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Show """""""S""" J - - .... . V-" - , ": . The Challenge Cup Last in a four-part series The Muckers Come of Age ,Jy""J si ; nf- Vv VH5f vwl .1 Park City Muckers count the first year where they shared the trophy with the Provo Old Boys and the Salt Lake Athletic Club. Last ? year, after winning the -opener against Lake Tahoe. they fought to the. final moment; before losing a six -yard scrum against the Siinta Cruz Rebels who went on to ; defeat in the finals by The Dead Goat. The Muckers beat The Denver Barbarians 12-4 for third place. . This year's field includes the ever strong Dead Goat whom the Muckers beat at City Park on the Fourth of July, the talented Snake River Club, the odds favorite whom thiev . nearly . defeated in May, the Pocatello Bulls and Couger (BYU) Alumni squad who recently " lost a close high scoring match with .the "Dead Goat. 30-29. The Wild Oats Rugby alumni squad from the University of California at Davis whom they , meet in their opening game Saturday at 1 1 :30. a newly turned Class A club out of southern California called the Belmont Shores, v and the Dark Horse Littleton Colorado Club who defeated the Dead Goat recentlv ; in Colorado. ' - There will be hot dogs, and beer, and a Saturday night dance open to the public, with food and music : bv a country rock band at the Tent ; in Prospector Square .starting at 6pm. Through it all, the Muck-ers-. will be battling their ; opponents on the field, running; spinning, rucking cleaning it up. intimidating their opponents with a respectable grown up style of rugby. "I think we've got ; more finesse this vear." said team president David Sund-quist. Sund-quist. "The veterans are one year smarter. We've got more depth than ever before, and some fine newcomers. I don't think we lack spirit, but we've grown up a lot. We don't think we have to be outrageous anymore to prove ourselves." The end result could be outrageously good play on the field. The Muckers all want that brass belt buckle given to members of the two teams which make the finals. It's a sure bet that if they get the buckle they'll also go for the Cup, The Challenge Cup. which is reallv onlv a name, but a name that means a lot. by David Neu " The Park was nearly vacant when the Muckers took the field for . practice . Tuesday night in preparation for this weekend's Challenge v Cup. Under the late, afternoon after-noon sun and a stiff breeze, the . team divided up and . began working under coach- r es "Alamo' Dave Mueller and Rick Phaller. No dean cut prep squad , here, but an assortment of long haired, bald headed, bearded, short and tall aging youths dressed in an assortment assort-ment of colored sweat gear - ari4 head bands, running and tumbling in circles. " c : T 'Spin, Spin,..Go for the Line." Mueller was coaching the squad in Lombardian fashion. All that was missing was. the. . whistle..JBly-iihis? time, the pack of forewords already had run 20 widths of the field, rolling and passing, pass-ing, and now they were , taking the ball in from the 20 yard line. The rainy days had taken their toll. They were gasping and coughing but their feet were quick, and above all they looked like they were enjoying it. , v "You're running too far with 1 the ball, three or four steps, then spin! implored Mueller. Muell-er. Bill Hart was at the back, waiting his turn, -towering over the others. With a hejmet and shoulder pads and a Michigan uniform, it was easy tov .. imagine him filling the screen in the early 70s. He had just come from a late, pour on Park Avenue, overseeing his concrete foundation foun-dation crew . including four fellow Muckers, Dave Sund-quist, Sund-quist, Mark Stolen, Blacky Jones and Hiram. Ryan.. Scrambling up and down a 14 foot wall of forms like a half monkey, half mountain goat is good practice for rugby. ' Like the Pirates and; the Stcelcrs, the Muckers are a family, and Har could be "Pops, V', more so now that Veteran Don ; Sturgcs is the team. There arc no high class Lawyers or Doctors on the Muckers like IheAspen boys, and no one has called I hem gentlemen since it was passe to. do so. They rc a iroup of carpenters, school teachers, contractors and small business entrepeneurs who have been known in the past as hard drinking roustabouts. roust-abouts. When the Muckers came uptown ; after a game the bar doors swung until the last same person had vacated the place. Now, however, it appears the Muckers have taken; on a middle class respectibility. On and off the field they've come of age and the final -stanza, of the Rugby tunes .sung .this year 'could end on a winning note. . . "Mike, you see a three on one, : start screaming, You too Vinnie." Phaller was . instructing , Mike Johnson and . Vinnie Balch, two newcomers on the team. A . Physical Education Major . from the Scranton, Pennsyl--vaflia ea-has- taken the official coaching title"; this year from" Mueller, but he mainly works with the backs while Mueller handles the forewards. Phaller is an intense competitor who has played probably 150 games as scrum half, without a backup to , take his' place. He's been accused of being too intense, and too brisk in his coaching style, but no one ever called Mueller a sweet talker either. Phaller is , doing just fine. "We can win any game we really want to," says Phaller. "At the start of the season with Scott Thompson and Sturges, we were able to push the ball right up the middle, but now our biggest aspect is speed. And our handling is improved. They were snapping that ball tonight. We've been working out since April in the memorial building and it's paying off." Phaller also said the Mucker's backs have traditionally tradi-tionally hit harder than most teams backfield. and the resulting intimidation combined com-bined with - their speed should be the answer in winning. . -" The often overlooked but . strength in the backfield has tot to be the cool play of veteran Skip Shirf and how he transmits that cool right down to his toe, the one that routinely propclls the leatcr motcor down : the field or through the uprights. Schirf and foreward, Bruce Reid have both beeen responsible for a good share of the scoring this year due to kicking. More importantly is the , way Schirf can move the ball . down the field to accommodate accommo-date the" speed of two year . man Kennv Tedford, fullv recuperated from a shoulder injury, and rookies Vinnie Balch and Keith Collie And of course there is in even-Mucker even-Mucker backfield the lurking of Jeff "Evil" Wallace who along with Mueller has played in every Challenge Cup since its inception in 1971. The onlv time vou really see Wallace is when he has the ball and you might miss everything but the streak of speed. When he's near the goal, his eyes light up. says Mucker Team . president. David Sundquist. In practice; Wallace dressed dres-sed in jeans and a T shirt, twisted his usual course through the defense like he was being pulled by a magnet. He even stumbles faster than most and hands slide off him like he was a greased pig. ' That was practice for the Muckers, the sun had long since set and all - were relieved that the lights at Citv. Park were turned off for. - the season. Time for... well. -you guessed it. a Miller, over i at the club in Brother Christophers jt time to watch the Samari do . a battle on Shogun. perhaps reminiscien t of the Tongen , Wars and other past battlefields battle-fields of the Challenge Cup. The Muckers have never won it unless vou want to |
