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Three cheers for everyone that participated in this year's tourney. It was another day in Memphis Rugby that would've
made The King proud!
After making their debut 4 years ago at the Elvis 7s, The Kenya Exiles finally took home the Champions Trophy after a
convincing victory over Elvis at the Opry, 17-5. It was the third time in four years that these two teams met in the finals,
and once again put on a dazzling display of rugby. We hope to see both of these teams back next year.
Congrats to Tulsa R.F.C. for claiming the Consolation Trophy after back-to-back sudden death wins in the semi-final
and final game of the consolation bracket. Now that they've experienced what Elvis 7s is all about, I'm guessing they'll
be back. Same goes for other first time participants, The Hot Rod Lincolns all the way from San Antonio, TX., and the
Southern Miss Golden Eagles from, well, Southern Miss.
Jason Mapp of the S.L.U.T.S. rugby team once again drew the largest applause in the Sideburns Contest after he and
Chris Claude of the Memphis Blues went to a "Chop Off" to determine the winner.
Thanks to Larry "Elvitz" Magdovitz for donning his moose knuckle inducing, blue jump suit and doing his impersonation
of Meatloaf impersonating of Elvis while presiding over the Trivia Contest. The grand prize went to Chris "Woody"
Woodard of Tulsa.
David Minkin, a professional sports photographer, was on hand to capture the event and will be posting all the pics very
soon.
infocussports.com
Not sure when the pics will be posted, but if you were there Saturday, chances are you'll be in a pic or two which you
don't want to miss the chance to purchase. These are some of the best rugby pics you'll ever see. And certainly better
than any of the ones taken from a friend or teammate with a 2 megapixel camera while trying to hold their beer in
the other hand.
In the mean time, you can still go to focus.photoreflect.com to view and purchase pics that he took at the 2004, 2005,
and 2006 tournaments. The tournament was also covered by the local paper. Check out the following link for the story
and pics...
http://commercialappeal.com/mca/entertainment_columnists/article/0,1426,MCA_494_5661512,00.html
In addition to pics that accompany the article, several others that the newspaper took are posted here...
http://commercialappeal-web.com/idiva
Click on any pic under "Party Line Extra" on the right side of the page and scroll through to get to the rugby pics.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to several others for helping make this another successful tournament. You know who you
are and on behalf of The King... thankya veruh much.
TMac
Troy McCall
Tournament Director
2007 Elvis 7s Rugby Tournament
901.219.8991 (c)
Three cheers for everyone that participated in this year's tourney. It
was another day in Memphis Rugby that would've made The King proud!
made The King proud!
After making their debut 4 years ago at the Elvis 7s, The Kenya Exiles finally took home the Champions Trophy after a
convincing victory over Elvis at the Opry, 17-5. It was the third time in four years that these two teams met in the finals,
and once again put on a dazzling display of rugby. We hope to see both of these teams back next year.
Congrats to Tulsa R.F.C. for claiming the Consolation Trophy after back-to-back sudden death wins in the semi-final
and final game of the consolation bracket. Now that they've experienced what Elvis 7s is all about, I'm guessing they'll
be back. Same goes for other first time participants, The Hot Rod Lincolns all the way from San Antonio, TX., and the
Southern Miss Golden Eagles from, well, Southern Miss.
Jason Mapp of the S.L.U.T.S. rugby team once again drew the largest applause in the Sideburns Contest after he and
Chris Claude of the Memphis Blues went to a "Chop Off" to determine the winner.
Thanks to Larry "Elvitz" Magdovitz for donning his moose knuckle inducing, blue jump suit and doing his impersonation
of Meatloaf impersonating of Elvis while presiding over the Trivia Contest. The grand prize went to Chris "Woody"
Woodard of Tulsa.
David Minkin, a professional sports photographer, was on hand to capture the event and will be posting all the pics very
soon.
infocussports.com
Not sure when the pics will be posted, but if you were there Saturday, chances are you'll be in a pic or two which you
don't want to miss the chance to purchase. These are some of the best rugby pics you'll ever see. And certainly better
than any of the ones taken from a friend or teammate with a 2 megapixel camera while trying to hold their beer in
the other hand.
In the mean time, you can still go to focus.photoreflect.com to view and purchase pics that he took at the 2004, 2005,
and 2006 tournaments. The tournament was also covered by the local paper. Check out the following link for the story
and pics...
http://commercialappeal.com/mca/entertainment_columnists/article/0,1426,MCA_494_5661512,00.html
In addition to pics that accompany the article, several others that the newspaper took are posted here...
http://commercialappeal-web.com/idiva
Click on any pic under "Party Line Extra" on the right side of the page and scroll through to get to the rugby pics.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to several others for helping make this another successful tournament. You know who you
are and on behalf of The King... thankya veruh much.
TMac
Troy McCall
Tournament Director
2007 Elvis 7s Rugby Tournament
901.219.8991 (c)
Three cheers for everyone that participated in this year's tourney. It
was another day in Memphis Rugby that would've made The King proud!
| 2008 Elvis 7s August 2, 2008 |
| Tournament Director: Troy McCall |
Three cheers for all those who participated in the 22nd Annual Elvis 7s Rugby Tournament! Another great day of rugby in Memphis
that would've made the King proud. This tournament has come a long way since it's inception in 1987 and although it's just a great
tournament to call me and Life didn't need some healing time before the nationals, they too would've been in the field of 16.
