At 0319 this morning, Belinda and Billy Thompson had their son Seamus. He is 7 pounds 12 ounces and 19 and a half inches. Mama and baby are fine, daddy promptly ran into touch. Congrats to the new proud parents.

This week the Rowdies traveled to Chicago to take on the Riot in a playoff match with the winner advancing to take on the representative from Iowa. From the opening kickoff it was a great back and forth match with neither team scoring for 20 minutes until the Riot got a lucky break on an unseen forward pass the led directly to the first score of the match. Conversion was good and the Riot led 7-0. The Rowdies , led by new captain Dennis "DJ" Mernick, answered back with a great breakaway by Evan "I need a nickname" Albeck that was capped off by an offload to "Doc" Todd Schwartzlow who took it in for a try. Conversion was no good and the score was 7-5 Riot. The Rowdies looked to be on the verge of scoring again, but the Riot took advantage of some Rowdie mistakes and scored again, conversion was good again and at the half the Riot led 14-5.

The second half looked to be all Rowdies as they scored on another great breakaway by Evan " I still need a nickname" Albeck. This time he scored unassisted while breaking multiple tackles to bring the score to 14-10 after the missed conversion. It took the Riot awhile to score again as the Rowdie defense adjusted to their back line and shut them down until yet another forward pass was missed by the ref and taken in for the final score of the game to bring the final to 19-10 Riot. It was a great, hard fought game on both sides and the Rowdies should hold their heads high for the season they posted for their first year in a new union. Much of that success is due to former captain and coach Chris "LT" Russel who unfortunately has moved on due to his military career. We hope to see him again in the future and wish him and his family all the best and we can never thank him enough for his leadership on and off the pitch.

We would also like to wish the Riot all the best of luck in the playoffs and look forward to seeing them again in the future.

That ends another season in Rowdies rugby, but that doesn't mean you should stop checking back here. We will be posting details for gatherings as well as the annual Trivia night in late Feb. or early Mar. It is always a great time and essential to the success of our program so plan on attending and get a sitter for the kids cause it's always a Rowdie good time.

For the final regular season game of the fall the Rowdies were in Peoria to take on the Pigs, winner would advance to the playoffs and loser would start healing up for next season. Out of the gate the Pigs had the Rowdies pinned deep in their own end for the first 25 minutes. That being said, they were only able to come up with 2 tries (1 converted) and a penalty kick. With 10 minutes left in the half the Rowdies finally got  on the board with a try of their own to set the halftime score at 15-7 Pigs.

While it seamed the Rowdies had found their stride, the Pigs came out swinging in the second half and quickly scored another try. That, however, was their last. 

With a score of 20-7 the sleeping Rowdies finally woke up and started playing like Ellis'. 3 tries were scored and all but one were converted and just for good measure, a penalty goal was tacked on by Chris "Turtle" Bunting who handled the kicking duties and due to his 9 points off of kicks was named Man of the Match as those 9 points gave the Rowdies a 29-20 victory and a spot in the playoffs.

We would like to thank the Pigs for a great hard fought game as well as the party afterward and wish them luck in the future. Next week the Rowdies will be in playoff action, site and opponent to be determined, so keep checking the site for details and wish us luck.

After a week off the Rowdies took to the pitch against the Illiana Misfits for the first time in cup contention. From the opening kickoff it was all Rowdies as a mix of push over tries and breakaways rained down against the light traveling Misfits. The Rowdies were putting on a clinic all day and it showed with a half time score of 51-0. 

Second half began with last week's Man of the Match Evan Albeck catching the kickoff on the run, and the Rowdies never gave it back. The pace was fast and furious throughout the second half even though it was mostly rookies and after the final whistle blew it was 92-0 (or 104-0 depending on who you ask). Man of the Match went to John "Cheerboy" Keevan for his great runs and 2 tries.

We would like to thank the Misfits for the match and the great after party. Next week it's off to Peoria for do or die time if the Rowdies want a good standing for the playoffs. Wish us luck on our quest to the Midwest Regional playoffs.

To kickoff the annual Old Boys weekend the Rowdies first hosted fellow Illinois Rugby Union members, the Shamrocks. After last weeks drubbing of the Flatlanders, the Rowdies came in a little too confident and it showed as the first 10 minutes of the game the Shamrocks lived in the Rowdies side of the pitch and would have taken the early lead with a penalty kick if not for a questionable no good signal from the touch judges. That breath of life awakened the sleeping Rowdies as they roared to life and scored 4 tries in the first half, converting 1 for a halftime score of 22-0.

The second half was all Rowdies as the crowd full of our visiting brothers cheering  on whipped the Rowdies into a frenzy that was apparent with every bone jarring hit delivered on both offense and defense. The Rowdies, led by Man of the Match Evan Albeck poured it on in the second half, scoring 4 more tries and converting 2, while not allowing a score to take a convincing win with a final score of 46-0.

After a short brake the Rowdies took on their mentors in the most anticipated match of the year. From the start the Old Boys pushed their way around and scored 3 tries in the first half, converting 2 and only allowing 1 for the "New Kids". The first was a pushover try coming off a line out proving that "If it aint broke, don't fix it" still applies. Half time score was 19-5.

The second half remained the same with the Old Boys' tried and true mauls and slower, more powerful attack style is still as affective as ever when you want to grind out a victory. While the current roster racked up 2 converted tries to make it a game, the Old Boys put a safety try on the board to seal the win with a final of 24-19 Old Boys.

Then all hell broke loose as the infamous "chip half" took place. The 20 minute half was made more interesting than usual as every scoring player, no matter what position he played, had to chug a beer then attempt to convert his own kick. Nobody cared about the score, or the 8 minutes left in the 20 minute half, as news that the bar had the food ready was announced and everyone took off.

The party was one for the record books and I would expand on it if law allowed. Suffice it to say, all bases were covered. We would like to thank the Shamrocks for sticking around for the Old Boys game and for the match, as well as the great time at the party. A big thank you goes out to Shenanigans for hosting the party and a huge thank you goes out to the Old Boys for joining us again and more importantly, for teaching us all the game that has brought us together. You are all our brothers and are welcome any time. We would be honored by your presence at any team event, no invite needed.

A special notice for all Rowdies old and new, Old Boy, Steve "Plug" Correia, suffered an as yet unknown injury minutes into the match. All we know so far is that it is not broken and we wish our brother a speedy recovery.

The Rowdies are off this weekend but will crank it up again at home on the 15th against Illiana in another Illinois Rugby Union cup match. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. at North End, come cheer us on to another victory.