WSRFC Latest News

28 January 2010

Two days, two posts, I might have to take a break after this.
Same news as yesterday, there is practice on Saturday at 10 down to Panzer's Pitch. There may be a venue change and you will hear it hear first, or on the message board, or from somebody on the team, but my point is that you will hear it here.
Fun little story hear about a Rhodes Scholar who took a year off from college football to go to Oxford to work on his thesis here. Spoiler alert, the story is not about me even though we kinda look alike. Hope to see everyone there on Saturday.

He gets up before he gets down.
Barge

27 January 2010

It's official, practice is on for Saturday.
Starting this week 10 am at the Panzer Pitch we will be running touch despite the temperature being... wow, nevermind. Practice is ON so lets boogie. There is a possibility of it moving to a turf field so keep an eye out on the message board and your portal to all the news fit to print What's New?.
The field can be located on this handy little page and if there are any questions just shoot them this way because remember, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people asking questions.
Lighting fires and kicking tires
Barge

22 January 2010

Happy Friday
Greg was looking to get a game of touch together on Saturday at noon down to Poplar Tree park. If everyone who is interested would please raise their hand, o wait nevermind, if everyone could post a reply on the message board that would be great. I plan on being there so you got that going for you. I guess that is all.
Colts and Vikings are going to win this weekend, so BOOK IT! Barge

20 January 2010

OK folks,
Been doing a little doing and want to try something out. I got the pictures from the pub crawl and they are located.... RIGHT HERE! Now, this is a different format from what we have typically. Like it? Hate it? Post up on the board, especially if it isn't working. Now onto news, hmmm no news, ok then check the pictures and have a jolly good time because I will.

Not a disaster, not master blaster, he is the webmaster...
Barge

14 January 2010

Howdy all,
Sorry about the long time between updates, but news has been slow as of late and I have been having trouble sleeping. Monsters under my bed, but enough about me. It looks like there is a push to get a touch game going on Panzer's pitch this Saturday. Since the weather has been tropical I second the notion, so if you would like to play post up on the message board.

In site related news, I am looking for an updated team picture, preferably one with my sexy face on it. If anyone has one please send it to me at andrewlabarge@gmail.com. The spring schedule will be posted today or tomorrow depending on the hooch consumption. I am also looking for a practice schedule if there is one, which I will post as soon as I get it.

I'm off to wander the land like Caine to get into adventures and whatnot.
Barge

8 January 2010

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday
Looks like the Banquet is full up and the cutoff time has come and gone. For those poor souls out there who did not reserve a seat, Fairwell and adieu to you. On the brighter side of the news the jersey order is in and they can be picked up for $60 a pop. I believe that is all on my desk *thumbs through paper* yep. Hope to see you all in good spirits on Saturday.

Large and in Charge
Barge

6 January 2010

Fellomen (Fellow Gentlemen, I figure I can make up words at this point.)
The annual banquet is ON for this coming Saturday, January 9 at House of Wing starting at 6 in the PM. If you haven't RSVPed, slap yourself on the wrist, or please contact Bushy at jbush@combustioneer.com with your menu choice. This years choices are prime rib, chicken with pasta or veggie pasta. The price is $50 per person which can be paid at the door with beer included and a cash bar. The attire is Business smart, defined here Here or Here, not really sure. The address is: 13005 Worldgate Dr, Herndon, VA 20170.

If there are any questions either shoot bushy and email or post them up on the message board. I'm off to find a sport coat, leather loafers and some slacks.
Chip Chip Cheerio
Barge

4 January 2010

Welcome to the first post of 2010, lets hope it ends better than the second Space Odessey movie. Any how, the important news today is that we need a major blitz on the RSVP's for the Banquet on Saturday. The number is currently at 28 and it needs to be at about 50 in order to get HOW shut down. A quick little math tells me that we need to get 22 more people saddled up for the thing by the COB tomorrow. Head on over to the message board and RSVP or contact Bushy, whatever strikes your fancy.

