GTB: The Interview...Brian Hightower

In 2008 and again in 2010, I was part of an assemblage of rugby-alum degenerates who traveled out to the western part of the country to watch the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series, an eight-city world tour wherein a weekend international rugby tournament is played in each venue. Our old coach Cary spearheaded the drunken outing in San Diego three years ago and took a few pictures; the highlight that trip, perhaps, was learning about the shot "The Stuntman."

Last year, as you may recall, it took a ridiculous journey to get to the same tournament in Las Vegas, but it was all worth it. The US stop is in Vegas again this year – this weekend.

The cool part for us rugby idiots is that it’s on live television this year. NBC is airing matches beginning at 3:30 EST on Saturday and resuming coverage for the Cup Final Sunday at 4:30; their subsidiary Universal Sports, for those who get it, will have even more of the action at various times. The full schedule is here.

Even cooler for those of us who played Tribe Rugby (now known as Wren Wrugby) is that Brian Hightower, who lived, drank, puked, rucked and mauled with several Gheorghers way back when, is providing color commentary for the broadcast. This could be the beginning of a long and distinguished career for him if all goes well – and if rubgy continues its ascension in American popularity. We’ll see; in the meantime, tune in this weekend to catch some of the play.

Highcheese has also been tasked with writing some rugby-related pieces for a webpage called The Scrum on UniversalSports.com. Take a gander and learn a bit more if you're interested.

Oh… in unrelated news, Hightower was also DangerMan (almost).

In recognition of our old friend’s presence at the event that kicks off Saturday, I rang up The Thumb (also known as The Fireplug, The Glom, a Random Idiot, or simply Cheese) and borrowed 20 minutes of his time with a flurry of questions serious and less serious on behalf of Gheorghe: The Blog. Here was the result. (Brian sounds that way because I keep him in a little tin can.)

highcheeseinterview by whitneygtb

Tune in if you can. Sevens rugby is an awesome spectator sport, good for fans and ADHD sufferers alike. (7-minute halves, lots of scoring.) Enjoy.