given the 3rd and 4th seed in this year’s competition. In fact a MARFU team has been in the final four the last 3 years. So making the Sweet 16 coming out of MARFU is not an easy accomplishment.
Based on what KU has accomplished over the 2007/08 season they are well deserved of their ranking. In fact right now they are being punished by dropping in the rankings because they have only played once this spring due to weather. That being said they have the MARFU play-offs in one week and that will determine if they do deserve to be that high in the rankings.
Run with the Bears !!!
Jeff Proctor (KU alumni 1998)
I just wanted to drop you a quick email to say that I love your Bruce McLane articles. His articles have been great.
I especially loved his recently posted article about "Gamers". I liked it so much that I even distributed it to my 15 year old son's baseball team. The points Bruce makes about "attitude" transcend all sports, and aren't reinforced enough, in my opinion, with the new generation of athletes.
Anyway, keep up the good work, and continue the Bruce McLane type columns, they really give your site a true "value added" over the competition.
Jack McGonagle
Take it from a 38-year-old male (former coach for men's collegiate, men's Division III, and women's collegiate) our age range enjoys reading about women's rugby. Many of us in this demographic have daughters who are playing or who want to play our great sport.
If you've truly got advertisers who don't see the value in women's sports, fire your narrow-minded marketing director immediately and hire someone who understands that diversity breeds strength. They'll probably bring you more advertiser dollars than you currently know how to spend.
They'll understand that covering the women's side of this sport, as well as the men's, will broaden your readership/listenership immensely (i.e., change your demographics). They'll know that "tracking preferences" means asking the right questions the right way to evoke honest, undirected answers which not only pinpoint those preferences, but also spot trends required for the essential growth of your exceptional medium.
That being said, why is American Rugby News passing up the disposable income of the American female? One need not be a marketing specialist to know that no answer is a smart answer to that question. What about high school rugby? Start them reading rugby news about themselves when they are young and when they are older, they become retained readership.
The point is that our sport is growing and we, your readers, are respectfully requesting that you cease and desist from being the misogynistic sticks-in-the-mud which seem to be keeping the sleeping giant that is American rugby from waking up.
Grant Cole
Lake Jackson, TX
ARN replies: To make such an ill-informed accusation with no basis in fact simply because our research and tracking does not coincide with the preference of a few is foolish.
Our editorial position is hardly the reason for that giant remaining asleep. The slumber to which you refer has much more to do with a lack of resources, no mainstream media exposure, and the fact that rugby is still a fringe sport in this country.
Click here for an explanation of our tracking as outlined last week in this section.