We are traveling South to Savannah, GA (for the 4th year in succession).

Details:

Leave Frederick Friday 17th March (9:00am)
Arrive Savannah Friday 17th March (6:00pm)

Stay at Days Inn on I-95 just South of Savannah

Play 2 matches Saturday 18th March
Play 1 match Sunday 19th March
Return to Frederick Monday 20th March

(You will need to take the Friday and Monday off work.)

**Total cost per person will be $150 (this includes hotel Fri/Sat/Sun and van rental).**

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO COME ALONG (I CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE SPACE)

Savannah so far: Scott Doyle, Tory Ireland, Al Goetz, Mike Taylor, Jon Hixon, Julian Reading, Jamie Romano, Larry Grimm, Mike Tucci, Lance French, Eric Kretzer, Scott Shackleford, Dave Gentzel, Mike Stull, Brian Taormina

League Restructuring Update - reviewing different options ...

Date: 25 January 2000
To: Senior Men's Clubs in MARFU
cc: MARFU Board of Directors

From: Eric Pittelkau, MARFU Vice President and Chair, Competitions Committee

Subject: League Reorganization - Status Report Prior to MARFU Board Meeting

he senior men's clubs in MARFU met on December 5, 1999 to discuss reorganizing the leagues within MARFU. At the conclusion of the meeting, an ad hoc group was named to recommend a final plan after considering further options. I also asked each club to state their specific objections to the plan I presented. It pains me to report that not only is there not a plan that the ad hoc group has agreed upon, but there has been precious little input from this group or the rest of the clubs, either as comments or suggestions on any plan or as new plans.

I deferred to a request to give the subject a rest over the holidays.  Subsequently, I essentially delegated leadership on this subject, something I now regret. Therefore, I am reasserting my leadership role and presenting to you the various plans that have been considered together with my analysis of the pros and cons of each. I'll make no secret of that fact that I still consider the plan I presented to you in December to be the best alternative, but I have looked for compromises where I think they are possible. I can't force the clubs into anything, but I will state my case to you and the board, and then we'll see what happens.

This is the text of the first e-mail I sent to the ad hoc group sometime in the last month. It describes four plans that were options at that time. Since then, there were two more options put forth that I describe after the following text. The fifth plan was presented by Marty Sarkees (Brandywine Rugby) that is a variation on the original plan I presented. The sixth plan was presented by Carl Schmitt, David Chapman, and Paul Fordiani. I will give you my commentary on each plan. Note that Plan 2 is from Paul Fordiani and Plan 3 is also from Carl Schmitt, but these two plans aren't related to Plan 6.

Gentlemen,

In this e-mail I first present each of the four plans followed by my remarks as to pros and cons of each. After the four plans, I list the teams that would be in each division under Plan 3 (Carl Schmitt's original plan) and Plan 4 (my rework of Carl's plan). I did not list the teams that would be in each division under Plan 1 (already done in previous mailings) and Plan 2 (not fully determined, but it should be easy to imagine what the divisions would look like).

Plan 1. The original plan as I presented it at the 12/5/99 meeting.

The basics of the plan are as follows. A 12-team Championship Division from which contenders for the Division I and II playoffs would come. A two-group, 16-team (maximum) Territorial Division from which the two group winners would participate in the Division II playoffs in a format to be determined, possibly as part of the promotion and relegation process. If necessary, the VRU Division III would be left as it currently exists. The Championship Division would be a single round robin played over the fall (about 7 matches) and the spring (about 4 matches). The Territorial Division would be a single round robin (with possible modifications for the South Group depending on the number of teams) played in the fall. 

Playoffs and promotion/relegation would be in the spring.

This plan puts the best six Division II teams (by historical evidence) on the field of competition with the Division I teams. It does not require them to give up competition for the Division II championship (territorial and national); in fact, all of them would qualify for the MARFU playoffs. The remaining Division II teams would also be competing for the Division II championship, but these teams have less assurance of being in the playoffs.

While the details remain to be worked out, it is easy to envision a playoff format that includes the promotion and relegation matches against the bottom two teams from the Championship Division. While some see the split season as a downside, the fact remains that teams preparing for the playoffs must find a way to be competitive in the spring after a winter break, and that is still true in this plan. Further, the Division I vs Division II matches in the Championship Division count in the standings and are not regarded as non-league matches. This plan avoids conflict with the VRU's Ed & Sandy Lee Cup at the end of October.

