Sunday, March 23, 2008

Auckland Rugby! Go Blues

This week, we've been letting our bodies and our minds unravel; just a wee bit, from a "hefty" time in Samoa.
But CCSP students are keen, willing, and able learners - and although we just finished debriefing our Pacific island time, we've no sooner begun wrapping our minds around God and Nature (week 1) with visiting professor Dr. Bret Stevenson. In a jam packed week of class, students began to consider foundational philosophy regarding humanity, divinity, the earth, and our place within those massive contexts. It seems like it could be a bit heavy on the mind, so to give us all some leisure space - WE SCORED SOME CHEAPS SEATS TO THE RUGBY!



We arrived massively early, mostly to assure that we wouldn't miss out on some good seats, but arrived in time to see some outlandish pre-game celebration: motocross jumping, pirate ship cannon ball shooting, jam band a'groovin! The home team Auckland Blues soon emerged from the stadium innards amid hoots and hollers and cheers from the Eden Park crowd. For all of us, this was our first professional rugby match - and we went home happy as the Blues pulled out a last second, "walk off" win against the Stormers of South Africa. Unlikely hero Ben Atiga converted a penalty kick with no time left to give the beloved Blues the 3 point victory! Most of us didn't know much of what was going on, but we had a blast cheering like hooligans when everyone else cheered, and yelling when everyone else yelled! The game featured several members of the South African national team (2007 World Cup champs) and the All Blacks (New Zealand national team and world powerhouse). We had quite a time, and everyone stayed out amid the Auckland city lights as the night wore itself out. I even heard that Emma sang kareoke! YESS!! Below are the Blues in a "scrum" Thanks for the pictures Mallory!

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