Might-As-Well Monday: A 2018 Rugby Video I Never Published Because I Was Too Cringeworthy In It

Much love to Liam's mom. What a delight!

Last month was my 2-year anniversary at Barstool and looking back at my first few video endeavors I feel both proud and mortified. Proud because I'd never made videos before but threw fear of failure & ridicule to the side & blindly jumped into it, and mortified because the results were indeed often worthy of said ridicule. This particular video was no exception. 

On Saturday June 2nd, 2018 I was still living in Delco & took the short drive over to Talen Energy Stadium for the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championships. I had bought a ticket and then showed up with a little Barstool mic & a selfie stick thinking it was such small beans they'd let me in with it... No camera, was only gonna record with my phone. No biggie. 

But ope! 

Cue the wonderful Joe Favorito (sports marketing guru, really neat bio) who got word of me loitering outside the stadium hoping someone behind the event would see my pathetic Tweets somehow… 

I finally had an "in" and he hooked me up with a press pass. 

Favorito took the time to give me a full tour from the sidelines, to meeting specific teams, to the press box & VIP section where I housed chicken fingers in Gen. H.R. McMaster's suite (former National Security Advisor for the President). It was also cool hearing from the folks who are behind the movement to continue growing rugby worldwide. 

I left that day with a huge smile on my face. This video was going to be awesome.

…..But it turns out a wonky old phone in extreme heat that's already at the brink of full memory doesn't do so well when you try to record a million videos on it. Half of them were frozen or simply hadn't saved. Major bummer. Not to mention the horrific audio on what I did have saved. 

Still, I turned it all into an intern to piece together, and the video I posted here was the result. That's all that could be salvaged. 

Back when I got that first cut of it I was brand new & in the end I decided not to post it because despite all the effort I felt it wasn't good enough and didn't want one of my first impressions with Stoolies to be that one. I felt pretty awful, too, since the people with the event let me in & gave me so much of their time and access. My video just really didn't do the great event & those people justice. 

However, now we're in quarantimes and I thought "might as well" post an oldie and blog about why it didn't make the cut before. It was long enough ago now that I couldn't really make the event look bad. Right? Maybe?

In closing, big apology to rugger turned Philadelphia Eagle, Jordan Mailata, who I could not have been weirder around if I tried. Still physically cringe every time I look at the videos I took with him. My God.

Here's another rugby video that worked out slightly better (sort of…) with Chaps at the 7s World Cup in SF.