Barge

30 December 2009

Ok serious face. The annual banquet is coming up on January 9th, 2010. Bushy is looking for RSVP ASAP (that means "répondez s'il vous plaît As soon as possible", or please respond as soon as possible). He has a post up on the message board that can be used for the RSVP's. This years choices are prime rib, chicken with pasta or veggie pasta. The price is $50 per person, beer included and a cash bar. Attire is business smart as opposed to business stupid. The cutoff for responses is January 5th by the close of business and if there is not enough support the event will be canceled.

I hope everyone got that and has a wonderful Amateur Hour (New Years Eve).

Pimps up Hoes down
Barge

24 December 2009

Sorry about the lack of posts as I have been in beautiful upstate New York for the holidays and there has been no new news to boot. There will probably be very little news until the new year, so saying that I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanakkah, Krazy Kwanza, and fervent festivus.

In Peace... Barge

17 December 2009

Ehem....

It was the 17th of December and all through the site,
There was not one virus, not even one blight.
Rugby football should now be alright,
Even Firefox users could say DYNOMITE!

It will be the 9th of January a formal will be held,
for many a beer, drink, and story to be felled,
so far details have been withheld,
but when they are known they will be yelled.

My little bit of Christmas spirit above basically says that the site should be able to be access by all browsers now and that the Formal is on January 9th so keep the date open.

Grandmaster Barge is out like a broken lightbulb.

15 December 2009

Howdy Ho

The Pub Crawl this weekend was a rousing success from all reports as no one was arrested. Seems to be a little quiet as the year winds down and people start to spend some time with their families. O Joy!

Up next on the Schedule is the rugby formal which will be on the 9th of January in the year 2010. Details are coming in and as soon as the news breaks, you will hear it here first!

Barge

11 December 2009

Today is Friday...

Big big stuff going on, firstly is the PUB CRAWL! Should be a great time, Rugby Players in Santa Hats, isn't that what they created Christmas for? Anywho, Here is the info for that little shindig.

The date: Saturday DEC. 12th. The time: 8PM. The place: M & S Grill 11901 Democracy Dr. Reston Town Center. The plan: Starting at M & S we will move down the street in a controlled and orderly fashion visiting as many bars as the night will allow or we are allowed into. The rules: No wives, girlfriends, kids or dogs and NO DWI’S. Where to stay: Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1800 Presidents Dr., 703.709.1234. And once again as in years past and at Elvis’s direction, the uniform of the evening will be Santa Hats (last year Beaker set the mark), Hawaiian shirt and short pants. This is open to all WSRFC members, past, present, young and old. Questions? Contact me through the message board."

Also in the happening on Saturday is the League game, the weather looks to be great so hopefully we can get some people down to the Greenbriar pitch at 11 to play.

Finally, is the much awaited debut of Invictus which got a great review from the currently mute Roger Ebert and is currently tracking at a "Fresh" 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. Have a great Weekend!

TTFN Barge

10 December 2009

Gents, Coming up Saturday is both the League game and the pub Crawl. The game information is listed below and should be a good time.

Now onto more pressing matters. From Kelly Watkins via the message board:

"Once again the annual WSRFC Christmas pub crawl is on. The date: Saturday DEC. 12th. The time: 8PM. The place: M & S Grill 11901 Democracy Dr. Reston Town Center. The plan: Starting at M & S we will move down the street in a controlled and orderly fashion visiting as many bars as the night will allow or we are allowed into. The rules: No wives, girlfriends, kids or dogs and NO DWI’S. Where to stay: Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1800 Presidents Dr., 703.709.1234. And once again as in years past and at Elvis’s direction, the uniform of the evening will be Santa Hats (last year Beaker set the mark), Hawaiian shirt and short pants. This is open to all WSRFC members, past, present, young and old. Questions? Contact me through the message board."

