VOMITS: The WRC Old Boys are affectionately known as the VOMITS. This name was bestowed upon them by former player and coach Stuart Daily. It is an acronym for Veterns, Old Men, Idiot and TwitS. Stuart tragically passed away after having played a game for the VOMITS. The name is used as it's a fitting description and as a tribute to a lost comrade and teammate.

VOMIT Tour to Ireland, January 2009

The MUNSTER vs Sale Sharks Match

We visited several pubs in downtown Limerick before the match just because they were there. The atmosphere was great in Limerick before the game; a nice city with plenty of venerable buildings, including many castles and churches. Several members of the Abbeyfeale Old Boys arranged to meet us at the clubhouse of the Bohemians rugby club at Thomond Park. Guys like Maurice, Gavin, Richard and son Philip who would be our water boy at our match the next day in Abbeyfeale, among others, made us feel right at home. ...Read More

Vomits v Rockford Old Boys

The WRC VOMITS (Veterans, Old Men, Idiots & Twits) hosted the Rockford Old Boys (known as the Old Kishwaukeans after the Kishwaukee River that meanders through that hoppin' burg in northern Illinois) before the WRC match against Metropolis on Saturday, October 18.

The final score notwithstanding, both sides had great fun on a sunlit, mild day at the WRC pitch.

Stuart Daily Tens 2008

Nearly 30 VOMITs kitted up and enjoyed a beautiful day for rugby. Blue sky, moderate temperatures, cold beer; lots of knee wraps, shorts that used to fit, athletic tape and Icy Hot. I love the smell of analgesic in the morning. It smells like…arthritis.

The VOMIT roster is conveniently listed at the end of the article for easy cross-referencing by parole officers, divorce lawyers and bail bondsmen.

WRC Old Boys Hold on vs. Condors Old Boys 17-15

In the first annual match between the old boys squads of the Wisconsin Rugby Club (the VOMITs) and the Westside Chicago Condors (the Frogs), the host team hung on for a seesaw 17-15 win. The score was really immaterial; it was a spirited match on the first decent sunlit Saturday since the fall which all enjoyed followed by a great feed and post-match palaver. Many Frogs stayed in town which added to the atmosphere at the Crossroads and later at the downtown Great Dane. We owe it to the Frogs to give them a match in Chicago either in the fall or next spring.

In the match, winger Mo Lubasi scored early off a pass from Dan Marz and it remained 5-0 until the VOMITs scored on a pushover try for a 10-0 lead. The latter was provided with help from the few forward subs the VOMITs had – Marcus Watson and Dave Kruse – who came off right after the score, giving it the best two minutes of their lives. We’ll never hear the end of it from either…I guess we could refer to them as the short yardage “jumbo package” in the scrum. As Marcus walked off the pitch, he vociferously declared that he was done playing rugby forever, though few took him seriously since only Cher has retired more often ...Read More

From One Rugger to Another

“No good deed goes unpunished.”
Often true. But occasionally you get surprised.

Last fall when the Wisconsin Rugby Club’s former coach Adrian McDermott was visiting Madison from NYC, I rode my bike from work at the Memorial Union to join the group meeting him at the Avenue on a Friday evening. As we were leaving, someone at the next table noticed my T-shirt – from the recent Stuart Daily Ten a side tourney that Old Boy Dan Marz created; the “This is your brain on rugby” design.

“Wow,” one of the gentlemen said, “Our daughter plays rugby at Stanford. She’d love a shirt like that!”

So, I took off the shirt and handed it to him, saying something like “from one rugger to another,” adding that I hadn’t worn it before today so it was nearly new. We all had a good laugh and our group left for the next venue, the Weary Traveler.

While waiting at the crowded bar, a woman asked sarcastically if I was making a fashion statement.

“What?”
“You’re just wearing a wind breaker, unzipped halfway.”
I nodded then explained.
“Oh. We just thought that you were some kind of doofus with a midlife crisis…or one of the homeless guys from the shelter down the street.”

I’d forgotten all about it until I got an email in December from Grant Dekker. He asked whether I was the guy who had “given the shirt off his back” for another rugby player he’d never met. I guess he found me via the WRC web site. I replied that I was, and that as a coach and player (OK so I wander around the pitch occasionally as an Old Boy) it was my pleasure. He explained that his daughter Susan loved the shirt, and asked for my address so they could send me a card.

Christmas morning I opened a nice card (view card) from Grant and Susan Dikkers that arrived inside a package that contained a Stanford rugby T-shirt. The card said, “From one rugger to another.”

Marc Kennedy

Lose to WRC in Final
VOMITs Don’t Choke, Make the Stuart Daily Finals

By Marc Kennedy
VOMIT (Veterans, Old Men, Idiots and Twits) Handler

The plan was simple and seemingly foolproof: Assemble a group of aging ruggers (from 30-something to 50-something), play three matches, win one or two but not advance, showing some younger guys that despite our age and expanding waistlines and receding hairlines, we still got a little game. Then, we’d repair, honor and bodies intact, to the shade under Herb’s Hideaway and enjoy the semi-finals from the sidelines. There, we’d quaff a few, and buy Jell-O shots from the Women’s Team and get a head start on telling the same old lies over and over. Read More