This win puts the Utes back to the Final 4.  Utah will be playing against Cal Berkeley this Saturday in Glendale, Colorado at 6:00 p.m.  Mountain Time.  Both of the  semis (6:00 pm and 8:00 pm MT on Saturday, May 14)will be televised live on www.ESPN3.com and via tape delay on ESPNU.  If you haven’t seen the Utes play this year, this will be a great opportunity to see them square off against one of the best in the country.

Take Falcon Ridge Road up to Hard Way and take a left. You will see the soccer fields as soon as you turn left. You can change the map to satellite and zoom in and see the fields. I hope this helps.

* Home of the 2010 National Champion Soccer Team “Real”!

The Virginia Cardinals were able to secure championships in 2 of the 3 divisions they entered this year, with the over 45’s and 55’s leaving with Finals victories.  Their 50’s played well, but were stymied in the Finals by Boulder, Co.

With the 45’s team losing some key players during the grueling 3 previous games on Thursday (a couple of them were former University of Utah and Haggis players),  the Finals match against the Barbarians was a defensive battle.  The Cardinals were able to break from the 0-0 tie just before halftime to go up 3-0.  With both sides turning up the heat in the second half, some great scoring runs gave the Cards the 22-10 victory.

The 55’s match was no less exciting, with athletic play and some terrific passing that only the experienced players can provide.  The first 15 minutes was a slugfest until Viselli landed the solid punch, picking up a dropped ball from the Colorado scrum half and dashing around the forwards down the sideline for the score.  With conversion good, the 7-0 score was just the start.  At 22-0 late in the 2^nd half, the Colorado scrum began to use their size, winning and keeping the ball down the field for two scores.  The last few minutes was intense, as the Cards hung on for the 22-14 victory—and the first Finals Championship in that division for the always competitive Virginia Cardinals.

So, YES, there is Rugby Life after High School—and after college—and after club—and even after Old Boys, which is usually over 35 years and older.  Many Tournaments have added the older divisions because so many rugby athletes are staying fit and playing into their 50’s and 60’s.  The Pacific Northwest Master’s Tournament in Vancouver, B.C., the Can-Am Rugby Tournament in Saranac Lake, N.Y., the Ft. Lauderdale Ruggerfest, the Aspen Ruggerfest and others are even thinking of opening an over 60’s division, with all of the these tournaments having over 60’s games this year (but not an actual competitive division).

This is a Hot…Hot…Hot (103 degrees) Hot!

My nephew Ryan Malin…Hot and hard work.

Becoming a Strongman
For the Spectrum & Daily News

What boy wouldn’t like to be strong and look like his heroes? Ryan Malin, of Washington City, was no different while growing up watching body builders.

“When I was a kid, I watched the strongest man competition on television,” Malin said. “They had great strength. I wanted to be like them. They were my heroes, like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I just liked the idea of being big.”

At 15, Ryan was 6-foot-2-inches and weighed 115 pounds and was on the wrestling team at Pine View High School.

“I started out being tall and scrawny,” Malin said. “Being little, I wanted to change that and started working on body building.”

Malin started competing in body building at the age of 17. His coaches, including wrestling coach Vance Casperson at Pine View High School, encouraged him to train.

“(Casperson) taught me something very important, how to feel good about myself,” Malin said.

He placed first in freestyle at state and fifth at state for wrestling. His mentor was Marty Haughton Boding at Gold’s Gym in St. George.

In 2003, at 19, the many hours spent at body building paid off. Malin placed second as Teen Mr. Utah competing in Bountiful.

“It was fun for me,” he said, “but appearance is all part of the body building, whereas the Strongman Competition is strength, so I switched to that sport.”

ow at 25, 6-foot-4-inches and weighing 300 pounds, Malin is competing in the Strongman Competitions.”The Strongman competition is designed around the work industry of pure strength of feats like pulling trucks, flipping cars, keg toss, log lift or throwing the Atlas Stones,” Malin said. “I like doing them all and train to do them.”

Training takes at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours six days a week at home as well as at Gold’s Gym and the Academy, where Malin works.

