Unfortunate Knock On

One of the funnier things that happened this weekend was when we were playing our game in the rain and someone, I forget who, gets hit in the face with the ball, knocking it forward. Now, those of you who aren't familiar with the rules of rugby (AKA 90% of America although that number is getting smaller, I read somewhere that rugby is that fastest growing sport right now) let me explain to you a few basic ones.

Rule #1: You cannot pass the ball forward. You may kick the ball forward or you may pass backwards/laterally and run it forward. If the ball is hit forward with anything but your foot it is called a "forward pass" or a "knock on"

Rule #2: No crying in rugby. Unless you are concussed or a bone is protruding from your skin, otherwise you shall forever bear the label of "pussy".

Anyways, back to the hilarious moment. The teammate gets hit in the face and the ball goes forward. The ref blows his whistle and says, "Knock on!...off the face." He was laughing at my teammates misfortune while he said this and to tell the truth, I don't blame him at all. In fact, those of us on the sidelines were giggling a bit and I know for a fact some of the field were laughing as well.

I bring it up because karma came and got me today. Curses.

Rule #3: When catching a kick, turn your body sideways so that if you miss it, it still goes backwards. By doing this, you will avoid knocking the ball on and looking like a fool.

The backs were practicing kicking/catching today. It was balls cold and we had the subzero wind from the canyon gracing us with her frigid presence. Kylee was my partner and had just kicked the ball to me. Now sometimes my brain freezes up and makes it hard for me to decide which way to turn. For example, I was once playing tennis with my little sister and she hit the ball right at me. I swung the racket both ways and then just ended up swinging it up and down right in front of me because my feet refused to move to the backhand or the forehand. I had another moment like that today. My feet couldn't decide which way to turn, so I just continued backing up until the ball just smacked me right in the face. Knock on of the face.

Needless to say, Coach Tony thought this was hilarious, as did Kylee. Once I was able to get past the stinging from my frozen, abused face I was able to laugh as well. Let's face it, when is it NOT funny when someone gets nailed with a ball in the face?