Rugby Pickem

In our most recent RugbyPickEmBio we have Lenny Martling, father of Rugby PickEm producer Devin Martling (aka FloridaMan Dev). He is the first rugby "Old Boy" that we interviewed with the sole purpose of hearing some great stories. Lenny didn't let us down as we rolled through his entire 15 year rugby career. Lenny began playing the beautiful game of rugby at Kent State (kan't read, kan't write, Kent State) where a season was cut short due to the clashes between activist students and the National Guard. Lenny got lucky when a separated shoulder on the rugby field kept him from getting drafted in Vietnam. He got luckier when he spent a semester gallivanting in Mexico with cousin Bobby and Michael Douglas (soon to be Michael Keaton) before he settled in Denver Colorado and began playing with the green and white, our favorite rugby club, the mighty Denver Barbarians. His old boy stories with the Denver Barbarians go on for days. From playing with Milt Bennett (the conscientious objector), to singing in the

In the final show before summer break, the lads sit in to recap the two exciting MLR semi-final games. The west coast teams reigned, and we'll have a San Diego vs. Seattle final. It was a deadlocked pick in the studio so we asked ol' "Tommy No Pick" to settle our split decision. Barry and FloridaMan Dev like San Diego Legion to finish their amazing season with a championship victory in front of their home crowd. Bt, and Uncle Johnny are riding with last year's champion Seattle Seawolves to repeat with a massive road win in this final. Tommy just knows there will be a game on Sunday and that both teams will be "competing".

Our first recording debacle took place Monday night as the PickEm gang sat and discussed the great weekend in rugby. This were going smoothly, and time whisked away as opinions and analysis were tossed around the room all willy-nilly. After intense deliberations (and of course some libations), it became aware to the host / audio engineer / chief editor of Rugby PickEm that our world famous red microphone (the one which hogs half of our logo) was not plugged into the tablet. Tempers were lost, alliances were stressed, but the gang found it in their hearts to get back on the saddle and deliver with an (ever more crisp) 45 minute cut. It took everything in our souls to deliver this weeks episode (blood, sweat and tears people ...) but we came out stronger on the other side. Onto this weekend's results ... Eagles finish 2nd on 2019 HSBC point standings 2019 Dream Team selection: -Pinkleman (pride and joy of Denver rugby, also happens to bleed green & white #barbofam) -Tomasin -Nuia (pour some out for the tib/f

This week on Rugby PickEm, the lads finally get back in the studio (after Uncle Johnny was finally reigned in from going out every night). We dove into the amazing run the USA 7’s Eagles have been having in 2019 (Pinkleman and Ke'Von ....

Uncle Johnny returns for his first show in 2019 .... (we missed him dearly) and he joins Bt and our very special guest Barry Herbert aka the Mile High Saffa. We catch you up the high flying USA 7's Eagles (first-ranked team in the world / solar system / galaxy), USA rugby's new sponsor: Ernst & Young, and lastly a deep dive in the mid season report on our favorite local league ... Major League Rugby. We ask about the health of the league in year 2, and try to answer HARPO's biggest pet peeve ... Where are the ASSES in SEATS? In "Table Talk" we look at the jam packed table and predict which teams will be successful in the back end of the season. Lastly .... in honor of our show's name, we PickEm! Barry and Johnny love the chalk this week, hinting that the favorites will again prevail ... Bt has other predictions. Join our Superbru league founded by HARPO himself. League name: H2OBOYZ Listen through the credits to hear us break news in "MLR Whispers"... Enjoy the packed show, and most importantly .... P

Barry Herbert is a Cape Town native who grew up playing rugby at the historic Wynberg boys high, Stellenbosch University, and Villagers Rugby Club. He transitioned into coaching in Cape Town with the University of Cape Town, 7s rugby in Cancun Mexico, and in Denver with the Colorado School of Mines. Growing up in Cape Town, Barry touched on the rugby history of the city, and what the 1995 RWC mean to the country given the apartheid history. We chatted on the World Rugby’s “World League” realignment. Looking at the pros and cons of a global rugby season we broke down the financial aspect, how a longer season affects player welfare and the impact on individual countries. Looking ahead to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Barry breaks down the world’s top teams and talks about how coaches and teams prepare for the tournament. In a mid season MLR report, we look at the jam packed top of the table, and how Texas teams may not be dead yet. Top 3 - Springboks Naas Botha Danie Gerber Gary Teichmann Favorite guilty pl

Max Statler closes out "Raptor Week" with stories and tales from his decade long career with Glendale. He went from playing soccer at Mesa State, to walking onto the football team and out-kicking the starting kicker (with a sports hernia?), to finding his place with Glendale Rugby after Ted "the spread" Browner told him to show up to training one day. He's played under 3 different Glendale coaches over his impressive career, and almost kicked the can after a 7's tournament ... (don't worry, he survived). Max recently came back from the Classic Eagles tour in Bermuda, helping the squad hoist their first ever piece of hardware when they defeated France 19-0 in the plate final. He's been a speed merchant for Glendale through out his career, and plays with a (self-admitted) chip on his shoulder. Enjoy! Top 3 Glendale: (Lost the audio