Barge

8 December 2009

Konichiwa (that's Hello in Japanese)

On the news front today is the upcoming league game this Saturday at Greenbriar park. There is also practice tonight at 7 on the field at 4601 Stringfellow Rd, Chantilly Va, which is the same address as the field, spooky.

Some last bit of news is that ESPN Classic will be airing archived World Cup matches. See Here

Invictus comes out Friday!

Sayoonara (Japanese for Goodbye)

Barge

3 December 2009

Slow news day today, Fairfax Eagles practice tonight as stated yesterday, and for once there isn't a big South African barking out running orders (not like I need it anyway).

One final note, since this study was on Fox News I know it to be 100% accurate. Beer > Water.

Barge out.

2 December 2009

Ahoy, Gents.

This is the first true day in the new era with Barge as the new Webmaster. Things will be a little slow to begin as I try to get my computer situation figured out, but do not worry the site and messages will not be neglected.

On the news front the Fairfax Eagles are having practice in preparation for thier game on December 12th (pub crawl day). The next practice is Thursday at 7 and the address is 4601 Stringfellow Rd, Chantilly Va.

That's all for now as I will be updating contacts and such later in the day. If anything is misspelled I apologize as I am borderline Illiterate.

Barge

30 November 2009

Slow news day - nothing going on. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving break!

The latest club news is about the December 12th pub crawl. Here's the announcement again:

From Kelly Watkins via the message board: "Once again the annual WSRFC Christmas pub crawl is on. The date: Saturday Dec. 12th. The time: 8PM. The place: M & S Grill 11901 Democracy Dr. Reston Town Center. The plan: Starting at M & S we will move down the street in a controlled and orderly fashion visiting as many bars as the night will allow or we are allowed into. The rules: No wives, girlfriends, kids or dogs and NO DWI’S. Where to stay: Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1800 Presidents Dr., 703.709.1234. And once again as in years past and at Elvis’s direction, the uniform of the evening will be Santa Hats (last year Beaker set the mark), Hawaiian shirt and short pants. This is open to all WSRFC members, past, present, young and old. Questions? Contact me through the message board."

Today is my last day as webmaster of this site. Tomorrow Andy LaBarge will be taking it over. I just looked it over; I don't see any malicious javascripts so it's still clean.

Thanks for putting up with me!

Brigham

27 November 2009

For what it's worth: Comparison of cold and flu symptoms.

25 November 2009

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

"Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often." -Johnny Carson

24 November 2009

The perfect scrum.

23 November 2009

The following was written by Pete Murray of Rappahannock RFC - it is relayed here for your general information: "For those of you keeping score, Warrenton took first place in the PRU D-III and West Potomac took second. Meanwhile to the south, Virginia took first place in the VRU D-III and first seed over all for the MARFU playoffs. Elsewhere... Three clubs have dropped out of the Rugby Super League: Belmont Shore, Old Blue and Santa Monica."

Other than that, nothing going on.

20 November 2009

Uh, REAL slow news day.The website still appears clean... I don't see any malicious javascripts...

For your viewing pleasure: Some Steve Scrummage cartoons.

Have a nice weekend...

19 November 2009

Kermit created an "Off Season Info" forum on the message board.

They erected the four story "holiday" tree in the atrium at work yesterday, so it must be the Christmas season.

No matter your age I think you'll find something interesting in this collection of past Christmas "Wish List" catalogs posted on flickr. Me, I found myself browsing the 1962-1967 ones... My toys were better than your toys.

Other than the message board thing, no club business today. It's that time of the year when the props begin to put on their hibernation weight.

18 November 2009

From Guinness-Powered Siltanen on the message board: "Guys, BAGS ARE HERE. Still need money for a few of the Kit Bag Orders!! $70 per customized bag. Get your money to me or James. Contact me to make bag pickup arrangements. Thank you!! Cheers, Guinness-Powered Bryan."

