For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven…
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
–Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
As I stopped at the light before getting on Highway 50, I saw the sign in front of the fire station in El Dorado Hills. It said:
Semper Fi
Brad Scuder
1982-2004
With the sounds of the Byrds echoing in my ears, I thought back over the previous 4 hours. I reffed two high school games. In the first game, it was Davis versus Oak Ridge B sides. Davis came out rucking hard and scored a converted try 3 minutes into the game… At 12 minutes Oak Ridge answered back but failed to convert. Seven minutes of hard action found Davis touching down to lead 14 -5. Oak Ridge scored twice more to lead 17-14 at the half. Oak Ridge scored two converted tries to Davis three converted tries in the first thirty minutes of the second half. With 2 minutes remain Davis clung to a 4 point lead, 35-31 and were driving deep into Oak Ridge territory. A penalty against Oak Ridge with 2 and a half minutes to go seemed to seal their fate as Davis kicked a PK to lead by 7 with under a minute to go. Hustling to the midfield line, Oak Ridge kicked-off with 18 second remaining on my watch. An Oak ridge lock raced under the kick and grabbed it out of the air. Time expired as a desperate Oak Ridge pick and drove against a determined Davis defense. My watch had beeped full time when Oak Ridge drove across the line to score a try. Trailing by two, 38-36, the Oak Ridge kicker slotted the conversion to end the most exciting game of rugby I have seen this year.
The second game was Davis Frosh-Soph against my Jesuit F/S team. While the Jesuit High School A side F/S team was putting 52 points on their opponents, the B side F/S found themselves trailing Davis 14-0 at the half. Something magic happened at half-time and I wish I could take credit full a Lombardi level speech, but the effort came from the hearts of the boys. These boys were a rag-tag group of self styled “scrubs” who realized finally what rugby was all about. In the second half they rucked, tackled and played their best rugby of the year. They put three tries on the board. Although Jesuit lost to Davis, 28-19, there were smiles all around as these young men, over matched and under coached finally got the idea. They rucked and tackled with a determination that I have not seen from them before. Every one of my “Dirty Thirty” acquitted themselves well. No long can they call themselves “The Scrubs”; now they can call themselves “Ruggers”.
The elation of the previous hours slipped away as I wiped a tear from my eye. The sign at the fire station read:
Semper Fi
Brad Scuder
1982-2004
As I realized that the Oak Ridge team was now at a memorial service for a fellow rugger killed in Iraq. Marine Lance Corporal Brad Scuder was killed in the line of duty in Iraq. The Sacramento Bee reported this:
"The winding road was lined with small American flags and Boy Scouts, each saluting with one hand and waving a flag with the other. Atop the hill, U.S. Marines stood stiff and strong outside a church as a grieving family waited inside. The church filled to capacity as El Dorado Hills said good bye to a hero Friday. Brad Scuder, a 21 -year-old Marine and graduate of Oak Ridge High School was killed in Iraq earlier this month. On a cloudless evening, about 1000 people packed into Holy Trinity Catholic Church to pay tribute to a young man who his friends and family said never gave anything less than his all…
“He attended Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, where he played rugby despite his short stature. He never hesitated to dive for the goal line even in practice, friends said.”
Yes, it was a time to laugh and a time to dance for a new generation of ruggers came of age this day. But it was also a time to weep and a time to mourn as another of our own gave the last full measure of devotion for his country and for freedom. Rest in peace, young hero. And as the sign simply said:
Semper Fi
Brad Scuder
1982-2004
- Dave Miller