Working out with the weights on a daily basis helps him keep in good condition. He says it is also good to get a good night’s rest.

“I don’t really have a regular time for bed or when I get up,” he said. “I’m a night owl and not a morning person but it’s important for me to get eight hours straight sleep, which I do. Everyday it is different when I go to bed and when I arise.”

He believes it is also important to have a good attitude and to have confidence.

“My favorite saying is taken from one of my favorite movies ‘The Departed.’ It is this, ‘I don’t want to be a product my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me,’” Malin said. “My parents also taught me that ‘You can do and achieve anything you want to.’ These thoughts are what I try to teach the kids I mentor at the academy.”

Competing in Strongman

This is Ryan’s first year competing in Strongman events. In his first competition in Phoenix, he placed seventh out of 40 heavy weights in the Dead Lift Medley. He lifted in five different events that day dead lifting 700 pounds, the 600 pound bar, and the 700 dead lift weights.

In the Huntington Beach, Calif., competition, Malin placed seventh out of 25, pulling a 40,000 semi-truck. In July, he was also training for the Colorado Strongman Competition.

Switching from body building to strongman competition also had a lot to do with diet.

“I hated the body building diet I had to follow, which was three months of eating a strict diet of protein, rice and broccoli throughout the day,” he said. His diet now includes anything and as much as he wants to get at least 8,000 calories a day.

He attributes his success to his sponsor, Coral Canyon Chiropractic.

“I would not even be able to go to these events without my wonderful sponsor …” Malin said. “When I was injured at one of the meets, the chiropractor adjustments and the supplements helped my healing recovery time in less time.”

Coral Canyon Chiropractic is a partnership with Dr. Kelly Murie, Dr. Joshua Carr and Dr. Adam Murie. They met Malin when he came into their practice because of an injury he incurred while training.

“We work on his body to help him have performance enhancement to avoid injury, hopefully, during competition,” Murie said. “He is a special guy to take the rigors of the competition.”

They use the Active Release Technique, which effectively restores normal function to tissues in the body by breaking down the fibrous adhesions that cause tension and pain through combined pressure and stretching in a specialized manner.

“Through restoring range of motion to the joints and muscles, Ryan is more effectively able to strengthen more of the muscle fibers of a region,” Murie said. “Without it, he could not fully move through a full range of motion. Chiropractic manipulation and ART restore that motion so he can heal faster, but also strengthens better.”

Currently employed at the Abundant Life Academy in Kanab, Malin counsels with youth, ages 18, mentoring, working on self-esteem and teaching them lifting techniques.

“I like to give,” Malin said. “It is a very rewarding position to work with these boys.”

Malin’s future plans include preparing to go to nationals. He plans to start his own business by opening a fitness center in Hurricane. He is also in the process of developing a supplement drink.

Thaya Gilmore
St. George Spectrum News

Thretton Palamo Scores for Utah (photos by Ed Hagerty)

With teams from all over the country and playing on national television, NBC, the Utah Rugby 7′s team won the inaugural Collegiate Championship Invitational.

Utah defeated Cal for the CCI 7s title in an overtime thriller that could only do good things to sell 7s rugby, college rugby, and the athletes who played.

Don Pati scored in sudden death to seal a surprising 31-26 win.

Cal kicked off and immediately pressured, forcing a turnover . After moving hard up the left sideline, they spun it to Keegan Engelbrecht, who had lined up as second receiver, and the flyhalf took a gap, pulling out of a shirt-grab, to score one minute into the game. Engelbrecht slotted the conversion to make it 7-0.

Engelbrecht’s kicking had been key to Cal’s fortunes all day and his high restart allowed Cal to retain possession and go on the attack again. Only some quick tackling from Naki Angilau and Don Pati halted the charge.

Utah forced a scrum in their own 22 and worked it wide to Angilau, who wrong-footed one Cal defense, shrugged off Colin Hawley, and weaved around two more as the Bears scrambled to contain him. At midfield Angilau popped to Blake Miller, who pinned his ears back and went in under the sticks. Mike Wunderli’s conversion tied the game at 7-7 with five minutes gone in the 10-minute half.