We're ending 2018 with "Raptor Week" and we couldn't have thought of a better person to lead off than the living giant Casey Rock, all 6'9' of him. With Logan Collins as a guest host, we talked about high school rugby in Colorado, transitioning from soccer to rugby, his playing time abroad in Australia and New Zealand, and lastly his career through the genesis of Glendale Rugby to the professional side they are today. Casey has seen a bunch of rugby over the last 12 years, and is a true ambassador of the game. Enjoy! Top 3 Glendale Locks: Alec Parker Matt Te Pou Jr Hayden Mexted Honorable Mention: Logan "Corndog" Collins Top 3 Glendale: Dustin Croy Zach Fenoglio Shae Tamati Speed Round: Best Pure Athlete - Christian "Scarly Hustle Chips" Sarmento Best Club Guy - Mike Tafel Biggest Attitude - Mike Graham Funniest Teammate - Dustin Croy Biggest Class Clown at Practice - Bradley "Butters" Winbush Craftiest Vet - Pete Dahl Most Improved - Kody O'Neil Rugby PickEm Haiku: East Angels Big Man Ah shit, that's

In this week’s Rugby PickEm, Bt and Uncle Johnny dig into the thrilling November international test matches. The Eagles keep rolling through their tour, only to come face to face with the king of Europe this weekend, the high and mighty Irish. Ireland coming off a historic win, dethroning of the All Blacks in Aviva. We recap the month that’s been and tease the final week’s betting lines. Is there TOO much TMO or should we try and get EVERY call right EVERY time? The guys talk officiating, the internet and rugby (we have a small gripe with FLOrugby, but it’s an easy fix) and try to call HARPO to see where in the world he’s spending his winter months. Also …. Stay tuned when the credits roll for our newest bit “MLR Whispers” … PickEm!

The Rugby PickEm Guys are back after a busy fall rugby season. Uncle Johnny recaps the USA Women’s 7s at Infinity Park in Glendale as the Eagles took 2nd place on home soil. We ate ourselves sick in the VIP section, but not before we witnessed big USA movers and shakers doing just that … moving and shaking. Bt recaps the state of all 4 southern hemisphere teams after The Rugby Championship including some interviews with our favorite sour-toned coaches. We end with 1 Thing We Know… (That the USA men’s Eagles have a TOUGH November tour ahead of them as they try and continue their dominant 2018 season) and 1 Thing We DON’T Know …. (Who will be the flyhalf with the MacGinty injury?) Lot’s of extra RRRRRolled R’s in our special “Get Out To Vote” October show. Enjoy!

Bt and Uncle Johnny recap the Club Rugby 7's Nationals in the big apple where Bulldog and the San Diego Surfers take home hardware. The best comp in the world is back in session in the form of The Rugby Championship. We ask the question if Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick are the best locking combo of all time, and Uncle Johnny is slobbering over Malcom Marx's form for the Spring Boks. The All-Americans give it to Glendale at Infinity Park, and we preview the pools for the final 7's event of the year ... RugbyTown 7's. School is back in session .... PICKEM!

The Rugby PickEm gang had a blast in San Francisco. Even though our Eagles didn't win it all, we soaked up 3 days of awesome 7's rugby. Bt, Uncle Johnny, and FloridaMan Dev take us through a roller coaster of a weekend where we talked to Ben Pinkleman (for a couple seconds), Pink's Peeps, tourists at Fisherman's Wharf, two lovely Kiwis (who received an unexpected delivery), and the Pope himself ... Sir Duncan Townsend. WPL all-star game recap, a bit of Super Rugby, and a preview of club 7's nationals. An action packed episode that took a while to put together, but the snail's pace that ensures it's done right. PickEm!

Jeremy “The Missile” Misailegalu plays rugby like his nickname. Fast, powerful and blissfully elegant. We sat down before Club 7’s Nationals and talked about his rugby career. Like a lot of American athletes, Missile switched from football, to wrestling, to finally getting the rugby ball in his hands at University of New Mexico Highlands … aka The Vatos. After getting noticed by world renown 7’s rugby scout Howard Kent, he began to refine his craft under Jason Kelly, Steve LaPorta, and Tyson Meek with the Denver Barbarians. Lastly we wrapped with his amazing season in Seattle and talked about the future of player representation during these early years of professionalism for rugby in the states. Top 3 - The inaugural MLR Champion Seattle Seawolves Phil Mack Mat Turner Vili Toluta’u Rugby PickEm Haiku: Vato on my leg Denver Barbo Seven’s Uce Together We Hunt. Ps. Ray Henley led the bonus segment in the outro and caught Bt a tad bit surprised as we talked about developing grassroots rugby.

