ERRFU-RS-History-2017.Pdf
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Contents Introduction and Disclaimer 1. Legend, Beliefs and Conjecture 2. Aspen 3. Kit Through the Years 4. Stories, Memories and Other Fibs Introduction and Disclaimer This project started when Stu Geiger suggested in early Spring 2017 I write a history of the Referee Society. I procrastinated for a month or so before sending a letter to the former and current chairmen. They, in turn, put off writing down their memoirs for another two months. With gentle reminders and a bit of public shaming responses started to roll in. I could not have done this without input from others. When you read this you will realize it is an incomplete history. There are many holes. While the sequence is fairly accurate dates are mostly missing, due in part to fading memories, in part to the way years of rugby tend to melt one into another. If I had a nickel for each time I heard, “It’s all a blur…”. That said it is still a fluid, growing document. I am particularly interested in more stories, true or imagined. Any submissions will be considered as additions to this history. Many of the photos herein have the author as a main subject, not because I am an arrogant bastard (wait, I’m a ref, right?) but because they come from my own personal collection. I would be glad to include tasteful photos from the albums of others. I thank Stu for planting the seed; this has been fun. YIR Joe Zevin Chapter One Legend, Beliefs and Conjecture THE SPORT of rugby is steeped in legend. A generally accepted legend is that William Webb Ellis WHO WITH A FINE DISREGARD FOR THE RULES OF FOOTBALL AS PLAYED IN HIS TIME FIRST TOOK THE BALL IN HIS ARMS AND RAN WITH IT THUS ORIGINATING THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF THE RUGBY GAME A.D. 1823 This must be true. These words have been etched in stone on a wall near the athletic fields at Rugby School, England In those days it was the players, all students, who determined the laws and The Author at Rugby School 2002 mode of play. According to The Rugby History Society the laws could, and did, change each time the lads gathered for a game. Further documentation shows that other schools each had their own version of football. It wasn’t until 1845 that Rugby School published the first set of written laws to govern the game. It is a safe assumption that there were those who felt this sullied the purity of the sport. Adding an on-field referee was a further violation. In 1863 the Football Association tried to standardize the laws throughout England. At a series of meetings various laws were discussed. It was decided that hacking, or kicking the ball carrier in the shins, was to be done away with. A member of the Blackheath club felt that hacking was an essential element of football and that eliminating it would “do away with all the courage and pluck from the game.” He went on to say he would be bound to ”bring over a lot of Frenchmen who would beat you with a week’s practice.” No doubt this threat stiffened English upper lips, leading them to codify the laws, settling once and for all how the game should be played. On 26 January 1871 representatives of 20 schools and clubs met at the Pall Mall restaurant in London for this purpose. There should have been 21 clubs, but the Wasps, “in true rugby fashion turned up at the wrong pub, on the wrong day.” Since then there have been periodic, substantive changes to Law. Most recent amendments have been in the interest of making the game faster, more attractive to paying and television audiences. Others have been instituted to make things easier for the referee. Then there are those law changes intended to stifle the underdog nations’ use of creative tactics. So the sport continued to grow and became a global pastime. Rugby weathered many challenges such as the schism in 1895 when an upstart group of mercenaries decided they wanted to get paid to play. This group reduced the number of players on the pitch by two and have suffered the unlucky consequences ever since. Another break happened when the fraternity boys at Rutgers and Princeton found they were too fat, too slow and too lazy to keep pace with the continuous nature of rugby. They slowed the game down by guaranteeing possession of the ball, stopping play just because of a tackle and opened the line of scrummage. The field was cluttered with a cross-hatching of lines. Players were clad in armor plating. These Ivy League fellows put their money behind the new code, invented television to better market their herky-jerky game and forced the American populous to eat onion rings and drink soda pop. Eventually Rugby found its way to Colorado. Legend has it that the first game was played in 1965 between Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado. Jeddidiah Erasmus Aloicious Rich, better known as “Bob”, was asked to referee the match because he was the only person in the state with an English accent. As he told the story Bob said, “It was either that or play stand-off.” Bob went on to referee for many years then became the first referee coach in the state. He thrice donated sets of royal blue track suits to the Society. His hobby of rebuilding antique sports cars gave the Society its first sponsor: Rich’s Restored Racers. Things went along ruckingly until 1967. One Terry Fleener, a member of the Denver Barbarians and President of the Eastern Rockies RFU, traveled to the Roaring Fork Valley and decided that Aspen would be a good place to hold an end-of-year rugby tournament. In 1970 James Russell, moved to Denver, joined the Barbos and joined his team and made the trip up the mountain for the 4th Aspen Ruggerfest. Having played rugby in Italy, thus knowing more about the sport than anyone else in Pitkin County, he complained bitterly about the quality of refereeing. Jim tells the story of how the following summer, playing in the July 4th Aspen vs. Barbarian fixture, he bashed into a ruck only to hear Aspen’s regular referee, Reverend Tim Walker, blow his whistle, penalizing the excitable Mr. Russell. With the finest of decorum and deference to the referee Jim asked, “What for?” “Dangerous Play, running into the ruck,” quoth RevTim. “What?”, asked an incredulous Jim. “What should I have done?” The reply has stuck with Jim ever since, “You should run up, stop, and lean.” Jim returned to Denver, sought out Mr. Fleener and suggested ERRFU form a referee society. As has become standard punishment for such behavior, Mr. Russell was told to become a referee himself. Jim Jim Russell cir. 1980 not only took up the challenge, but elected himself society chairman as well. Jim called up the handful of gentlemen who were brave enough to referee rugby in those days. He hosted a meeting to set some standards for the 1972 season. Among the things agreed upon was the name of ERRFU Referee Society, a need for consistency of on-field interpretation, and a desire to meet once a month as an excuse to have a pint or two. In a misguided attempt to brand the referees as pure and honorable, they decided to wear an all white kit. The Colorado Department of Wildlife rams head logo was poached and ERRFU Referee Society lettering was added. The Union passed a resolution that no team could have uniforms with more than 40% white so as not to conflict with the referee kit. This ordinance was ignored by several clubs. As the only member of the executive committee Jim took on the duties of scheduling referees for the upcoming weekend. The need for reassignments often arose when there were conflicts or a certain referee couldn’t , or wouldn’t, work a particular game. Mr. Russell took it all in stride. Since rugby was a low priority for the parks departments and Saturdays were full of other activities, games were mostly played on Sundays. In those days rugby was a staunchly amateur sport. No one was allowed to accept money for playing or refereeing the game. Even the top international players did not receive payment for their time and effort. Local referees were no exception. However, it was acceptable for a referee to receive a small stipend to cover expenses. $5, was handed to the ref by the home team. This amount was doubled due to the increase in gas prices after the 1973 OPEC embargo. All too often a ref had to beg for his stipend from a disgruntled losing host team. The Society started sending bills to each club at the end of a season to save both parties the embarrassment. This led to the creation of the post of Treasurer. While it is not clear who first held the position it is known that Alan Osur, a referee affiliated with Air Force Academy RFC, managed the financial health of the Society for many years. Jim also managed to get the Union to establish and adhere to a master schedule. His impetus was to make it easier to assign referees. The Union agreed to the plan. Then, as now, the best laid plans are only as good as fortune allows. Having enough referees to cover all the games in a day was, and still is, not always possible. Most referees had to run two games, A-side and B-side, back to back.