A deep restart from Utah held Cal in their end,  and while Cal started to run out, a thumping tackle from Pati pushed Blaine Scully into touch.

Utah had the lineout near midfield, but the throw went long and Cal retained. Off a ruck Dustin Muhn faked infield, drawing both Utah fringe defenders that way, and then zipped back weak to score a true scrumhalf’s try. Engelbrecht added two more to make it 14-7.

But Utah got one back immediately. Palamo won the ball and then took the return pass from Zach Taylor to go all the way for the score. 14-12 with a minute left in the first half.

Utah forced a turnover in Cal’s end near the end of the half, but Palamo – seemingly with a gap to run through – grubbered for Angilau. The ball went into touch and the half ended.

In the second half, Utah clearly looked unperturbed by the presence of the intimidating Cal Bears. They took the attack to Cal and forced a dropped ball in Cal’s half. That led to a scrum, from which Palamo sold a dummy and then sidestepped his way under the posts. Wunderli hit the conversion for the 19-14 Utah lead.

Cal worked hard to get that one back and two minutes later, a big break on the outside from Colin Hawley drew enough attention that he was able to offload – despite a huge tackle on him – to Engelbrecht for the flyhalf’s second try and a 21-19 Cal lead.

Four minutes to go and it came down to who had more energy left. Utah were stuck in their own 22 but a sweet give-and-go between Pati and Palamo allowed Ryan Bailey to get the pass with 80 meters to go. The sub Utah player had enough pace and endurance to make it count, though, and he was in under the posts. 26-21 Utah.

With time winding down, Utah seemed to have it all sewn up. They had a lineout in their half and really only had to win the lineout and kick to touch. But the throw was not straight. Cal chose the scrum and worked it left to Dustin Muhn. He was corralled, spun it back right, and Connor Ring just got in at the right. Engelbrecht lined up the difficult conversion and just missed. 26-26. Overtime.

Cal kicked off in overtime and for once their kicking caused trouble, as Engelbrecht sent the ball directly into touch. Utah still looked spry despite the long final and took the free kick. Cal was penalized for coming in from the side and the Utes sent the ball left. Pati had two players outside him, but spotted the tiniest of gaps, took it, hopped past the final grasp of the final Cal defender and a minute into OT ran in under the posts. No need for a conversion in Sudden Death, and Utah, amazingly, improbably, and beautifully, had clinched the CCI 7s Championship.

Cal immediately hugged and applauded their conquerors, and Utah are champs in a brilliant advertisement for 7s.

I have not yet seen a team from the Soccer World Cup Applaud their conquerors as is common in rugby and why the fraternity/sorority of rugby keeps on growing for a lifetime.

The bruises will disappear but the memories and friendships will last a lifetime.

Participate in the poll to the left.

Utah 31
Tries: Miller, Palamo2, Bailey, Pati
Convs: Wunderli 3

Cal 26
Tries: Engelbrecht 2, Muhn, Ring
Convs: Engelbrecht 3

Sunday Results

Challenger Quarterfinals
Notre Dame 22, Florida 17 OT
Indiana 12, Harvard 0
ASU 24, Penn State 12
Bowling Green 15, Army 12

Championship Quarterfinals
California 36, Tennessee 0
San Diego State 17, Dartmouth 7
Arizona 21, Ohio State 10
Utah 24,Navy 0

Challenger Semifinals
ASU 17, Notre Dame 7
Bowling Green 27, Indiana 0

Championship Semifinals
California 33, Arizona 0
Utah 17, San Diego State 10

Challenger Final
Bowling Green 32, ASU 12

Championship Final
Utah 31, California 26

Special thanks to U of U Rugby.

The hot sports season has begun.

It’s officially hot in St. George, Utah, Mesquite, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada and surrounding areas.

This season we’ll have Rugby National Championships pics, Strongman (Iron-men) competitors interview, Volleyball defending National Champions review, and an Ironman survivors interviews from St. George’s first Ironman event and much more…as it’s heating up!