A midday storm threatened to delay the tournament and possibly send me scrambling to figure out an equitable way to determine the
winner, but we powered through and didn't miss a beat. Yes, it was a sloppy, muddy mess for the remainder of the day, but the
upside was cooler temps and no turf burns covering half your body.
Perennial favorites, Elvis at The Opry, wasn't quite the same team they had been in years past and for the first time in the history of
the tournament, didn't advance into the playoff bracket. It didn't help that as the calvary was making its way from Chicago, the first
game was played by Old #7 Old Boys filling in for the Elvis squad. So, it was more like Elvis in The Bathroom Just Before He Died
than it was the Elvis at The Opry team that's won this tournament 8 times. But I digress.
Defending champions, Palmer Chiropractic, rolled in with 65 players and looked like they meant business. While Atlanta Old White,
who had just recently won the South, included Memphis on their itinerary as an additional tune up for the National 7s Tournament.
From early on, it seemed apparent that these were the two teams that would face off in the championship game.
But don't tell that to the St. Louis Bombers, Nashville, or any other team for that matter. The entire day was filled with hotly contested,
competitive games. Probably none more so than when those two teams met in the quarter finals to see who would advance in the
Hound Dog Championship side of the bracket. It was the only match of the day that ended in a tie and required extra time to
determine a winner. I believe it was Derek Wolfe for Nashville that punched in the game winner about 2 minutes into sudden death.
Their reward? Old White up next.
The Bombers moved into the Teddy Bear Consolation side of the bracket where they ultimately met cross-town rivals, the St. Louis
Ramblers, and claimed a nice piece of hardware.
And while there are many other teams, stories and names worth mentioning, the most important one is Chris "Woody" Woodard with
Baha's Raiders (Tulsa), who finally won the Elvis Sideburns Contest after several years of getting ripped off by poor judging and
home cookin'. Had it been an Amish / 70's Porn Bush Sideburns Contest, then Baton Rouge rugger Jason Mapp would've probably
won again.
Hats off to everyone. Especially those that help me make this one of the best 7s tournaments in the country. The list is long and I
won't bore everyone with it here. You know who you are. I couldn't do it without you.
Complete playoff bracket and scores are attached.
Thankyaveruhmuch-
Troy McCall
Tournament Director
2009 Elvis 7s
Thanks to all who participated in this year's tourney. It was probably one of the more smoothly run tournaments in the history of the
Elvis 7s and there are many people to thank for that. Namely, Mike Gebhardt, who stepped in as co-tournament director and took a
lot of pressure off me by handling a lot of thankless jobs associated with putting on a tournament. It was a team effort in every sense
and I think I've finally learned how to delegate and not be such a control freak.
Also, I want to thank all the teams for being very well organized, on time and ready to play when it was their turn. Because of that,
things ran like clockwork.
There were some newcomers this year in addition to a lot of familiar faces. Palmer was back to contend for a three-peat. And the
Bombers, Raiders, Blues, Little Rock, Gryphons and Bastards all came out of the gate swinging with designs on taking home some
chrome.
What? No mention of the Kenya Exiles in that grouping? Unfortunately, they were decimated by apathy and the fact that most of their
players also play for Old White, who took the weekend off to rest up and prepare for nationals. Hopefully their snub of The King won't
result in any bad karma. It should also be mentioned that the original organizer, Kaki Muniafu, had to return to Africa due to an illness
in the family which left things hanging a bit as far as their commitment to the tourney. We hope everything is ok with him and his
family.
But a very sincere debt of gratitude goes to the Exiles’ Dennis Asaba and Dennis Wasonga who STILL showed up as an army of
TWO to honor that commitment. They scraped up enough players to put together a motley and competed the best they could. No
offense to anyone that whored in with them, but it simply wasn't the Exile team that this tournament has come to expect. Much like
what happened to the Elvis team last year when half of their players didn't show.
And speaking of Elvis, maybe he really has left the building. For the first time in the 24 year history of this tournament, they didn't
field a team. Here's hoping for a "68 Comeback" style return next year.
A little controversy surrounded this year's Sideburns Contest as the winner, a member of the Arkansas Gryphons, took home the
prize with the scraggliest set of pubic hair looking sideburns this side of Jason Mapp. AND he had a Shaggy patch on his chin. I don't
ever recall The King looking like that. Let this serve as an official heads up... no longer will this simply be a "70s Porn Bush On Your
Face Contest". As a contestant, you must at least attempt to resemble the stylings of Elvis. And if you're blond or red headed, forget
it. Stop by Walgreens and get some dye.
Back to rugby.
