Well, yes he is, but more importantly, he's found one. Through years of research, out on the foreign fringes of physical fitness, Luke has been trying out things that most people can’t even spell, let alone understand - Ju-jitsu, Capoeira, Remoska*. He has finally found a sport that brings together all of his interests:
- wearing silly clothes
- running around in circles till exhausted
- War Games (all those hours playing War Hammer with Sam on a table in the loft had an effect!)
- and the mysterious psychology of blokes
Yes, it's Lacrosse, and blokes do play it. Now gaining popularity in the UK, Lacrosse actually stems from an ancient American Indian war game, and not from Mallory Towers and jolly hockey sticks at all. And you have to wear all that stuff - body armour, gloves, and a particularly impressive helmet - because perfectly nice people try to hit you with sticks. Fortunately, the kit is all on loan from the club, paid for by the Lottery (so that's where your money's going!)
Based in Norwich, one of the newest teams in the Southern England Men’s league is East Coast (East Coast Baby to their friends). Having started the season as the newbies, at the bottom of the second league, they’ve battled up into the top three, having trounced HM Army at Sandhurst, beaten the favourites Hitchin by just one point, and drawn with the early league leaders, Northampton University. S&J are going to see the next game with Northampton in January...
The only downside (and this is the bloke-ish bit) is that they all have to have nicknames. Luke foolishly didn't have one handy, so was immediately christened ‘Shirley’, on the grounds that someone on the team has to have a girl’s name and Luke is the only one pretty enough to qualify. Unfortunately, this is incontestable: just look at the team photo!
*Correction: a Remoska is a Polish electric frying pan, that he cooks his dinner in….[Ed]
Remoska: Czech, actually: see http://fizzogblog.typepad.com/fizzogblog/2007/03/in_praise_of_th.html
Posted by: fizzog | March 28, 2007 at 04:31 PM