On the eve of the biggest tournement of his career, Ke’Von Williams sat down with Bt, Uncle Johnny and FloridMan Dev. It was easliy our most fun interview to date. For those that don’t know Ke’Von, you’ll quicky discover how humble, funny and competetive his is as a person. We covered everything from his childhood in Houston, to first playing rugby with the New Mexico Highlands Vatos, to his transition with the Denver Barbarians and lastly getting a call up to represent the USA Eagles. Enjoy!

I hope you're as pumped for this weekend's Rugby World Cup 7's as we are! Logan Collins and FloridaMan Dev sat in for Uncle Johnny this week (he's already got boots on the ground in the Bay Area) as the Rugby PickEm guys recapped the Major League Rugby's semi-finals and final match, seeing the Seattle Seawolves crowned as the league's inaugural champs. We discussed what teams need to do in the off season before year two, and touched on the expansion teams we will see in 2019 and 2020. HARPO sent his Super Rugby QF round point spreads via snail mail. -19 Crusaders vs. Sharks +19 -8 Lions vs. Jaguares +9 +2 Waratahs vs. Highlanders -2 -4 Hurricanes vs. Chiefs +4 Who ya got?! And lastly, we wrapped with a tease of our big weekend in SF, as the Eagle lineup is named and the lads look to defend home soil in the old PacBell Park. Enjoy!

It’s our first RugbyPickemBio Threesome! If you’ve ever played well into your 30’s, then this is an interview for you. Danny Bell’s career took an international route, from Kenya to the U.K. eventually landing himself in Arizona. Michael Pisney grew up corn-fed and started his own high school team in Iowa before moving to Denver to join the Barbos. Stories, jokes, voicemails, banter and more with these two rugby veterans. Enjoy! Top 3 – Michael Pisney – Iowa Ruggers 1) Mike Kelly 2) Paul “The Cactus” Emerick 3) Steven Murra Top 3 – Danny Bell – Arizona Ruggers 1) Ryan Thompson 2) Michal Roble 3) Ally Miller Rugby PickEm Haikus Danny Bell - Kenya/England Youth Hilton (Ritz) Bellman, loves his tips Arizona Sunburnt Heart Michael Pisney - Iowa Farm Boy Barbo Nation, Here I Come Won the big one. AAAAAYYYYYEEEE!

With Uncle Johnny and HARPO back in town, the Rugby PickEm guys got together before summer break to talk rugby. The eagles sweep their June test matches ... we reflect back on the historic summer and look t ahead to the November test match in Ireland. Summer 7's have begun, but before we look too far ahead, .... the MLR playoffs are upon us! Predictions, analysis, hot takes, and our world famous point spreads .... Happy 4th ya filthy animals. Glendale -22 Utah +22 O/U – 65 San Diego Legion / Seattle Seawolves --> PickEm game

Sitting down with Logan Collins after his first MLR cap was a treat. We started talking summer 7's, and proceeded to bounce off the walls covering everything from when he started playing rugby his senior year of high school with James Patterson in Colorado Springs, to learning from kiwis in Dunedin, to winning the one and only PRO Rugby Championship with the Denver Stampede, and his Super League days with the Denver Barbarians. Lots of culture in this week's bio with a guy who plays drums, professional rugby, and holds down a full-time job on the side. Enjoy this week's RugbyPickEmBio with Logan Collins and Rugby PickEm producer Florida Dev .... (and don't forget to listen all the way through the outro)! Top 3 – Early Day Barbos 1) Justin Stencil 2) Maximo DeAchaval 3) Taylor Howden Top 3 - CSU Social Squad 1) Tommy Staab 2) Danny Bolling 3) Nick the Brick Top 5 Rappers (Brought to you by Elliot Dillon-Herzog’s favorite Chris Rock movie … “Top 5”) 1) Nas 2) NOTORIUS BIG 3) Lil Wayne (recently freed) 4) J

We sat down with Charles, a man still riding his championship high, and discussed his rugby journey from England, to France, to Little Rock Arkansas and eventually to Denver, Colorado. He talked about learning how to tackle before he ever touched a rugby ball, how the French flair has influenced his game, and the challenges and rewards of coaching and developing grassroots rugby. Top 3 - Arkansas Razorbacks 1) Alex Carr 2) TJ Christensen 3) Tim Hanify Rugby PickEm Haiku: Jouer au rugby French prince seduces Little Rock Social peacock stud

We sat down with Zach before his game against Glendale. We talked everything rugby, including his childhood in Guam, how he had to sneak onto the rugby pitch for his first practice and touring with the countries Soccer national side at age 16. Zach showed love for his old club Ombac as he recounts moving halfway across the world to pursue his rugby ambitions. Lastly we wrapped with some culture, and his current team the Houston Sabercats. Top 3 - OMBAC 1) Tai Tuisamoa 2) Charlie Purdon 3) Jed Gillespie Rugby PickEm Haiku: Guam kid comes to states Ombac stalwart loves the beach HE LOVES THE HIGHBALL!