Who needs the ocean anyway? This artificial lagoon and swimming pool in the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Chile is eight hectares in size and contains 250,000 cubic meters of water, equivalent in size to 6,000 standard domestic pools.

Written by: Tim Leberecht for Crave-CNET One hot gadget site! Check it out.

Via Spluch

If Las Vegas sports books look at the return of Brett Favre to the Minnesota Vikings as anything but what it is, then they to are getting sucked in by the public’s perception themselves. Read on.

Las Vegas sports books are making minor adjustments on the Minnesota Vikings after the NFL team signed quarterback Brett Favre on Tuesday.

“It’s a slight upgrade for the Vikings,” Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “At first, we were not going to move anything. But we looked at it, and the Vikings were already a popular team, and Favre will make them more popular than ever. We made some subtle changes.”

The Hilton changed the Vikings from 31/2- to 4-point road favorites over the Cleveland Browns in the regular-season opener. The Vikings’ odds to win the NFC dropped from 8-1 to 7-1, and their odds to win the Super Bowl dropped from 18-1 to 15-1. Minnesota’s regular-season win total moved from 9 (over minus-140) to 91/2 (over minus-120).

“In reality, I don’t think Favre is going to make that much difference,” Las Vegas Sports Consultants oddsmaker Jason Been said. “It’s more just public perception instead of reality. I just don’t believe Favre is healthy. He completely wore down in the second half of last season with the Jets.”

So, is it me or is everyone tired of the Brett Favre’s retireing or he can’t give up the game. He loves it to much. That sound to me like a addition to the game.

Isn’t it just like the rookie athlelete who just went pro, and has a cocaine problem that was brushed aside because he is so promising.

When caught the first time he says he is going to quit, but he is addicted to the rush, the high…and when it is gone then he needs some more to give him his rush again.

Everyone who is a adrenaline junkie could probably agree with me that once the rush has passed, it was great…now what is my next endever to get some more adrenaline?

Maybe it is a broken record, but maybe it isn’t for the Minnesota fans.

Vote in my newest poll.

Will Brett Farve be more to the Vikings season, or will Michael Vick have more influence to the Philly’s hopes of getting to the Big Game… The Superbowl?

Today I have quest writer:

ISRAEL GUTIERREZ from the Miami Herald… with Just my opinion.

New Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre looks on during NFL football training camp, in Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 in Eden Prairie, Minn.

The 39-year-old quarterback took a plane to Minnesota on Tuesday, drove to Vikings training camp and was in a helmet and pads less than 90 minutes after arriving.

New Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre looks on during NFL football training camp, in Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 in Eden Prairie, Minn. The 39-year-old quarterback took a plane to Minnesota on Tuesday, drove to Vikings training camp and was in a helmet and pads less than 90 minutes after arriving.

Favre was for retirement before he was against it

It’s worth remembering one more time that Brett Favre was for retirement before he was against it.

So even if you believe the guy is genuinely conflicted, as opposed to selfish, you’ve got to admit: It’s quite a coincidence that Favre has managed to retire twice in 11 months without missing a single game.

What’s really shocking is not that he’s back, or that the Vikings front office broke nearly every rule in the book about team-building to make it happen. Or that closing in on 40, Favre is willing to risk getting hurt or turning his legacy into a permanent punchline.

Brett Favre is a Viking: That’s all I came back for is to win’

Hundreds of fans flocked to the Vikings’ practice complex late Tuesday morning, awaiting his arrival. Satellite trucks and cameras littered the grass just across the street from Winter Park. Security was stationed in the parking lot and on the roof. A helicopter hovered.

And then at 12:10 p.m., CDT the focus of long flirtation arrived.

Brett Favre was a Viking.

All of this Michael Vick stuff must have worked Brett Favre up into a lather.

After watching from afar as Vick’s jaw-dropping signing by the Philadelphia Eagles was followed by the “Weekend of Vick” on news outlets nationwide, Favre decided he could do us one better.

And just when our jaws were beginning to heal, too.

How does Brett Favre compare with other 40-year-old NFL quarterbacks?

Only one quarterback in NFL history has made the Pro Bowl at age 40 or older, and none has started a playoff game.