As the 8-team playoff got underway, Palmer continued their machine-like march toward the Championship match, while Shreveport
was doing the same on their side of the bracket. And despite having a player sent off for a red card in the semi, managed to advance
to the final match in the Championship bracket. After a Sudden Death defeat of the Memphis Blues in the semi of the Consolation
Bracket, The Arkansas Gryphons 1st side advanced to the Consolation Final to play Little Rock, who regained form against the Pine
Belt Bastards after seemingly falling asleep in their last pool play match and opening match of the playoff. The Gryphons emerged
victorious to take home their first ever piece of Elvis 7s hardware.
And lastly, in a hard-fought championship match, Palmer completed their quest for the three-peat. And as long as Dale Smith
continues to be their Memphis Sugar Daddy, they'll be back in an attempt to win a fourth title. But they were in a dog fight and
Shreveport vowed to return next year as well to keep that from happening.
Prior to kickoff, the previously red-carded Shreveport player had taken the field. Normally, he would not have been allowed to play.
You get red carded, you're done for the day. But Palmer agreed, and actually requested that he be allowed to play so they knew they
were playing against Shreveport's best. As Tournament Director, I made the final call, right or wrong, and let him play. And guess
who scored the first try of the championship match to put Shreveport ahead? Yep, you guessed it. But it wouldn't hold up and in the
end Palmer overcame the early deficit to post a 19-7 win.
Congrats to them and thanks to everyone who participated in the 2010 Elvis 7s. Especially to those that are so integral in making this
one of the best tournaments in the country.
Three cheers! See you next year!
Thankyaveruhmuch-
TMac
Elvis 7s and there are many people to thank for that. Namely, Mike Gebhardt, who stepped in as co-tournament director and took a
lot of pressure off me by handling a lot of thankless jobs associated with putting on a tournament. It was a team effort in every sense
and I think I've finally learned how to delegate and not be such a control freak.
Also, I want to thank all the teams for being very well organized, on time and ready to play when it was their turn. Because of that,
things ran like clockwork.
There were some newcomers this year in addition to a lot of familiar faces. Palmer was back to contend for a three-peat. And the
Bombers, Raiders, Blues, Little Rock, Gryphons and Bastards all came out of the gate swinging with designs on taking home some
chrome.
What? No mention of the Kenya Exiles in that grouping? Unfortunately, they were decimated by apathy and the fact that most of their
players also play for Old White, who took the weekend off to rest up and prepare for nationals. Hopefully their snub of The King won't
result in any bad karma. It should also be mentioned that the original organizer, Kaki Muniafu, had to return to Africa due to an illness
in the family which left things hanging a bit as far as their commitment to the tourney. We hope everything is ok with him and his
family.
But a very sincere debt of gratitude goes to the Exiles’ Dennis Asaba and Dennis Wasonga who STILL showed up as an army of
TWO to honor that commitment. They scraped up enough players to put together a motley and competed the best they could. No
offense to anyone that whored in with them, but it simply wasn't the Exile team that this tournament has come to expect. Much like
what happened to the Elvis team last year when half of their players didn't show.
And speaking of Elvis, maybe he really has left the building. For the first time in the 24 year history of this tournament, they didn't
field a team. Here's hoping for a "68 Comeback" style return next year.
A little controversy surrounded this year's Sideburns Contest as the winner, a member of the Arkansas Gryphons, took home the
prize with the scraggliest set of pubic hair looking sideburns this side of Jason Mapp. AND he had a Shaggy patch on his chin. I don't
ever recall The King looking like that. Let this serve as an official heads up... no longer will this simply be a "70s Porn Bush On Your
Face Contest". As a contestant, you must at least attempt to resemble the stylings of Elvis. And if you're blond or red headed, forget
it. Stop by Walgreens and get some dye.
Back to rugby.
As the 8-team playoff got underway, Palmer continued their machine-like march toward the Championship match, while Shreveport
was doing the same on their side of the bracket. And despite having a player sent off for a red card in the semi, managed to advance
to the final match in the Championship bracket. After a Sudden Death defeat of the Memphis Blues in the semi of the Consolation
Bracket, The Arkansas Gryphons 1st side advanced to the Consolation Final to play Little Rock, who regained form against the Pine
Belt Bastards after seemingly falling asleep in their last pool play match and opening match of the playoff. The Gryphons emerged
victorious to take home their first ever piece of Elvis 7s hardware.
And lastly, in a hard-fought championship match, Palmer completed their quest for the three-peat. And as long as Dale Smith
continues to be their Memphis Sugar Daddy, they'll be back in an attempt to win a fourth title. But they were in a dog fight and
Shreveport vowed to return next year as well to keep that from happening.
Prior to kickoff, the previously red-carded Shreveport player had taken the field. Normally, he would not have been allowed to play.
You get red carded, you're done for the day. But Palmer agreed, and actually requested that he be allowed to play so they knew they
were playing against Shreveport's best. As Tournament Director, I made the final call, right or wrong, and let him play. And guess
who scored the first try of the championship match to put Shreveport ahead? Yep, you guessed it. But it wouldn't hold up and in the
end Palmer overcame the early deficit to post a 19-7 win.
Congrats to them and thanks to everyone who participated in the 2010 Elvis 7s. Especially to those that are so integral in making this
one of the best tournaments in the country.
Three cheers! See you next year!
Thankyaveruhmuch-
TMac