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thedrifter
04-09-09, 09:02 AM
'Sarge' shares passion

Ryan McDougall is not old. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. He's 29, but to his teammates on the University of Maine rugby team, McDougall is Grandpa Simpson because he remembers the 1980s.

"Everybody calls me Sarge. I'm the old man," McDougall said. "They're worried about my aches and pains. When we stay in hotels, they make sure I get a bed. I think I won over their respect."

Rugby is a club sport at Maine, but that hasn't kept the Black Bears from unprecedented success. Later this month, the team will compete at the double elimination national championships at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla. The Black Bears are ranked No. 2 in the Northeast, behind only Middlebury College, thanks in no small part to McDougall The Old-Timer.

McDougall started playing rugby three years ago, shortly after he completed an eight-year hitch with the Marines. He was working at Mainely Brews, a Waterville restaurant and bar, when members of the Central Maine Stripers rugby club came in.

"I was sitting here, working by myself. These five guys come in, and they're like, looking at me. ... They invited me to come to a practice," McDougall said. "I went to practice and just totally fell in love with it. ... For me, I don't drink anymore, so rugby is like my stress relief."

McDougall, who also plays mandolin in Raw Chicken, a bluegrass band, played football and baseball at Old Town High School and boxed in the Marines.

He had seen the Marines' rugby team -- the Hooligans -- play, but until he gave it a try, McDougall didn't know what he was missing.

"It incorporated the athleticism of soccer and your continuously running and it has the physicalness of football. It's nonstop," McDougall said.

An Economics major with an eye toward law school, McDougall doesn't think he has trouble keeping up with his younger teammates.

"Basically these young guys are in awesome shape, as far as endurance-wise. I think I hang with them pretty well. I play the whole 80 minutes and don't sit out or anything," McDougall said. "They recuperate from hits a lot more. My men's league team is a lot more powerful, they do a lot more physical damage, but it seems like the plays are slower.

"In college, it's extremely fast. These kids are like rubber bands. I've seen some kids really look like they get their lights knocked out and they're up like it's nothing."

The only time McDougall came out of a game for the Black Bears was in the second half of a game against West Point. He took what he calls a dirty hit to the kidneys. McDougall isn't that much older than his teammates at Maine, but when you've spent eight years in the Marines, isn't anybody younger than you kid?

McDougall is Maine's hooker. During a scrum, it's his job to hook the ball out with his foot. At 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, it's not a position McDougall is particularly suited to, but he makes do.

"Usually a hooker is somebody who's a little bit shorter than I am. The average weight for a hooker is 200 pounds, because they want as much weight and strength as they can on the front row," McDougall said, "But it's worked well for the team."

With the Stripers, McDougall plays flanker. He compares that position to a linebacker in football.

"Just break off the pile and crack people," is how McDougall sums up the flanker's job.

The Black Bears raised $10,000 to help pay for their trip to nationals. They play their first game in Tallahassee at 10 a.m. on April 17. While other teams will be flying in and staying in hotels, Maine will carpool to Florida and stay in tents. Win or lose, the Black Bears play again on the morning of April 18.

There's no doubt McDougall will get the best air mattress and ride shotgun all the way to Tallahassee, rather than cram into the back seat with two other guys. You have to look out for the old guys.

"Maine, they'd never been to a North Cup. They'd never competed nationally like this. It's a pretty big deal. The younger guys are pretty fired up about it," McDougall said.

Sarge, he's fired up too.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Ellie