Championship Division

Territorial Division

If the VRU Division III needs additional matches, we can create a schedule that frees up James River, United, and Virginia on selected weekends. The PRU will devise ways to fill in the schedule for its three teams. 

Plan 2. Paul Fordiani's plan.

If my reading of Paul's plan is wrong, my apologies to Paul. I'm sure he will be quick to correct it if I've read it wrong. In any case, this is an alternative, whether or not ascribed to Paul. The Division II semifinalists from the Spring 2000 playoffs would be placed in Division I to form a 10-team division. This division would play a single round robin of 9 games in the fall with playoffs in the spring. Division II would be two groups North and South of up to 10 teams each (though there are not that many teams available currently).

The top Division II teams have said they do not want to give up their desire to remain in Division II and be in a position to compete for the Division II championship (territorial and national). This plan would force four of those teams to do just that. Perhaps it could be modified, similar to Plan 1, where the top Division II teams simultaneously play for promotion and relegation and a playoff spot with the bottom four teams from the top division. The nine-game schedule will cause some problem (not insurmountable) for the VRU teams since the Ed & Sandy Lee Cup is still scheduled for the end of October.

Plan 3. Carl Schmitt's original plan.

Division I and VRU Division III would stay the same. This plan called for dropping one team from each Division II North and South (possibly having the bottom two or three teams from each group playoff to see which one drops instead of relegating the bottom team from last season). This would create two seven teams groups that would automatically create a bye week for two teams each week. These two teams would be scheduled to play against a Division I team. At the end of the season, each Division II team would have played six matches against the other teams in their group plus one non-league match against a Division I team. Each Division I team would have played five matches against the other teams from their division plus one non-league match against a Division II club.

Carl edited out my remark above that the Division II teams having a bye would play against Division I teams, presumably because he meant that they might also play against Division III teams. That's fine for the VRU Division III. But that would mean fewer matches created for Division I teams. The objection to Carl Schmitt's plan is that it both keeps teams in Division III who had earned their way up and moves teams to Division III who should be in Division II. If there were complaints of disenfranchising teams from the Division II championships before, there will certainly be more complaints about this under Carl's plan. In addition, adding one match to the schedule for Division I goes only a little way toward solving the problem of insufficient matches. And, it reduces by one the number of league matches for Division II teams. It also introduces a bye week (no game at all) into the Division I schedule.

Total - 20 teams 

Notes (none of these six teams would be in Division II)

-Severn River or the loser of a three-way playoff would be dropped to Division III

-Western Suburbs or the loser of a three-way playoff would be dropped to Division III

-Hibernians would have been relegated to Division III if we remain the same as in 1999

-Schuylkill River lost the promotion match after finishing first in EPRU Division III

-Harrisburg finished second in EPRU Division III

-Wilmington finished fifth in EPRU Division III

Plan 4. Eric Pittelkau's rework of Carl Schmitt's plan.

Instead of dropping one team from each of Division II North and South, the reworked plan would add a team to each group creating two nine-team groups, eliminating any disenfranchisement. The number of teams in Division I and the VRU Division III would remain as they currently exist. At the end of the season, each Division II team would have played eight matches against the other teams in their group plus one non-league match against a Division I team. Each Division I team would have played five matches against the other teams from their division plus three non-league matches against Division II clubs.

This plan avoids putting teams into Division III who definitely don't belong there while adding a few teams that want to be in Division II. Division II teams now have a nine-game schedule, but like Plan 2, this will create some problem (not insurmountable) for the the VRU teams in Division II South. While the Division I teams now have an eight-game schedule, the matches against Division II teams will generally be of a lower grade than under Plan I (where only the best Division II teams were matched up against Division I teams). If there were concerns before about the Division II teams being overmatched, those concerns are now increased.

As with Carl Schmitt's original plan, each Division II team only has a single match against a Division I team. Rather than only the best Division II teams playing multiple matches against Division I teams, all teams including those who aren't competitive in Division II will now be playing those matches.

Total - 24 teams

Notes (four of these six teams would be in Division II; the other two would not be in Division II even if we stay with the current league alignment).

