the points conceded so

i don't care You don't have to do that.

146-point differential.

39 points conceded for Green Bay Celtics.

Des Moines.

Des Moines.

I know.

They just missed out.

And they're in the Western division for D1.

Yeah, yeah.

It's like this guy from, um, like New Zealand, and like, oh, [chuckles] this other guy, this, like, Samoa U20 guy also coming in, and it's like all, all these guys.

They're making all these posts for these people coming in.

It's very interesting.

Yeah

...

the, the, the, they have a page on the, on the website, and it's like, it's all by...

Yeah

... we, we became like a steamroller through, through the rest of the season, and then eventually Midwest playoffs.

One thing, um, through that [laughs], we got actually promoted into Division 2, which probably a lot of people listening know, and then, you know, we had a decent D... you know, first, first season in D2.

Not saying there weren't, like growing pains.

Obviously, like logistically as a club, there's a lot that we need to, um, address to make sure the D, D2 side is, um, is taken care of.

Um, we've, we've done the best so far that, that we can to help, you know, kinda support their endeavors and travel and all that good stuff, accommodations.

But, um, the D4, um, and this is probably what I'm most proud of in the last couple years, our D4 kept going strong, right? Like, we, um, despite, like some incontinuity in, in having reliable opponents, matches, things like that, we still made it to the first round of playoffs, where we lost to the even- the eventual Midwest, um, runners-up, the Findlay Scars.

What would you say for the next predecessor, or anyone who's trying to run a successful club, anyone who's trying to run a successful business, what would be the information that you could pass on, like I said, to keep all these people happy, to keep the company growing as such? How do you become top of your league?

We beat them at the

road, and I think that was huge.

I think if we lose that game, we may lose five or six guys that maybe don't have the belief.

We also, through beating the Rovers at home, gained... or earned the home match against Dayton in that first round of the playoffs, which propelled us to a match against the Detroit Tradesmen, which is a ridiculous club that we'll see in the fall here again, which is awesome on the D2 side.

But we played them in Cleveland.

So we went from, you know, Transverse Park to Cleveland to eventually the Midwest Championship.

where we beat a badass Red River team, right? So I think just it was kind of a perfect storm of, like, everything that could go right did.

D2 to test yourself? Is there anything you're looking out for?

How has rugby changed in the years you've been playing? Has it become more professional? Is it as much of the drinking culture when you first joined? Are we getting another level of an athlete who's participating? Yeah,

I'll tell you.

I mean, as we approach summer here, I think sevens is the biggest kind of shift I've seen.

When I started, I played with another club here in Pittsburgh while I was at John Carrollton Summers and then shortly after, mostly during sevens tournaments.

And it was really just like whoever showed up with the fastest guys would win every tournament.

um every tournament we saw you know some some success at south pit in the mid 2010s right call it when we won that west virginia tournament we won a bunch of other tournaments and it was about like having the guys to play together and play the system you wanted to play even like you know Even when the club wasn't doing so well in 2017, 2018, 2019, I remember we were still pretty competitive locally in sevens tournaments.

But, like, sevens is really the piece of the game that's really, I think, come the farthest since probably 2007, 2008 when I started.

This is going before, how do you become top of your league in any profession? What would you say to a person who is trying to obviously have a passion for anything in life? What do you say to that person who says, I want to take this level to the next step?

How has rugby changed in the years you've been playing? Has it become more professional? Is it as much of the drinking culture when you first joined? Are we getting another level of an athlete who's participating? Yeah,

I'll tell you.

I mean, as we approach summer here, I think sevens is the biggest kind of shift I've seen.

When I started, I played with another club here in Pittsburgh while I was at John Carrollton Summers and then shortly after, mostly during sevens tournaments.

And it was really just like whoever showed up with the fastest guys would win every tournament.

um every tournament we saw you know some some success at south pit in the mid 2010s right call it when we won that west virginia tournament we won a bunch of other tournaments and it was about like having the guys to play together and play the system you wanted to play even like you know Even when the club wasn't doing so well in 2017, 2018, 2019, I remember we were still pretty competitive locally in sevens tournaments.

But, like, sevens is really the piece of the game that's really, I think, come the farthest since probably 2007, 2008 when I started.

This is going before, how do you become top of your league in any profession? What would you say to a person who is trying to obviously have a passion for anything in life? What do you say to that person who says, I want to take this level to the next step?

Did you envision that you would then become the president of South Pittsburgh Hooligans? Was that, was this a pipe dream that worked as a springboard? [laughs]

It was, you know, it, when, w- when we, when we were together at Jameson's back in probably 2016, 'cause I, the Husky Boys are approaching 10 years old, might, might have been 2017, but like, that, that was, that was definitely at the last kind of thing on my mind was, uh, eventually becoming president of South Pittsburgh Rugby.

It was, it was purely have a good time, keep people interested, and like at that, at that time the club was kind of in a [laughs] we were, we were down, down a couple years, so it was like, how do you, how do you keep these guys, you know, engaged, interested all year round type of deal? And it, it, it did, you know, it did the job that it was kind of meant to do, and then as Gator said, like, uh, getting interest from, you know, clubs around the area, Akron, Erie, you know, down in, um, San Antonio, Austin, Texas.

When I was down there, Dave Bull was down there.

Um, it was, it was really cool to see, um, kind of the g- the organic growth, so to speak, of, of the Husky Boys.

Um, but no, when we started the, the club, no I, I had no ...

And but I always joke that now I've [laughs] uh, when I, when I became president of South Pittsburgh Rugby Club, it was like [laughs] I started this make fake up m- this make fake made-up rugby club, and now I'm president of a real rugby club.

This is a rugby game where past, present, and possibly future club players can come out, participate in a rugby game, have the banter, see what the South Pittsburgh Hooligans culture's about, and enjoy a drink afterwards.

Did you envision that you would then become the president of South Pittsburgh Hooligans? Was that, was this a pipe dream that worked as a springboard? [laughs]

It was, you know, it, when, when we, when we were together at Jameson's back in probably 2016, 'cause I, the Husky Boys are approaching 10 years old, might, might have been 2017, but like, no, that was, that was definitely at the last kind of thing on my mind was, uh, eventually becoming president of South Pittsburgh Rugby.

It was, it was purely have a good time, keep people interested, and at, like, at that, at that time, the club was kind of in a [laughs] we were, we were down, down a couple years, so it was like, how do you, how do you keep these guys, you know, engaged, interested all year round type of deal? And it, it, it did, you know, it did the job that it was kind of meant to do.

And then, uh, as Gator said, like, uh, getting interest from, you know, clubs around the area, Akron, Erie, you know, down in, um, San Antonio, Austin, Texas, when I was down there, Dave Bull was down there.

Um, it was, it was really cool to see, um, kind of the g- the organic growth, so to speak, of, of the Husky Boys.

Um, but no, when we started the, the club, no, I, I had no...

And, but I always joke that now I've [laughs] I, when I, when I became president of South Pittsburgh Rugby Club, it was like [laughs] I started this make fake up, m- uh, this make fake made-up rugby club, and now I'm president of a real rugby club.

This is a rugby game where past, present, and possibly future club players can come out, participate in a rugby game, have the banter, see what the South Pittsburgh Hooligans culture's about, and enjoy a drink afterwards.