You know, it's funny. There have been all sorts of angles used to sell beer, ales and lagers, but as far as I know only Guinness has ever used "It gives you strength (or power)." We all know that what it mostly gives is a beer belly, but there must be enough general belief in it to keep the ad campaign from being laughed off the walls. But there are 170 calories in a pint of Guinness. If you're looking for energy, you'd probably be better off with a sugary Coke at 140 calories a can...

17 November 2009

Slow news day.

Just thought I'd point out a little feature of this website, the Rugby Match Reports page (rss.html). It's been the repository of WSRFC rugby match write ups since at least 1999 - that's ten years. There used to be a web site on the Internet called the Internet Rugby Scores Server; one day I grabbed all of the WSRFC match entries (submitted, I think, by Pete Murray) and collected them onto a page for rugbyfootball.com. As new match reports were written I'd add them. Most of the entries are terse, but some are lengthy and quite professional in tone (The Murphy Match Reports). Anyway, check it out.

And yes, the virus still seems to be gone.

It's just been agreed: Andy LaBarge will be taking over as webmaster of this site on 1 December.

16 November 2009

What does one post on a dreary Monday morning on a rugby website between the seasons? What news?

You probably know Invictus, that Clint Eastwood film about South African rugby, opens 11 December... I'm sure the DVD, when it comes out, will have a featurette where the producer or director describes Matt Damon's incredible, single-minded focus on learning the game from real rugby players in order to convey authenticity, blah, blah, blah. War films, sports films - they always have something like that. The only thing Hollywood actors shy away from in terms of authentic portrayals in film are political conservatives.

As you know, Andy LaBarge will be taking over as webmaster. I want to run some more link checks, make sure the site is in good shape and is really virus free before I turn it over to him, then I'll be saying cheery bye.

15 November 2009

THE WEBSITE IS VIRUS FREE AND FULLY BACK UP!

Well, huzzah for that. Sorry it took so long but this one really threw me. I didn't know all those ftp accounts were part of the configuration.

If you find any broken links please report them to me. There shouldn't be many; I ran link checks on all the major pages.

Today: The annual New Zealand Ambassador's Shield. Details here.

14 November 2009

The website virus hasn't returned. I think reconfiguring ftp access did the trick! Hooray! I am now rebuilding the website. This will take a while; until I'm done you can expect broken links here and there.

Tomorrow: The annual New Zealand Ambassador's Shield. Details here.

13 November 2009

Ah-ha! Yahoo says our website virus problem is probably due to a compromised ftp account. Looking at the dashboard I see there are several accounts with ftp rights into rugbyfootball. I didn't create them, I didn't know they existed and I don't know what they're used for. So I deleted them all and replaced them with a single new ftp account with a new password. I bet that does it. I am reloading a bunch of files; we'll see if that fixes things. Now I'll do what doctors call "watchful waiting." If the virus doesn't come back in the next 24-48 hours I probably have it. If so, back to the drawing board...

There are two weekend rugby activities:

Posted on our bulletin board: "URGENT. This Saturday is a Baltimore/Washington Old Boys game 12pm that is being filmed as part of the Hyde Rugby documentary. We are just finding out that many Washington players that were anticipated to come are no longer available. We are in desperate need of players 30+ or at least retired to fill out a side for this game. Please contact me ASAP to let me know if you can commit. Consider it a fun couple of hours of rugby while getting your 15 minutes of fame on the big screen. Feel free to pass this email on to any player you think might be interested. My cell is (202) 409-3567 or email me tbayer@tbayer@hydedc.org

THIS SUNDAY: The annual New Zealand Ambassador's Shield. Details here.

Have a great weekend - assuming that anyone is still reading this page...

12 November 2009

Yes, the website is infected again. It seems that no matter how I pare down files this thing keeps coming back. I am calling Andrew LaBarge, who agreed to be the new webmaster, later today. We're going to discuss how to fix the website. My assessment so far is that Yahoo sucks.

