Coming to terms with change

An old man, a battered prop with round shoulders, stooped, knuckles
dragging on the ground, a devoted servant of game and club, a man
determined to move with the times and not be a stick-in-the-mud, wrote
to his club and shocked them all by resigning from active
participation. His letter contained the following:

When we changed from 3-2-3 to 3-4-1, I adapted.

When you stopped having to play the ball with the foot after a tackle,
I adapted.

When you were allowed to fumble and it was not a knock-on, I adapted.

I also adapted from time to time with the tinkering with points for
drops and tries.

When hookers started throwing in at line-outs, I adapted.

When loose scrums became rucks, I learnt the new vocabulary.

When the swing pass went out of fashion, I adapted.

When the coach was a man and not just a means of transport, I coped.

When props got penalised for working their man over and dribbling
ceased, I knew that I could never play again.

I even adapted when advertising boards were put around grounds. Later I
sighed and pondered but yielded when they stuck advertisements on the
jersey I loved so much.

When brown leather balls with laces gave way to feelingless plastic of
leprous white, I still picked them up and put them in the bag.

When hookers stopped hooking, when the ball could be put in at any sort
of angle and foot-up joined the horse-drawn trams in the past, I
gritted my teeth and stayed in the game.

When the torpedo kick disappeared for a funny Australian way of
kicking, I adapted.

When they let women into the bar, I found an agreeable corner to
reminisce with my friends.

When women started playing, I adapted by pretending they did not exist
in the hope that they would go away.

When they brought on dancing girls and fireworks and played canned
music, I did not watch but concentrated, and hoped the players did the
same.

When players hugged each other like soccer players after scoring tries
and embraced instead of three cheers at the end of matches, I turned
away in sorrow but kept my peace.

When they let league players back to play our game, I ignored them and
never learnt their names.

When they gave me money for doing my jobs at the club, I said thank you
and put the money in the poor box.

When players stopped paying subs, I doubled mine.

When they called players by numbers as if they were cattle and not men,
I stayed with names and kept going.

When they came with all sorts of big words like phases, rush defence,
fetchers, back three and tight five, I tried to learn but in my days
after matches we had a tight fifteen, not just a tight five - and we
sang all sorts of songs to prove it.

When they allowed lifting in the line-outs, I shut my eyes and prayed
but shut up about it.

When the man next to me booed the visiting kicker to put him off, I did
not hit him.

When instead of beating a man, you bashed into him, I grimaced but
carried on watching.

When referees started coaching and giving instructions, I shut up in
bewildered sorrow.

When touch judges started sticking out their flags and telling the
referee what to do, I was grateful for my bareknuckle days but accepted
the change.

When beer and steak were replaced by energy drinks and pasta, I was
uncomprehending but adapted.

But when I collected the valuables in the changing room before the
match and most of the valuables were ear-rings, I decided it was time
to write you this letter.

Stolen from another group - Merry Christmas

This article was posted on 22-Dec-2005, 22:20 by Hugh Barrow.