Brett Favre and the Vikings hope those things change.

Favre, who turns 40 on Oct. 10, postponed retirement for a second time on Tuesday to play for the Vikings. He will celebrate his birthday a day before the Vikings play at the Rams in St. Louis.

It wasn’t too long ago that any Brett Favre story would draw a roll of the eyes, a sigh and quick click of the remote or mouse.

It was aggravating to watch this grown man waffle, and quite frankly, it was embarrassing for him.

Even the emotional news conference announcing his first retirement (or was it his third — who can remember?) lost all substance when he came back and claimed he was pushed into that choice.

That has long passed, though.

This latest sneak attack from Favre has turned him into — no offense to the Dos Equis guy — the most interesting man in the world.

There’s something about this latest decision to return, just days after saying there was no chance, that makes you want to watch every step that he takes from now on.

This man sucked everyone into his attempt to return from a sad little surgery; made it as mid-America-friendly as possible by working out on a torn-up field with high school students who have gotten more airtime on ESPN than two-thirds of the Dolphins roster; and then made a bold proclamation that he was, officially — again — done.

Now it turns out that was just his way to avoid training camp? That he was, again, deceiving everyone listening just so he can have a few more days off?

It’s impressive in its lack of professionalism. It’s remarkable in its laziness. It’s astounding in its egocentricity.

And what is most extraordinary is that he’s about to get away with all of it because he’s Brett Favre, and he learned long ago that if you break a few records, act like you’re having fun doing it and speak with a charming accent, you’re immediately coated in Teflon.

A SELFISH ACT

Favre apparently was so insistent about skipping training camp that he was willing to risk the health of the locker room he’s about to step in before even introducing himself. There has to be an overwhelming feeling — at least on the offensive side of the team — that they have been duped. And that can only lead to issues as the season progresses.

Thomas Jones and Kerry Rhodes didn’t hold back when it came to questioning Favre after their season together with the New York Jets. So why would any Vikings player choose to when things begin to go wrong in Minnesota?

How could you not want to see how this plays out?

After all the negative publicity he has had to manipulate in recent weeks, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell must be so excited about the attention this will bring to one of his small-market teams he will need a horse tranquilizer just to sit still.

Don’t get confused, though. As interesting as it’s going to be to watch, this still is a despicable act by one of the league’s supposed good guys.

If any player in the league who is held in lower esteem than Favre (and that’s about 99.8 percent of the NFL) was to attempt this, he not only would be ridiculed publicly, he probably would be ostracized by his new teammates.

Favre is doing everything you would advise your 10-year-old son against: putting yourself before the team, not giving yourself every chance to prepare for success, creating tension with teammates. And, yet, he’s welcomed with applause from strangers and helicopters hovering over his first practice.

It’s just another scene, hopefully a closing one, in what has been one of the most dramatic sports stories ever told. Favre’s life isn’t just a movie in waiting. It’s a trilogy that can stand up to the Lord of the Rings epic.

He grew up in a tiny town, where he played five positions for his dad on his high school football team. In college, his exploits included beating Alabama just six weeks after a nasty car accident forced doctors to remove 30 inches of his small intestine. He went from anonymous backup to beloved starter by engineering a game-winning drive in his first real action with Green Bay.

THE LEGEND CONTINUES

He won a Super Bowl. He gifted Michael Strahan a sack record. He had a remarkable passing display one day after his father died — the same father who wouldn’t let him throw even 10 passes a game in high school because they ran a wishbone offense.

His wife fought breast cancer. His family home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He broke every significant passing record. He retired. Came back. Retired. Came back. Retired. Came back. And now he’s wearing the colors of one of his career-long rivals as the world cheers him on — except for, perhaps, members of his own team.

Drama, drama, drama. I mean, it’s at least a miniseries that ESPN can run during those slow summer months. Favre is like that show Lost. It would be incredibly annoying if it didn’t keep sucking you in for more.

Even if it’s now for all the wrong reasons, Favre has become must-see QB.

I guess this is a must see…will you be watching as preseason ends and the real season begins to tell…will Farve effect the Vikings chance to get to the big game.