THIS SUNDAY: The annual New Zealand Ambassador's Shield. Details here.

10 November 2009

The virus came back. It is now time, I think, to get off of Yahoo's infected servers. I will approach the club's officers and the next webmaster about it.

From O.D.: "That's right guys, an actual piece of hardware! Congratulations! Having beaten the the team that lost to the tournament Champions yesterday, SOBs were awarded the Plate as the tournament runner's up. The weather was fantastic, the turnout was great, and it was an overall great day for Washington Area Old Boys' rugby. The plate will likely find its way to our sponsor, the House of Wing in Herndon, where it will be put on display. I want to thank EVERYONE who made it out to play and support the squad, those who tried, and those who were unavailable but wished us well in their responses. Had just a few more of our unavailable been at the tournament, we would truly have been drinking from the cup at the close of the day. I'd like to recognize the "Iron Men" of the day. Matt Clark and Jeff Bush at 9 and 10 played every minute the SOBs were on the field, and I believe that both were able to put in a try before the day was over. I didn't plan on their not getting a break, but greatly appreciate the consistency and stability that this important connection brings the side during the course of a long day of rugby. Thanks, Jeff and Matt - it was good to see you guys side by side again. I also think we should all make sure to make an appearance over the winter at some of the touch runs and socials, thank the club side players who took the time to come out and support us on Sunday, and explore the possibility of making an effort to stay connected with the club as a whole. It was great to have spectator support in addition to our depth on the sidelines, and they could use ours wherever we can afford the time to support the club. Thanks again, it was a great day to be an SOB! P.S. - At the close of the day I was missing one jersey - whoever has #22, please contact me directly so that I can arrange to pick it up.

THIS SUNDAY: The annual New Zealand Ambassador's Shield. Details here.

I updated the Club History Page.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS!

9 November 2009

Jeff Fasceski posted photos of the 10/31 matches here.

I see over the weekend the virus returned and reinfested all the .html files. $%#^!%$! I see that it may be partially my fault; I left an infected .htm file on. Okay - I'm going through the website and doing a major hack, leaving only a bare minimum of known clean files, removing all else. So there will be lots of bad links for awhile. If that doesn't work I guess we'll need to find web hosting outside of Yahoo.

I'm in the process of finding out what was decided at the annual meeting...

6 November 2009

Website virus: I had an extended conversation with a support tech at Yahoo yesterday. He suggested that I remove all javascript from the site, which I have done. The thinking is that since we're getting malacious javascript entries on the pages, that the vector must be a rogue javascript routine. If you're not running javascript you can't acquire a bad script, right? Well, we'll see. I have once again removed all the .html files and replaced almost all of them them with known clean versions. This website should be clean right now. I will check again to see if it gets reinfected. The basics are here, but there will be many dead links if you dig around.

Sunday! Old Boys! Click here.

From O.D.: "This will be the way I handle this in the spring - you stop responding you find yourself on a "different" mailing list. A negative response is still appreciated, as it lets me know that you're still interested. If you're not say so, and I'll pare the distribution list down now - it takes me two transmissions to hit everyone on the list now - I suspect next season I will have one ACTIVE distribution and additional "living vicariously through email" lists, as necessary. Response will keep you active - non-response will retire you to the list that can still claim involvement in bars and the like, but will not be numbered among the playing membership. You will remain informed, but will not be counted on by your brothers to take the pitch. Note this will be one of the last full distributions and next season I will adapt a different method of pulling together our side. For Sunday - Be there (directions on the flier) by 1100 kitted up and ready to go for an 1130 first match kick-off. We will have a half hour to sort out the starting roster, line-outs, and anything else, so if you need a heavy stretch I recommend arrival even before then. From the looks of the schedule our first match will either be one of the hardest of the day or a forfeit (versus "French possibles"), but the French have beaten EVERYONE invited to this event, so I would count on a tough match. They may have selected SOBs because they have beaten the Club Bs/Old Boys mixed sides that we have opposed them with for the last few (3?) seasons. That streak ends Sunday! See you on the pitch! - OD

5 November 2009

Website virus: Haven't been contacted by Yahoo yet. Geez, you'd think they'd want to take action on malacious javascripts on their servers, guess not.

