So....I Might Become an Orc.....

Idle Hands....you know what they say about 'em.

In this interval where robotics is ramping down but England is still a ways off my attention wanders here and there.

Recently one of my geocaches was found by someone whose note indicated he was in town to watch his son play for the Eau Claire Orcs Rugby Team.  I had no inkling that there was such a thing.  It brought back memories.

When my boys were in the high school/middle school age bracket I took a couple of them over to England for a visit.  The oldest came back and decided to start an informal rugby league.  In his role as Commissioner of Rugby he did get a couple of teams together, and they played with enthusiasm and a loose understanding of the rules.  The fad ended when one of his pals broke both wrists.

Fast forward a couple of decades....

Here's The Orcs, or as they sometimes style themselves, The Horde.

A redoubtable looking crew, with no casts or splints visible.  I do wonder about the guy in the front row who has some kind of mouth guard in place.  Perhaps to prevent him from biting people?

Their facebook page does have a form you can fill out if you are interested in playing.  That would be.......well, all sorts of adjectives could serve.  Fun, Brief, and Ill Considered are the first few that occur to me.

So I'll probably settle for just getting a shirt.  This one is pretty cool:

But I opted for the simpler T shirt version.  They are being printed locally and I can save delivery costs if I pick it up from a guy whose name is unfamiliar to me but is presumably The Head Orc.  Perhaps that's him in the team photo wearing a jersey with a gigantic White Hand of Saruman on it?!

Looking around for a photo of one of these "White Hand" orcs from Lord of the Rings I ran across what looks to be a photo of a cast member on break.   Art imitates Life I suspect....