-Frederick moved from the North group to the South group

-Severn River earned promotion from Division III

-Hibernians were the team that would have been relegated to Division III

-Schuylkill River were the top team in EPRU Division III but lost promotion

---Remaining in EPRU Division III -

-Harrisburg was the second team in EPRU Division III

-Wilmington was the fifth team in EPRU Division III

MORE NOTES ON PLAN 4

Further detailed scheduling notes on my rework of Carl Schmitt's original plan One of my objections to Carl's plan was that it excluded two teams who would be included under the current plan for Division II. I have reworked his plan to prevent the exclusion of those teams, and add two more from the EPRU.

With 9 teams in each Division II group, 9 weekends are required to play the schedule with each team having a BYE week. That means there are two Division II teams available each weekend to add to the Division I schedule. I still have my objection to the lower-ranked Division II teams playing Division I teams, but if we're going in this direction, I'm happier with this plan than the other one. But, I'm sure the Division I teams will use the opportunities to provide playing opportunities to their lower side players.

So the question is how to work these games into the Division I schedule.

Note that 9 weekends of 2 teams with BYEs equals 18 games. Given 6 Division I teams, each of those teams can play 3 matches against Division II opponents. How to do this? First, we have to create a 9-team schedule for 6 teams. This requires 9 weekends to play. Observe.

First, just for argument's sake, assume some ranking of the Division II teams in each group, and use the order I have above. Each team will have a BYE in the week according to its rank. (So, Media and Frederick will have a BYE in week 1.) Making the Division II schedule is trivial.

Second, again for argument's sake, assume a ranking for Division I in the order I specified.

Week 1

Washington and PAC vs Division II teams

NOVA vs B-C, PW vs Exiles

Week 2

NOVA and PW vs Division II teams

Washington vs B-C, PAC vs Exiles

Week 3

B-C and Exiles vs Division II teams

Washington and PAC bye, NOVA vs PW

Week 4

Washington and PAC vs Division II teams

NOVA vs Exiles, PW vs B-C

Week 5

NOVA and PW vs Division II teams

Washington vs Exiles, PAC vs B-C

Week 6

B-C and Exiles vs Division II teams

Washington vs NOVA, PAC vs PW

Week 7

Washington and PAC vs Division II teams

NOVA and PW bye, B-C vs Exiles

Week 8

NOVA and PW vs Division II teams

Washington vs PAC, B-C and Exiles bye

Week 9

B-C and Exiles vs Division II teams

Washington vs PW, PAC vs NOVA

Now we can move Weeks 1-9 to any order we want. We can arrange a bye week for the Division I team on any weekend they want. We can match up the Division I teams against whichever Division II teams we want.

Each Division II team has to play only one game against a Division I team.

Each Division I team has to play three games against Division II teams.

Each Division II teams plays 4H/4A games with one bye week somewhere in weeks 1-9 (not really a bye, they play a Division I team).

Each Division I teams plays 8 matches, 5 against Division I teams, 3 against Division II teams.

Plan 5. From Marty Sarkees, a variation on Plan 1.

I inadvertently left Marty's e-mail on my computer at work, and I'm writing this from home. However, I hope to reproduce what he intended. I'm sure Marty will correct any errors.

Starting with the twelve teams I identified in Plan I for the Championship Division, Marty seeks to create a format that can be played in a single season. He splits the twelve teams into three groups of four teams. Each group has two Division I teams and two Division II teams. Every club plays the three round robin matches within their group, and they also play all the other like-division teams for another four matches.

Group 1

Phila.Whitemarsh
Baltimore-Chesapeake
Media
Brandywine

Group 2

PAC
Maryland Exiles
Frederick
Washington Irish

Group 3

Washington
NOVA
Norfolk
Raleigh

I have analyzed this format, and the seven matches can indeed be played in a seven week period. The Division I teams advance to the playoffs on the basis of their overall record, and the Division II teams advance to the playoffs on the basis of their overall record. As with Plan 1, provisions can be made to include the top two teams from the Territorial Division.

Plan 6. From Carl Schmitt, Paul Fordiani, and David Chapman.

I have included the text of their e-mail, followed by my commentary. The following is a COMPROMISE solution from Carl Schmitt, Paul Fordiani and David Chapman; the three of us felt we had to break the impasse and propose a good setup. Although it's not a sweeping overhaul of our system, it provides a number of things:

1. It expands Div I to a solid number in the out-years. It also opens up their playoff system.

2. It slightly reduces the size of Div II-N and II-S, thereby allowing for additional matches with Div III opponents or the junior sides of the large Div I clubs.

3. It provides a constant and automatic promotion relegation between Div I and II so that the number of teams in Div I stays constant. However, it also provides optional promotion/relegation between Div II and III.

4. It provides additional matches for the #5 and #6 Div I teams in the interim season (Fall 2000).

5. It keeps the Fall League, Late Fall All Stars, Spring playoffs & touring structure.

We would like you to review this and provide your concurrence.

With your agreement, we will forward to the clubs for information and to the MARFU board for action at their 2/5/00 meeting.

Carl Schmitt, Paul Fordiani and David Chapman

****************************

Fall 2000

1. Keep Div I, II-N, II-S intact for one final iteration.

2. At the end of Fall 2000, the top team from each of Div II-N and II-S will be promoted to Div I status for Fall 2001, thereby creating an 8 team Div I in 2001.

3. At the end of Fall 2000, the relegation process between Div II and Div III will be the same as currently implemented.

4. Playoffs for Div I for the top four clubs will be on 10/28 and 11/4.

5. The schedule for the 7 league matches for the Fall 2000 Div II-N and II-S will be from 9/9-10/21. The schedule for the 5 league matches for the Fall 2000 Div I league will be from 9/23-10/21.

6. On 10/28 and 11/4, the bottom two Div I teams will have away matches scheduled with the #1 team in Div II-N and the top non-VRU team in Div II-S. This scheduling will be automatic based on final results of all three leagues.

Example: on 10/28, #5 in Div I will play the highest ranked non-VRU team in Div II-S, while #6 in Div I will play the #1 team in Div II-N. On the following weekend, they will switch opponents.

Note: VRU teams are excluded from this due to the Ed Lee Cup (10/28-29) and select side preparation (11/4).

****************************

Fall 2001

1. Div I has 8 teams and plays a 7 game schedule. Playoffs are in Spring 2002 and are between the top 6 teams:

First round playoffs: #3 v #6 and #4 v #5

Semi-finals: #1 v winner of #4 v #5; #2 v winner of #3 v #6

Final: Semi-final winners

2. Div II-N and II-S consists of 7 teams and a 6 game season, thereby allowing open dates for Div III or Div I B-sides. Div II playoffs are in Spring 2002 with 8 teams (using the current structure for Div II-N and II-S playoffs).

3. The bottom two teams in Div I will be automatically relegated to Div II-N or II-S as regionally appropriate. The top team from each of II-N and II-S will move up for Fall 2002. Div II-N and II-S sizing adjustment procedures will be determined at a later date.

4. Promotion/relegation between Div II and III will be the same as the current system.

****************************

Fall 2002

Stability!

Commentary on Plan 5 from Eric Pittelkau

This plan does precious little to rectifying identified problems, and puts off any real change until 2001. Automatic promotion of the top two Division II teams after the Fall 2000 season to Division I flies in the face of the clearly stated position of every Division II club. They don't want to be in Division I and give up a real chance to compete for the Division II championship. At least my original plan preserved this option for Division II clubs while putting them on the field with Division I clubs. The Division I clubs in Fall 2000 still only have 5 league matches, though whoever finishes next to last and last would get two friendly matches with Division II clubs, but they have to travel to both of these matches.

There's no way to tell if the away match will really be a local match, and it's not likely it will be.

And on top of that, the losers of the semifinal playoffs have their season end after five league matches and a single playoff match. Not a very complete and satisfying fall season.

This plan doesn't do anything to address the fact that there are clubs currently in Division III who probably want to be and probably should be in Division II. There are between four and six clubs in this status.

In Fall 2001, each of the Division II clubs have a BYE date. It is stated that they can schedule Division I B sides on these dates. (Presumably, the VRU Division II clubs with a BYE date will be playing VRU Division III clubs.) But, the fact is that all the Division I B sides will be occupied playing their opponents B side. So PRU and EPRU Division II clubs with a BYE will have just that - nothing to do, unless they want to schedule

F^#&#@%? New Guys (FNGs)

Who are all these FNGs?

