Monday, March 17, 2003

Can he kick field goals....can he get a visa?

As any watcher of American Football knows, quite a few big games have turned on fiascos involving the part of the game where the foot is actually applied to the ball i.e. the kicking game. We've always wondered why more kickers are not imported from parts of the world where people kick the ball more often. And there are a few converted soccer players, but why not more from the sport's ancestor, rugby? Now we read in March 16th's Sunday Independent (reg. req.) that Irish rugby player Ronan O'Gara has gotten a call from the Miami Dolphins about being the place kicker. Or maybe the punter, since the Dolphins have a pretty good place kicker right now (maybe the contract negotiations aren't going so well). In fact, having an Irishman do the punting would be an appropriate return to the punt's origins in rugby's up-and-under kick i.e. the Garryowen.

No comments: