When a Maul becomes a Ruck: British Ball Sports

WOOD GREEN, LONDON
Did you catch the finals of the World Cup last week?  No, not the World Series.  The Rugby World Cup!  Whereas football (soccer) is the most popular sport in England, for two weeks the front page each day featured the World Cup being hosted by New Zealand.

Modern Wiff Waff

The British are proud of the many globally popular ball sports they invented.  We mention American Football – they spout on about its origins in England.  Baseball?: “Grew out of cricket, popularized during the Civil War when pitches (fields) were too ripped up for reliable bowling (which require a bounce).”  “Oh, and did you know the first international cricket match was played between Canada and the US in 1844 in New York?”  Tennis?: “Modern Tennis was a favorite pastime of King Henry VIII in the 16^th century.”  Ping Pong?: “Originally called “wiff waff” and played as an after dinner diversion for the Victorian British elite using cigar box lids (paddles) and a champagne cork (ball).”

Rugby and Cricket in particular the British developed to perfection and exported to their empire, whose inhabitants, by the way, quickly excelled at and left England rarely, if ever, the victor in international competitions.

The quip goes: “football (soccer) is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans, and rugby is a hooligans’ game played by gentlemen.”  For most of its history the top rugby union league was amateur and played by elite “public” school boys.  The players call the referee “sir.”  Football on the other hand was always popular with the poor and working class.  Hooliganism and racist issues, while not as prominent now, have scarred its history.

A Proper Rugby Line Out

In my effort to understand rugby I find several "laws" (not "rules") illustrate the challenges of the game and its differences from US football:

• You can’t pass the ball forward – to move it forward it must be kicked or run. 

• When a player is tackled the ball is still “live” but they must immediately release it upon hitting the ground and the ball can only be touched by players who are standing.
• "Mauls” and “Rucks” are two forms of play around the ball.  In a ruck the ball is on the ground whereas in a maul the ball is still in the hands of a stalled attacking player.  Consequently a maul can often lead to a ruck.  But it is a penalty to purposely create a ruck from a maul.
• A “line out” is similar to a throw-in in basketball or soccer only members of the two teams line up apposing each other (no closer than 1m apart), the player throws in the ball (and it must be straight), and as soon as the ball is in the air both teams elevate one of their players high in the air so he can catch the ball and toss it back to his team to start an attack.
• And then there are scrums.  We'll postpone trying to understand them until we are drinking a beer and watching a match on the telly.

By now I'm sure you are impatient to learn who won the Rugby World Cup.  New Zealand All Black beat France 8:7.  A nail biter!


Peter

Berlin Boulevards and London Lanes

WOOD GREEN, LONDON

Boundary Road, Wood Green, London

In London our street has cars parked all along it, so only one car can get though at a time. There are sidewalks on both sides with small trees along them. There's plenty of room for two to walk next to each other, but that's about it. In Berlin the streets around us can hardly be called streets, they are full-blown boulevards. On the main streets the sidewalks have enough room for several people to walk together, then a row of trees, then a bike lane. In the streets there are cars parked, but there are also parking spaces in the section between the two directions of traffic. There are large trees on both sides and the middle of the streets. The residential streets don't have a middle section, but the sidewalks are wide and tree lined.

I think the differences in the streets in London and Berlin are similar to the differences between the cities as a whole. Both are major European cities and capitals of important countries. Both were bombed during the war, and both have rebuilt. London is ancient, dating back to the Roman times (hence the tiny streets),whereas Berlin really boomed during the Industrial Revolution. Berlin has an artsy, laid back feel, almost quiet at times. London is a bustling, financial city.

 

Berlin

The two cities also view their pasts in different ways. In London the incredible scope of history is celebrated. Berlin on the other hand, is very focused and the wall. The city pulled though two devastating wars, only to be faced with the GDR government for nearly thirty years. Bits of the wall are all over the city, in the tourist shops, and talked about in museums. The era of rebuilding, starting in the nineties and still going on today, attracts a lot of artists. Both cities are vibrant and growing, but Berlin is still rising from the ashes.

Lily

A Berlin Ballad

Above: the Reichstag from the outside. Below: the inside of the glass dome with the mirrors and ramps.

This past week I have been toiling away at my online high school, trying to make up for all the time I've spent "playing" in Berlin and Paris recently. My English class is going especially well, and I only have to turn in a project before I'm finished with the class. One of the assignments I had for my final was to write a narrative poem with a surprise at the end, inspired by Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish." I wrote mine on our visit to the Reichstag in Berlin a couple weeks ago. Here it is:

The Reichstag

An old building in the middle of a square:

the usual steps leading to grand columns,

the usual yellow stone façade, perfectly symmetrical.

Four flags flying from corners;

black, red, and yellow

whipping in the wind.

The usual cold marble

with echoes of important people

and secretaries in heels.

We wait in line for security.

We wait in line for the elevator.

We wait in line for audio guides

Out of the usual glass doors

we walk on to the roof,

A slap of rain as we dash

into the unusual dome:

A glass orb, a hamster ball,

with ramps winding up around a cone of mirrors.

It’s cold here too,

but it’s from the opening at the top

instead of the hard stone downstairs.

The glass is obscured from the mist;

we bend over to look out,

spiraling upward.

At first we see only tops of buildings,

streets below.

But as we wind higher we see the park,

acres and acres of yellows and reds,

greens and golds.

Whole patches of crimson

defy the grey sky.

We corkscrew our way down,

another blast of rain.

We wait for the elevator.

We wait for the doors.

As we turn for a photo,

we can just see a glass sliver between flags. 

Lily