Jeff "Stax" Carrington was introduced to rugby at Western Suburbs in 1990.  Played football in high school, college (Randolph-Macon) and a couple of years semi-pro with the Virginia Storm (Got to knock heads with Tory when he played for the Frederick Falcons). With Suburbs, Stax reached the MARFU play-offs and won the Continental Classic Tournament in Tucson.  He has also been selected to the PRU All-stars.

Scott "Little Dog" Shackleford went to Salisbury State with Scully and played rugby there for 4 years. Little Dog is a wing but also plays fullback or center.  Baby John Raymond was the main reason that he started playing rugby.  Scott majored in philosophy and sociology, and is now attending Montgomery College taking a computer course in order get his A+ certification.

Mike Tucci is new to rugby. Went to Salisbury State and is a good friend of Scott "Little Dog" Shackleford.  Tucci has been training hard and came along on the bus trip to Blackthorn. Working at Flanker while he learns the game.

Dusty Rood has just graduated from college in Vermont where he was President of the Green Mountain Rugby Club.  Dusty has played rugby for 4 years, mainly at fly half but can play most back positions and will be relocating to Frederick this December.

10th Anniversary Banquet

[Feb 2, 2000] Thanks to everyone who made the 10 year Banquet such a great success.  Treasurer Stu informed me that for the first time in those 10 years we actually broke even on the affair!!   Highlights were Don Briggs announcing the All-Decade Team, hats off to "Big Gay Al" who just shook his head and collected his award.  Congratulations to Art "Our Old Buddy" Hall on being voted A-side MVP, a great season (hope that your back heals in time for the MARFU play-offs).  Also having every Captain of the Club present and three of four Coaches was great.  Final number in attendance was around 80.  We have a good number of new faces at the Club this Spring.  Please make them welcome and help them become part of Frederick Rugby as we move into our 11th year. Let's focus, remember that we do this for fun and get that National title!

Frederick Fun at the Turkey Trot

[Jan 25, 2000] On a sunny fall Saturday (27th Nov) a small group from Frederick headed down to Bethesda for the annual Turkey Trot 7s Tournament. Everyone had a lot of fun and we actually played some competitive 7s by the end of the day!

The first match was against UMD. Kenny and Vince B both scored to put us ahead at the half. In the second half Wheels came on and scored. Somehow we managed to lose possession a couple of times (well it might have been something to do with me - sorry guys). Result, Frederick 21, UMD 26.

1: Eric "Claw" Aldinger
2: Bonita
3: Pete Ireland
4: Mike "Scully" Stull
5: Kenny Orndoff - (T, 3C)
6: Vince "Hollywood" Baker - (T)
7: Geep Sipe
8: Julian Reading (on for Claw at half)
9: Will "Wheels" Brewington on for Bonita at half) - (T)
10: Charlie Wilkinson (on for Hollywood at half)

The second match was really good. PSI Net (an Exiles based team) had looked pretty good in their first match and expected to breeze past Frederick. That didn’t happen. Frederick played much tighter and were more tactically aware. We ran out winners 19 - 12.

1: Julian Reading - (T)
2: Bonita
3: Pete Ireland
4: Mike "Scully" Stull - (T)
5: Kenny Orndoff - (2C)
6: Vince "Hollywood" Baker
7: Geep Sipe
8: Eric "Claw" Aldinger (on for Julian at half) - (T)
9: Will "Wheels" Brewington on for Bonita at half)
10: John Duck (on for Hollywood at half)

That win placed Frederick in the Championship bracket facing NOVA ‘A’. At this point I went and got the beer from my car in readiness for a hasty exit from the competition. I think that Frederick were expected to go down 50 to 0 in a real mismatch. However, we played the best match of the day and were in it the whole time. The squad’s self believe was really something. NOVA did prevail, winning 26 - 19.

 1: Julian Reading - (T)
2: Bonita
3: Eric "Claw" Aldinger
4: Mike "Scully" Stull
5: Kenny Orndoff - (2C)
6: Vince "Hollywood" Baker - (T)
7: Geep Sipe
8: Eric "Claw" Aldinger (on for Julian at half)
9: Will "Wheels" Brewington on for Bonita at half) - (T)
10: Pete Ireland (on for Hollywood at half)

All in all a great time was had on a sunny fall day. Thanks to Pete and Kenny for organizing everything (as usual) and for the "Godfather of Sevens" Wheels for playing with us every match and leading his own team to victory over NOVA in the final - what a guy!