Meeting TONIGHT - from President Bushy: "Meeting Thursday, 11/5 at 7 pm at "Millers Tavern" (old Firehouse) in Fairfax City. They are currently unable to take credit cards due to restructuring of the business so it is cash only. There is an ATM in the bar area. Address: 3988 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030. Agenda to include but not limited to: approval of by-laws revision (we need 2/3s in agreement), election of executive committee and possibly field officers (any potential candidates need to come forward) and timing of annual banquet."

What are you doing Sunday? Click here. From O.D.: "We're shaping up well at this point, and I will forward a current available roster shortly, but I am pleased to say that response has been good thus far - keep 'em coming, boys! See the attached flyer - looks like we've moved back to GW - this is a nice pitch with a great natural grass surface. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the field. Call your mates everyone and anyone - it is the season closer for Old Boys rugby, but perhaps we can stay engaged over the winter with some touch sessions, some regularly scheduled Happy Hours, and carry this into the spring. If you have the gumption consider Lauderdale the last week of February and Savannah St. Patty's in March as potential road trip/travel dates... but for now, call out the guard it's GAME ON!!!"

4 November 2009

The website still has the virus on it. I have contacted Yahoo small business, who maintains the servers, writing, in effect, "Hey, guys, your servers have a virus on them I cannot seem to get rid of. And I'm not causing it. What are you doing about it?" No reply yet from tech support.

Meeting tomorrow - from President Bushy: "Meeting Thursday, 11/5 at 7 pm at "Millers Tavern" (old Firehouse) in Fairfax City. They are currently unable to take credit cards due to restructuring of the business so it is cash only. There is an ATM in the bar area. Address: 3988 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030. Agenda to include but not limited to: approval of by-laws revision (we need 2/3s in agreement), election of executive committee and possibly field officers (any potential candidates need to come forward) and timing of annual banquet."

There's an Old Boys Cup series of matches to be played in Alexandria this Sunday. Click here for details. From O.D.: "We're shaping up well at this point, and I will forward a current available roster shortly, but I am pleased to say that response has been good thus far - keep 'em coming, boys! See the attached flyer - looks like we've moved back to GW - this is a nice pitch with a great natural grass surface. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the field. Call your mates everyone and anyone - it is the season closer for Old Boys rugby, but perhaps we can stay engaged over the winter with some touch sessions, some regularly scheduled Happy Hours, and carry this into the spring. If you have the gumption consider Lauderdale the last week of February and Savannah St. Patty's in March as potential road trip/travel dates... but for now, call out the guard it's GAME ON!!!"

3 November 2009

Posted scores from Saturday's matches here.

The website is still messed up and I haven't gotten in touch with Yahoo yet.

I understand USA Rugby was a supporter of "Movember" last year, perhaps also this year. It's a movement intended to highlight men's health issues, specifically testicular and prostate cancer; the male version of those millions of pink ribbons you see everywhere. Anyway, I got a link from the club's VP, so I am relaying it here.

Don't forget: meeting on Thursday.

2 November 2009

Despite the fact that I removed every .html file last week and replaced it with known clean files, this site is once again thoroughly infected with a virus, every .html file has the same rotten malicious javascript on it.

I'm at my wit's end... I don't know how this is happening or what I can do to prevent it. My PC checks out fine - no viruses - and I don't see the problem on my other website, wesclark.com - which leads me to believe that the virus vector isn't me, it's Yahoo. Looks like I need to engage the generally unresponsive Yahoo, who hosts our site.

Once again, the message board is safe and uninfected. Go there.

The season is over, but we have one last thing to do - the annual meeting this Thursday night, 7 PM. See below entries for details.